11month old waking every night between 3 and 5 for milk!

[jakeyscousin]

Help dd is generally not a good feeder and really takes only enough during the day to keep body and soul together and is always on 25th centile. she is beautiful healthy and v v active....almost walking. However despite all my efforts to get her to take more milk or food during the day she started waking every night about 3 months ago....before this she would sleep through most nights til 6:30 7 ish! DD loves water so tried giving water in the night and this has no effect in stopping her from waking. DD stands up in her cot shouting then crying til milk arrives....and then guzzles 4 ounces!...she then may pr may not settle herself back to sleep! DH and I are totally knackered and I'm expecting number 2 at christmas so really need to stop this night time feeding before christmas comes!! ANy suggestions would be most welcome! ...a very tired pregnant mummy!

Tricky one... how much milk are you giving her during the day? - is it possible that she's having too much milk, which in turn is making her feel full and she's then turning down the calories in the food?

I think the guidance is about a pint a day at this age, including what she's having at night.

You could try reducing the amount of milk (and any other liquids) and see if that results in her eating more food, which in turn should help her sleep better...

I don't think so as DD doesn't drink much milk as seems to not like it....alwals had a problem getting her to take even half the recommended amounts! however she probably takes in 24 hours about 400mls sometimes a little more...not sure what that is in pints!

You say that she loves water - is she drinking much of that during the day? as even water can make you feel quite full. 400mls is about 14oz, with 20oz in a pint - so it doesn't sound like too much milk is the problem.

Have you tried any "methods" to get her back to sleep when she wakes up in the night - ie Pick Up/Put Down or CC? Sometimes they sleep really well for months, and then have a few bad nights - perhaps due to teething or illness - which then sets a new habit of night waking. I was in your situation 10 years ago with DD1 who wouldn't sleep all night and DD2 imminent. In desperation I did cc - which did work, but was hard. Both girls are great sleepers now!

How well is she napping during the day? My DS is 10 months old, and also nearly walking - he tends have about 75 mins nap in the morning, and 1.5 to 2 hours in the afternoon. He goes down around 7.30 - 8pm and sleeps through until 6.30am.

I think if they get overtired during the day their night time sleep is more restless - so you might find encouraging longer naps during the day helps.

thanks for your advice...I think you could be right about the teething and illness thing starting bad habits as she has had bad bouts of teething....3 top ones came through at one go..and also had a bad ear infection both caused bad sleeping. Dd never been a particularly good napper...despite my best efforts! when she's at home with me she normally naps 45 mins mid am and 45 mins mid pm...occasionally more if she's tired but on nursery days she naps very little and is very tired and grumpy at bed time....and she noticeably sleeps worse on nursery nights! I think I'll try and do CC at night though...as I can't think of a good reason why she keeps waking in the night...apart from hunger whihch by now she shouldn't need either! thanks for your ideas and support. I'll give CC a go this week with my hubby and speak to the nursery and see if they can help increase her day time naps at nursery!!