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Is there a link between sleeping all night and food eaten??

31 replies

andyrobo237 · 09/02/2009 17:41

I am putting this in here and in 'Sleeping' section as well, so apologise if you read it twice!!

Does anyone think there is a link between the amount of food a toddler eats and his inability to sleep all night??

DS who is 2 (just) has never beena goos sleeper and has very rarely slept all noght on his own in his own bed. He seems to like the comfort of being near me!

He is not a great eater - he prefers to graze all day and does not eat great quantities of food. He will eat cheese, yoghurt, the odd bit of Weetabix and would happily eat chips and sweets and crisps if I let him! I serve up a small portion of tea, literally two tablespoons - the same meal as we have, as well as fruit and yoghurt. I do this so he eats something, as I end up getting up and down all meal time to try to tempt him to eat, so I give him everything I want him to have all in one go. he will pick at them all, sometimes only eat the yoghurt and sometimes just the fruit. He does not get any more.

He has a full 8oz size beaker of milk before bed, which he drinks over a 15 minute period. He then goes to bed at 7 and sleeps until 12.30am or somewhere half an hour either side. He then wakes up and shouts for me. I go in and try to settle him, not very well, and he may do another half hour to an hour. He then ends up in with us and sleeps / wriggles for the rest of the night. At this point he asks for milk, so I get him some (watered down) milk, as you can usually hear his tummy rumbling. Now I know he is too old for this, but I have tried saying no, and it ends upa screaming match for hours, whereas if he has the milk it takes 1 minute and then we go to sleep.

DH is unhappy about this as he gets no sleep and has to go to work - well so do I for 4 days, and then look after 2 kids for the rest of the time, and run a house, etc.

He thinks I should be sorting it as he has had enough - I dont think it is as simple as letting him cry it out, and then we will all sleep happily ever after, and I also dont see that it should be only me that does it!

I cannot see a way forward with this, and I chose the easy option, for me.

Has anyone solved this problem??

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Washersaurus · 11/02/2009 22:12

Right, I am now beginning to believe that there may be a link between the amount of sleep DS2 has and how much he eats (rather than the other way around)

He only woke once last night and went straight back to sleep - he did get up for milk etc at 5am so not exactly perfect scenario, but much better...AND today he has eaten much better and has drunk 3 times more milk than usual. I am curious to see what happens overnight........

Anyway, at last, after so many months of DH carrying the burden, I am able to get DS to settle in bed (really quickly too). Now that is what I call progress!

pavlovthecat · 11/02/2009 22:17

Washeraus - well done your DS. Fingers crossed for another positive night for you all. Keep us posted.

Poledra · 11/02/2009 22:23

Dammit Washersaurus, I now have the Button Moon theme tune going round in my head!

Washersaurus · 12/02/2009 10:06

Well, last night was an absolute shocker !! Definitely the worst night so far; maybe our 'test night'? AND DS still woke up at 5am desperate for milk from me, despite eating loads yesterday and having 2 cups of milk and a bf before bed! I think the early waking maybe a routine that we are going to have to break - that is going to be hard work

If anyone else is giving this approach a try, I would be really interested to hear how you get on.

pavlovthecat · 12/02/2009 13:54

Washer - sorry to hear you have had another terrible night. If it helps to know you are not alone - DD has been awake since 5 am most days this week, although today was 6am so a bit better. Coupled with not going to sleep until 8:30am I too am exhausted. Its not the milk, as she is drinking less, eating more. But her nappy is very wet and she does not like it. I think, for us we have to try to cut down her night time milk even further.

Good luck for tonight.

andyrobo237 · 13/02/2009 13:22

Full moon - that is all I will say!!

DS decided to wake at 9pm just as I was about to start icing his birthday cake for today. Screamed and wouldnt have DH, so he sat in his chair next to me for an hour watching!

Took him to bed and then struggled to get him to sleep forover an hour - everytime I left his room he woke up and sprung up shouting for me. DH even tried at 12am but not successful, so he was in my bed at 12.30am onwards - little oik!

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