Scold me later, but help me now =)?

Question

After we switched to soy at 3 months old my little Nikolas started sleeping through the night. I felt like the luckiest Mom in the world (even though I still woke up at his prior established times). Now at 6 months, for the last week he ALL THE SUDDEN started wanting a bottle between 1am & 2am. And also wants on at 5am before going back to sleep for 1-2 hours. And yes, for my sanity and the fact that I wake up 2 extra times a night to Dad's snoring, I've been giving in and giving him those bottles. 3 weeks ago he got his two bottom teeth and with the drooling starting to go full blast again, I'm sure the top two aren't far behind here. I'm afraid of tooth decay and was wondering if I could give him a bottle of water at that 1-2am wakey time. Sorry, I just don't have the will power to let him cry. So water or any other formula alternatives?

Answer 1

I know I'll probably be slammed for this - but I say good for you for not letting him cry it out! I never let my son and he pretty much never cries, morning or night. You can definitely give him water at night. It won't be bad for his teeth, and once he starts realizing that he's only going to be getting water at night, not yummy formula, he'll eventually stop waking up. It's not worth it for water to him. My son did the same thing. He started sleeping through the night, then about two months later, he just stopped! Waking up every couple hours, wanting to be held and fed. I gave him very formula only mixed half strength (twice the water) and then weaned him down to only water over the next couple weeks. Then he started sleeping through the night again though. He never had teeth though so I didn't have to worry about tooth decay. But unless you want to be brushing those two little teeth in the middle of the night, I would only give him plain water.
Good luck and I hope he starts sleeping longer stretches soon!

Answer 2

I'm going to dissent against the other posters here. A child should NEVER be allowed to drink anything in their crib. It's not the milk that is decaying the teeth it's anything (even water) that is sitting on the tooth that causes decay. Even a child who is breast fed to sleep still has the same risk of tooth decay.

Having a bottle at night won't cause decay unless you are letting him sleep with it. If it was my son I'd start weaning him of the nightly bottle and start him on rice cereal. I'd feed the rice cereal at bedtime (once you find out he's not going to have an allergic reaction). That should tide him over until morning. Because he's still so little you could probably get away with a 10 pm bedtime and an awakening at 5 or 6 am. As he approaches six months you can fine tune the bedtime and wake time.

Answer 3

There is nothing unusual or wrong about a baby changing his sleep habits around 6 months. There is also nothing wrong with giving a bottle in the night when the baby wants it.

Almost all babies change their sleep habits at 6 months for several reasons. Teething can be painful and wake the baby for one. Also, newfound motor and development skills make a baby less fond of the idea of sleep, and often come to full wakefullness in the night.

I would recommend feeding the baby when he is hungry- tooth decay is not a problem unless you allow the baby to sleep with the bottle in his mouth. There is no harm in giving a bottle and then tending to dental hygene first thing in the morning.

You have nothing to be scolded for and its not a bad thing to not let your young baby cry. You are doing fine!

Answer 4

as far as tooth decay i would relax on that i have 4 kids and they had bottles at night and bottle rot was not an issue. the more bottle? he is having a major grouth spurt at dinner try giving him something really filling like some baby cereal or before b ed give him some cereal this should help and then with the bottles try only 4 oz at night. also to help with the sleep i had a mini fridge in my room along with a bottle warmer that kept me from waking up all the way to get a bottle.

Answer 5

Yes, I think a water bottle is a good thing. He probably just wants to suck on something to soothe him. I mean, you have to use water to mix the formula, why do people make it sound so bad to feed a baby just water without the formula? Formula of any kind (and breastmilk) contain sugars that will get in his teeth and promote tooth decay, and water doesn't. So I say go right ahead, its what I do and it works.

Answer 6

hi there,my little gem has only slept through a number of times so i know how much lack of sleep sucks! When she wakes after her last feed for the night ( 10pm) i only give her water now if its before 5am. This works well for her,it has also helped with her constipation!! My health nurse suggested to do this as from 3 months onwards,babies shouldnt need a formula feed during the night. Water is enough,she now goes straight back to sleep aswell!

Answer 7

Yes, water is an acceptable substitute and it's actually very good for him too. My ex-SIL often gave my niece bottles of juice or formula at bedtime or in the middle of the night and her teeth became a nightmare due to tooth decay. Before she was even 7 years old, she had to have several extracted because the decay was so bad. You sound like you're doing a great job though. Hang in there!

Answer 8

He's waking in the night and using you to put himself back to sleep. My son did the same thing. Make sure he gets a 6-8 oz bottle before bed, and if he wakes up, go in, check that he's warm or cool enough and has a dry diaper, and say good night again. Leave the light off, say nothing to him,a dn do your tending quickly and with minimal attention. Suck it up for a few nights, and he'll learn to put himself back to sleep without any help. He's taking advantage of you-- and yes, by this age, babies are capable of deliberately manipulating their parents. Giving in is only encouraging the behavior.

Answer 9

it's good to worry about tooth decay right now, just because it's his baby teeth, they can hurt the next teeth that come in. With giving him water, I think that would be OK, get a nipple with a smaller hole because water comes out faster, and babies get tired of water fast because it has no flavor, try putting a mint candy in it and shake it up (warm water) it also sooths an upset tummy. But maybe feed him closer to his bed time? or giving him cereal. He's maybe not getting full enough.

Good Luck, God Bless and congratulations on your little one.

Answer 10

I'm not sure about the waking in the middle of the night neither of my kids did it. as far as the bottle try giving him a majority of the milk bottle amd then let him drink a little of the water bottle.