What's your bed time routine?

[Elizdia]

Hi all

just wondering what you guys do before putting your LO's to bed. At the minute we get changed downstairs, read a book, brush our teeth, and then i take DS upstairs for cuddles and give him he's milk whilst singing him a lullaby. DS is 15 months old. This is what i've been doing since he was about 7-8 months. Does anyone brush teeth after milk? I just find that the milk gets him all sleepy for bed but i don't want it to damage he's teeth in any way. x

 

[MindUtopia]

We have done bath/teeth brushing in the bath, milk and cuddles and rocking in the rocking chair, and into bed. We sometimes do a story when she's lying in bed after milk, depending on if she needs more time to get sleepy. We've pretty much done exactly this since she was 4 months old (except then she didn't have any teeth) and she's just turned 3 now. It's pretty much always worked well. I don't brush teeth after milk and it's not been a problem. I am very particular about making sure her teeth get brushed well twice a day and we don't usually eat any sugary foods (chocolate at xmas, cake on her birthday, but that's about it). I'm really good about taking care of her teeth because I had lots of dental problems as a kid (my parents fed me loads of sugary food, so that's probably why). She saw the dentist for the first time last month and he said her teeth look great, so I am comfortable with milk after teeth brushing. I just avoid all the other things that could cause tooth decay like juices or sugar, offer it in a cup (though she had it in a bottle up to 15 months), and don't let her got to bed chewing on it. We'll cut out the cup of milk before bed in the next year or so though, or at least start to offer it before bath as she gets closer to 4 as I think that's old enough to not need milk just before bed. But for now, it hasn't caused any issues, so happy to keep doing it.

 

[Elizdia]

Thanks MindUtopia. Pretty similar to ours then. Do you bath your DD every night? I must admit i don't do it every night, probably every other night.

I'm the same, well my mum was actually strict with me when i was little when it came to sugary foods and teeth hygiene but my grandma was the opposite with my mum and so we do take it quite seriously. I was wondering whether we should brush teeth after but our routine is so set and he really enjoys his bed time milk, gets him all sleepy and his eyes close, i don't want to upset him by then brushing his teeth after. He doesn't chew the bottle or anything and he drinks it so fast - normally takes him about 2-3 mins! x

 

[Button#]

We started giving DS cows milk after tea but before bath/teeth brushing/bed when he was around your LOs age. He dropped his night feed at 16 months and then his bedtime bf a month after that, then he had no more milk after teeth brushing.

 

[Rainbow82]

We do bath, teeth, story, song then bed. DS doesn't have a bottle before bed but gets a dream feed about 10. Obviously we don't clean his teeth after this as it would be too difficult we wait till after breakfast the next day but he only has 6 teeth so far. I can't honestly see his routine changing any time soon.

 

[Elizdia]

We do bath, teeth, story, song then bed. DS doesn't have a bottle before bed but gets a dream feed about 10. Obviously we don't clean his teeth after this as it would be too difficult we wait till after breakfast the next day but he only has 6 teeth so far. I can't honestly see his routine changing any time soon.

Thanks Rainbow, how old is your little one. Mine is 15 months and he only as 6 teeth too!

 

[SarahBear]

I nurse Leo after teeth and nurse him during the night. The problem is when it's a bottle and the milk has a chance to pool in the mouth and sit there while the baby sleeps. If you do use a bottle, be sure to not leave the bottle with the baby while he sleeps. Also, breastmilk is more of a problem when the teeth are not clean. If they're clean, it's fine.

As far as routine goes, I do his teeth and then take him into the bedroom with lullabies playing and nurse him. he used to fall asleep at this point, but now he often times doesn't. Sometimes he needs rocking or I bring him back out of the bedroom if he's really just not tired or if there's no way he's going to sleep. But when my older child is ready for nursing, I bring him back in and nurse both of them and he usually falls asleep at that point. If he doesn't I still keep him in bed. We all bedshare also and I stay with both until they're asleep.