Need Help W/breaking Almost 12 Month Old of Still Waking up at Night to Eat

When my daughters were younger, they wanted to fall asleep with a sippy cup of milk. We let them, but asked the pediatrician for suggestions. He said to fill the cup with water. The child will soon realize it's not worth waking up for a drink of water. Good luck

B.

This time is short, and it is a really hard thing when you don't get sleep. Have you tried bringing him to bed with you with a bottle. My kids both went 19 mos. before they slept the night and now it is like heaven having a full nights rest. It will be over before you know it and he will be off to school...

At this age, your son has most likely developed a "bad" habit of waking up to spend some time with mommy (or daddy). I would recommend checking out Dr. Weissbluth's (sp?) Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. As hard as the first night is, I truly think the best thing for most children is to let them cry until they fall back to sleep. They learn VERY quickly to sleep through the night. It's absolutely awful for the parents to have to listen to, but it's a very important lesson (learning to self soothe) that your son needs to learn. Good luck.

Hi C.,
My daughter at 11 months would still wake every 3-4 hours so I can feel your pain! After asking the Ped. and being assured that she could actually make it through the night (I was convinced she couldn't) my husband took charge. We did our regular routine at bedtime(bath, kissing her brothers, mom & dad, etc) then off to bed she went. When she did wake up Dad would go in and give her the pacifer back and out he'd go. For whatever reason dad going in kept it to once a night for about three days and then happy sleeping she went through the night. I still hear about it from my husband (she will be 2 in November) but it was worth it!
Good Luck to all of you!

We had the same situation. First of all is he waking up at the same time every night? Our doctor told us to ignore it. Yes, it is a lot of crying and screaming (I had a lot of pillows over my head and it is sad as mom), but it took a week and now we all sleep through the night:)

Hi C.. I am sorry this is hard on you- it is on all of us moms. My son did the same thing until well over a year and I was then pregnant again. It just got to the point to bite the bullet and let him cry it out. He should get everything he needs during the day and he will keep getting up as long as you let him. We just developed a bed time routine- same thing every night and let him cry it out. It was horrible. My husband and I held eachother and cried and just after 3 nights he was sleeping through the night on his own. He is almost 8 now and does not remember that and we are very close.

I'm so sorry you aren't sleeping. I remember those days! I'm not sure if you have done this or not, but I remember cluster feeding during the day helped sleeping at night. I realize he's probably eating some table food, but if you increase the amount you are giving him during the day, sometimes it helps them sleep through the night. I also had to finally let my son cry it out. It was painful, but I would go into the room to make sure he was okay. I wouldn't say a word, but I would lay him down and tuck him in and then leave. This went on for a few days, when he finally realized he wasn't going to get a bottle or a snuggle from me, he stopped and slept through the night. Best of luck to you...

C.,

I tried everything too with my son. He was 12 months and still waking once a night to eat. I will tell you what my doctor told me as well as some of the other moms on here. Let him cry it out. Decreasing the amount I gave him or even doing the water in the bottle trick didn't work for him. My doctor told me that he isn't hungry, he just has a bad habit. He was old enough and big enough that his body could support him through the night without having to eat. So NO harm is being done to him, he just has to reprogram himself into sleeping and not eating. If you always come with the bottle then of course he's going to keep looking for it. You just have to cut him off. Some children are more tenacious than the next. My son took 3 days of crying. About an hour the first night, maybe 30 minutes the next and few minutes of moaning the third. And that was it.

We gave my son a sippy cup of water.

He was still waking up once a night to eat until very recently (he's about to turn two) -- it went a few months. But he was a preemie and was genuinely hungry, and I suspect going through a growth spurt.

We took our son to his 1 year appointment last Monday and I asked the doctor the same thing. Ryan was RELENTLESS about a middle of the night feeding. She said at a year he needs to be off bottles and using a sippy cup for his whole milk intake. He doesn't need the feeding at night at all and he has just been conditioned to want to eat then.

He had his last bottle that day and we haven't given in. When he woke up at 3AM the first night, I offered him a sippy cup with some formula (she said to use up what we had). He drank it and fussed for awhile and went to sleep. After a couple of nights, he's stopped waking up. He's also stopped the before bed-bottle/milk and has been fine.

Yes, there was some crying, but we comforted him by holding him, rocking him and offered him his pacifier (he only uses it at bed time).

This weekend, he's slept all the way through and wakes up at 6:00AM for the day.

Different doctors have different ideas/methods so I would chat with him/her.

Good luck.

I'd try a bottle about a half hour or an hour before bed, with some solid food to keep his belly full. There may be something else going on as well - if he's about to start walking, or if he's cutting teeth, he's bound to wake up a bit at night. At least that's what happened with mine. Once I cut the bottle out at 14 months, we had much less in the way of night time wakings. For some reason, the hardest bottle for us to stop was the early am one when he first woke up, but as long as he was fed a little while before bedtime, he didn't give us trouble going to sleep. Your little guy may just be getting ready to walk (if he isn't already) or reach some other milestone. Don't fret too much. This too shall pass. ;-)

Is he eating enough during the day? When my daughter was an infant she would wake up more at night if she wasn't eating enough during the day. Not that you aren't feeding him on purpose or anything:^) Sometimes the wee ones get distracted crawling around and whatnot.

Good luck!

with my son (now 2 yrs) we had the exact same situation...I knew he didn't NEED the bottle at night, but he still woke up and wouldn't go back down without it...so instead of milk or formula we started giving him water at night...over the course a couple weeks, he drank less and less of the water and eventually didn't even need to bottle to go back to sleep (just needed some cuddles or comforting)...now at 2 (actually it's been quite a while...) we have absolutely NO nighttime wake up calls unless something is wrong...well good luck...:)

Try adding water to that bottle, a little more each night, until it's a bottle of water. Then just leave it where he can reach it. When you tend to him have him get it, and guide hims hand as you say get your bottle. Eventually just tell him to get his bottle.

He will compensate during the day for not getting that feeding at night. Just let him cry it out. You will not regret the hours of anxiety listening to this for a day or two when you begin to get to sleep again. Don't worry about the 3 yr old, she will catch up on lost sleep from him crying. Don't buy that nagging thought that you are not a very loving mother because you let him cry. This is your first experience with tough love and it won't be your last.

Both of my kids got a bottle at night(only bottle they got from 8 mos on) with cereal in it. By 10 1/2 mos. they both were up to 2 formula scoops filled with cereal in an 8 oz. bottle. Both kids slept through the night from 6 wks. on. It is becoming a habbit, but he may also be hungry. Try filling him up before bed and see what happens. Good Luck!

Ask your pediatrician.