Is it normal for a 17month old to be still waking for milk most nights? I've got a feeling it isn't

[RemyMartin]

Is it because he needs to eat more during the day maybe? Or should I just be patient? Is there anything I can do to encourage him to stop waking for milk? Thanks

mine still does at 2! it may not be "the norm" but i know a LOT of children who still wake for milk in the night who are older

Ok thanks, I don't mind really, just wondered if I was maybe not doing something I could be doing. I'll just wait then!

It's a habit that you'll need to break. He doesn't need to wake for milk in the night if he's getting enough calories in the day.

It was normal for DD when she was 17 months

I was on autopilot I think but decided that 2 was going to be too old to have bottles and so we got "big girl beakers" just before her birthday. The waking for milk immediately cut down. And sleep got better (she is 4 now and generally good sleeper).

Well he did sleep through the night recently, but that was after a big piece of cheese just before bedtime. So that does make me think he has got into the habit of knowing he can make up his calories during the night. Does that sound right?

Habits are hard to break. Does he not have milk before bed?

My DS2 woke up every night to get in my bed until he was 8yrs of age.

Your DS is still young. He will grow out of it.

Try offering him water instead when he wakes in the night. He may eventually decide it's not worth waking up for.

Yes he does have milk before bed. He seems to like a lot of milk though!

I'm quite happy to wait for him to grow out of it though, I'm lucky that I work evenings! I just wondered if I was the only one, so thanks for all your replies.

I wondered about offering him water Lyra, would that work?

Try giving porrige, cereal or bread etc. for supper plus milk.
Is he eating enough through the day?
I only give milk morning & evening, water the rest of the day. 3-4 meals a day plus snacks, he sleeps 12 hrs at night and 2 hrs daytime.

Serant I think I will try just giving milk morn and eve then. I do usually give him weetabix before bed, but it doesn't seem to work.

I'll try to get as much food as possible down him tomorrow and see what hapens.

My dd still woke to be bf at 17 months. She wasn't hungry/thirsty, she'd just got into this habit. My dh went into her instead of me and offered water/comforted her in her cot. It took 3 night of actually quite mild protest and she's slept through ever since. I'd go with the water suggestion and stick with it for a week or so.

I think at this age it's a habit, he's learnt to expect food during the night and you have to re-educate his body to not expect it.
Our DS, now 15 months was waking and feeding 2-3 times a night until a month ago. We were recommended "Teach your child to sleep" which has solutions for all sorts of issues. We cut out the night feeds slowly to give his body time to adjust to less food at night. We reduced the amount at each feed till it was practically nothing then finally just offered water instead. It was a slow process due to setbacks with teething and colds but went much more smoothly than I'd expected.
As we cut down the feeds his appetite during the day picked up and he's now eating much better during the day. About a week after we finally dropped the feeds he slept from 8pm to 6am for the first time ever!