Would you give your nearly 3yo food at 4.30am if he said he was hungry and breastmilk didn't seem to be cutting it for him?

[mawbroon]

DS and I co sleep from when he wakes at night (random times) usually until the morning. He normally breastfeeds for a couple of minutes and then turns over and drops back off to sleep. This suits us both for now, so no probs there.

However, last night he woke at 12.30am and fed on and off until finally at 4.30am he started wailing that he was hungry.

The logical thing to me at the time seemed to be to give him something to eat, but in my 4.30am foggy brained state, decided that no, he would think it was a big laugh and would then ask for food every morning at 4.30am for ever more. So, he then fed on and off, until I could stand it no more at 5.45am when I sent him downstairs with DH to eat breakfast. He had some ready brek, then the two of them came back to bed for another couple of hours.

What would you do?

Going out soon, so will check back later.

[nailpolish]

yes
we give dds supper before bed
crackers and cheese or banana milkshake or similar

i think that might help

[juuule]

Probably better then if you gave him something to eat at 12:30am and bf him off to sleep, hopefully for the rest of the night. Rather than being disturbed from 12:30am to 5:45am.
I would have got up looooong before you did. You have much better staying power than me

[expatinscotland]

No, I wouldn't and don't.

I had horrid teeth as a child and want to do the best by the girls' teeth so after supper, usually oatcakes and cheese or a muffin or flapjack, they brush their teeth with our help and it's nothing after that.

Don't like giving them liquids, either, unless they are ill because am trying to get them dry at night before baby no. 3 arrives.

My girls are 5 and 2.8 and share a room, but each girl sleeps in her own bed.

[MuchLessTiredNow]

If my children get up in the night they get water and that's it. I think eating at night is a habit, and am not sure it is that good for your digestive system to be working that hard all night. My worry would be if you started down that road it would be hard to break the habit. How about a bigger tea and supper?

[Pruners]

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[louii]

I have given DS something to eat in the past when he had woken up hungry during the night, usually means he is having a growth spurt, he would then clean his teeth before going back to bed.

If he wakes up thirsty he can have a drink of water, I often wake up thirsty myself.

[nailpolish]

cleaning teeth would wake a child up perhaps
i am so surprised at all you lot who eat in the middle of the night!
i think water is ok - my 2 aged 5 and 3 have a glass of water at the bedside

[louii]

BUt if tehy are awake anyway eating and drinking then cleaning teeth doesnt make much odds.

[Pruners]

Message withdrawn

[CoolYourJets]

I would have got dh to give him food.

Does he go to sleep whilst feeding?

I have found that once you get them to fall asleep without being latched it gets easier to get them to go back to sleep without a feed.

I found that setting a cut off point that fitted with the night wakings i.e for me initially 1am and before that no Bf. I then stretched that out until a whole night was achieved.

They will be way hungrier than normal so feed more food and def supper low gi stuff.

The thing is although bf is fab for lazy silent night parenting there does come a time imo when if the wee one has not started sleeping through by them selves you do need to help them manage it.

[nailpolish]

prune

i sometimes give the dds milk for suppoer

dh always says you should wiat one hr after sugar to clean teeth - and he says milk has sugar

i am not waiting an hr after supper to put them to bed - so i dont - then i wory fr ages after about it

[juuule]

Why do you have to wait an hour after sugar?

[LuLuBai]

I don't want to be harsh Mawbroon, but you need to break the night time feeding habit.

I really struggle to believe that anyone over the age of 1 needs food in the middle of the night, growth spurt or no growth spurt.

I think water should suffice, but waking at certain times quickly becomes a habit for all of us and needs to be broken somehow. E.g. - DD woke me at 1:45 the other night(bad dream or something) and I went to the loo after settling her. For the last three nights I have woken at the same time to go to the loo. Obviously I am capable of going through the night without waking to go tothe loo so tonight I am going to try to refrain from going and hopefully break the habit.

[nailpolish]

something about the enamel being broken down and brushing exacerbates it??

[chapstickchick]

if my dc woke hungry i would without doubt give them food.

my ds3 who is 7 if he goes to bed erly without a snack/supper occsionally wakes at about 11pm with a 'rumbly tumbly' he has half ham sandwich and a brush of his teeth then back to bed.

i couldnt sleep hungry and wouldnt expect my children to.

[Pruners]

Message withdrawn

[expatinscotland]

I think it's a bad habit, myself, to wake up and eat during the night. Just my opinion and I'm coming at it as also a person who's had insomnia since I was about 13 and as the mother of a dyspraxic child who tires very easily and needs lots of rest.

But I will not start feeding htem in the night because I think waking in the night and eating is bad for the digestion, could lead to weight problems later on in life if it becomes a habit, and bad for sleep patterns.

Again, just my opinion, but that and their teeth is why I don't give food after bedtime until breakfast.

[nailpolish]

fromt eh british dental health foundation

Should I brush my teeth after every meal?
Answer:
It is important that you brush twice a day with a toothpaste containing fluoride. The best times are before breakfast and last thing at night before you go to bed.

Eating and drinking naturally weakens the enamel on your teeth, and brushing straight afterwards can cause tiny particles of enamel to be brushed away. It is best not to brush your teeth until at least one hour after eating.

It is especially important to brush before bed. This is because the flow of saliva, which is the mouth?s own cleaning system, slows down during the night and this leaves the mouth more at risk from decay.

[Marne]

He should'nt need BM or food in the night, i would just offer water. Dd1 did'nt sleep through till 3 yo, she would ask for cows milk in the night, i swapped it for water and then she started sleeping through. I think it becomes a habbit rather than being hungry.

[LuLuBai]

Yup Pruners - the two batches of sleep thing works for the Spanish.

[bozza]

Mine nearly always clean their teeth within one hour of eating. Both morning and evening. They don't have sweet breakfast cereal but do have raisins and orange juice which will presumably count on the sugar front. And will usually have fruit/milk/yoghurt/cake at tea time.

[juuule]

Thanks, Nailpolish.

I've given mine weetabix during the night but I think they usually stopped somewhere around 2.5y.
Having said that, we have had problems with teeth with the younger children. No problems with the older ones though.

[LuLuBai]

Hi Bozza - my dentist tells me fruit juice is one of the worst culprits for softening enamel. Acid & sugar in one fells swoop.

Reckons that is the cause of the v. thin enamel on my teeth.

[expatinscotland]

I water fruit juice down.