Hi mama's
I am having another problem with my 17 month old daughter. For the last 2 weeks she has been waking up every night twice a night for a bottle. Is this normal? Is she maybe just going through a growth spurt? I am exhausted from waking up all night and getting really frustrated. She goes to sleep around 830 and then she is awake around midnight and then 3 or 4 then finally ready to be up all day at 6 or 630. We started putting cereal back in her milk at night, but that is not doing any help. She gets plenty of walks and interaction with other kids all day. But for some reason she is not sleeping well. Any suggestions???
Thanks!
Well mama's,
I read through all the suggestions and decided to take a peek through her mouth. She has 2 HUGE molars proding through her gums! Hopefully teething is just the case. Also, my daughter only has a bottle before she goes to bed. She has a sippy cup during the day with milk and water, but the bottle only comes out at night when we rock her. Yes we still rock her, and thats okay for now I believe because she is the only child. I did however talk to her dentist and he suggested starting to slowly replace the milk at night with water. He said this wont be so hard on her teeth at night. So thanks everyone for your thoughts and imput :-) Us mama's gotta stick together! Thanks!
Instead of giving her a bottle when she wakes up, leave a non leaking sippie cup of water in her crib. She may just be thirsty. She could take a drink and go back to bed on her own. Both of mine take water to bed, one is five and one is two. Neither of them will go to bed without it.
You really need to google "sleep regressions." There is no cure for these, but after some time your daughter will go back to sleeping as she normally did.
My kids both went through spurts when they would wake up. Does she have any toys on her crib she can play with? Have you tried letting her cry it out or play in her crib to sooth herself back to sleep? She's too old to be needing a bottle at night. My guess is it's you she's wanting. Try letting her deal with being up on her own 15 minutes at a time. If she keeps crying for that long, go in but don't interact with her and don't give her a bottle...you don't want her used to a bottle in the middle of the night. Keep us posted on how it goes.
She has gotten into a bad habit and she's being rewarded with a bottle and some attention every time she does it. You'll have to stop going in. First stop the bottles, tell her it's time to go back to sleep, etc... then leave. Don't go back in. These phases come and go - the trick is not to let them snowball into big problems.
Try moving her bedtime back a little and limit any naps she takes during the day. My daughter is now 2 and I've moved her bedtime back to 9:30 to get her to sleep until 7. I avoid letting her nap after 5 p.m. and wake her up by this time if she has a late nap. Also, I've started waking her up after 1.5 hours of nap. Like you, I was worn out from getting up throughout the nightime and trying to get her back to sleep. I also give her a pacifier to sleep with. She only gets it at bedtime and it has really helped out. No bottle, though. She falls alseep, the bottle falls over and leaks all over her bed. I don't want to have to wash her sheets every day. This has worked well for me and my daughter, but each child is different. Good luck.
She may be working in getting in her 2 year molars - did she get any of her teeth early? My son is 17 months old and sometimes wakes at night, but puts himself back to sleep. I think it may be tooth pain. He can ignore it during the day when he is playing, but it bothers him more at night. I would suggest putting a stop to feeding her in the middle of the night. She is more than old enough to make it through the night without eating, but if she expects you to come in with milk, she's going to want it. It may take some time - possibly crying it out or fiding ways to distract her till she falls back to sleep.
Good luck
J.
It's hard to say why a child wakes through the night. She's about on the same schedule as me...lol! I have no objection to the bottle & I think more people give their kids a bottle past a year than are willing to openly admit it because of the stigma. When did it become a sin to give your child a bottle? Mine took a very thick cereal bottle in the night until they were three! Have you recently switched her to whole milk or has she been on it for a while? My youngest had quit sleeping, even napping, at 13 months & it was misery & I just found out a year ago (he's 9) that he had a milk allergy & that is what kept him from sleeping. We treated his allergy through NAET & he's fine with milk, now. Could be another food allergy, if there's something she's just been eating. Teeth could be an issue. If it hasn't been going on long it could be the start of an ear infection. She may just be going through a growth spurt & is hungry. My kids always ate around the clock (practically still do) & no they're not fat at all. Is she crying when she wakes or just up & ready to play? I didn't look to see where you're at, but we have a kids line you can call & ask any questions...it's 314-454-kids. Of course if they're going to ridicule the bottle - you don't need that; they're ususally really friendly & there for YOU, the few times I've talked to them. I also have ALWAYS resorted to a chiropractor with my kids when I wasn't sure what was causing something...sometimes they have a muscle or joint out of place (they're active little monsters;)& that can cause alot of problems. My oldest would sometimes take a 4 hour nap after he saw the chiropractor because he finally felt better & most are very inexpensive for children, some are free for a certain age. I know I wasn't much help! Hope you get some sleep soooon!!
our daughter went through a phase of not wanting to go to sleep. Also we got rid of the bottle at 10 months old and have done solid foods since around 6-8 months. try giving her some table food instead of baby food. it could be her diet is no longer working for her. also what kind of milk are you using? if it is still formula it probably is no longer filling her up. she should be on regular whole milk by now unless she is lactose intolerant.
Just try changing her diet and see how that helps. Maybe she is to tired when you put her down that she wakes herself up. try a soothing lotion with lavendar and chamomile. I know at one point I had to change the sheets because our daughter had gotten crumbs on them and they irritated her while sleeping.
I don't have any advice for you but I wanted to let you know you are not alone. My son sometimes randomly wakes up in the middle of night. And if it is a rough night we bust the bottle back out. He doesn't take it regularly but I know it will calm him. I know that the bottle should be completely gone at this stage (oh my son is also 17 months) but sometimes we give in.
We do a bedtime snack for our kids and a small cup of milk. This can help keep their bellies full through the night. The other thing is she might be breaking in new teeth. Keep some teething rings in the freezer and try giving her one to chew on instead of a bottle or give her one sip of milk and then the teething ring. Last, some babies just need to cry it out a little bit. She is probably developing a bad sleeping habit and if you play into it before trying these other things, it could get worse. If she's not sick or in pain and she's had a good dinner and bedtime snack, then she's probably just wanting some attention. You have to do what is best for her and you.
I highly recommend contacting 1st Parents thru your school district! They will have a multitude of on-target age-appropriate info for your daughter. I was really surprised to hear that your daughter took a bottle at all.....sorry. Most children are completely off the bottle by 12 months.
Soooo, that said, it would seem that your daughter...has learned to be rewarded with a bottle when she can't sleep & is upping the ante on the nightly game! Time to pull the bottle & go cold turkey. At 17 months, she's definetly old enough to understand the concept of being a "big girl" & using a cup. Actually at 17 months, she could be using a lidless cup with assistance!
& I'm not saying this so that your daughter complies with current norms. After working 6+ years in the dental field - I have learned the importance of not giving bottles at night. The acid just eats away at those baby teeth! Good luck & I wish you Peace.
