Putting Baby to Sleep with Bottle or Breast

L.,

I nursed both of my kids to sleep until they weaned (24 months for one and 18 months for the other). Both of them (now 5.5 and 2.5) are completely capable of getting themselves to sleep. I really think it is personal preference and it won't ruin your child for life either way.

:-)T.

I know this is a little late, but if your bottle feeding, then yes its preferable that you not let them have anything in the bottle besides water to fall asleep with because it can contribute to "bottle rot" since the bottle nipples can leak (doesn't require a baby to actively suck, just needs the nipple to be pinched "open") thereby letting the formula sit in the mouth.

But that isn't true with nursing. Breastmilk has mom's white blood cells (after all it is classified as a blood product in clinic terms) which help to prevent bactria from growing. Also mom's nipples don't leak so nursing requires active sucking which in turn causes a baby to swallow in reaction.

Ditto for teaching baby how to self sooth at a later age. I gently taught all mine how after they were walking, and again when we started them into their own beds at 2 or 3. Each child is different, some need lots of "hand holding" (patting/rubbing their backs and just sitting in the room with them), while others just need to allowed to fuss a short time before falling asleep.

Grats on your little one!
D.

Nurse to sleep, it's fine and natural. Wipe her mouth briefly with a burp cloth or something so the milk doesn't stay on her teeth all night.

From personal experience, I think that it's okay to let the baby nurse to sleep (I can't speak for bottle-feeding) for the first few months. It's extremely comforting to them, good bonding time for you, and yes, very natural. At some point, though, preferably before 1 year, you should start letting her learn to fall asleep on her own. It IS an important "skill" for a child to learn, but contrary to the beliefs of "sleep trainers" it DOES NOT have to be done in the first few months. A child can learn self-soothing at any stage -- it's just that it's easier when they're smaller.

That said, I did let the nursing to sleep go on for too long (for my personal comfort) and it DOES get harder to teach self-soothing the older your baby gets. I would say sometime after she is eating solids and doesn't need the calories from nursing, it's good to start pulling her off the breast (or taking away the bottle, though I have no real knowledge of bottle-feeding) when she's starting to get sleepy, and put her down to sleep on her own. Just understand one thing: if you pull her away before she's really done nursing, you could alter your milk supply and in some cases this means early weaning. (This is where you hear moms say their milk "dried up." It doesn't really "dry up", you're just not producing as much because the baby stopped taking as much...you can always nurse more frequently to re-up the supply if needed but most moms don't know that and assume they have no more milk.)

If you have any questions about what I wrote, feel free to send me a message. I'm a bit sleep-deprived from having a coughing kid the past couple of nights so I might not be making much sense!

Oh, and one more quick thing. My daughter is four and has had no problems with her teeth. When she's old enough, leave a sippy cup with water ONLY (NO JUICE) in her bed which will rinse out her mouth, and also brush her teeth (or wipe out mouth with a cloth) first thing in the morning.

I agree with Liz and Kyra!

I breastfed my son and then formula fed my son at nap and bedtime, and we had no issues. I made sure to clean his gums and later teeth after he fell asleep. He had no trouble with weaning and never associated feeding with sleeping once he self-weaned himself at 13 months.

I think the thing is SO many Pedi's associate it with teeth rot and I understand that, but my son's doctor was great about supporting my choices and listening to me about my opinions. If you are proactive in dental hygiene and keep it up, you shouldn't have any problems.

It's not a bad habit, and your child won't be breastfeeding until Middle School...our babies know what they need, WE just need to listen.

The advice against having a baby fall asleep at the bottle or breast is a dental based one: they worry about the baby having sugar in her mouth. In my opinion, it's ridiculous. I breast fed all three of my kids, and they always went to sleep at the breast when they were little. None of them have had any trouble with cavities, nor have they needed orthodontia (sometimes dentists think that the "tongue thrust" that babies use to suck creates orthodontic problems: how can that be, when it the natural way for babies to feed, millenia before orthodontia!!!) Anyway, I recommend doing what feels natural to you and your daughter. .

It is absolutely true that putting a baby to sleep with a bottle or breast is a very bad idea. I am an RN student going through my pediatric rotation now and I have seen plenty of bad cases of rotted out teeth. In one case the child has such a horrible ulceration in the back of his mouth that required surgery. Not to mention there is a risk of aspiration (choking) since the milk will just pool in the back of the mouth. Please dont bottle prop!

This is definately a hot button issue. I was a babywise mom - I let my twins 'self-soothe' when it was time for a nap or sleep. I did not want them to associate eating with going to sleep. They did really well going to sleep on their own until about 5 months - cried for <10 minutes and went to sleep. At 5 months it changed to lots of back rubbing involved in getting them to go to sleep. Now at 1 year old, I rock them to sleep. I don't want to spend up to an hour bent over the crib rubbing their backs when I can rock them to sleep in 15 minutes! We do not use a bottle/breast because I did not want them to need this to go to sleep. You should definately NOT lay her down in the crib unattended with a bottle but if nursing/bottle feeding her to sleep in your arms works for you, I am of the opinion that you do what works! That said, think about the coming year when you are going to wean from this feeding and if you really want to upset the whole bedtime routine by having to take this away! You could replace with water if you wish. Anyhow, with all our sleep issues, I believe you do what works for you - rest is important for everyone. Just remember to think about the months/years down the road and what sort of battles you may have when you have to change this routine!

You have to look at the long term objective here. If you are putting your baby to sleep with a bottle or while she is still on your breast, then that is going to be a very hard habit to break later on. Trust me on this, you are going to want to start here and now to teach your daughter how to go to sleep independently because you are not going to be wanting to be doing this very same thing when she's 12 or 18 months or even older. At some point, you are going to want to be able to put your child in her crib or toddler bed while she is still awake, tell her goodnight, and she just goes to sleep on her own. A little investment of time teaching her how to do this now will pay off big time for years to come. Trust me on this.

An equally important reason for why you do want your daughter falling to sleep on the breast or with a bottle in her mouth is because this leads to tooth decay and costly dental bills (and a painful situation) for her not too long down the road. So, it is really important for you to do the up front work so that all of you can enjoy a healthier, more peaceful family life and the not too distant future.

Wishing you and beautiful daughter all the best.

My advice is to let your baby fall asleep whatever way works for you and her. One of my children had to cry herself to sleep (only about 5 minutes or so). She could not be nursed or rocked to sleep. My other child nursed to sleep until he was a year and then i rocked him to sleep until he was about 2 years old. After that he just started to go to sleep on his own. My point is that every baby is different so do what works for yours. Good luck!

Putting baby to sleep with a bottle is not a good idea, as the RN mentioned for teeth rot. Nursing to sleep, however, is completely different. There's a component in breastmilk that actually counteracts the tooth decay. I don't know technical names, but do a search, maybe on
La Leche League http://llli.org OR
Kelly Mom http://kellymom.com/

As far as baby getting to sleep independently, decide what's best for you. If baby doesn't scream and cry, I wouldn't feel bad letting them babble and go to sleep on their own. I have a friend with a baby like that. My children, on the other hand, absolutely will not go to sleep on their own, at least as infants. And I absolutely won't let them 'cry it out', especially as a baby. I'm perfectly happy to nurse them to sleep - it's faster, natural, they feel warm and protected, and I love it (besides the inconvenience, but it's worth it to me to show my love and sacrifice). I teach them to go to sleep by themselves when they're old enough to understand that I'm not just abandoning them.
After all the advice you're given, YOU are the mom and it's YOUR Choice. Do your research, listen to all the different advice, pick what you like and leave the rest. Making an informed choice will help you feel empowered and like a better mom, rather than doing something just because someone else told you to.
Good luck,
N.

i know the feeling you're going thru. it will be hard to break if you nurse her to sleep, but it will be harder for you to stop than her!!! it's beautiful, natural, loving and wonderful! your baby is so little still and needs that kinda of comfort before sleep. she will learn to sleep on her own, i promise! but this is your baby and you want to get as much as you can from this experience because it will be gone in a blink of an eye!!!
good luck mama!!!

That's what all doctors and nurses say just because it IS harder to get them to go to sleep when they are older and they no longer need a bottle. With my son we just laid down with him and sang to him, he would go right to sleep but my daughter she's 10 months now and she has to have a bottle otherwise she will scream for about 2 hours! So I say go with your own gut feeling, you're the mommy and you know what's best!