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Milk at 4.30am. Surely he can't be hungry?

11 replies

snickersnack · 21/07/2008 21:53

ds is 13 months. Has always been a bad sleeper, but is better than he used to be. B he wakes like clockwork every night between 4.15 and 5am, usually around 4.30am. He downs a bottle of milk and goes straight back to sleep until around 6am (6.30 on a good day). Any attempt to settle him without milk is met with outraged howls. He would quite happily, I think, start the day at 4.30 if we got him up, but that's not going to happen.

Is this normal? It's very boring. Should we be trying to teach him to go back to sleep without it? He doesn't have milk before going to sleep in the evenings or nap times, and doesn't need milk to settle if we wakes at other times in the night.

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snickersnack · 21/07/2008 21:54

I should have said:

He eats like a horse. Always has done. Heartily, and at every meal. And has a bottle of milk before his bath every night, so he's not going to bed half starved.

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mrsdavros · 22/07/2008 09:27

My ds is about the same age and also eats like a horse - still feeds at bedtime, 11ish and 3ish, and actually feeds. So I think yours probably is hungry and also a bit more considerate! I'm waiting for him to cut down naturally but he's going through a phase of waking at 7 instead of 5 so I'm not rocking the boat at the moment!!

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ThatBigGermanPrison · 22/07/2008 09:39

weetabix at bedtime?

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mrsdavros · 22/07/2008 10:51

I tried weetabix at bedtime actually, but it just started up his whole digestive system and he wouldn't go to bed.

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melrose · 22/07/2008 10:52

lurking as have the same with my DS2 who is 1 next week

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ThatBigGermanPrison · 22/07/2008 10:55

Put a beaker of water in his cot>? 12 hours is a very long time to go with no drink - I rarely go more than 5.

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MrsBadger · 22/07/2008 10:58

dd 11m, is very similar to BabyDavros and we have similar coping strategy.

the 4am feed is her 'breakfast' though, as once she's awake (7ish) she's not interested in food till about 10am.

TBH I can live with it as it is sooo much better than refusing bed till 1pm then waking every hour all night, which we suffered for several months.

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melrose · 22/07/2008 11:16

I ahve taken to giving Ds2 his bottle in the cota nd going back to bed, odd milk puddle in the morning but lets me sleep!

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snickersnack · 23/07/2008 18:01

Will try the beaker of water, I think. Last night he woke at 2am, I was not going to go to the kitchen for milk at that time of night so filled his beaker in the bathroom, handed it to him and left him to it. Incredibly he went back to sleep after some slurping. So perhaps it's thirst. He still woke at 4.30am though.

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PavlovtheCat · 23/07/2008 18:03

DD sometimes (often) wakes at 5-6am even at 2yo demanding milk and refusing to go back to sleep until she gets it!

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claireybee · 24/07/2008 16:48

DD was the same, finally grew out of it aged 2 (well she slept through 2 nights running of her own accord so I then started saying "no milk, go back to sleep" when she woke after that and it worked!)

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