Do I feed my 10 month old his bottle before or after his sleep?

[mum2bee]

Hi,

I know it probably doesn't make a difference....

He has two sleeps a day, should I give him a bottle before he goes to sleep or when he wakes up.....I wasn't sure that if I give it to him before, it might become a sleep association?

[NonnyMouse]

It depends really. Having a sleep association isn't a bad thing if your little one has issues with knowing when/how to fall asleep (although I can see it might be a problem later on), and milk has a soporific effect (mildly sedative) which will help him to doze off.

But.... I like the idea of the feed...play...sleep routine because it means they wake up hungry, so it can stop some of the fussiness and make sure they drink a decent amount.

[em1984]

I have this issue sometimes too. I generally give him a feed before purely because I want him to get a good sleep without waking earlier than he might because of hunger iykwim. I try not to let him fall asleep on the boob though so as to not create that association.

[BabelFish]

Nothing wrong with having a sleep association - it's different to having something you HAVE to have to go to sleep. Sleep associations are great - kind of like a little routine that helps them know it's sleep time.

When DD was down to two definite sleeps a day, we started giving her bottles before each one. So, she'd wake up in the morning and have breakfast, a play then a bottle and bed. Then wake up and have lunch, a play then a bottle and bed. Then wakes up and has a play, dinner, a bath, big bottle then bed. It's absolutely perfect. That's her routine, every day, and it's magic.

BUT a few times we've `tested' her to see if she can manage without the same routine - for example if we go out or we're not home during the day. She can have a bottle before we hop in the car and if she falls asleep in the car she transfers to her cot really easily. So she doesn't `have' to have it the same way all the time, which is great, too. And being winter I like her to go to sleep with a nice warm tummy full of milk! She sleeps like an angel.