Why has my baby started waking up in the night? Help!

[GreenTurtle1]

She's 13 months old. From 8 weeks to the start of the heatwave she slept all night without waking.

I thought due to the heatwave she was just extra thirsty so gave milk. I think she has now got in to the habit of waking up for milk and don't know how to stop it.

I work full time and am a single parent and the lack of sleep is killing me. I struggle to get back to sleep once I'm awake.

Any suggestions please?

Anyone?

It’s a tricky one. Waking at night is fairly normal. It’s actually less normal that she slept all night from 8 weeks

Not sure if this would work but a friend of mine said she started watering down the milk more and more each night so the baby was less reliant (and less interested) in it!

My 20mth old and 4 yr old still wake. Sometimes even the teenagers.

It's normal.

They have a bit of a sleep regression around this age anyway as they but various developmental milestones but if you think it's linked to her getting into the habit of having milk during the night recently then there a couple of things you can try.

You could try giving her water instead of milk. If she's thirsty it's a drink and, if she's wanting milk out of habit, water isn't nearly as interesting so the idea is that she'll stop waking up for it. The other way is to give her cuddles to soothe her back to sleep instead of milk and she'll get the message that there's no milk to be had. Either way you'll probably have a few nights of dealing with a chewed off one year old as she comes to terms with accepting that there's no milk.

Surely water would have been more appropriate for thirst. Milk is a food.

Just give her a drink, let her in your bed for a cuddle and you'll both go back to sleep.

Is she learning to walk or talk? Their sleep goes to absolute shit when they are learning something major. It will be back to normal soon. Sorry you're knackered!

Thanks for replies.

I think at the time I was conscious that due to heat she wasn't eating that much in the day so that's why I offered milk.

I have tried plain water before and she just screamed. I may try the watered down version and see how that goes.

If you give 7oz you could cut back just 1oz at a time. That way she'll gradually increase her food intake to make up for it