2 Year Old Gets up Every Night for Milk

We had a similar problem with my son back in January. He was sick and was waking up, so we started giving him a bottle (he hadn't been eating very much, and we wanted to get something in his stomach). Even after he got better, he kept waking up - it had bacome almost a routine. I was pregnant with #2 and due in a few weeks, and decided that there was no way I could have my older son up in the middle of the night while I was also trying to deal with a new baby. The next night he cried, I went him to him but didn't pick him up (rubbed his back) and that was it. He cried for what seemed like forever - and my husband got angry with me - but it worked. He stopped waking up in the middle of the night. Since then, he has gotten his molars and has had a few nights of waking up, but if it starts to seem like he's forming a new pattern, I quickly nip it in the bud. I would rahter have one night of fussing and/or crying (and little sleep) than many, many nights of uninterrupted sleep!

Good luck!

Explain to him that he's a big boy now and milk is bad for his teeth when it sits on them all night long. Then leave a sippy cup of water next to his bed and tell him he can have a drink of water when he gets thirsty.

My children are older now, however, something has changed in your daily routine. He notices it, if not he may be thirsty try water. With the heat little ones cannot distinguish between thirst and hunger if he recently stopped drinking a bottle he is thirsty and needs more to drink. Hope it helps.
C.

Hi E., I think you could leave a sippy cup (dripless) in his bed and let him know it is there. If all he wants is milk he can drink it and go back to sleep. Sometimes at 2 or 3 children develop fears and just need reassurance that you are still there. I am not sure what the issue is but try leaving a cup for him and see if that works. As mothers we don't always get things the way we want but you can try. My best, Grandma Mary

I wonder if it is weather related, he's probably outside more and just may be thirstier. I leave a water bottle by my kids beds everynight. You don't want to have him drink milk or juice in the night unless you brush his teeth again, it could lead to tooth decay.

Maybe the first night was a nightmare or something then then second night he woke up again and decided he liked your company at night and when you responded he figured that this is acceptable behavior. There is no physical reason why he needs to drink in the middle of the night. This is a way to get attention in the middle of the night when he should be sleeping. This is a setup for rotten teeth, unless you have him brush his teeth after the milk. Try leaving a sippy cup of water next to his bed and that night before bed explain to him that he can't get up out of bed and that mommy & daddy need to sleep and so does he. Explain that he can have his milk in the morning.
You also don't say if he is potty trained or not. This will make night time potty training really difficult if you keep it up. I would cut out the before bed drink and snack too. Otherwise he will be wetting the bed every night once he is out of diapers. It's not necessary either. His body has just gotten used to eating at this time. Slowly transition to water and a smaller snack at night and then eventually drop it.

It's typical for kids and adults to wake up in the middle of the night for a drink. The problem is the milk. If you don't have him brush his teeth right after drinking the milk, he will get cavities due to the natural sugar content in the milk. You have to insist on just water in the middle of the night.

seems he is extra thirsty, try monitoring his fluid intake throughout the day and encourage him to drink some WATER right before bed time.Also make sure he has a snack aswell, fruit or a bread

Hi E.,

He doesn't need milk at night and it's setting up for a habit that you eventually have to break. We all wake up thirsty at night. Leave a spillproof cup of water in his crib/bed for him so that he can have his drink and not need to wake Mom or Dad :) Let him know that big boys don't wake Mommy and Daddy because they are thirsty, they can take a drink from their own cup and go back to sleep, and you don't need to know about it.
Good luck!

My son has done the same thing since he was about the same age. He's 4 now and every night he wakes up still for that drink. My husband and I just leave out a cup of water for him at night before we go to bed. If the kid is thirsty, I say let him drink. Its a basic right. :) My son has always drank lots of fluids. His father does, and so does his uncle..I guess the boys on dad's side of the family are just that way! If you think about it, all he is doing is getting a drink and going right back to bed no problem right? He will get enough sleep don't worry. As every parent say's..pick and choose your battles.:) Good luck!

It could be thirst. Put a sippy cup of water in reach. When he cries, go in and show him where it is. After a day or so, he'll remember it's there.

Hopefully that's the problem. He doesn't need the milk at night if he's eating/drinking sufficiently during the day. He might just like the attention he gets from you. My 2YO does this a lot. So I go in, give a quick kiss, recover her and get out. Good luck!!

My son who just turned two started doing the same thing a couple of weeks ago. I put a small table next to his bed, and started leaving a sippy cup of water for him. At first, he was sitting up every two or three minutes to have water and put it back because it was a new game, but now that the novelty has worn off, when he wakes up he will take a sip and go back to sleep. Hope that helps!

HI E.,
If you keep giving him milk he is going to keep getting hungry during the night. The next time he wakes up give him a bottle of water. He is probably just thirsty, when you give him milk it is making his belly full.
Good Luck.
J.

my son went thru that for a little bit and once I had enough, I just said "No Milk at night, you can have it when the sun comes in your window" some nights in the beginning (if I was sleepy) I just said "Milk all gone til Morning" he cried himself back to sleep a few times, but realistically I know he didn't need it and he was safe, so cry if you really need to, he only cried for 5 min or so. Also at one point, I started puttinga little 4 oz snack cup with water in it (and a sippy lid) figuring that doesn't hurt much and if he really feels he needs something he has that so I'm not a total meany

He's probably going through a growth spirt. try adding a little more protein to his before the bed snack.

Part of it could be habit too, but I would make sure it is not just hunger pains before I tried to break the habit.

My first thought is that it's weather related, since it's been much hotter and more humid. I would tell him he can have water at night, and maybe give him a sippy cup of water in his bed, and show it to him, explaining that, if he gets thirsty, there's his water.

If he's actually hungry, maybe increasing his calories during the daytime might help? Could be a growth spurt.

I had this problem with my 2nd daughter...

2 suggestions..

First, I told her we ran out of milk, and I'd get some tomorrow.. Second, I put a water cup next to her bed, and at bedtime told her to use it if she got thirsty at night.

(Bottle mouth can happen from a sippy cup filled with milk, as easily as a bottle..) She didn't like that at first.. the milk was what she was used to, and associated it with sleep...

Also, though my daughter was waking up because it became a habit to do so, and drink or not, she simply wanted me there, because she was accustomed to me being there whenever she fell asleep...

So we "Ferber-ized" her and she stopped expecting my presence. It gradually stopped, and the habit was broken for good...

Maybe he's going through a growth spurt so he's hungry more? That's all I can think of! :-)
Lynsey

Hi E., I have an almost 2 year old as well and he has started in the last month or so getting up in the middle of the night asking for milk too. We've switched his last sippy of the night to just water a few months ago; so at night when he asks for it, we just keep with the routine of just water (no milk). It was hard but he's finally gotten use to it and does not ask for milk anymore. Also I realized that he seems to be getting his second set of molars and something cold to drink was soothing to his gums. (Something he did when he was first teething!) Good Luck!!

he may be more thirsty because of the warm weather. lia has been drinking more water before bed. this is the only fluid she gets offered after dinner. watch this pattern closely. a new onset of increased thirst could be a sign of diabetes. while i am a big believer it is behavioral--seems to be a trend on here with our 2yo's these days-it could be legit. i agree with those who suggested to offer the sippy cup of water closeby. if he still calls for you after a few days, it's behavioral. i'm a ferberizer. works like a charm in this house.

Hi E. - The first thing I picked up on is the snack before bed. Most doctors say that this will lead to obesity. Ihave seen many chldren who eat before bedtime only to gain lots of weight in adolesent years. If he is very hungry before bed make sure his snack is a healthy one like fresh fruit or yogurt. Stay away from cookies, cereal and other sugar and starch laden foods. Other than that try switching his middle of the night drink to water and leave it with him near his bed so he can get it himself, if it's a sippy cup there should be no spills.
Good luck G. L.

When my daughter was 2 she did the same thing. Everyone told me not to give it to her tell her it was night time. But I didn't listen. I gave her the milk and she went back to bed. This lasted for a little while and soon she started to sleep through the night again. She is now 4 years old and we don't have any sleep issues. My 22 month old is starting to do the same thing. I think it is just a comfort thing and thirst just like anyone else.