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Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

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Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler.

Sleep

Are we encouraging her not to sleep thru by giving her a bottle?

34 replies

Moomin · 21/09/2006 23:00

Dd2 is 11 m old and has only slept thru (7.30 -7am) for about 1 week when she was 6m old. We've started leaving a bottle of milk in her cot whe we go to bed in the hope that she will find it and feed herself. usually she cries, we go in, find it for her and she goes back off after drinking it. Therefore one of us is up every night - not for long admittedly - but it's still a broken night.

She eats ok but doesn't have a huge appetite, and because she goes off again after having her milk in the middle of the night I assume it's because she's genuinely hungry. Dh says he thinks she's just 'one of those babies' that never sleeps through, and we just have to lump it til she's grown out of it. Is it our fault she's not going through though, by letting her expect milk in the night? Is it worth trying cc - had a half-hearted attempt a few months back but it kept waking dd1 and as she's now at school I'm loath to disturb her.

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Mumpbump · 06/10/2006 18:37

It's so frustrating, isn't it? My ds has had a cough and temperature that have come and gone over the last few weeks. He'll get over it and sleep really well for a couple of nights, then get another cough and have a really disturbed night... Sometimes, it makes me feel like we're back to square one, but the cold can't last forever!!

Moomin · 06/10/2006 15:38

we've had two rubbish nights. Not helped because she is full of snuffles which I think is from the teething and a little cold too.

1st night dh was up with her at 2 and gave her the diluted milk. she trashed it and he tried to settle her. After an hour of her waking and crying, he gave in and fetched her more milk... but then I went in at 4 and she hadn't drunk it all. she was crying because of the her teeth so i have her some calpol and everything settles again by 5am. (I looked MIGHTY FINE at work the next day)

Last night she drank the diluted milk at 3.30 but was still crying later on. We raised up her bed to help her breathing and I put her down after 20mins cuddles. She went off again without any more milk and was RAVENOUS for her breakfast so I'm pleased about that. God, this is like the most boring Diary of the Mundane. I'm even boring myself. that's a yawn not a 'shock' face.

am soooooooooooo tired.

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lulusmama · 05/10/2006 11:41

Hi moomin
I was just thinking, 3 oz is not a lot - does she refuse if you try to give her more? Just wondering if her second waking is cause she's still hungry... I know that's the wrong direction here. I would try to dilute her night feed down gradually also, and she (hopefully!) will get hungrier during the day. How much milk does she drink during the day now?
I also think that alot of babies will sleep through the night only when they are ready to do so - not when we want them to unfortunately! (But I totally understand what it is to be sleep-deprived!!)

creepydazy · 05/10/2006 09:57

Moomin does your daughter have a dummy? Both my children didn't have dummies and so there bottle was not only their food but also there comforter. I don't want to upset you but both my children only gave up their bottle when they started school and that was because "santa needed their bottle for his baby reindeer". I had tried everything to get my DS to give up his drink through the night but this is the only thing that worked and like I say it took until he started school for him to do that.

Azure · 05/10/2006 09:54

We did the same as Leogaela when both of my DSs were around 8 months and it worked both times. Once the milk was so diluted we knew they were not getting any nutrition from it and they both slept through within a couple of days of no more bottles being offered. Good luck. BTW don't you worry about the milk being stale if it is left in the cot?

leogaela · 05/10/2006 09:34

Moomin, i have only skimmed over this thread but it sounds as if our ds was exactly the same at this age. He just needed the bottle for comfort to go back to sleep, we reduced the amount and watered it down slowly so we knew that he wasn't hungry. when the bottle is reduced as much as possible we stroked shhhhed him back to sleep, then stopped giving him the bottle and just comforted him back to sleep. I think it took a couple of weeks but he started sleeping through - what a relief !

The other thing is to make sure she has enough milk before she goes to sleep, if there is some left in the bottle then you know she has had enough, if she drains the bottle give her a bit more.

moaningpaper · 05/10/2006 08:54

Gosh bad luck with the teething - it's such a pain not knowing whether they are suffering from that or not. We nearly have a full set of teeth and it will be a HUGE relief when they are all through.

jessicaandrebeccasmummy · 05/10/2006 08:50

hi moomin

another october baby also on cows milk, also having milk in the middle of the night. your OP could have been written by me!

We are just letting her get on with it to be honest. Jessica did the same and slept through from 15 months so im hoping by the new year becky will be sleeping through.

I think Becky is genuinly hungry - she eats like a horse! Has had her milk at 5am this morning, 1 weetabix and a slice of toast already this morning and will have a bottle before her nap at about 9.30am. She will then have sandwich, fruit and yoghurt for lunch, another bottle this afternoon at about 3pm and then a big tea followed by fruit for pudding and a bottle before bed.

Ok so i know she shouldnt need her middle of the night bottle, but if she wants it, who am i to take it away when it could lead to screaming in the middle of the night?!

HOpe you find something that works, but wanted to reassure you that for me and my girls it has been perfectly normal until they are up on their feet and running around to knock them out at night.... and sympathy with the teeth too - Becky only has 1 and has had it for months - think the next ones will all come at once!

moaningpaper · 05/10/2006 08:41

certainly am!

She keeps getting colds actually so am I often woken up in the morning by a little cough followed by a tsunami of breastmilk englufing my face/the bed/the carpet.

It certainly gets me out of a bed in a jiffy.

Moomin · 04/10/2006 22:01

hiyer moaning! still sleeping in a puddle of milk?

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moaningpaper · 04/10/2006 21:56

Moomin mine is the same age and wakes all through the night for feeding (I'm still feeding her)

I'm sure that it's fairly normal at this age if you haven't taken drastic action i.e. sleep training

Moomin · 04/10/2006 21:55

Ta beaner. I will definitely try diluting it tonight.

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beaner07 · 04/10/2006 21:50

Moomin, DS was waking for a bottle nearly everynight from about 10mths to 18mths old (after initially sleeping through)- he used to wake around 12.30am/1.00ish.

After plucking up courage to try and sort it out we started to gradually water the night bottle down (1oz at a time) until it was just 1oz formula (he was still on that at the time - wouldn't take to cows milk!!) and the rest water, took just over a week but we did break the habit.

Luckily we didn't have to get to the stage when it was just water or there would of probably been tears but he has been great since then.

I remember that broken night feeling oh to well - hope you get sorted soon.

Moomin · 04/10/2006 21:47

she's on cow's milk now - although i spose we could dilute that as well. Diluting her formula did work at one point - I remember our HV suggesting it as she was surprised dd2 wasn't sleeping through (at 5 months- if only!). Yes, I think we'll give it a try. Got work tomorrow though so might be a rough night! better go to bed now...

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Mumpbump · 04/10/2006 21:41

Sorry - should have been "cut back by 0.5 oz"!

Mumpbump · 04/10/2006 21:41

How long did you try giving her water for? It might take her a while to get used to it. The other thing which I did for a short while was to dilute the formula feed with more water. I know they say not to mess around with it, but as long as you keep track of the amount of powder you've given them, I figured it was a way to make them think that they've had milk whilst cutting back on the calorie intake in the night. Alternately, I remember a post where someone cut the milk back by 3oz every 3-4 nights and that worked over time... Gradual change, I guess.

Moomin · 04/10/2006 21:37

mumpbump - we tried giving her water but she was drinking it and then crying again a few minutes later and wouldn't stop til we gave her milk. She gulps the water down so much she sometimes makes herself a bit sick. We've tried cutting the daytime milk right down but as yet there doesn't seem any improvement during the nights. We give her about 3oz at night. any less than that and she wakes again a bit later still hungry

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Moomin · 04/10/2006 21:35

We did 'dreamfeeds' with her when she was a lot smaller and she still woke up anyway so we left her to sleep. Dh keeps saying that maybe she's just 'one of those babies' who wakes in the night anyway. My friend has just had a baby 4 weeks ago and I heard yesterday that they had 8 hours unbroken sleep the other night. I'm soooooo !!! keep thinking it's payback for when dd1 was a baby - she slept brilliantly

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Mumpbump · 04/10/2006 21:34

How much is she taking in the night? If she gets food during the night, logically she will be less hungry and eat less during the day so she ends up being hungry in the night and the whole thing is a vicious circle. (Noticed this when we gave ds milk in the night when he was a bit ill. Took a while to persuade him he didn't need milk in the night afterwards.) If you can cut down the amount of milk you give her in the night, she should logically be hungrier in the morning, possibly eat more during the day and therefore not need feeding at night. If I were you, I'd give her water instead or, if she is having quite a bit of milk at night, you might want to cut down gradually. Hope that might help...

NastyNemo666 · 04/10/2006 21:26

My DD was waking for a bottle in the night so I changed it to be on my terms and went in and woke her up at 11pm ish to give her a top up feed. She soon decided she didnt like that so slept through.
Ds on the other hand I did the same with and he didnt sleep through till he was 18mths and even now is a night time waker sometimes.

Moomin · 04/10/2006 21:23

bump

Anyone have any helpful ideas? She goes down on her own with no problems at all so it's not like she needs to be rocked to sleep at any time. She does seem genuinely hungry but she still doesn't seem that interested at mealtimes (not for me or dh anyway - she eats really well for the childminder. is she taking the p*ss?! dd2 that is, not the CM!) She's 1 next week but only 16lbs - is that small? she seems healthy enough.

she's waking at least twice at the moment - once for a bottle and once with her teeth hurting her. we're knackered.

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Moomin · 02/10/2006 19:09

hiya again. sorry, wasn't meaning to go on in my last post!
have things improved? well, yes and no.... No in that she's still not sleeping through and wakes once a night but she's just cut her first tooth (yes I know she's nearly 1!!!! they'll probably last her til she's 30 now) and she's a bit miserable about that so that isn't really helping matters. However, we have cut down her milk in the day and she seems a bit hungrier at mealtimes but still not eating tonnes (again, new teeth aren't helping I think)... so I don't really know what to do...

When dd1 was between 10 and 13m she started waking every night with her teeth, after sleeping soundly all night from 7 weeks, so I'm kind of thinking dd2 would be waking now anyway (?)

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lulusmama · 24/09/2006 20:39

oh, ok, just wondering! How are you getting on, is your LO sleeping longer at night now?

Moomin · 23/09/2006 09:10

Couldn't see what difference 1 month would make: she's healthy, no allergies in the family, she has a good healthy diet and I was fed up with the formula! Yes, not exactly spot on 1 year but...

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lulusmama · 22/09/2006 14:59

Don't feel thick - its so hard when you're so close to it to take a step back. Me for example, my DS used to sleep well in the afternoon - today it took me an hour and half to get him to sleep 30 minutes!! Its probably sthg really simple, but i was so frustrated I wanted to run from the house screaming. I think he's trying to change his daytime sleep times now he's older, but we're not understanding each other...

Just wanted to ask why you're giving cow's milk, if you don't mind. I thought cow's milk didn't have enough iron and vitamin D for babies under 1 year?
Anyway, let us know how you get on. Good Luck

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