Raising Children Network: the Australian parenting website
  • Suitable for 3-42Months

Dangers of bottle-feeding in bed

By Raising Children Network
 
 

It’s the end of the day, you’re about to pop baby into bed with a bottle, and then put your feet up for a rest. Before you do, you might like to know that there are a couple of problems with this picture. 

Did you knowQuestion mark symbol

  • Milk is quite high in sugar, and soaking your baby’s teeth in it overnight can give her tooth decay.
  • When a baby drinks lying down, milk can also flow through to her ear cavity, which can cause ear infections.
 

Whether it's breastmilk or formula milk, at some stage you might think about putting your baby to bed with a bottle. Yet there are good reasons why you might reconsider before you bottle-feed in bed.

Babies can draw fluid into their lungs and may choke or inhale it if they fall asleep while sucking on a bottle of milk. In the same way that adults can have something 'go down the wrong way', babies who fall asleep while drinking a bottle of breastmilk or formula milk can still draw liquid into their lungs. This is more dangerous for your baby than it is for you, because your baby isn't as good at waking up if something interferes with her breathing. Although it is more likely that your baby will cough and be uncomfortable, you may want to avoid the risk altogether.

If your baby is used to having a bottle while she goes to sleep, she may find it very hard to sleep without one. This is called a sleep association. When your baby gets used to having a bottle-feed every time she falls asleep, she might develop an association between the bottle and sleep, and find it hard to fall asleep without a bottle.

Instead of propping your baby up with a bottle in bed, holding her while she drinks can help you bond and connect.  It’s also a great opportunity for partners to take turns at bonding with baby.

What about a bottle of water? 

If you are thinking of weaning your baby off night feeds, you might also think about replacing a breastfeed or bottle-feed with a bottle of water. Your baby might be comforted by having something familiar to suck on during the night. And there isn’t the same choking risk with babies having bottles of water in bed.

The two main downsides of doing so:

  • You could be swapping sleep associations from a feed to a bottle of water. This means your baby might find it hard to fall asleep without the bottle of water, and you might have to get up for her if she drops the bottle out of her cot or drinks so much liquid that she calls out for a refill during the night.
  • Your baby can drink so much liquid that her nappy soaks through and she calls out for attention.

However, if your baby seems happier at nights with the bottle of water, you might just want to go ahead and deal with the sleep association whenever you have to.

 
  • Last reviewed08-05-2006
  • References

    Ferber, R. (1996). Sleep disorders 1: Childhood sleep disorders. Neurologic Clinics, 14, 493-511.

    Lotan, N. & Yirimiya, N. (2002). Body movement, presence of parents, and the process of falling asleep in toddlers. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 26(1), 81-88.