So sky is 18 months old and relies heavily on a bottle of whole milk to go to sleep at night. I also sing a few lullabyes and rock her. She co slept up until a few weeks ago, but now has her very own twin bed and room~she took right to it, and seems very comfortable (i'm due at the oct 7th, and dont want the baby to wake her, so thats why her own room~it was heartbreaking for us!) the point of all this? i really dont want to take this bedtime bottle away, even though i think the common knowledge is to not let milk sit on her teeth all night. if i had been able to nurse, i would probably still want to nurse her to sleep.... and she has a healthy diet, takes a flouride vitamin, and thank goodness~ healthy teeth. How important do you all think it is to drop this sleepy bottle?
Personally I wouldn't give my child flouride check out this link (thanks nimh)http://www.alive.com/611a2a2.php Maybe try taking the bottle away once she is asleep and wiping her teeth with a soft cloth, if you don't think that will wake her. Or maybe let her have milk before she brushes her teeth and let her take water to bed..... My kids never nursed to sleep or had bottles, they are both great sleepers on their own, so this advice hasn't been tested LOL.
whoa. i have to do some research and talk to her doctor. i've never heard of this. its a multi vit with flouride in it... she would definately wake up if i tried to wipe her teeth off, shes such a light sleeper, but thats something i never thought of. i've tried the bottle of water thing she looks at me like "No way ma! whats the heck is this" haha...
Can you gradually dilute the milk with water over a period of weeks, so that eventually she is just drinking rather milky water, and then just water? That would solve the tooth problem. But, taking it away from her might just be too much, especially with a new baby coming. In fact, she may want the bottle MORE after the baby gets here, and, of course, she should be allowed it. Sucking is important for many children for three years or more (and of course, some kids need less) so let her have it, just maybe try to dilute it gradually, so she doesn't notice, until it is basically water. If she notices and gets upset, back up, and let her have the milk. Her emotional health is as, if not more important than her teeth (and a LOT of kids don't even get bottle mouth.) Most of my kids stopped nursing to sleep somewhere between a year and a half and two and a half, but most of them needed to nurse before bed much longer than that, the just slept on my arm. Let her have the sucking she needs.
^^^ I actually saw something about that on TV yesterday on this new show called, "Surviving Motherhood," on TLC. There were twins who were almost 5 years old still using a bottle to go to sleep with warm milk. The one doctor lady who always gives advice said the same thing maggie said, gradually dilute the milk with water to make it seem less desirable over time.
maggie sugar~your the best! your responses always make me smile, and make wonderful suggestions. i cant believe i never thought of/read the dilute with water idea. i think i'm gonna give it a try on monday...if i dont let her pretty little smile talk me out of it ~hugs, jenn: ) Kirstyn, i've seen that surviving motherhood show...i'm not sure what to make of it. sometimes i wonder what the moms are thinking, other times it makes me feel tense...kind of like those nanny shows
Thank you, rainbow! (aw shucks.......) Just dilute it very slowly, so she doesn't notice and also so she doesn't get upset. Getting a new sibling can be very exciting, but it isn't the time for HUGE changes. If she gets to the point where she is taking just a bottle of water (or slightly cloudy milk) to bed, just leave it at that for a while, as the sucking will help her with the stress that is going on (not neccesarily bad stress, but stress with a new sibling, none the less.) You guys will be OK. As for the washing the teeth thing. Some kids sleep heavily enough, but I know MY kids would have woken up, as they always would say to wipe the teeth of nursing toddlers. My kids would not have slept through that, and when you just get them to sleep, you want them to stay that way for a while. I never wiped my kids teeth when they were sleeping, although I am sure some kids would sleep right though it, My kids would have woken up, ALL FULL (so they wouldn't nurse back to sleep) and crabby, so we never did it. Take care. Hugs, Maggie
yeah, i know what you mean, I don't really like them either. But when I clicked on "info" to see what it was about, and it said weaning kids off bottles, I wanted to check it out incase I ever go through that with Leane. There is this one Canadian one called "the mom show," and I posted a while back something I'd heard on it talking about kids having trouble staying in their rooms. The one mom says, "I tell my kids that the monsters are all under my bed, and then to go back to bed." OUCH! I never actually sit down and watch TV really, I just always have it on for background noise...when there's no sounds in the house but me talking to Leane, Ben (the dog) and myself, I feel like I'm going a little crazy. I find myself constantly questioning what these "experts" are telling new moms to do with their kids. Especially being one, I know how suceptible (sp?) I am to new or any seemingly "helpful" advice, and it bugs me to see someone telling the moms to do something with their kids that doesn't seem right at all. As for the nanny shows, I watched maybe 2 or 3 of them, and couldn't swallow her "rubbish" any longer. The ONLY thing that I agreed with her on was when I saw the parents ignoring one of their kids, or punishing the wrong kid all the time, and she would say that it needs to stop. At least someone was able to point it out.
Oh, and I second the thingy about maggie! lol (not trying to hijack your complement, here, just agreeing) I swear, she's like the "grand pooh-bah" here who we all come to looking for suggestions and help, lol
The only things that I think the nanny shows are getting right is the "listen to your kids, be consistent, think of their needs/emotions"...some of their other things are whack...but those three things are "duhs" in my book...
^^^ no kidding, eh? The stuff they're having to stress to these parents are things that SHOULD be no-brainers. I actually wrote my entrance essay to college on, "SHOULD POTENTIAL PARENTS BE REQUIRED TO OBTAIN LICENSES BEFORE HAVING KIDS." I wrote "yes," and explained basically everything you just said and how most parents fail to do just those few things!
Well, if parents were required to have licenses before having babies, they'd put an age-restriction on it...and then we (in that scenario) wouldn't be able to have had our babies... So we just have to try to lead bad parents by example...
good point, i didn't mean it like that, though.... I also included things on how parents should learn proper nutrition, more activities than the tv, and of course, i slipped in some of the AP beliefs
