Milestone Walking, Night Waking and Me Almost at Breaking Point, Need Support/Advice/Kick in the Arse..

[Sushipaws]

My dd 14months, started walking about a month ago, she got her MMR a week later and her already not so great sleeping has got worse.

She is such a pleasure to be with during the day, she giggles and runs around with a big smile on her face. She's a typical minx like any other toddler, hates being left alone and loves to cuddle.

But at night she goes down at 7pm no problem, she wakes at 11ish, just for a moan and goes off again no problem. But then again at 2am and then half hourly until I feed her at 5am then she's up for the day at 7am.

I think she's hungy as she's burning off more calories with walking. So I've tried to feed her at 2 am and then she wakes up for the day at 5am. If I give her a dream feed at 11pm, she still gets up at 2am and wants fed again.

She eats non-stop all day as well, usually she has 2 breakfasts, lunch, late lunch and dinner, with a piles of fruit and snacks inbetween. She's a skinny wee thing, always has been but tall as well, I guess she burns food fast. She doesn't eat big portions, but eats small amounts often.

I know this is probably milestone walking waking and her body will hopefully adjust soon, but it's been weeks and I was hoping things would've improved by now. Has anyone got any ideas on how to fill her up a bit more or how long this will last. DH thinks a bottle will help her sleep, I've tried to tell him breatmilk is the same and a bottle will only mean I have to faff around getting it ready but he wants me to try. He also says it means he can help but I know that won't happen, grrrrrrrrrr, sorry to be a moan I'm just sleep deprived.

[BabaYaga]

Sorry you're so tired, I know it's a nightmare. DD1 sounds a lot like yours, hardly seemed to stop eating and drinking, was very tall for her age and incredibly skinny, and I'm afraid she did not sleep through the night until she was nearly three, and she then (and still does) slept from 7am to 7pm all of a sudden. The health visitor said I needed to give her more calories and she should eat more cake and custard and cream . She had a perfectly normal diet for a child her age: ie bits of everything and I found that food / feeding times etc made no difference. Sorry that I can't offer any actual help but you have my sympathy and just do whatever you need to to keep yourself sane. Best of luck.

[StripySails]

Hi Sushipaws. Not got masses of suggestions but wanted to answer you.
They do say babies after 6 months shouldn't be hungry in the nighttime, I wouldn't go back to 2am feeds. You don't mention supper in your list of meals - how about a yoghurt or something just before bed? Could she be thirsty? Is there anywhere you could leave a beaker of water in reach for her to get herself? You mention a bottle, do you mean formula? At 14m she should (or could, don't mean to sound bossy) be on cows milk. You could have a cup ( or even a bottle of formula) ready in the fridge to just go and get for her. If she's still getting breastfed she may be waking just because she can, and it's nice.

[Sushipaws]

BabaYaga - Thanks for your message, it's good to hear I'm not alone. Since dd has never been a great sleeper I know we might be in this for the long haul.

My dd would love more custard and cream but I don't think all that sugar would help her one bit, I can't believe a HV suggested that.

StripySails - I'm with you on the not going back to feeding at night, but I totally caved in after a week.I will try and give her some yoghart before bed, I'm sure she'd love that. I had to laugh at leaving a beaker near her bed, her most favourite thing in the world is to pour water everywhere, even out of non spill cups. She gets cows milk in a cup during the day and she likes it icy cold. She won't drink it warm or from a bottle. She does occationally get formula, if I'm on a night out but DH thinks we should be giving formula instead of bf all the time and I just don't see the difference. I know her waking might be just because she likes a cuddle, but I often co-sleep and discouraging night feeding has always worked this way after a few nights.

I'm going to try and give her supper and if dh wants to give her something, he can give her a cup of cows milk

[floraflora]

Sushipaws, this sounds so familiar.
DS (who was 2 on saturday) and never a great sleeper got much worse at 14 months. This coincided with fighting off a bug and cutting his first set of molars. He also started wanting to breastfeed a lot during the day, which he hadn't really done for about 6 monthsd previously. Can't offer any constructive advice I'm afraid. If she isn't a great sleeper, I wouldn't tank her up on sugary things - too much sugar certainly makes DS hyper and that's the last thing you need. I'm coming to the conclusion that some children just don't sleep 'well' until they are older. Our nights are still broken and co-sleeping is the only way I can survive - the idea of faffing with a bottle in the middle of the night sounds like a recipe for even less sleep to me.
Good luck

[Sushipaws]

Thanks floraflora, it's good to hear I'm not doing anything wrong and that some kids just don't sleep that we.
We had an ok night, only up at 3am for half an hour. But something fell down in the cuboard at 6am and made an awful clatter so dd woke up and has been singing since.