Parents, don't try this at home

A lot of parents give their babies something to drink when they go to bed. It's part of the falling asleep easily process, and seems to work well for a lot of families. With some moms this happens with nursing the baby to sleep and with others it is a bottle of formula. But nonetheless, we learn early on in parenting that bedtime beverage=easier sleep for everyone.

We took Loudoun off all bedtime beverages when we were trying to potty train, in an attempt to make nighttime as dry as daytime. He had no arguments with it, and it stuck as part of the nightly routine. No liquids.

Avalon followed the same pattern as Loudoun...drank milk as a newborn, sipped milk from a bottle as a toddler in a crib, etc.

Then we moved into our new house. Avalon was 2 at the time, and we decided it was the perfect time to switch from the crib to a big girl bed. She was to also move into her own bedroom, after sharing one with her brother since birth.

It went smoothly, because she is so easy going and so is Loudoun. But they didn't want to seperate bedrooms, so we didn't force it and moved her toddler bed into Loudoun's room.

The first night, she asked for a sippy cup of apple juice, and not thinking....

WE SAID YES.

Loudoun asked for one too, since siblings always have to have what the other has. And we said yes.

REPEAT: WE ARE IDIOTS.

Generally speaking, we know it's not smart to give your kids juice at bedtime, since all the sugar just sits on their teeth all night long. But for some lame reason, when they asked, it didn't cross our minds, and we allowed it.

Bottom line?

Loudoun's dentist appointment 1 month prior to moving houses: Perfect checkup.
Loudoun's dentist appointment 8 months after allowing juice: He has multiple cavities. 5 to be exact.

I cried 2 days ago as I stood behind him getting 2 of the cavities filled. There he was, so brave on the outside but yet so frightened on the inside, with 2 ladies working over him holding multiple tools. I could hear the drills and the saliva sucker and wondered what was running through his mind. It was because of our lack of sensible parenting that he was forced to deal with this trauma. Argh, the guilt has been eating me alive inside. I'm just glad we caught it when we did, and fixed our bedtime routine with both kids immediately.

Turns out, Loudoun said it didn't hurt at all, he was fascinated by the numb lip/face afterwards, he scored getting frozen yogurt afterwards and he thought it was pretty cool getting to see his teeth in x-ray form. One more dentist trip and we will have it all fixed, including sealant on all teeth.

But, parents out there, lesson learned...drinks at bedtime seem so easy and comforting to all involved, but they are more trouble than they are worth. Learn from me!