Thirsty 20 month old. Help!

[Edsmummy]

Hi all,

I am having problems with my DS at nighttime. He wakes up at 2am and 4.30am and the only thing that will put him back to sleep is a bottle of milk.

I know this is silly, but to keep him quiet I have taken to putting a bottle of milk in his cot when I go to bed so he has something to drink if he wakes up thirsty, but this is usually gone by the 4.30am wake up - and I have to give him more.

I know I am being silly, and should try and wean him off. He was fine and sleeping through the night up until Nov of last year when we took him on a round the world trip for 2 months, he hasn't been the same since. I think we probably gave in to him on the trip (giving him milk in the night) so he wouldn't feel unsettled on his travels.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks loads.

x

hey Edsmummy, looks like you set a precedence when you were on holiday.I think you simply have to not give him a bottle at night and when he wakes at night then go to him and comfort him for a bit,let him know there's no milk and walk out of the room. you are going back to basics and training him to sleep through the night again. Others use the crying down technique(if you have some serious strength), but you can find what works for you. also it is actually not healthy for a child to have a bottle like that coz it can damage his teeth.so good luck with DS, it will be hard because you've allowed it but you'll have to strong if you EVERwant to have a full nights sleep again.

I concur with Tafi, I'd just say (and I'm sure you do this anyway) make sure he's had a good meal and some milk before bed so there's no chance he's hungry, then just offer water when he wakes, just in case he is actually thirsty (It might get him in a rage if he wants milk, mind!)

Wean it slowly, reduce the amount you put in the bottle by 10-20 ml, it's much kinder