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18 month old wakes to feed

5 replies

Jmommy · 04/08/2020 14:37

We are facing a rather frustrating sleep issue with our toddler. He still tends to wake up crying once per night more often than not, and will only settle if he gets a bottle of milk. He has a bottle of water in his cot and that suffices on some nights, so we believe that when he cries for milk he’s indeed hungry.

This problem also tends to correlate to how much he’s eaten during the day and on his evening meal. If he eats well, he tends to sleep through or only drink water on his own in his cot.

The problem is that he’s a fussy eater and it’s quite difficult to get him to eat enough. He gets oatmeal porridge in the evening before bed, which he normally eats ok, but that’s not enough if he’s eaten poorly earlier in the day. We’ve tried giving other evening snacks, like egg and cheese, which worked, but sometimes he just won’t eat enough. He also gets a bottle of milk just before bed.

So as it seems now, he would probably sleep through a lot more often if he just would eat more. I don’t think we should just let him cry and go hungry either. Should we just accept he needs his milk at night? I’m out of good ideas. And sick of waking to his crying so often. This also puts pressure on the whole eating thing, knowing if he won’t eat we’ll again be up at night giving him milk Confused

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
1busybee · 04/08/2020 14:39

Could you try giving him more smaller snacks during the day to keep him full?

Bitchinkitchen · 04/08/2020 14:49

I would stop giving milk in the night and give more during the day, as well as more food. If he's picky, just give him more of the things he will eat, rather than pushing new foods on him.

FATEdestiny · 05/08/2020 10:59

I would stop giving night feeds, so that he's hungrier in the morning so eats more the next day.

Night feeds tend to self perpetuate like this. You need to bite the bullet and stop so that daytime calorie intake can adjust. I can't adjust whileever night feeds happen.

Bleepers · 05/08/2020 16:01

Jumping on this thread, at what age is it advisable to cut out the last night feed?

FATEdestiny · 05/08/2020 16:14

@Bleepers that's a loaded question.

Past 4-6 months old (give or take) then night feeds are more about comfort and less about nutrition. That said, comfort is just as vital a need as calories for a baby.

So, if your baby has another way to feel comforted enough to go to sleep easily without feeding then the answer is sub-6 months.

But... (!) If your baby needs feeding to feel comforted then it's unrealistic to expect baby to have no comfort to get to sleep, in exactly the same way baby needs calories, that comfort is necessary as an absolute. In which case the answer is either:

  • when DC no longer needs that comforted feeling to sleep, which comes with emotional development around the preschool age. Or
  • until you establish a different way for your child to feel comforted. Dummy, blankies, teddy, daddy cuddles, mummy sitting next to me... etc etc
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