URGENT - I am in a mexican stand off with ds about his bl**dy supper

[danceswithnewboots]

Ds (aged 2yrs)has eaten a sausage. He is waking up at 4.30 am EVERY freaking morning for milk. I want him to eat 3 tiny bits of potato (was a handful but I've taken the rest away) as dh are getting sick and tired of getting up for him because he's hungry and won't eat his tea. So now he won't eat it, i've told him he can have something else if he does and he's not. Am I being a complete idiot, should I just give in and give him something else or does that just give the 'if you tantrum you get what you want message' ARGH

ps of course if I don't let him have anything then all he will have had is the sausage and nothing else (like banana etc) to fill him up.

Please.....what do I do? Anyone?

Step away from the potato. Do not get involved in a power struggle with a two year old. You will probably lose.

Give him something reasonably healthy (fruit?). Don't battle with him about food, you'll just stress yourself and set a bad precedent for meals.

When they're three or so, you can introduce a "you must try everything you're served" rule. I am counting down the days with my DS2! (He's 2y 3months and very arbitrary about food.)

Agree. He's too young. Don't make a fuss. Just give hime something reasonably filling but not too tasty and leave it.

Do you give him milk at 4.30am?

change the 4.30am milk to water. it will hurt at first (mainly your ears) but it will be worth it

My advice would be to never go back on a threat so I'd stand your ground...also if he's two years old and he's waking in the night for milk....why not refuse this and then he'd soon learn to fill up on dinner instead. I don't think by 2 they normally need milk (although nothing wrong with it if you actually want to do that)during the night so I'd definitely put a stop to that if it were my ds.

change the 4.30am milk to water. it will hurt at first (mainly your ears) but it will be worth it

Oh gawd. When will it end... he's driving me crazy and I can tell you he is NOT having milk at 4 bl**dy 30 either Honestly I could cry. It's like I'm the 2yr old but if dh and I don't get a nights sleep....

goodness NQC - you are v wise sounding about food and toddlers...
(nappies makes mental note of who to ask next time she has a similar puzzle)

and I am sounding like a psychotic tosser but I can't imagine when that will come in helpful nappies...

This is why I think it's not worth the fighting at this age. You get stressed, and you almost certainly won't get your own way either. I just dish up food to my dd, remove what she doesn't eat and give her the next course. It's not worth doing anything else. She goes through phases, just as ds did.

Does your HV offer a sleep clinic. A friend of mine had a similar problem to yours, and they were very helpful.

all of mine do the wake up in the night for drinks - tho ds2 is sleeping thru atm... ds1 only has verrrrry watered down juice, not milk, but has to be in a bottle and ds3 is only 11m, so hes excused...

is actually our fault since thats how weve taught them to go to sleep; by drinking from a bottle.

doh!

LOL dances - well, i didnt want to say it...

BTW, does your ds eat by himself? Because with both of mine, eating with other people was really helpful. It focuses the attention away from them and what they're eating.

what is so annoying is that ds can sleep through. He does it for a few weeks then he has a cold or is teething and we're back to square one. I need some sleep...grrr.

what is so annoying is that ds can sleep through. He does it for a few weeks then he has a cold or is teething and we're back to square one. I need some sleep...grrr.

I wouldn't give food or milk in the night, obviously. Give breakfast at a reasonable hour, and hopefully he'll learn to expect food then, and not before.

Are you sure he's hungy at 4:30? Could he just be waking because (like all two-year-olds) he's Evil?

Have you tried leaving him a sippy cup of water in his bed, in case he just wants that? I know I can't go to sleep without having a drink nearby, just in case ...

yeah becky, he eats with dd (3 1/2)

thanks nappies

Ah well. Worth a try

NQC - Ha! Evil! Not sure really whether he's hungry or not, he certainly wolfs down his bottle. Well, dh and I are putting our collective foot down tonight and he's not getting a bottle. At a push I might put a beaker of water in with him when he cries but that is it

Oh, I see, you normally do give the milk at 4:30. Yes, stop that, and he'll probably stop waking.

I remember getting up in the night to eat when I was pregnant with DS1 . And after I had him, I would still wake up hungry in the night, because I'd got in the habit, iyswim.

Thanks becky - it usually does help, it does with dd too when getting her to try new things.

oh becky has a point. mine eat much better if an adult eats same food at same table with them... not that they always get that, i might add. they have each other fgs (and i get bored/itchy to go do something else)

youre not crap dances, not unless i am too... im actually way worse than you with drinks at night. any comfort?

dances UI think you should tell him tonight that big boys don't have milk in the night so he will not get anything until breakfast time. And then go to bed at 9.30 so you are prepared for trouble. Let him have breakfast at 7.

yes! Thanks nappies. Dh has taken dc off to have a bath so nice a peaceful now. If only I drank I'd be having a large glass of wine, I think a tea will have to do!

lol