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Bedtime Feeding

southernbride2009southernbride2009 member
in Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
I'm a STM so you would think I could remember all this from my first son! Lol! Anywho, My twins just turned a year old on Thursday. They have been eating table food and using Sippy cups during the day which has been great! My issue is that they are still having a meal (bottle/food) before bed which they have always done but I know it's probably time that I stopped doing that. I guess my question is do I just cut it out completely and see what happens or do I give them some water & maybe a snack to help them sleep? What happens if one or both wake in the middle of the night and I have no bottle? Should I give them a Sippy cup or just put him back to bed with nothing? I tried cutting the bottle last night but they both woke up hungry at various times to eat. Thank ladies for any advice!
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Re: Bedtime Feeding

  • fadingdawn20fadingdawn20 member
    Do you mean they are having a full meal, as in dinner before bed? If their dinner time just happens to be right before bedtime, I don't see a problem with it. Obviously you don't want to just not feed them dinner.

    I still BF and my son nurses right before bed every night. I don't think it's a bad thing. I don't know if he really "needs" to nurse to make it through the night, but with the way things are right now he always STTN, so I don't see much point in changing our routine. He eats dinner (solids) usually an hour to an hour and a half before bedtime.

    I think the general recommendation is to have babies off bottles by 15 months, so you still have some time if that's what you're worried about.

    I think it would be easier to give you advice if we could see what their normal schedule is as of right now?
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  • jnnfrrose6jnnfrrose6 member
    How much time do you have between dinner and bed? DS eats between 5-6 and is in bed by 7, so no issues with needing anything before bed. If he doesn't finish his sippy of milk with dinner then he can continue drinking it until he finishes it while playing or it's time for bed, whichever comes first.
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  • southernbride2009southernbride2009 member
    Yes they have a full meal before bedtime. Their schedule is usually about every 3-4 hours. say they eat dinner at 5 or so they will play eat again around 9/930 then we bath/bed.
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  • acbfreireacbfreire member
    They are probably hungry by then, just feed them! DD eats every 3h (ish).
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  • arilevinearilevine member
    I was giving DD some cereal or a snack & milk before bed up until about a month ago (she is 15 months now). If she doesn't eat a great dinner I give her fruit, yogurt or string cheese so she doesn't wake up hungry. I give her a sippy cup with milk before bed but ever since I switched from bottle to cup for milk she hasn't been very interested in drinking it. If they seem hungry before bed & are waking durning the night I would definatley give them a before bedtime snack!
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  • this decaf lifethis decaf life member
    DD eats dinner at 5, bath at 530 and nurses to sleep at 6. I'm not worrying about her nursing to sleep yet. I'd rather her continue with her great sleeping pattern and wean her off her bedtime milk later.
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  • jnnfrrose6jnnfrrose6 member
    edited January 2014
    southernbride2009 said: Yes they have a full meal before bedtime. Their schedule is usually about every 3-4 hours. say they eat dinner at 5 or so they will play eat again around 9/930 then we bath/bed. ++QUOTE BOX BEING WEIRD++
     I think since they don't go to bed until 4 hours after dinner, then something before bed would be appropriate as they are probably hungry.  I used to nurse right before bed (even with dinner only being about an hour and a half earlier) and only dropped that when he weaned.  I think if you     really want to cut out the meal before bed, then you probably need to move bedtime up closer to dinner time (by 2 hours at least), but that really depends on your family and routine (and also when they usually get up in the morning).  Otherwise, I'd just work on changing from a bottle to a sippy.
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  • tifdaski84tifdaski84 member
    My 19-month old still gets a cup of milk before bed.  We transitioned to that when we weaned him off of formula.  He has supper at 6-6:30 and then a cup of milk at 7:30ish.  I'm not sure when or if we'll stop that.  I guess if he ever becomes uninterested in it?
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  • southernbride2009southernbride2009 member
    Thanks girls! I appreciate the advice! Nicb13: it's a combo of WCM & formula.
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