Getting My 1 Year Old to Sleep Through the Night

My pediatrician recommended waking my kids up just before I went to bed for a "final feeding" to hopefully make them sleep longer.

This sounds within the range of normal to me. The medical definition of "sleeping through the night" is a five to six-hour stretch, and he's doing that. He's hitting a ton of milestones and growth spurts and burning calories like crazy, and he doesn't eat for the social reasons that adults do, so unless there's a reason you think it's a problem, it seems reasonable to feed him or at least let him check-in emotionally.
You might like the book "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley. Good luck!

This is totally a habit. If there are no other health issues, then yes - a one year old should be capable of sleeping all the way through the night (and to me - sleeping through the night is the whole stretch - not just 5-6 hours...)

I would try weaning off the nighttime bottle. When he wakes, give him one ounce less than the night before. When he gets down to just an ounce or two, it's possible that he will just stop waking up. If not, then try this. If he's not crying, let him fuss. If he cries, go in to him, but don't get him out of the crib. Talk to him, lay him back down, soothe him - only stay a couple of minutes & then leave again, even if he is crying. Come back in a few minutes & repeat the process - just don't take him out of the crib. Wait a longer period of time (a few minutes longer than last time) and then go in again. Leave the room for a longer & longer stretch of time. He will stop crying - although it may take awhile. The next night, it won't take as long & within a week, chances are he'll stop waking up. To make this even more effective, try it each time you put him to bed so that he learns to fall asleep on his own in the crib without your help - that is if he doesn't do that already. It may be painful for about a week, but it will pay off in the long run. Good luck!

When you are used to eating at a certain time, you are hungry at that time- not because you must eat, but because it is a habit and your body grows to expect it. (ever go through a time when you skipped breakfast most days? You weren't hungry for it after a while, right? becuase you weren't used to eating it). Try replacing some of the bottle of milk with water, like maybe half of what he usually drinks of milk + another bottle with some water. Then more and more water to try and train his body not to eat in the middle of the night. By one year, he can easily sleep 10-12 hours a night straight through. Wouldn't that be great?

I have not heard other responses so maybe this will help and maybe it won't. For me when I decided to wean my kids, they were down to that one feeding around 5 AM, and one before bed. I talked to my little girl about it and she seemed to understand, she fought me a little, but once I explained it to her,she didn't care and she automatically gave up the 5 AM feeding by herself. My little boy was different, he was easy on the one before bed but wasn't giving up that 5 AM feeding, so I had daddy go in instead of me and just lay him down everytime he would wake up, and it only took a couple of nights to figure it out. If that is an option for you I would suggest it, my husband was willing even though he was working just because he knew in the long run it would be worth it for all of us. If it's not an option you could do it, it just might take longer because they seem to sense that mommy has more of a soft spot and might give in. Ha ha. It should still work though.
Hope that helps

This may sound harsh, but in no way do i intend on sounding mean or pushy. When your boy wakes up, don't go in there. Let him cry. He is old enough that he doesn't really need food at night, it is now just a habit for him. Will it be hard? HECK yes. But not for long. If he gets really really worked up, go in and rub his back, calm him down and let him know mommy is still there, but don't pick him up. Don't offer him food. Make sure he is not dirty, and go back to bed. I know how hard it is, but it will be better for both of you in the end.
Good luck!

My own did the same. I substituted the milk with water. But my limit is that if he wakes up before 4 am, he gets water. After that he gets milk. I am a stickler on time. I know it sounds funny, but I am. If he wakes up at 3:50 am he will get a bottle of water. If he doesn't want it and cries, then he will cry until 4 am, then I give him a bottle of milk. But mine was up every 3 hours for milk, so I have slowly pushed it back. So if your little guy is up at (about) 2 am, then start by pushing it to 3 am before you give in.
The other thing that helps is having your husband help calm him down...they know that mom's give in and what buttons to push to get you to give in.

Good luck

Have you ever thought about taking your baby in for a Chiropractic exam? Chiropractic care is a safe, gentle, natural, non-invasive, and drugless way to remove any forms of interference to your health. Many newborns experience colic, trouble nursing, lack of appetite, frequent ear infections or other signs of poor health.

Having your baby do a chiropractic examination can determine if there is possible birth trauma to the spine. Most Chiropractors will do a complimentary consultation and exam...it might be worth it just to see what the state of your babies is in.

Wish I could remember the specifics with my kids. Doesn't sound like you have it too bad. Keep in mind that if he starts sleeping through the 2 am, it will probably still happen later in the morning, so don't expect any instant cures.

Some suggestions include putting some white noise outside his room - like an air filtration unit. Helps drown out some noise, but also gives a sense of security too. Move any clocks, baby monitors, or TVs out of the room. Unplug your WiFi routers at night. Electromagnetic fields can interrupt sleep patterns. A natural option you can try is putting a magnetic/infrared pet pad underneath the sheet. There are many kids that struggle with getting good quality sleep. I have many amazing stories I can tell you about these natural technologies as well as research studies. www.nikken.com/sleepcenter has an overview of the adult sleep technologies. Email me if you want to know more info or how to get the products at the best price. Sleep is so critical to good health (both his and yours!).

Please let me know how I can help you.
S.

It is most likely a comfort thing. Most kids don't NEED middle of the night feedings after about 6 months. You are probably getting to the point where you need to let him cry it out. It is not fun, but it will work - usually in just a day or two. We finally let our son do that at 10 months and he has been a great sleeper ever since. Before that he was waking up several times a night.

That said, occasionally kids do go through growth spurts where he might need to eat more during the day or make up for it at night. This should not last long, however. Usually we notice that our son eats more and sleeps more every so often, then is back to normal. Just growing.

At one year old, he may also be having some teething pain. Hylands teething tablets (homeopathic) always worked wonders for us.

Good luck!

All kids vary. My oldest didn't sleep truly through the night for a while I think like 14 mos.
If your son is going through a growth spurt he could be hungry.
However it can too become a habit. Having a bottle at night isn't good for his teeth, try a sippy if he wakes up and has some and goes back to sleep.
You can try and let him fuss it out for up to 15 minutes, which I only started when my kids turned a year old. Growth spurts, teething all throw off sleep habits though.
Try just checking in on him without giving him anything to eat and see if he settles back in. That won't work if he is really hungry though but I would break the bottle habit big time at night. It is so bad for their teeth.
I took all bottles away at the year mark for both of mine and they never even noticed!
The bottle can soothe teething issues too so make sure he isn't using it for that. Try motrin before bed or teething tablets if you feel he is waking due to teething instead of using food to soothe him.
He sounds like he is doing great, though I know that stretch is hard when you have to get up at 2am. If you can break him of wanting to eat for comfort or habit then he will probably do better. Also try putting him down a little earlier, in my opinion only, 8 or 9 seems really late for a one year old. My kid at that age were in bed no later then 7 and even now my 4 year old is in bed by 7:30 and sleeps until 7:00. My seven year old is in bed by 8 and sleeps until 7:00.
Good luck! Just try and break the bottle habit, take them away, take him to pick up fun sippies and strawed cups! You will be happy later with the dental visits, promise!

That sounds like ahabit to me. If he was hungary, the cereal would work. You can try oatmeal (which just worked like a charm for my 16 mo. old). If that doesn't work you'll have to slowly wean him off the bottle during the night.