16 month old waking for x 2 bottles a night! Why

[cantbeatfreshsheets]

So it's my second child. She's
Never slept through since she was born. She was always waking for a bottle or two back in March but I decided to try controlled crying as I was returning to work so was leaving her with my mum for 2 weeks whilst I did. I think

It worked to a point and she stopped waking as frequently.I think that me being away during week for 2 weeks was unsettling for her or a combination of teething and she started waking again. Because i have an older a child who is 5 And don't want to wake him said to my mum just do what you need to do at night. If it's milk then give it to her. Even though I tried to to wean her beforehand.

At the moment she's waking crying/ 12/1am then 4/5. It used to be just 4/5 which I could handle but the extra one which I used to be able to ignore her and she's off she's not now settling without milk.

She's driving me nuts. I'm a single parent so

I have them both on my own during day and I constantly feel tired. Lockdown had been particularly hard because of lack of sleep.

She eats three meals a day well and I've stopped milk during day because she has so much at night except for 3oz because her nap. She's has a nice nature.

She wakes between 5.45 and 7 usually and I put her to bed around 7.

Is bit grateful for any tips. I'm exhausted 💤

If you've stopped the milk in the day, she still needs the calories so is having them at night.

I'd swap and give her milk by day and then water only at night. She'll stop waking up if she only gets water.

You could try a dream feed at 10pm but I wouldn't really want to encourage her getting milk in the night.

Sounds hard op.

I have Dd 18 months, was horrific sleeper.

She still has a lot of milk, for whatever reason. She does now sleep well at the moment.

I'm wondering if you could move that milk back to day.

So Dd has milk when she wakes. Then breakfast at nine.

Snack eleven, lunch half twelve with cup of milk, Then she has a nap.

After nap she has cup of milk and a biscuit or fruit.

Tea 5.30 then 6 ounces bottle before bed. Sleeps 730 to 730.

If I drop any of that milk she wakes in the night. So whilst a lot she still seems to need it and we have at least got two of the milks into a cup.

Thanks both. My thinking was that. So like last night if she had 7oz before bed, then another 7 at 12.30am the I only gave her 4 at 4.30 she went through until 7. I assumed by giving her less milk today as she had so much last night she would have more room for food? The milk is surely suppressing her appetite for solids? Sorry maybe she doesn need more milk during day then? I assumed she's having too much milk which is impacting her solids. She def didn't eat as much for breakfast today as she normally does. But she's generally got a good appetite. Thanks for your suggestions :)

I had a milk breast who used to wake 3x a night until she was 3. I think I aged about ten years during that time. It's so tiring. In the end we had to take away her favourite teddy but that was when she was 3 so could understand consequences a bit. It was heartbreaking but she stopped waking straight away.

Yes absolutely. I have the same worries. Dd without a doubt has to much milk. She had a winter of bugs and would take nothing else.

I've tried to keep those two bigger bottles, and reduce the others into a cup.

It's been trial and error here though. A lot of error.

But both your little one and mine are seeming to need the milk, so I'm going with that for now.

My 18 months old has 4oz at nap time at 7oz at bedtime.
Your DD is waking for milk hungry because she is used to getting milk at that time. I had this issue with my DS1, he had 3 full bottles at night until I put a stop to it finally!
You need to reduce the amount of milk by 1oz for one/both feeds every 3-4 days. Once you get to 2oz you swap to water. She will not miss it if you go down gradually and by the time it’s water she won’t bother waking for it. Good luck!

Postman bear that's great advice. I figured that it's habit not a need. It's just the waking of the older one that has stopped me going forth again. But in terms of sanity and self preservation I need to nip it in the bud. What she lack in sleep she makes up for in personality! I'll crack on with this ASAP. Would you give the water in her normal bottle warm like the milk it just plain old cold water in a Sippy cup? I usually give her the milk warm in a bottle and let her feed herself!

Milk is packed with calories though so if she needs it she needs it. You just need to train her to have it at the times you want!

Yes we've had a lot ofchanged these last year. She's just started walking too and I think teething again. So this might be impacting her nights sleep. I did breastfeed her until she was 9 months. She was a nightmare then too if I remember. It's a bit of a haze if I'm honest. A constant fog!! 💤

When's her last meal before bed?

I would add a supper of porridge with whole milk and maybe some banana before sleep.

If she wakes before 5am, give her water in a bottle. Leave it with her. If she wakes after 5am leave her with some milk.

I would give the milk in the same way that you give the milk but tbh by the time you get down to water she won’t be fussed about having it and will hopefully stop waking up.
I would also recommend getting her to have cold milk. Stop warming it up and then eventually give it straight from the fridge. We used to take the bottles up at night in a cool bag so we didn’t have to go downstairs or turn any lights on, every little helps!

That should say give the water in the sand bottle as the milk.