Trying to force my eyes open to write... Any tips for a badly sleeping 12 month old?

[glitterdust]

My DC2 slept really well initially, but for many many months now, wakes at either 2 am, or 'sleeps through' and wakes at 5 am - ready to start the day. Both times she is desperate for a bottle of milk, but then sleeps again fairly quickly if it's the middle of the night. We've tried leaving her - once for an hour , but she never settles unless we go through, and never settles without the milk. Really really starting to struggle......

Hi there,

I really feel for you. My DS would wake at the same time. Initially I fed him at 5am, but after months it clearly became a 'habit'. I then changed the bedtime bottle to a Hipp Bedtime milk and we ignored the 5am tantrums. After 3 nights of protest, he gave in and stopped waking. My point is, could she be hungry? If so, perhaps look at what she is having at tea time and before bed.

Also, much to my DH's horror, I have black bin liners on the windows and my DS's room is very dark.

Finally, is your LO 'doing' enough in the day? I found that on days where we do very little he needs less sleep wheras on days of lots of physical activity, he is shattered and sleeps better!

I hope it improves soon

p.s. if you do a Hipp type milk, you will need a MUCH bigger teat. I ended up stopping the bottle at this point because Avent didn't do a big enough one. I introduced the milk in a Nuk training spout beaker/bottle. At 17 months, he now has everything out of them! Good luck

Thank you. A bedtime milk is a good idea - I think I might pop out to get some today...
You're definitely right about the eating thing - she's never been a great eater, so although we make sure her main meal is in the evening, I think it's probably a lot less than her contemparies are eating. Her weight is OK though, so I suppose all we can do is keep on trying.....

Thank you. Her sleeps are erratic at present, but don't seem to alter the pattern at night! We always have her in her cot by 7 tho - I feel we need our evenings to ourselves at the moment, so I don't think keeping her up late is an option...