10mo waking twice in night for milk :o

[KateLaw]

Hi all.....now I'm back at work this is really tough!!

My daughter (10mo) wakes up at around 2am and 5am for 6oz of milk (she was BF to 8 months and is now on Aptamil 3).

She screams the house down if she doesn't get it, soothing her isn't an option!

I've tried good night milk but it's so thick, even with a fast flow teat with a widened hole.

Her routine is as follows---(she's at nursery 3 days, I follow the same routine as nursery)
7am wake up
8am weetabix and cow's milk
10am 6oz bottle
12pm dinner (usually curry and rice / pie and veg / baked potato etc, followed by jelly or ice cream or fruit)
2pm 6 oz bottle
4pm snack (usually potato wedges / cheese sandwich / apple)
6pm light meal (usually cheese on toast / jam sandwich / small serving pasta, followed by a yoghurt or soft fruit like pear).
7pm 6oz bottle (then bed)
11pm 6oz bottle
2am 6oz bottle (she DRAINS this in about 4 mins!!)
5m 6oz bottle

Now obviously that's too much milk, but I can't get her to eat a 'heavier' meal at 6pm. She's too tired to eat porridge at 11pm and I was hoping if I give her good night milk at the 11am feed she'll drop the 2am feed at the very least. Also I was considering upping her 7pm and 11pm bottles to 7 or even 8oz?

(Sorry about the typo.....I'd give her the good night milk at 11pm not am!!) :)

We are still feeding my 16 month old monster-sized DS once in the night (on Aptamil 1+). With some kids that's just what they need, according to my GP, HV and consultant and they are just not ready to sleep through without food in the night.
Could you give her a small bowl of ready brek or something stodgy but easy to shovel in at 7pm while she's distracted with a bedtime story or toy and then her bottle half an hour later? Or adjust your other timings slightly if she'll be too tired by 7pm to take the cereal. This might cut out one of the feeds as the cereal contains slow release carbs.

If she'll take it, try an 8oz bottle at the 11pm feed. Obviously depends on her size and capacity - of course you don't want to make her sick! Or, if she doesn't want the 11pm feed because she's had cereal at 7pm, you could try an 8oz bottle at 2am. Either way I think you can reasonably expect her to drop two night feeds at that age. But you might, like us, have to suck it up and still get up once to feed!

BTW - her diet sounds amazing and she seems like a really good eater, so you are lucky on that score.

Sounds hungry - not getting enough calories during the day to keep her going? It's hard at that age, they get full up on tiny portions. Her solid food diet sounds good, and varied.
When my DS3 was falling through the centiles for weigh (loved food but TINY appetite), I was advised to give an extra snack time (cheese cubes or similar, not fruit, as the idea was more calories in a small volume so he could manage to eat it), and to add a teaspoon of "good" fat to his main meals (olive oil or omega 3/6/9 oil or similar), as this would provide more calories in the same volume of food - he slept much, much better after we started doing that.

When my DS was 10 mo he was waking in the night for milk, when a good friend told me I was bonkers and that a 10 mo who is eating 3 good meals a day and has milk in the day should not be waking in the night because they need to be fed. She was right - I just needed someone to tell me to my face! I think you know the same and it sounds like a bit of a change in eating during the day and a few nights of protest tears and it should resolve.

7am wake up
8am weetabix and cow's milk I would offer milk in a beaker here such as the NUK training beaker
10am 6oz bottle I would eliminate this as she can't be eating a huge amount at lunch after a full bottle of milk?
12pm dinner (usually curry and rice / pie and veg / baked potato etc, followed by jelly or ice cream or fruit) as a guide, she should be having at least her fist size of protein + carb + veg/fruit. Don't forget lots of water
2pm 6 oz bottle I would up this to 8oz. She may start taking it closer to 3pm if she has had a big lunch
4pm snack (usually potato wedges / cheese sandwich / apple) I would make this a MUCH lighter snack after a big lunch and 8oz milk, such as raisins, rice cakes. This way, she will have an appetite for teatime
6pm light meal (usually cheese on toast / jam sandwich / small serving pasta, followed by a yoghurt or soft fruit like pear).I would offer this closer to 5/5.30pm as she should be hungry after a lighter snack. Then you can offer a bigger, more substantial tea similar to lunch
7pm 6oz bottle (then bed) up this to 8oz
11pm 6oz bottle
2am 6oz bottle (she DRAINS this in about 4 mins!!)
5m 6oz bottle ^I would keep offering this until the other feeds are eliminated.
Only offer water in the night.

Basically, I think you are offering too much, too frequently so that she never really has an appetite to eat very much at each offering!

I hope things start to improve. Good luck