Binkies, Bottles & Bedtime

JustGoWithIt

Does anyone else give their LO a bottle right before bed? Unlike DS#1, LO will NOT use a binkie to soothe himself. He'll take it for a few minutes and spit it out. Here's my concern:

During the day, 9 out of 10 times we give LO a bottle, play for an hour or so, and I can put him in his swing drowsy but awake, for a nap. No problems. 

But EVERY night at bedtime, if I give him a bottle anywhere between 6-7:30, and then try to do bath & jammies, it's like as soon as he knows it's bedtime the screaming starts. We do the dance around his room trying to calm him down, he'll scream for a few minutes, start to fall asleep, and start screaming again. This would go on for hours, but if we just give him another bottle (he doesn't always drink it all since sometimes it's only been 1.5hrs) he'll go right to sleep.

Part of me feels like I'm teaching him to soothe with food which obvs I don't want to do, but nothing else works at bedtime. What's totally messing with me is that I know that if is was still BF I wouldn't think twice about nursing him or letting him comfort nurse. And why is this only a problem at bedtime?!? 

Am I overthinking this? Should I not worry about it? Do you have any other tricks?

sambrownmac10

I just give him a 2oz bottle to top him up, just like my older kids and myself have a snack before bed.
I don't like to go to bed hungry, neither does lo.

Danicali

My LO usually eats before a nap or bedtime. It's what works. I dunno. I think you gotta do what works. For years people have been doing it - and your right, if you would Bf what's the difference with a bottle? I was worried about it when he was younger but I'm not anymore. He's too busy when he's awake that it's not worth trying to feed him when he just wants to crawl around. It's enough of a nightmare to change him without him trying to roll or crawl away from me lol. I wouldn't stress about it!

JustGoWithIt

Thanks ladies. We'll continue doing whatever works for now. I guess As he gets older & has more of a routine we'll deal with fixing any bad habits we might be starting

I like to snack before bed too and I don't know why I see it differently than BF. All good points  

SandFHasse

Our routine is this:

Bath at 6pm. Bottle at 7pm. Lay him in his crib awake at 8pm with a bottle. I know some people frown upon bottles in the bed, but it works for us and our pediatrician suggested it. He's asleep by 8:30.

harmonicbabe26

I ALWAYS fed my DD right before bed. Not naps, just bedtime. That has aleays been a big part of our routine. Bath, book, whatever, then boob/bottle and off to bed. When she was really little I even fed her that last time in the dark so she would calm more and get in the mood for sleepig.
BUT it's not like she ever fell asleep during those feeds. After that i would rock and cuddle her for a bit and lay her down.

And that routine evolved organically. At one point or another we added brushing teeth after the bottle. Then the bottle turned into a cup of WCM and we're still doing it every night while reading bedtime books. She drinks her milk while we read, then we brush and night night.

It's the best thing ever. I can't imagine putting a kid to bed hours after eating. I myself won't fall asleep if my own stomach is growling.
Having a cup of warm milk before bed is always recommended as one of the best things for people with insomnia too. Why would anyone think it's so bad when a baby/kid is involved.

All that said, I never nursed/bottle fed 'to sleep' and personally I'm against that. But then I understand that tired, desperate parenta will do whatever it takes to put a kid to sleep, so no judgment whatsoever. Just making a point that having a full belly before bed is not a bad thing.