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Depending on the snack, it would alter my opinion.  DD was still nursing during the night at that age.   You do or the person in question does know a child needs to see a dentist as soon as the first tooth comes through right?  At this age, I preferred dd to ask before she ate anything so i could monitor her eating habits.

Solids i definitely preferred i could supervise even though she was pretty good with cheerios at that age.  I wasnt sure if you meant cereal, chips, pretzels, graham crackers etc for the particular snacks.

luckily even though dd was an extended nurser she did not get her first cavity until after she was done nursing and that was not the cause of it.   She has always loved brushing her teeth so we are lucky in that respect and she drinks lots of water.  She is 6 now.

Quoting yperez0209:

I'm specifically speaking about solids being left next to a child's bed unsupervised at 1 and a half. For him to snack on during the night by himself. A child who is nursing is not alone.

The teeth thing is secondary. I don't know if nursing ( breast milk does have sugars in it )  can cause cavities, but formula or regular milk can cause bottle root. Even a child as young as one can get cavities if sugars hang out on there teeth over night.

Quoting frndlyfn:

Depending on the snack, it would alter my opinion.  DD was still nursing during the night at that age.   You do or the person in question does know a child needs to see a dentist as soon as the first tooth comes through right?  At this age, I preferred dd to ask before she ate anything so i could monitor her eating habits.

No, at most a cup of water in case they wanted a drink.  But not anything to eat or drink that would stay on their teeth the rest of the night. When they fall asleep right after eating and without cleaning their teeth, that food stays on their teeth. Saliva and tongue swishing the saliva around doesn't happen the same way when they are asleep, so there is more damage done.

I'm still in shock that a mom would defend this ridiculous point that a child needs nourishment so it's ok to leave food during the night. I believe that beds are sleeping point blank, not eating or jumping or playing.

Quoting prettymomma1204:

That just screams "Choking Hazard!" Little guys (and some older ones) don't understand that you shouldn't lay down to eat or bounce up and down. If  a person is so concerned about their child's physical well-being they should get their lazy buns outa bed and supervise their feeding. Geez! No food in the bed!

I think this does sound odd too. at 1yr old my kids were sleeping through the night. Even my son who was bf slept through the night before 1yr. I would not let my kids have snacks in bed especially at a young age. Even now they don't eat after 8pm usually (my daughter is 7 and goes to bed at 8pm and my son is 2 1/2 and goes to bed around 9:30). If they wake up during the night and are hungry they wake me up and tell me and this only happend once a few weeks ago to my 7yr old who was sick for days and hadn't eaten much at all. A dr once told my grandpa that your stomach sleeps while you sleep (I am sure there are like real medical terms but that is the gneral idea). I think this is true, how else could be go 8+ hours with out feeling hunger at all?

It is of course their call, a mother knows her child better than anyone else. I wonder how often the child actually wakes up and eats and goes back to sleep. At that age my kids were still in a crib and I don't let food or drinks in the bed rooms, that is just me though.