18 month old suddenly waking at night for milk....

[icklmum]

Hi there my ds2 is 18months and go's down to bed at night with no problems at all at around 7pm. Up until the last month he had slept through the night (since about 6months) until 7 the next morning. after a bit of a cold at the start of christmas he has benn waking once sometimes twice a night wanting milk and me being tired and probably making it worse i have been giving it to him. But i know he doesnt need it and it's making us all tired.
DH had suggested controlled crying but im concerned as he shares a room with ds1 (6) and dont want to disturb him too.
any ideas/suggestions greatful.

is he bottle or bf

is he having a growth spurt?

He's probably just cold, my DS did the same so he has started wearing socks in bed and we set the heating to come on about half an hour before he would usually wake up in the night.

he is bottle fed

i didnt think of a growth spurt, we have sorted him out with a duvet on his bed now because that is what i thought it might have been that hes cold but its had no change on him.
if it is a growth spurt do you think i should just bear with it and let him have his milk? i dont want it to become a habit of waking for him but if its just a phase maybe he'll wean himself off.

thanks for the replys by the way

my ds did this he got used to waking for milk i put him top bed with non spill cup and water and he fed himself when he woke up

dont make habit of feeding as its also another way to get your attention

just go in remind about water or feed bit water dont speak apart from ssshh go to sleep and then leave room

hope he settles back soon my ds did untill gone 2 now having problems again but be consistant

oh also just before bed i started giving him slice of toast as sleep therapist says it works and it did just incase that might help you

I'm sure it's just a phase. You could try putting water in the bottle - you might find that after he realises he's not getting milk, it's not worth waking up for! Or you could give him a beaker - again, not so nice to suck. Or give him less and less milk each time. Bubblagirl is right about not talking too much apart from just telling him it's sleep time.

Good luck!

I totally agree with bubblagirl.

I've just gone through this with my DD2 who is 19 months (having previously gone through it at a similar age with DD1 who is now 3.5).

My two share a room and I did exactly what bubblagirl did and it worked a treat. DD1 still sleeps with her beaker of water by her bed and when DD2 wakes up she just calls out to her, 'drink you beaker and go back to sleep!' Works a treat .

DD2 has always been a poor sleeper but I think the recent bad weather plus a few recent coughs and colds has made her get into the habit of waking up a lot more often than she usually does.