Logo - The Possums baby and toddler sleep program.

the possums
sleep program

find essentialsbrowse the programabout the programspeak to dr pamaudiologin / sign up

search for articles

  • toddler sleep (12-36 months)
  • superpower #1: milk

Does bottle feeding your toddler to sleep cause bad habits?

Dr Pamela Douglas17th of Sep 20232nd of Jul 2024

baby feeding from bottle looks at camera

Feeding to sleep is normal for small human children

Drifting off to sleep with a feed and a cuddle is normal for small Homo sapiens children. For at least the first two years of life, throughout our long evolutionary history, small children breastfed to sleep. A small child might naturally feel sleepy after a feed, especially when the sleep pressure is high. This is neurohormonal. You might have noticed the same in yourself after a large meal.

Today, in the 21st century, it’s still much easier feeding and cuddling your toddler to sleep, than it is trying to put him down in a cot or on a mattress while he is still awake.

But using the bottle in the second year of life is of course different to breastfeeding, with different things to consider. You can find out more here. There will come a time, perhaps quite soon, when you decide to wean your toddler from a bottle in the night or at sleep-time. That’s when you'll teach him something new about going to sleep or going back to sleep.

Have you been told that bottle feeding to sleep or using the bottle responsively sets up bad habits?

You might have heard that

  • Bottle feeding your toddler to sleep sets up bad habits

  • Your little one wakes excessively at night because you feed her to sleep.

Neither are true. If your toddler is waking excessively at night, this is typically because his body clock settings are disrupted. You can find out more here.

Toddlers dial up if they find themselves on their own in the night, away from a loving adult's body. Being dialled up makes it harder for the sleep pressure to do its job. The way to teach your toddler to feel safe in the night is to respond and keep her as dialled down as possible.

Most parents adopt a rather relaxed, “I’m here if you really need me” approach to their toddlers' night waking as they grow older. They wait for a little while in the hope he'll drop back to sleep on his or her own! But it is important to respond before your little one starts to cry much, or everyone in the household will be wide awake.

It's possible that your child has learnt that when he wakes during the night, the most lovely way to go back to sleep is in your arms, feeding from the bottle. This is not a bad habit! This is a wonderful gift that you have given your little person! She's developed the habit of expecting your loving response, and this is good for her developing brain. It sets up

  • Mental and emotional habits of expecting life and people to be responsive and caring

  • Healthy psychological attachment styles, life-long.

However, you might also be wondering how long to keep using the bottle for, and what you'll do once you stop.

  • You can find out when it might be time to night wean from a bottle of milk here,

  • You can find how you might do toddler sleep without a bottle of milk here.

Recommended resources

Would it help with your toddler's sleep to stop the bottle (if you've been bottle feeding)?

When is it time to wean your toddler from a bottle in the night?

mother and toddler cuddle in bed

Finished

share this article

Next up in superpower #2: sensory motor nourishment

What is sensory motor nourishment and why does it help with toddler sleep?

toddler climbing out of sand pit

What are your toddler's sensory motor needs?

“Play is the work of the child” Maria Montessori

The Possums Toddler Sleep Program is for families with little people who are from 12 months to three years of age. They have taken that great developmental leap of Homo sapiens, and are walking upright on two legs (or will be soon enough!) with hands free to explore.

Your toddler's brain requires complex multisensory stimulation, and experimentation with movements. Movement is at the very foundations of healthy sensory and social development. Movement, sensory experience, and the development of social skills are inextricably entwined.

Your child's

more articles in superpower #1: milk

  • 4

    minute
    read

    Flexible breastfeeds help make toddler sleep easy
  • 4

    minute
    read

    Breastfeeding your toddler to sleep doesn't cause bad habits
  • 4

    minute
    read

    How to support a breastfeeding woman so that toddler sleep isn't entirely up to her
View full article list
Possum sleep program logo

the possums
baby & toddler
sleep program

about the programfind essentialsspeak to dr pamaudiocode of ethicsterms & conditionsprivacy policyFAQs / help
Dr Pam logo

© Dr Pamela Douglas 2025

visit drpam.baby for more programs