12 month old still waking in night - advice??

[Aries456]

Hi my almost 1 year old goes to sleep very early (6pm) with a bottle of milk but wakes somewhere between 3-4am each night and then is awake at 5.30am. She then goes back for a long morning nap at 8.30.
I dream feed her at around 10pm and then I have got back into habit of giving her milk at 3am as I change her full nappy (I literally prop the bottle as I change her in cot, not ideal I know...)
I would like to push back her bed time back but she is SO tired by 6pm it is as much as I can do to keep her up until then. Last night I managed 6.20pm.
She isn't a big eater in the day Either, often having a few spoonfuls or something or a few bites then throwing it away or spitting out anything else I try to give her.
Love any suggestions of how to fill her up more, how to stop the night feeds (my 4 year old sleeps next door to her so difficult when she cries a lot) or how to get her to sleep later.

I don't think it sounds too bad to wake for the day at 530am if she is going to sleep at 6pm. She is probably genuinely hungry if she's not eating much in the day. How much milk is she having? Is it spoiling her appetite for food? How close is she to 1 years old?
My 14 month old DS stopped waking for his 3am feed at 11 months, of his own accord,but is eating loads in the day,and maybe only 8-10 ounces of milk in a cup a day.
Also, that first nap seems a bit early. Is she having 2naps a day?

Thanks for replying :) I think she is relying on milk too much in the day - she has her early morning milk (around 4am), weetabix breakfast (normally doesnt finish 1/2 a biscuit) then she has a bottle (7oz) after her nap around 10.30 plus i try to get her to have some fruit or something. She has lunch beteen 12-1 and then she might have a bottle around 2pm, dinner at 4.30/5pm then her bedtime milk (plus her 10pm feed). She is definitely hungry because She drains her 7oz bottle at both 10pm and 3-4am so it isn't just a comfort thing.
She is 1 next Thursday!
Today I started a sleep and food diary to see if that helps. Sorry for long reply x

Ps today I left the afternoon milk and she seemed to eat more dinner I thought. Also kept her up until 6.20pm. Oh and yes, she normally does have an afternoon nap around 3/3.30pm but not always if she has had a later, big morning nap x

Maybe try and reduce the milk intake. Replace with yogurts/custard etc.
I also noticed night time sleep improved when DS dropped to one long lunchtime nap, around 12 months. Good luck!

I know every baby is different, but we dropped to 2 bottles (morning and evening) around 10 months. It was about 14 months when we dropped to 1 long lunchtime nap. The afternoon nap does seem quite late. Could you not let her sleep too long for her morning nap (maybe an hour max) and then put her down a bit earlier for her afternoon nap?

I've heard that the dream feed can actually do the opposite and mess with their sleep cycles once they get a bit older, so you could try without for a night just to see...it will also eliminate the problem of such a full nappy possibly waking her.

Whoa how much milk? No wonder she doesn't eat anything.

My 12month old has a feed morning and evening and eats 3 meals a day.

You need to shift her whole routine an hour, gradually by 20 mins per day until she goes to bed at 7 and hopefully will wake slightly later. I'd stop feeding at all overnight. She doesn't need it. Offer water for a couple of nights and see what happens. If she doesn't get milk she will stop waking.

For reference my lo is on the cusp of dropping to one nap at nearly 13 months. Her morning nap is making her wake earlier.

Hi winter it is a late nap but she is so tired by 6pm even with late nap. And fondant yes I sometimes miss the dream feed and I felt she slept slightly better but still worried she would be hungry! Will skip tonight and see. And yes derm I would like to shift bedtime to 7pm. Have managed to get her to 6.20 last 2 nights, see if I can get her to 6.30 etc. I did get to a point where I could give her a dummy or water in the night and she went back to sleep but since she had teeth through a couple of months ago only milk seems to settle her and water makes her angry! And I think perhaps until I sort her food intake in the day I won't feel confident about no milk at night - she drains the bottle so does seem hungry. So will try and cut day milks, keep offering food and push her bedtime later... phew! Thanks for all the advice, appreciate your replies x

None of this sounds too bad for a 12 month old?

I think your schedule needs to be tweaked a little. Wake her up from her morning nap after 15 mins and offer a second nap at 12:30 and let her sleep for up to 2hrs (though anything over 1-1.5hrs is fine). That will help stretch her bed time out to nearer 18:30/18:45
At this point I'd be offering food before milk too, I'd offer a bottle/cup upon waking and a bottle/cup before bed. Food wise I'd offer 3 meals and two snacks.
Day could go like this:
5:30 wake up, bottle/cup milk
6:15 breakfast
8:30 nap 15 mins (this can reduce to 10 mins when it starts to affect the long nap duration - you can then drop it)
10 snack (yoghurt/fruit)
11:30 lunch
12:30 - 14:30 long nap
14:30 snack (veg sticks and hummus etc)
17:00 dinner
17:45/18:00 bedtime milk
18:30 bedtime routine and bed
18:45 asleep

Over time this should loosely evolve into 7-7 awake/asleep and changes to your current schedule should be made gradually.
Good luck!

Thank you for that. I think atm she is having too long a morning nap to make up for the early rise and then she is ravenous and gets hysterical if I offer her anything but milk but then she doesn't want a proper lunch until later etc... will try reducing morning nap a bit. I think going from 2 hour to 15 mins might be a bit much to start bit perhaps I will limit it to 45 mins- 1hr and then give her a longer afternoon nap early afternoon. I am pregnant again so I have been napping in the AM when she does, probably letting them go on too long. Thanks again for the tips. X

I would cut the dream feed out, i think they can be great for young babies who need regular feeds but by 12 months they aren't needed and won't help with her eating solids. I would personally switch over to cups instead of bottles too, much better for teeth.

At 12 months my 3 children would wake up, have breakfast and a cup of milk, lunch with various cup of milk or water, nap, wake up and have afternoon snack and dinner with a cup of milk. Followed by getting ready for bed.

Iowild chanhe naps gradually, so wake 5 mins earlier each day and then put to bed 5 mins later each day until you are happy with where things are.

Hi, yes definitely make the changes gradually so as to not disrupt her too much. The schedule I suggested is more an end-state once all adjustments made. I'd start with waking her after an hour today then 50 mins tomorrow, 45 the next and on til you're down to 10-15 mins or she can comfortably stretch to 12/12:30 for a single long nap (my 14 mo has just dropped the morning nap so there is a nap transition at around one)
Best of luck OP, hope you get a settled sleep and feeding routine before your new baby arrives.

I genuinely think babies just sleep through when they are ready regardless of schedules - I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong and she is only waking once in the night which is great!