Is this another stage or has he developed a habit?

[pacific407]

my 11mo son has always been a decent sleeper. He has gone through stages of sleeping through, generally lasting a few weeks, then he seems to hit a developmental milestone and he starts waking up at night. Luckily generally only once. This has been the case since he as about 4 weeks old.

He started nursery in jan and he has had two nasty sick bugs, teething, a cold and now a cough since then. So he hasn't slept through since jan, and at the moment is waking up twice (once at around 10 and once at around 3.30 although that varies).

The only method I have ever known to placate him at night is to give him a bottle of milk-normally 4oz or so which is guess is a sign he wasn't really hungry, and before he got ill I was planning to try and phase that out.

But at the moment, since he recovered from his latest bug, his appetite has been through the roof and I can't seem to fill him up, so each time he's waking up at night he's taking a full bottle feed (which to me suggests he's actually hungry rather than just needing soothing) plus having loads of solids and milk during the day.

This has been going on a couple of weeks, and I now don't know whether I need to start taking action to stop him developing a habit of waking up for feeds at night, or whether he's still catching up from his bug, plus possibly a growth spurt, so I should just wait it out. I heard something about a sleep regression/growth spurt at his age?

Sorry if this is rambling, but any thoughts gratefully received.

Have you tried offering him water when he wakes to see if he's thirsty rather than hungry?

My DS has been ill with one thing and another (2 new molars recently too) for weeks now, so he went off his food for ages. He's definitely playing catch up as he's ravenous during the day. Having said that he doesn't wake up hungry in the night.

Is your LO having enough calories during the day? And does he still have a bedtime bottle? Is it worth offering him more milk at bedtime until he's caught up? Perhaps make sure he has some carbs with his evening meal too, to fill him up for longer.

Thanks very much, matana. I haven't tried water, and might give that a go, even if i still need to get up to do it! He has his dinner about 4.30, which more often than not is pasta, but I might start giving him that a bit later. I don't know if he's getting enough calories, I can only compare it to what he was eating before he got ill, and it is off the scale! Oh, and he does have milk at bed time...I suppose I could try one of those bedtime milks, but he's getting to the age where he will move on to cows milk so it might be too late for that?

How are you getting on pacific? Sounds to me like it's a combination of him regaining the weight after sickness and stocking up on energy for learning to walk! I remember my DS had an insatiable appetite around the time he mastered crawling and began cruising/ walking - he was always on the move so i suppose it's no surprise! Ime, a good sleeper doesn't usually turn bad unless there's something behind it. I'm sure he'll get back to normal again soon.