Lots of Drinking at Night

If they make him in his size, I find the Goodnights diapers to work great for the super night drinker. Night time Pull-Ups work well also, but they are not quite as absorbent as the Goodnights. They are a little more pricey, but it so beats washing PJ's and sheets daily.

First of all, you need to break the habit of having your child sleep in your bed. And once you have broken your child of the bottle and is comfortable using a sippy cup, you never go back to a bottle. That could be your problem. Giving him a bottle at night like when he was young. Sounds like a security thing to me. I really don't understand why the child wants to wake up every so often for something to drink. I would attempt to let you child cry for 15-30 minutes and see if she/he goes back to sleep. I think you need to talk to your pediatrician. My son is 20 months old and once he is asleep, he is asleep until morning. It's been that way since about 9 months. And he was weened off the bottle around 14 months. Good luck!

I had the same problem until about 2 weeks ago. My twins were driving me crazy with their night time screams for milk so I gradually started watering down their milk until it was just plain old water. For about a week they were still drinking the water but as of about 3 days ago, they have blessedly stopped asking for the water! They still are dependent on the bottle but I will gradually take that away little by little because when I took the bottle away from my oldest child, she completely stopped drinking milk so I don't want to do that yet. Anyway, as far as the diaper that doesn't leak, I know they have night diapers and also these kotex-looking things that are called diaper doublers sold at Publix. I put them on at night for extra protection and so far they have been wonderful. Good luck!

You absolutely have to stop allowing him to have a bottle. I am sure that your pediatrician would not be pleased to hear that he is still drinking from a bottle at 20 months old. You have to put him to bed in his own room without the bottle or any drink at night. When he wakes up in the night, just go in his room and tell him that it is still night time and he has to go back to sleep. He may cry..........even for an hour or two straight, but every night it will get less and less. Tonight is a good night to start since it is the weekend. By Monday he should either be sleeping the whole night or pretty close to it. I would also speak to the pediatrician about testing for diabetes. Excessive thirst is a huge indication of diabetes (I myself am a diabetic). I hope this helps. Both of my girls have been sleeping the night since they were 3 months old. Whatever you do, don't waver!

I don't get the impression from the post that she minds that he is sleeping in her bed so I don't understand why people keep making suggestions to put him in his own bed. It wouldn't solve either of her problems, she'd still have him waking for drinks and wetting.
Definitely rule out any medical problems and for the drinking I would say try Dr. Jay Gordon's weaning technique in his book "Good Nights" (a book for those who co-sleep). The technique is also at http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/ap/sleep.asp

It might be that you are putting him in the wrong size diaper. Go up a size. My daughter has wide hips, but weighed less than the diapers we gave her. Whenever she leaked we went up a size. We use huggies. Try the night ones. The one thing I learned from my daughter is that usually next stage (stopping the bottle, stopping the baby food, trying to potty train and other stages) it took about two weeks to get over the changes and then it was over. I am sure you have experienced this before with your other children. It's just a bump in the road, that's totally forgetable after the ordeal is overwith. Good luck! Jen

my 11 month old is the same way. so right now instead of a 8 ozbottle she gets 4 oz and its water and milk 50/50. next weekI am cuttign it down to 2 oz. thats what I am trying well see.

good luck,
H.

Throw out the bottles!

One of my twins went through this and the same thing with the diaper soaking pees at night. I think its because of their age it is just too much for the diaper. Especially pull-ups forget it.

Your best bet is to throw out the bottles. Then you tell him before he goes to bed you can't find the bottles or there's no more bottle. This is so you can not give in even if you want to ;> Talk with your husband and explain that you guys are going to have to suffer one or two nights until your son knows you're for real (maybe a weekend, so you can sleep in next day!) You can have a little bit of water in a cup for him-he will not drink anywhere near as much from a cup. When he gets up, calmly explain to him that he is a big boy and he drinks from a cup now and offer him the cup. He is going to test you, the key is to stay calm and keep putting him back to bed- do not argue with him or feed into any crying, etc. Stay firm.

Good luck!

A.

Yes, you have put youself in a tough spot. the only quick fix remedy is to break his habit over a weekend, have your husband and other kids go somewhere else all weekend so its just you and the young one. Put him to bed, in his own bed, and give him something to drink if you want to but I think knock them both out. And then let him cry, he wont cry all night, but he will cry. And do it again the next night, but try a somewhat routine as much as possible with putting him to bed. The sooner the better. And also, if you have not tried something called a "diaper double" sold at Publix and Albersons, its like a pad but for a diaper. And dont give him so much in his bottles and just make it water, anything else is not good for his teeth. Its basically now or never, and if you dont leave him in his bed all night he will learn that as long as he cries long enough or wakes everyone else up mom will come get him. It will be hard, but it will be harder the longer you wait.

you could try to point out to him 'day' and 'night'
all day long tell him "look. see the sun? it's daytime! this is when we eat and drink"
all. day. long.
then, at night- "look it's night time! you can see the stars!" this is a bit harder because it's getting darker later...
then you tell him "we don't drink at night. night is sleeping time."
lather rinse repeat (that's just me trying to be funny...)
but anyway, I'd try to make a 'rule' about no drinks/bottles whatever past dinner...or before bed...

as for him in your bed- that's up to you. I would try to address the drinking at night issue first, but that's just me.

Hello A. B,

I would add some cereal or oatmeal at night in his bottle, so he can sleep through the night for you. If you have to double up on his diapers, or put 1 diaper on and a pull-up panty over the diaper. To prevent leaks. Try these remedies.

I hope my suggestions help.

Sincerely,

G. H.

forst i would ask your doctor, as i have heard that being thirsty all the time can be a sign of diabetes - not to scare you , but rule out anything medical first!
after that i would try to wean him from drinking at night by showing him that at night we do not eat or drink - only during the day, even draw him pictures with "rules" - it helps my son alot when i write it down for him. good luck!

hi A., i have a twenty four month old with similiar problems. even though it doesnt sound like its quite as ogten as yours is. anyways. i always make sure her cup is filled before i got to bed, and if i happen to get up in the middle of the night i usually always go check it and if it needs it fill it back up. sometimes though i dont get up and i have her coming into my room at night screaming at me about her bottle. its something that i have learned to live with. my daughter is consatntly thirsty and she is in great helth no problems. i think its the age. its like the eating phases they go through when they are about to have a growth spurt.i think they do the same thing when it comes to drinking. my daughter also has a tendency to have leaky diapers. i tried every diaper out there before i found this great way to handle the problem. i use publix brand diapers and these things called diaper doubles. they carry them at publix as well. they are like little pads that you put in diapers that soak up extra fluid and they work great. you definitely think you should try them out. once again always make sure his diaper is dry before you go to sleep andjust put one of these bad boys in and you shouldnt have to worry about his diapers leaking anymore. good luck girl and know that you arent the only one going through this.

I would check with your pediatrician. There may be an underlying cause to his constant thirst... especially since you mentioned that he's thirsty all day and night.

If your doctor rules out any sort of physical cause, then you just need to accept that you'll have 2-3 rough nights breaking him of the habit. You need to stick to your guns no matter how much crying he does. It's rough, I've been through similar situations. But the good news is that it doesn't usually take more than 3 nights. Good luck!

Not to scare you, but....wanting to drink all the time could be a sign of diabetes. Check with your pediatrician. Put a thick maxi pad in the diaper, it helps.....