Sleep Tips- 10 Month Old Still Wakes to Feed-

I always put some baby cereal in there bed time bottle and poke a little bit bigger hole in the nipple so they can suck it through it will give her a full belly before bed she needs to eat three times a day and can have almost anything as long as it is not a choking hazard. She probably is hungry I would of couse try to stick with healthy foods!

Your baby should be eating a dinner meal about the size of her fist. about 1-2 hours before bedtime, and a bottle at bedtime is ok but not necessary if she is full enough already. I found that a protien rich diet before bed stays in the tummy longer than fruits & vegies and so my kids are likely to sleep longer at one time. if you havn't started on meats yet feed heavier vegies like spinach and fruits like banna vs rice puddings or macaroni. if you think she is conditioned try rocking/ cuddeling her back to sleep and if she sleeps easily enough then she probably isn't hungry, but if she fusses for more than 10 min or so I'd say feed the poor thing :)

Maybe she is at the point where she needs more food and a bit less sleep. You might start changing the pattern by giving her more food in the daytime and try to make her naps shorter.

I have a 5 1/2 month old and all of sudden she wanted to eat and eat and eat. She was eating 2 9oz bottles with in an hour and half. Then went right to sleep at around 7pm. She slept through the night after that. So after a few of nights of the 18 oz. I tried giving her cereal which she wont swallow. So we tried mixing cereal & apple sauce into her bottle, cutting the tip of the nipple to allow it to flow out. She eat one 6oz mixed bottle and is down for the count now. sleeping a good 10-12 hour stretch. I would try giving her one of these bottles before putting her to bed for the night.

Hi S.
I think that she already figured out that during the night if she cries she gets a bottle and during day she doesn't. When my daughter did the same thing I was giving her a bottle with milk and cereal mixed at bed time, to last her longer. Other idea would be try to give her water instead of milk when she cries; might be that she's just thirsty and a few sips will satisfy her and will not drink a full bottle just for pleasure; like she does with the milk. If is not teething and no other real problems I think you can try to let her cry. You have to be consistent with this method day or night and never underestimate you child's ability to manipulate you. I know,it sound bizarre but you know your child better, try to figure that out.
Good luck.

I think you have created a new schedule for her and she has gotten use to it. If you had food three times a night waiting for you, I think we would all wake up for it. I think you should try the three day cry again. It is hard to do, but it works and with some children it takes longer than three days. This is a pattern she is use to so it may take a little longer. You cannot walk in the room for any reason during this process and I recommend putting classical music in her room and I guarantee this will work and you will have her sleeping through the night again. She should be getting everything her body needs for food during the day. That is a hole lot of milk for her if she is getting solids also. Good luck, you can do it. It is very hard but you need to re-teach her a good normal routine again.

Maybe add a little rice in her bottle to thicken it up. Get her belly full. I think you are on the right track of thinking that she isn't getting enough during bedtime. She could be going through a growth spurt too. They grow so fast.

I am a mom of two. Both of my children went through patterns of night waking when they reached big developmental milestones such as sitting up or getting up on hands and knees. Is it possible that your 10 month just reached a major milestone?

Also, I have used and recommend the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth with great results. It's helped me understand more about how infants and toddlers sleep. It has helped me understand the relationship between sleep and hunger. It has also helped me determine if they were getting enough sleep during transitions when my child was ready (or not ready) to drop a nap.

Hi S....it can't hurt to feed her some cereal or something else right before bedtime. Tell me a little more about "crying it out at night doesn't work." Does she cry from midnight until 5:00 a.m.? We had to go through the cry it out routine w/both of our girls (at the suggestion of our pediatrician) and the first night she cried for 3 hours straight! The 2nd night it was only about 90 minutes, the 3rd night 20 minutes and that was it. It was really hard to do it, but it was worth it. At 10 months old, she really should be able to put herself back to sleep at night so maybe try the cry it out thing again and see how it goes.

Good luck...I remember only to well how hard this phase is.

L.

P.S. I'm a stay at home mom to 8 and 5 year old girls.

You may be right about this. She may really be hungry especially if she finishes the bottle before going back to sleep. Try adding a bit more substance to the last bottle like some cereal or having a snack before brushing and bedtime.

Too many naps! She needs to be down to just one nap a day if she's still waking up in the night. Try to get her to take one nap right in the middle of the day, sometime after lunch. She'll probably take a 2-3 hour nap which will give you one nice long break. If she has trouble staying awake until her new nap schedule time, then take her first nap and gradually move it by 20-30 minutes per day. She might be more of a grouch in the evenings too at first, but she'll go down so much easier and she should stay asleep. Feed her something filling but not sugary right before bed like oatmeal or cereal of some sort, so her gut is full all night. Enjoy!

S.,
Sounds like to me your little one is getting ready to grown, so she her body is needing more food. We could always tell with our daughter, when a growth sprut was to happen because she would eat round the clock. Still happens to this day. Each of us handles things differently, but here is what worked for me. Solids, I think at 10 months I was feeding my daughter the following. Some form of baby cereal, (rice, barley, oatmeal, whatever she likes) and put some fruit in it, usually a banana. A bottle inbetween breakfast and lunch(but not all the time only if she wanted it) Lunch was some form of vegetable and fruit mixed in a bit of cereal and a bottle and nap. And a bottle after nap time. Dinner was cereal (heavier on the cereal than at Lunch time) mixed with fruits and veggies and purreed meat (if you are giving her meat products). Bottle before bed and usually she would sleep through the night. Sometimes if she didn't eat much during the day and was having more bottles, the last one before bedtime I'd put a scoop of cereal in her bottle. (just be careful as it is harder to get thru the nipple because of thickness.) Good luck!!

It sounds like she's just hit a growth spurt. Especially early on in life, they hit these spurts frequently. They'll want to eat, (or drink), more, they'll sleep more...but this will pass. Nothing substitutes for breast milk or formula though. Not at this age. Feeding her cereal may help some, but it won't give her enough of the nutrients that she needs. This is just a normal occurance.

A little about me. I'm a divorced mother of 4 kids, 1 high school daughter, 2 college daughters, and 1 college son.

It could be anything. Just because she's eating, doesn't mean that she's necessarily hungry. She could be wanting attention or closeness, she could be teething, she could be "working" on something (crawling, walking, etc.). There's no "magic" answer, I've found. Best of luck, we are still dealing with nighttime issues at 13 months and we've tried almost everything.... I guess true "normal" sleep patterns aren't developed until about two years of age... Hang in there.

Well you are not alone, I have an 8 month old who used to sleep through the night, but now wakes up like clockwork twice a night for a bottle. We are still feeding her when she wakes up, she has her bottle and goes right back to sleep, almost always on her own. We were wondering the same thing, if she was not getting enough solid, we are still unsure about that. Last night she did eat a large dinner, we put her to bed at 715 and she slept through the night for the first time in months, all the way to 545 this morning, had a bottle and woke up for the day. We will try this again tonight, but I am not holding my breath. My only suggestion would be to talk to your doctor and get suggestions from him/her, that is what I am going to do. My daughter doesnt nap consistently either, some days its two 1 long naps, some days its one 2-3 hour nap and then a cat nap. You could also go to Gerbers website, it tells you how much food for each age. I am feeding my daughter regular oatmeal, eggs, waffles for breakfast with fruit. Whatever my 2 1/2 year old eats for lunch, grilled cheese, soup, cut up veggies, and dinner she eats what we eat. I cant get her to eat baby food, she absolutely refuses. Last night she ate turkery ziti and was in heaven.

I have a 10 month old and I feel like he is on a great schedue finally. He goes to bed between 7-8pm and wakes up between 7 and 8am. He has a 6oz. bottle when he wakes up then he eats breakfast, oatmeal or cheerios or applesause and bread. He wont do baby food anymore. Then he goes down between 9-10am for 1.5 hrs usually. Then when he wakes up he gets another bottle. At noon he has lunch--mac n' cheese, or soup and crackers-then he goes down for another nap between 2-3pm. Sleeps another 1.5 hrs or so, then wakes up and gets another bottle. Has dinner between 5-6pm-usually whatever we are having-noodles, rice, little bits of chicken, peas, green beans??? Then goes down after his bottle between 7-8pm. Unless he is sick, he sleeps through the night just fine. SO I dont know if that helps to see another 10month old schedule, but there it is. I know alot of other moms are still feeding their kids baby food, but mine never really took to it, so we had to do other things. Bottom line, if they are big enough weight wise to be sleeping through the night, they dont need to be waking up to be fed anymore. Might try giving water in the bottle and see what that does?? Good luck--Mother of three from Hillsboro

S.~
Our middle son went through a phase of that also and I added rice to his last bottle of the night for a while, when that became not enough we went into about a 1/2 hour or so before bed I fed him rice cereal(mixed thick so it sticks) and gave him his last bottle. He slept longer,woke hungry about 10 hours later. At least I got some sleep.
Good luck.
~A. N.(38)
stay at home mother of 3 boys (10, 9, 3) married to the love of my life for 15 years!

It sounds to me like she is still hungry for the most part. Some of it could be conditioning too (my 14 month old wakes at 11:20 every night and I think it's conditioning-we let her cry it out and it's usually no more than 5 minutes). As far as the solid foods go-I use a book called Super Babyfood. She gives great ideas on what to feed when. It's designed for the mom whe doesn't have time to sit and read a book. At the beginning of every chapter on age specific foods there is a list of what to feed at what age. The book gives many page numbers throughout so you can quickly reference other areas. She also teaches you how to combine proteins/foods to make sure your child is getting enough of something. It's a great resource and I'm not a mom who can sit and read-like most:)

My 10 month old is on the exact same schedule! I have no idea how to get him past the 11:30 wake up and the 4:30 am wake up. Crying it out does not work. He eats about 3 jars of food a day and 3 6 oz bottles plus some crackers and cheerios. Sorry I'm not more help other than commiserating with you!

my children both woke in the night for milk. one still does at 20m and the other did until about then and still does on occation. Because I always am STARVING if I wake in the night I would rather err on the side of caution and feed them. Its also the fastest way to go back to sleep (though if you could get her to sleep through the night you would get more rest). We ended up just tucking a bottle in the bed before we went to bed that she can find when she wakes in the night (not a suggestion to try as its against most every rule out there). Good Luck, Jen

My daughter just turned 12 months on the 10th of January and I have been giving her 3 solid meals probably since she was 9 or 10 months. She always had cereal w/ applesauce in the morning following with a bottle then a nap at 9:30 or 10 for an hour or so, I wake her at 11 for lunch w/ my 3 1/2 year old she had back then a vegetable (1st foods gerber) followed by a bottle, then a nap from 12:30 or 1:00 till about 2:30 or 3 in the afternoon. I gave her cheerios and a small sipy cup of juice w/ half juice half water. She has dinner w/ the rest of the family (whatever we were eating if possible) and a fruit and then another bottle and bed at 6:30 or 7 she sleeps all through the night until 7 or 8 the next morning. I did this same thing w/ my 3 1/2 year old and it seems they are both great sleepers.
My daughter has not had a bottle since she was probably 11 1/2 months. She only has sippy cups of milk with her meals and is right on schedule with the rest of the family which is nice because my husband and I get alone time at night. Sorry, seems like allot of info I just hope it is helpful, you need your sleep!

I have been a parent for a very long time. I am the oldest of 9 children and have 3 of my own and just last year became a grandma for the first time. It's been my experience that doctors don't know everything and if you're comfortable giving baby a bit more than just a bottle then you should. You can't predict a childs hunger or eating habits just as your own aren't. If you expend more energy than usual you use more calories and therefore are hungry more often. If her activity is about the same then it could be she is growing at this time and will need the extra to help her and you get through the nights. If by feeding her starter foods, ie...rice or oatmeal, is going to help sleeping habits then you could start there. I would suggest about 3 to 4 TBSPs at a time just to introduce these foods if you haven't already. If you have already started with the simple stuff then may I suggest trying bananas, pears, or applesauce. These seem to be the easiest to digest for young children. Be aware though, the pears and applesauce will cause some gas and possibly diarhea. I hope you get more sound rest, good luck, Jen
A little about me: I am a 35 year young grandma and mother of 3 teenagers. Kids are always in my thoughts

I don't think she is getting enough to eat during the day. My 10 month old son eats 5 to 6 large jars of baby food a day. Then sleeps from 8:30 till 8 or when I decide to get him up for the day!
Let her cry it out after you start giving her more food during the day, crying it out does work, you just have to stick with it and stay strong, no going in to check on her at all, till you know she it asleep!
Hang in there!

Katie - mother of 3, and having fun!

You can start mashing bananas and cereal before she goes down at night. Also, for dinner you can try mashing some of the veggies you eat. If you cook them to be soft, it's easy to mash potatoes and carrots together - with a little butter and salt - they LOVE it. At 10 months, that was what my son was eating. Don't worry. Your 10-month old will let you know when she's had enough

I can definitely empathize with you because I have a two year old who has just started sleeping through the night about 2 months ago. It was a long hard road, (I'm talking nights where she'd wake up hourly) but I am SO SO SO happy that I never left her to "cry it out."

Looking back on her sleep patterns, I know that there were different reasons that she would wake up- teething pain, hunger, developmental growth spurts, you name it. There are all kinds of reasons that babies wake up at night. I think it's better to go with the assumption that your baby has a real need in the night and that she's not just trying to push your buttons by waking you up- babies don't do that. And consider the fact that it may be an emotional need which is just as important as a physical need. I believe that what finally made my daughter sleep more than two or three hours at a time was that she simply arrived at a developmental point where she was ready, and i think nothing I could have done before would have worked without major tears and emotional distress which wouldn't have been fair to her.

Have you read "The No Cry Sleep Solution" by Elizabeth Pantley? That has lots of helpful suggestions to gently encourage babies to sleep more. In the meantime, good luck and hang in there! Trust your daughter!

Our son even at almost the age of two still weeks up sometimes in the middle of the night because he is hungry. In the beginning we tried to let him cry it out like you are doing and then we figured out after several sleepless nights that he was hungry. His pediatrician suggested that the last thing we should do in the night time ritual was feed him solids and give him a bottle at the same time as this would help him sleep through the night and it works most of the time, except when he is in a real growth spurt. Maybe this will help. We have found that we go through periods of getting sleep and periods where he wakes up a lot because he is growing and needs to eat.

If it gives you any comfort my little one woke up at night to feed well into her 2nd year. When we changed her schedule (no more feeding at night) she was old enough to understand that we weren't going to be having any more milk at night and we discussed it with her ahead of time. Then when she woke up we would gently remind her that we weren't having milk at night anymore and offer her a bit of water to drink instead. I have to say it went back and forth for awhile and we slipped up and gave in sometimes but I try to remind myself that it is such a short period of time that we have this relationship with our children, where they need feeding and comfort in the night, and they are wise beyond our knowing, so trust yourself and her, at this age her wants and needs are one and the same. Good luck! Sounds completely normal and healthy to me.

My daughter went through the same thiing about that same time...she's now 15 months old. Anyway, I started giving her some oatmeal right before bed...so she could have something that would "stick to her ribs" through the night. Just the plain ol' Quaker instant oatmeal. She likes all the flavors....maybe that will work for you. Hope this helps. She's been sleeping anywhere from 12-16 hours straight since then! Hope this helps.

D.

My daughter did this a bit, but my nephew was doing this for quite some time around the same age until my sister began putting rice cearl in with his bottle to thicken it up and fill his tummy more. She does a scoop of rice cereal to a scoop of formula. I would try that and see if it helps her sleep through the night.

It seems that when our son was 10 months old or so, he went through a period of getting up in the early hours of the morning for some liquids. I think that he was going through a growth spurt. I wouldn't be too concerned about the waking up. But, as far as solids, I don't know what to tell you because our son eats A LOT of solids during the day. He's just a big eater. If your little one is walking then she'll need more food because she's burning all those calories moving around. Anyway, I don't know if this helps. I just want you to know that you're not alone! :-) Good luck!

Dear S.,
Dr. Lyndon Smith wrote in one of his books that most babies that are considered colicky are really just hungry. He said the average baby bottle is only 8 oz. and that the baby requires a full 12 oz. and that if you just give her more then maybe she wouldn't wake up hungry. I wouldn't go for the cry it out because that will just teach her that you are not there for her in fulfilling her needs. Good luck.
A little about me: I am a grandmother of a 5 year old and a Natural Health Practitioner and a Realtor. I love all kids like my own. I just turned 56.

I wouldn't put rice cereal in her bottle. I have read that doing this fills up your baby but doesn't help them to recognize when they are full and to stop eating and that this leads to problems later in life with child obesity because they don't recognize that they are full and to stop eating. I read this on an Enfamil web-site, I signed up to get newsletters that match my child's age. I have a 5-month old daughter.

I would suggest feeding your baby some rice cereal before bed along with the bottle. You could also try increasing the amount she eats in the day, she could be going through a growth spurt. Babies will let you know when they have had enough to eat, they will get bored, push the food away, or turn their head away from the food.

Or she may be teething and wants something to suck on to sooth her back to sleep, have you tried a pacifier?

She may also be ready for a bed time routine. About an hour before bed you start your routine, give her a bath and let her play in the tub a bit, then give her a baby massage as you put her lotion on, to help her relax, then dress her in her pjs and read books until it is time for bed. Keep the lights dimmed in her room while you do this to keep a relaxing atmosphere. This is gives her time to settle down and get ready for bed. This is what we had to do when my son was around 1 year old and we decided we wanted to start weaning him from his pacifier. It worked great and we only had to keep up the routine for a couple months. You can see what works for you because some nights we got home too late to do all that and would just read him a story and put him to bed.

If you have questions about how much your child should be eating during the day call your pediatrician. I know that mine has a formula that is based on the baby's weight about how much they should be eating.

That is rough, not getting a full night's sleep...Good Luck

M.

Your 10 month old should get as much food necessary to make her full she will let you know when shes done. I think it's probably because she is hungry.

The same happened when my 15 month old was that age. The Doctor said said yes it's hunger, so give more milk during the day. I thought food was a substitute for milk but NO. So, milk after breakfast but before a nap and a couple times during the day.

Yes, she is truly hungry, so making her cry it out would be cruel because she would be hungry and alone and would not understand why the mommy she thought she could trust won't help her. Having said that, she is only hungry because you have conditioned her body to expect a meal at those times. Having two feedings in the middle of the night is very bad for her teeth because she goes right back to sleep with milk on her teeth. Feeding her more solids would not make any difference at night. She should be eating 3 solid meals with bottles afterward and two solid snacks a day. By one year, the only milk she needs it at meals and maybe before bed, so now is the time to start transitioning to mostly solid food.

What you need to do is train her body to not crave those meals. You can do this by giving her the same bottle you always have, but give it to her with 3/4 milk and 1/4 water. (Note: It is not safe to give young babies water, but at 10 months old, it is perfectly safe and a great way to teach her to love water). After about 3-5 days, decrease it to 1/2 milk and 1/2 water. After 3-5 days, decrease it to 1/4 milk and 3/4 water. After 3-5 days, just give her water. She will gradually drink less and less of it and so her tummy will not feel the need to be full all night. Once the bottle is nothing but water, you can even leave it in her crib for her to find on her own when she wants it. If she protests to the change, you can adjust the amounts slower.

We weaned my son this way, and not only did it work with no fuss, but he now is a toddler that LOVES water.