Sleep issues with 16 month old - HELP!

[summerlovebaby]

Hi, I have a 16 month old and she has been waking several times during the night ever since she was 6 months old. At that point I was BF her so i thought that was the problem. after 3 months of trying i got her to take the bottle but she is now 16 months old and STILL waking up at night, I know this has become a habit i need to break but i'm back at work part time and when she wakes up at 2 am it's just easier to stick the bottle (yes I know she shouldn't even be on it) in her mouth and go back to sleep since I wake up at 5:30 am.

Any solutions? I'm worried that if i just let her cry she'll get frightened, also not a great fan of that method.

please help, this just seems wrong!

[boobiestoosaggy]

my ds would still be waking now(20 months) if we hadnt decided to stop his milk feeds at night at 6 months.my dh had 2 weeks off work so we took that oportunity to tackle it.if he woke up the plan was to go in comfort him ,give him back a dummy if he had dropped it then if that didnt work we would give him a beaker of water. when he realised that he wasnt going to get any milk he after just a few days he started to sleep through the night.
a child who is well fed during the day does not need to be feed during the night too.its just a habit thing ,have you tried doing the water thing?

[summerlovebaby]

yes i have tried doing the water thing, she just starts crying/screaming. Also she is a poor eater although I do try and fill her up during the day. She is definitely not getting her recommended quota of milk either. Between meals and snacks of fruit, cheese etc there isnt a lot of milk that goes in. her last milk feed at night is usually just 1 or 2 ounces.

[boobiestoosaggy]

dont worry about her having the right quota of milk my ds stopped having milk aged one and it hasnt done him any harm ,he just doesnt like it . hope some others can give you a few more ideas

[umma]

my son is 16 months too. He only has milk at bedtime and first thing in the morning, I am sure he would still be consistantly waking up if we gave it him at night....so I would really try to get rid of the milk thing now! Be brave, brace yourself and do it!

Having said that, my son wakes every now and then for no reason that we can think of other than to get into bed with us. You see we brought him into our bed a few months ago as he was ill/teething and since then he has not been sleeping through! So you are not alone!

Good Luck

[SHEENA1]

Hi My dd is 2 and i giver her a bottle of milk when she goes to bed and if she wakes up in the night she asks for milk i usually give it to her its usually only once after she goes to bed she wakes up but some times its 2 or three times and i give her milk but in the past week i have started givin her water when she wakes up and its fab she has had 4 full nights sleep as she knows shes not gettin milk

[Smittals]

My 16m DD was waking up several times in the night and getting hysterical and needing to be held to sleep having never slept through ever anyway - I can't help you with the milk feeds but we found that using a gentle nightlight has been the solution (plus the dummies/taggie she usually had). The difference is amazing as she now settles after just a few seconds of crying. I hope you find your solution soon as I sympathise a lot with the need for sleep!