help 1 year old started wanting bottle at 4am!!!!!

[purplehaze]

Help

My son wakes at 4am screaming untill i give him his milk, last night I tried to offer him water and he nearly hit me over the head with it. I dont know why he's started to do this.

Can anyone help????

XXXX

[sunny1]

Hi, my 21 month son is doing exactly the same but at midnight & 3am! He's always been a great sleeper & just started it a couple of weeks ago.

Would appreciate some advice too.

[colditzmum]

Give the wee bairns some redebrek(sp) last thing before bed, if they still wake up it's because they have become accustomed to having mummy and milk, not because they are hungry. be very boring when you go to deal with them at night

[bagpussmice]

My 15 month old did the same at 10 months, and still does now sometimes. I used to fight it and try controlled crying - it never really worked, now I just give her a beaker of milk in her cot if she wakes after 4am and she usually just goes straight back off to sleep til 6am...
It depends if you don't mind giving him the milk... and does he go back to sleep after?
I'm afraid it does turn into a habit, so unless you stop and be hard, not give in and give him the bottle then it will just go on.
Sorry, that's probably not much help.

[MommyTsang]

My 16 month old has just started the same thing at about 2.30-3.00 am can anyone tell me if they have left a cup/bottle in the cot with their child at night to help themselves?...I know the experts say not to, but DD is bit old for choking on milk now, just want to know if this has worked for anyone. DD does eat well during the day and has a good meal 1 and half hours before bed not to mention the 9oz bottle she drinks before bed.!!!

[anchovies]

We had this for a while, some suggestions given to me were that he was cold (warm milk = back to sleep) teething or generally unwell (so in pain) or just generally awake. Im our case he was usually teething and some anbesol sorted him out. Having said that I just gave in for a week or so and gave him the milk, he stopped doing it in the end. Have never known him to have a reason to be hungry but he still drank about 8oz before he'd go back to sleep. How long has it been going on for?

[Seona1973]

I would stop offering milk at all and settle your lo back to sleep by which ever method you usually do. I normally use pick up/put down. Pick your lo up, give them a cuddle to calm them down (or lean over and cuddle your lo without lifting them out)and then lay them back in the cot - repeat as necessary until your lo goes back to sleep.

Once my dd stopped night feeds at 5 1/2 months that was it - I have never offered milk at night again. She gets water offered if shes been crying for a while and if she's thirsty enough she will take it.

I wouldnt encourage giving milk in the night again as it only takes 2-3 days for a habit to start and now that they are older, habits are much harder and take much longer to break.

[MommyTsang]

message to ANCHOVIES in answer to your question, DD has been doing this for about a week, last night was a nightmare, she screamed a lot and would not go to sleep , which is out of character for her, i have a feeling that you could be right about the teething possibilty,as its been a while, she did however sleep all night once she went down. thanks to all for the advice, keep it coming if you have anymore ideas.

[Smee]

I'd say if it's the same time every night then it's possibly a habit, if not then it's probably teeth. My 10 month old hadn't slept through since 5 months until last night..! (Naturally I was awake at 5am wondering if he was alright. D'oh!)

With us, we reckon it's definitely his teeth - there's never been a regular pattern, some nights he's had us up 2/ 3 times, others just once. And we don't always give him milk. Mostly just a soothing word and a pat on the back. Sometimes though, the full menu of milk, calpol and gel is the only thing that'll get him back to sleep.. Don't know if that helps, after all they're all so different.