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Original poster

DS won't sleep in night, killing me, please help

38 replies

Brozzer · 31/01/2005 08:56

Hi everyone

If anyone can help with a nightmare situation I would be so grateful.

My ds is 10 months old and goes to bed around 7.30pm. He wakes up EVERY NIGHT at 1am and 4.30am, absolutely desperate for a bottle, which he gets on both occasions.

He has now been doing this for over a month and my dp and I are really suffering. We take it in turns to do each night and it's like a living hell.

What can we do? I don't see how I can give ds any more food/milk in the day. He has:

Breakfast 8am
Bottle 10.30am
Lunch 12.30pm with water
Bottle 3pmish
Snack 4pm
Dinner 7pm with milk
Bottle 1am
Bottle 4.30am

Any tried/tested remedies would be very welcome.

OP posts:
lowcalCOD · 31/01/2005 08:58

gof \all I can sy is thats me too and mine is amlost 2
drives you nuts

mishi1977 · 31/01/2005 09:00

hi
my son was like this but instead of giving milk i gave him water and had about 3 nightmare nights but well worth it as he soon realised there was nothing to wake up for..your DS seems to be having a lot of bottles...are they all 9oz? He may have just gotten used to the extra ones like my ds did
hope this helps
mishi

lowcalCOD · 31/01/2005 09:01

yes by t hen I had binned all bottles Ithink
I wudl give him a drink of water and a biscuit mid morning ( or a banana or what ever) nad hten maybe some milk ealy inthe afternoon and give him tea at 4 30
7pm is late for littel boy!

lowcalCOD · 31/01/2005 09:03

it says ont he nhs site that babies over 1 shoudlnt hav bottles at all
I wodul deffo cut out the midmorning one
he isnt a new baby anymore!

Original poster
Brozzer · 31/01/2005 09:06

Thanks, girls
Mishi - they're not 9oz bottles - and it varies how much he has which doesn't help
How many bottles do you think a baby of his age should have?

OP posts:
HeyEnidYouveLostWeight · 31/01/2005 09:09

Dinner too late for a 10 month old. Definitely give a big tea at 5.30, then bath and bed and bottle by 7. No bottles in the night or just water only. I would have got rid of the 3pm bottle by 10 months.Dds had a bottle/bfeed in the am and then one before bed I think.

lowcalCOD · 31/01/2005 09:11

I woudl keep night time only and breakfast but put him ont o a feeder cup if poss

lowcalCOD · 31/01/2005 09:11

porr brozzer! you are so tired you cant think! I know thats feling

mishi1977 · 31/01/2005 09:12

hi my ds is 15mths and i give him 7oz in morning 7 oz when he goes for his nap at 1pm ish and then he has 9ozs at bed time at 7.30pm..he isnt a big eater which is why he still has mid day bottle but that is after i have tried to give him lunch....all the little ones are different as for not giving bottles over one...u tell that to my DS please as when i give him milk in a cup he just point blank refuses it but will have water...lol

lowcalCOD · 31/01/2005 09:13

have you tried the sof spout?
i ut squah i n it really diluted to get him to use it then binned the squash

lowcalCOD · 31/01/2005 09:13

soft spout
I " put squash"

mishi1977 · 31/01/2005 09:16

Low he wont have juice at all i have bought every type of cup..honestly DH went mad but I was desperate to get him to change we have
the tommee tippee soft spout
avent spouts..green and white
normal cup that just pours out
anyway up cups
sports topped bottles
the trainer bottle spouts

he just is not interested if they have water in fine..juice he spits out and milk he doesnt like it at all and throws it

lowcalCOD · 31/01/2005 09:17

shove them int he bath with him, thats my tip
see if he meses arund witht hem

( whispers) rub sugar ont h e spout) ( creeps away_

weightwatchingwaterwitch · 31/01/2005 09:19

My only suggestions should be taken with a pinch of salt since my dd isn't sleeping atm so what would I know?! But try making him eat more in the day, stop giving night bottle, adn is the room dark? If you find anything that works do let us all know!

Original poster
Brozzer · 31/01/2005 09:23

Thanks for your advice.

The problem with the bottles is that's what he's given in nursery (he goes for 2 days a week) so I do it every day.

The babies are also given masses of fruit at 4pm which would ruin an appetite for a big 5.30pm dinner, hence I do it later.

Oh God.

OP posts:
mishi1977 · 31/01/2005 09:26

brozzer..the fruit he is given could be causing him stomach ache..hence the need for the milk..i only say cos if Ds has fruit after 4 ish then he usually wakes about 2am crying and he will drink to try and help th epains

Decmum · 31/01/2005 09:46

Agree with all that's been said. Dinner time at 5.30pm and make it carbohydrate heavy and low in anything difficult to digest....then story, bath, massage, bottle (DS still has a bottle and drinks bet. 6-9oz). In the night warm water if need be.
On nursery days he gets a little fruit at 5ish before he leaves and we give him a easy dinner at 6 and he still eats it. If he's tired and grumpy then I'm afraid we pop him in front on a noddy video and he seems to eat mechanically and not mess around.
My DS has always needed a 20-30 min nap at 9ish then still sleeps for 1hr from 1pm. It gets easier by the time they are crawling/walking and burning more energy. We try to make sure that he never has a nap after 2.30pm.
I know it's really hard when you go through periods of little sleep but even if these tips don't help it will get better on its own. Whenever I'm awake in the night with him I always think about all the new parents who are also awake with brand new babies not knowing what to do....makes me feel less alone.

Beetroot · 31/01/2005 09:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

yoyo · 31/01/2005 09:52

My DS is 2 now and always wakes through the night as did his two sisters before him. I have tried everything at all ages and, I hate to say it, but nothing has worked for us.
We now have another development becuase he can get out of his cot (we put him down at 8 last night and by 10 had put him back more than 20 times). He then woke at 1.30 and 4.30. It is torture. I am so tired I could cry at the moment (and he's given up the daytime sleep so no chance to catch up either).
I really hope you manage to crack his sleeping problem.

suzywong · 31/01/2005 09:54

huge sympathies to you all, there is a MN club for those at their wits' end , we check in on the Melatonin thread active at the moment

yoyo · 31/01/2005 09:55

Beetroot - does she deal with older ones? This is msking me so miserable and I am so short-tempered with everyone.

Original poster
Brozzer · 31/01/2005 09:57

Beetroot - who is this wonder woman in London who can sort out sleep problems? GREAT!!!

OP posts:
suzywong · 31/01/2005 09:57

yoyo, if you live in London or the home counties, google Andrea Grace, she's a sleep consultant and she charges about 70 quid and is fantastic

Original poster
Brozzer · 31/01/2005 09:58

Yoyo - lots of luck with your difficult situation - it's horrible isn't it that awful feeling of exhaustion? Everything seems joyless.

OP posts:
yoyo · 31/01/2005 10:01

Thanks for the name suzywong. I am close to London and will follow this up. £70 is nothing as I have never felt so overwhelmed. I am usually able to pick myself up but this time I just don't seem able to. I now dread the night times.