When to end the before bed bottle/nursing feed?

mandj10

Hi ladies! I was just wondering at what age do you cut out the before bed feeding? Or should I be trying to cut it out now? My DS is 14 months old and still BF (slowly weaning) in the morning and at night, right before bed. He is a great eater during the day but still clings to those two nursing sessions. We are trying to incorporate the "brush your teeth" routine before bed, but it doesn't really make sense since I am nursing him soon after he brushes his teeth. Are your LO's still doing this?

Any suggestions and/or advice would greatly be appreciated!  Thanks! 

XCrissCrossX

I didn't breastfeed. LO was off the bedtime bottle before he was your LO's age, but I don't think bottle and breast are the same.

That being said, I think I might try to change the bedtime feeding to a little earlier- maybe before pajamas and that way you can do teeth too. You may be able to gradually remove the association LO has between nursing and sleeping so when it comes time to wean, it'll be easier. (Of course, the first several nights it may be difficult to get him to sleep...)

 

DreadLoc

My kid will be two next month and I still nurse to sleep after brushing her teeth.  There is no age limit really, just do what you do as long as you're comfortable with it.

momofmanyinthemitten

We bedtime nursed until about 16/17 mos. She's used to going down for nap without nursing, so we just do the same routine before each (read books, turn on projector, sing songs, kiss good night). She asked to nurse for two nights and then never again. I just offered her a cup of water and she took it the first night, but not the second. I just weaned her off the morning nursing session last week and she is still asking for it, but not as persistently.

BabyBoyNYC

i feel like the rules are completely different for breast fed vs. bottle fed. DS is/was formula fed and I took the bedtime bottle away 2 months ago. He eats so well and was drinking cow's milk it was just not necessary and if I read one more story about toddlers needing dental surgery for cavaties and having to have their teeth pulled I was going to freak out, so I got really paranoid about making sure he went to bed with clean teeth. He handled it so well, didn't care at all so I'm glad I did it.

Rochell

I still nurse my LO to bed and still incorporate brushing teeth (it's part of his routine) ...I guess it depends on your comfort level - if you have no problem with it, then continue but if it's becoming a problem (you aren't comfortable, can't sleep...etc) then start weaning him off. There's no textbook answer as to when to wean him off - kids usually do that on their own. My LO nurses to sleep not because he's hungry/thirsty but it's comforting to him and as of now, I don't mind it.

mandj10

Thank you for all your input! It's soo hard when there really is no definitive answer as all of you were saying. I am going to try some of the advice given and see how he does with it.  Thanks!

CopperT0p

L stopped nursing to sleep around 6 months.  He still will nurse sometime before bed, but it's not nurse immediately before bed.  

It really is up to your comfort level.  I would have no problem nursing him immediately before bed until he self weans, but as it currently stands he will usually ask to nurse sometime between 8-8:30 and he goes to bed shortly after 8:30.   

Wufroggy79

Our pedi suggested stopping by age one.  The bottle should be completely phased out by now as well.  Check the AAP website.

JamieKays

We are on night number two of no night bottle! I breastfed until 11 months and then she was taking some bottles. We began by giving her the bottle way before bed rather than using it as the "trigger" for her bedtime routine. Before, her Daddy would give it to her in the nice comfy recliner, but we changed to the living room or while she was playing on her floor. The goal was to help her disassociate it with bedtime all together.

While switching up the time/place, we also began decreasing the ounces in the bottle. In a week and a half we went from 8 to 6 to 4. We did make sure to replace that cuddle time she had with Daddy with quiet play time with him. This helped the winding down process as well. One last thing, we also make sure dinner has a good protein or whole grain. These help to sustain her longer overnight and help her feel more full.

I hope this helps! Good luck. BTW she is almost 13 months.  

hmontty

I did not BF, but I think the same principle holds.

DD was always a great sleeper. I did eventually stop the before-bed bottle (can't say exactly when, maybe 7 or 8 months), but suddenly, at 9 months, she started really crying a lot when I put her down, which was really odd. After a few months of this, I decided to give her a graham cracker and cup of milk before bed, and she went right down, like a champ. We have kept this up with her, and she is now 16 months. Granted, some nights we don't do this, especially if she ate a very late dinner, but I think she just likes going to bed with a full belly of milk. 

Personally, I don't see any harm in this. In fact, I used to go to overnight camp for many years (from age 8 to age 16), and this camp would have what was called "Milk Line" every night -- a cup of milk and graham crackers before bed. They did this even for the high school campers! This is where I got the idea, and it works for DD like a charm.

She sits on my lap, eats her cracker, drinks her milk, hands me the cup when she's done, and that's that.

I don't plan on stopping this ritual until she's old enough to say she doesn't want it anymore.

mesmom2011

There is no reason to stop unless you or your DS want to.  Breastfeeding and bottle feeding are not comparable.  Perhaps you can brush his teeth before nursing and then just do a very quick brush after.  Here's a link about breastfeeding and tooth decay:  https://kellymom.com/ages/older-infant/tooth-decay/

rosesandpeonies

my daughter gets a night time bottle after bath before teeth brushing.  She never went to bed with a bottle though.  

Breastfeeding and bottle feeding are different in this regard though.  I think it depends on if he needs to nurse to go to sleep.  If so, it might be time to do some sleep training and to start really weaning, but that is sooo a personal choice when you both are ready.