2 year old waking in night for milk

[solitudehappiness]

I'm at my with end. little one wakes every night for milk and will scream until she gets it. she wants more and more and more often than not her nappy will leak.
sometimes she'll ask food too, and has eaten 6 petit filou yogurts, rice crispies and milk.
I'm exhausted, and would appreciate any advice.....

[CultureSucksDownWords]

Does she eat well in the day time?

I think I would take a hard line approach and not give her anything other than 1 cup of milk. Being hungry isn't going to harm her, but she sounds like her sleep and eating patterns have got totally mixed up. Disrupted sleep is going to be more harmful in the long run. She may well scream and scram, but I think you're going to have to comfort her but not give her any more.

Once you've got back to one cup of milk you can maybe gradually water it down until it's just water. At that point she may well not bother waking for it.

Perhaps it might be worth a trip to the GP just to check there isn't a medical cause for this behaviour.

[solitudehappiness]

she eats three meals a day, milk in between and snacks. on days she goes to nursery she'll often have two breakfasts and two dinners. so she's definitely getting enough food.

[moonshineonthegarden]

sympathy!my 2 year old DS is exactly the same. He wakes - sometimes a few times a night- wanting milk (which must be warm!) Its so bad that I take up milk every night to give to him when he wakes. For me I can't let him shout as we have a light sleeping 5 year old too so I give in. I have no solutions but just wanted to say you're not alone and the 'bowling ball' nappy is seen in the morning chez moonshine as well :-)

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

I know you say she's not hungry, but what does she eat in a typical day?

[rach2713]

My 2 year old does the same tried watering it down but she liked it. I think it's just more habit with her and trying to break it. Which is hard as she is next to my bed and my husband has to be up for work at half 6 5 days a week so can't have her screaming at night and don't have the option of putting her in own room yet

[solitudehappiness]

on a typical day -
breakfast - bowl of cereal, yoghurt, or poached egg.

snack - mini cheddars or raisins

lunch - varies from chicken Kiev.with mash and veg, to beans on toast, or pasta

dinner - spaghetti bolonaise, curry and rice etc

she has a huge appetite and will eat everything on her plate.

I'm currently lying on the sofa as she's demanding milk and I'm trying to see if she goes to sleep again without it. it's 2.44

[CloserToFiftyThanTwenty]

Offer water first?

[madwomanbackintheattic]

Offer just water. Nothing else. She'll be bored rigid after a couple of nights of that and will give up and sleep through. It's habit, nothing else.

[crazytyke]

Go cold turkey. Can you send your 5 yr old anywhere for a weekend sleepover? A couple of nights of he'll souls crack it. porridge and banana before bed.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Ok so it sounds like she's having enough protein. Could you introduce an afternoon snack? Does she have any milk in the day?

Also, why is she on the sofa?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

And definitely agree on porridge and banana before bed

[ThinkIveBeenHacked]

Bowl of porridge before bed (dd has a sachet of Oats so Simple everynight).

When they then wake just offer water and stand firm, safe in the knowledge that it isnt hunger. Stand firm!

[ThinkIveBeenHacked]

were the six petot filous in one sitting? in the night?!

Seriously OP you need to take charge of this situation. You are the parent here.

[KatyN]

I'm a bit softer on this one. My 3.5 year old does it sometimes too, he also eats everything in sight. Two breakfasts and two dinners on a nursery day are normal.

I leave a soppy cup of milk and a Tupperware of dry Cheerios next to his bed. Or next to mine so I can stumble in and pass to him. Then he knows he has to lie down and go back to sleep. Just a little nibble will get him back to sleep.

A friend suggested more protein during the day to keep him full for longer. I'm not sure if that worked or he just moved through his growing spurt. Either way he's stopped for the last month or so.

He's a skinny minny too!

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Forgot about the petit filou. Please don't offer those, especially in the night. They are full of sugar and are likely to make her hyper and then have a sugar slump which may make her wake for more food.

Have a look at these links for some good alternatives

[Kennington]

It is warm at the moment so she may just be thirsty
For my 3 year old I leave a bottle of milk next to the bed which she drinks in the night

[SophiesDog]

Gosh lots of sympathy OP

fwiw my 2.6yo still has milk in the night - most nights he will wake maybe once, unless he is struggling with teeth or has a cold or whatever when it can be more than that.

I am bfing so I just let him have some and he goes off again.

He eats very little in the day too, and still BFs a few times.

I feel lucky reading this thread

[flanjabelle]

Dd was still waking for milk at 18mo. I went cold turkey and she got used to it And started just waking for a cuddle/reassurancE instead. She's still an awful sleeper but at least I'm not up faffing around getting milk for her. she doesn't ask for it and can be settled with a cuddle or shhing now.

[MissSkate]

I have to agree about the petit filous, DD used to have them at tea time and she would wake frequently in the night. It wasn't until she refused them for a few nights in a row and subsequently slept all night that I finally twigged that sugar at tea time wasn't a good thing! Does DD have milk in a bottle? I used to be up every single night giving DD extra milk (did what I thought was the quickest thing to get us all more sleep!) I got rid of her bottle and explained that if she wanted milk she had to have it in a beaker, she only woke once after that for milk.

[solitudehappiness]

it was me lying on the sofa! She asked for milk so I came into the front room and waited until she fell asleep again.
sounds like I'm going to have to go cold turkey. going to offer her just water when she wakes up tonight. I know she's not hungry
today's breakfast she had bacon, juice and 6 yogurts. I'll offer an apple in a little while, and will be making bolonaise for dinner and lunch will be scrambled eggs.
thanks for all the suggestions

[TheBobbinIsWound]

6 yoghurts?!! Full sized?

There is SO much sugar in yoghurts OP. The buzz (detectable or not) will lead to a crash and then demanding more food. Natural yoghurt with fresh fruit is just as filling but less likely to send her energy levels loopy.

What carbs do you give her? Did she have toast/sandwich with her bacon or just the meat?

Porridge is so so easy (especially if you have a slow cooker) sweeten with honey or fruit -berries may be expensive but you can buy them frozen, or at the end of the day when they're "yellow stickered" and freeze them yourself. Throw frozen berries in hot porridge and they're edible in 2 min

[ThinkIveBeenHacked]

Why are you givig six yoghurts per serving? This is a wind up surely?

[solitudehappiness]

I'm leaving myself very open here and feel some posters are wearing their judgey pants!

I do give her porridge in the morning with blueberries or banana.

Yes she had bread with the bacon, and has toast for breakfast too.

my son has a huge appetite and a very fast metabolism as I do. seems dd is following in our footsteps.

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

Sorry, I though it was her on the sofa, not you. Just to make you feel a bit better I still be mine at night until they were both 2.8. It can be hard to get all the calories they need into their busy little bodies in the day.

One thing I did do was to put a sippy cup of water in their cots. If they were just thirsty, they could have a a drink and not wake us.

Is she tall OP? Tall children seem to consume a lot!

[solitudehappiness]

Thanks JiltedJohnsJulie
Yes dd is tall, and very lean, just like both her parents. Her father is 6ft 2, I'm 5ft 8.
Today she has eaten yoghurt, rice crispies, toast, milk for breakfast. And leek and potato soup for lunch. And had water and milk in between. She'll be having pasta for dinner.
I've started giving her water at night and when she wakes up and asks for milk I'll offer water, and if she asks again for more, I lie down on the sofa and surf the net until she is asleep. It seems to be working well at the moment.