Nighttime Feedings

Q

My son is sleeping through the night now, but I have to wake him to feed him before I go to sleep--around 11:00. I heard that it is bad for him to eat right before he goes to sleep. This is the only way for him to sleep through the night. Should I stop doing it? He is 8 months old.

drgreene

It sounds like your pattern is working very well for you and your son. The main reason that people recommend against feeding right before sleep is to protect the teeth from cavities, but cavities from nighttime nursing develop very, very slowly.

Sometime before he is 18 months it may be important to try to keep him awake for 20 minutes after his last feeding or to give him a little bit of water right after feeding, but at 8 months, it sounds like you have come up with a great solution for your family. For most kids, 8 or 9 months old is the most difficult age for sleeping. This is not a good time to interrupt something that's working so well!

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Comments

Anonymous's picture

oral fixation/teething

Our son is 18 mo old. He's active, loving and incredibly curious. At night time, however, we battle to get him to go to bed. Bedtime is at 9pm. Normally he will wake up 2-3 times a night. Each time he wakes up we give him a bottle of milk. At our last well baby check up I ask our peditrician for advice. He gave us the info about cavities and the possibility of increased ear infection, but how do we break this bad habbit?
Anonymous's picture

My 3wks 3day old son is not eating well

My son is not eating properly, he sleeps alot, when u try to wake him up for food it's diffcult and when he gets up he only eat a little (both day and night). This behavior started about 2 weeks after birth, he his 3wks 3day old.

Reply

Anonymous's picture

How often do you feed him?

How often do you feed him?