Two year olds sleep, please help!

[HopefullyBePregnantViaIUI]

Hi everyone. The past couple of weeks my two year olds sleep has been significantly broken overnight. This is what our routine looks like

0600 - wakens up (sometimes she’s lying awake from 0400-0500, this is new)

06.15 - 6 ounce bottle of milk. She then has a play, breakfast around 0730 then ready for the day.

10:30 - I give her a snack (sometimes my wife doesn’t, I have told her this is important - both her & family don’t believe in snacks eye roll.

between 12-1300 lunchtime.

she then usually has 1.5 - 2 hour nap in afternoon. Always aim to not sleep after 15:00.

activity/play and then dinner, bedtime routine and bed for approx 1900.

this week particularly she’s woken up mulitiple times a night and won’t settle until given a bottle. Last night for instance - woke up at 23.30, 01:00 and 02:30. She’s also started this horrendous screaming at times in bed. Alongside terrible temper tantrums during the day.

any advice please? Very tired mum.

She clearly doesn't need a nap that long anymore. That's very long and late for a child that age to have a nap. My 1 year old only has 1 hour nap in the day. You need to wake her after 1 hour, then the next week you wake after 45 mins, then shorter, and then no nap once she can manage. Separate issue but I'd also cut the bottles, they shouldn't be used past 12 months. She needs to drink from a cup.

I’d stop giving her so much milk and concentrate on getting her to eat. The routine you have now does sound like it’s suitable fkr a much younger child or baby.

So when she’s having her first lot of milk, take her down to breakfast instead and give her a cup of milk on the side.

This guide from the Caroline Walker Trust should be useful as it gives sample menus and suggests portion sizes.

I would definitely night wean too. No two year old needs bottles of milk, especially at night. Have a look at this method of gentle night weaning. It’s written for BFers but easily adapted if you’re bottle feeding.

Also have a read of the No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers. There are sone very useful tips in there about sleep.

She will probably protest but will get used to the new regime after a few days.

Yes cut the bottles of milk, she’s waking for milk and until you stop it that’s what she will do out of habit. Cut the bottles in the day and at night slowly water them down so you get to a point where there’s only water in the bottle and hopefully that will deter her from wanting it. Also reduce the nap to 1 hour, waking at 3pm and bedtime at 7 is not a long enough wake window.

6am wake
12-1 nap
7pm bedtime

How are you getting on now @HopefullyBePregnantViaIUI?

Hey everyone! Getting on great, no more wakenings for milk all night - she slept 12 hours last night 🙈 always having 6 hour wake windows! Working a treat thanks everyone x