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One-year-old still waking for night feeds?
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08-01-2017 7:19pm#1I've a little girl about to hit 13 months and she is STILL waking twice, sometimes 3 times a night for a bottle.
She's on 4 and sometimes 5 meals a day - eating toast, cereal (loves porridge, readybrek, weetabix - all very filling stuff) and will eat soups, spud dinners, snack on fruit and veg and we give her a supper of cereal and warm milk right before bed. She's currently going to bed at 9pm after her cereal and 8oz of cow's milk and will sleep until maybe 11.30 when she wakes screaming for another bottle. Sometimes she will self-sooth a few seconds later and doze back off, but she is always back up by 12am. I will have to give her another bottle by 4 and sometimes again at 6am (whereby I usually just get up to save myself the torture :P ).
Things I have tried:- Offering water - this works as long as it is warm, but she wakes quicker for another one
- Upping daytime feeds - I literally don't think I could squeeze more solid food into the poor girl's tummy than I already am.
- Let her cry - this was an exasperated, last-ditch effort and it made no difference. She will cry so hard she ends up vomiting if I leave her.
This has been a continual problem since she was about 8 months old. When she takes the bottle, she is completely draining each one and would not be physically sick after drinking three extra bottles of milk a night which would make me think she is hungry. On the flip side, is it normal for a baby to be that ravenous despite getting 4-5 varied and filling meals a day?
Short of keeping her awake until 11.30pm to come to bed with me, I don't know what to do. Health nurse just told me she shouldn't be drinking them and was relying on the bottle for sleep, but that doesnt explain why she drains 8oz of milk sitting up in her cot wide awake and only then get settled back to sleep?
I've taken her to the GP too and he said there was nothing wrong so it's not medical advice I'm seeking, more some advice from other mums and what worked for them - I'm out of things to try!
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What jlm said.She's probably not actually hungry.She's just waking because that's what they do, and she doesn't know any other way to go back to sleep.Other than drinking her whole bottle.That's the feeling she needs to go back to sleep.
My pair (9 months and 2.5 yrs) still wake.The 2.5 year old wakes a lot less.But I'd fully expect my 9 month old to wake most nights.She just needs a soother generally.Some nights we have to have a little cuddle.But she does go back to sleep.She does not get a feed between bedtime and 6am.She seems to be just fine with that.Our older girl was the same.
Unfortunately you are going to have to just have a few horrendous nights if you want to stop this.Pick what you're going to do I suppose......offer her water and soothe the crying, or go cold turkey, offer her nothing and soothe the crying.I wouldn't leave her crying (don't think you intend to anyway).But she basically needs to figure out another way for her to fall asleep, be it with a soother or a teddy or a blanket or something.Unfortunately it means you'll be up with her while she does....but look at it this way, it should only take a few nights, and it will be worth it in the long run.
It's such a toughie, my older girl is 2.5 as well and she sleeps like a rock. Had a little bit of trouble with night terrors around the 1-year mark that lasted a week or so and that's it. This little madam will not take a soother at all, whereas my eldest did. I'm thinking maybe trying to switch to water again first so as to not remove the shock of no bottle but unfortunately we live in a tiny house with paper thin walls so a few nights of one baby crying means a few nights of two babies crying in my house 0 -
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Do you mind me asking if you breastfeed her? I know some of my friends who breastfeed had problems with there babies sleeping through the night when they got older as they got used to the nighttime feeds. At that age she doesn't need the bottles at night but id say it's a comfort thing. I'm not a fan of the leaving them to cry method either. I know this would never work with my little guy. Maybe try the soother again as this could replace the bottle or maybe a comfort blanket.
Not any more, I did for the first month but I had to stop due to infection. She received bottles of breastmilk almost as often as the breast during that time and would take a soother up until about teething started at 3 months. She will put it in her mouth, bite it and then spit it out or chew the plastic handle. We even tried handing her the top of the bottle (supervised) and she just kept turning it around and saying "Huh?" probably wondering where the bottle was!
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dori_dormer wrote: »Have you tried giving less milk? Like only 4oz? I have found with my 6mth old that he wakes more often if he drinks loads at night. I *think* it's his tummy getting over full and therefore feeling empty sooner?
Or is she cold? The warm bottles may be warning her up and that may be why she doesn't like them cold? I go into my toddler a few times a night and put the duvet back on him. Stops him waking up!
Also we only managed to get our fella off the warm milk during v the summer when he was too warm and proffered them cold
I don't think she's cold, she's actually not a one for kicking blankets off while she's asleep, and she's always toasty when you lift her. I have tried giving less but there seems to be a "sweet spot" to her fullness which signals sleep. I gave warmed water last night and she drank about half of it and did eventually sleep, but not without some whinging 0 -
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Call me Al wrote: »Well going by the diet it doesn't read like she has any reason to be hungry.
Personally with her teeth coming at the very least I'd be replacing the milk with water.
She definitely doesn't have reason to be. She eats at least as much as my 2.5 year old, even reduced her solids at one stage because I was worried it was constipation or stomach pain, but that just led to crying all day :rolleyes:
Just have to keep persevering with the replacement options and hope it just clicks with her. Maybe when she's walking
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