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Sleep

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Original poster

Do you give your 20 month old water in the night or is she playing us?

19 replies

Ragtaggle · 09/07/2005 19:06

Sounds stupid I know but we seem to have got ourselves in a bit of a situation. Our 20 month old dd has woken up calling for water at about midnight for the last two weeks and it's driving us mad. Partly because if we give her water that is NEVER the end of it - we are often kept awake for an hour or more afterwards.I went and got her water on the first night because it was incredibly hot but we've had lots of reasonably cool nights since and I'm sensing that this cry for water is a bit of a ruse. Once I have given dd water I try to leave her to it with a gentle 'go to sleep' and leaving the room. Our problem is that the stubborn madam then goes mad and calls our names and cries out various things for anything up to an hour. (One hilarious cry last night was for 'couch mummy' - where we sit to read!) She really is persistent and no matter how long we lie there with pillows over our heads we just can't sleep through it. We tried the soft approach - staying in her room until she fell asleep - but then found she went even madder when we tried to creep out. So we're now being 'hard' - ignoring her completely - but so far this isn't working either. It's driving u s mad - I'm seven months pregnant and determined to crack this sudden night waking before number two comes along.

I have two questions really. One - do people think that it's reasonable for a child this age to need water in the night - should I be trying to leave some in her cot or is this just something she is doing for attention? And two - do you think I should just keep ignoring her (Have only properly ignored her once so far) until she stops or is that cruel? Would be interested to know what anyone else does re: drinks in the night etc

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

hunkermunker · 09/07/2005 19:07

I leave a (spouted!) cup in DS's cot. He knows it's there and swigs from it if he needs to. I need a drink in the night sometimes, so think it's totally fair enough for a child to. DS is 15mo.

colditz · 09/07/2005 19:09

My son does this, so I filled a baby bottle with water and slipped it into his cot when he went to sleep. He finds it in the night if he is thirsty, more importantly I can ignore him without too much guilt, as I then know he's not thirsty.

your dd could be thirsty, I often get thirsty in the night.

Papillon · 09/07/2005 19:14

DD 21 months is sometimes thirsty in the night - so I give her a drink - she sleeps next to us so I don´t have to get up

Leaving a bottle in her cot could be worthwhile trying.

WigWamBam · 09/07/2005 19:26

We used to leave a spouted beaker with a valve to stop drips in dd's cot.

Original poster

Ragtaggle · 09/07/2005 20:03

Thanks for this. Once tried leaving a bottle in her cot but when I got up in the morning her sheets were soaking where she'd been sipping from it lying down I suppose. New experiment tonight - Have put a non spill cup in the corner of her cot and told her all about it. I am also going to leave a night light on low so that she can find it okay. Wish me luck - so desperate for an unbroken night's sleep now.

OP posts:

Lonelymum · 09/07/2005 20:15

I don't think a child does need water in the night unless maybe if it was an exceptionally hot night. I think she is playing you along to be honest, because you gave her the water when it was hot.

I'm afraid it if was me, I would be quite intolerant. I sleep very well, very deeply and for a long time, and if anything interrupts my sleep I am like a bear with a sore head so perhaps that has dictated my behaviour towards children waking up unnecessarily in the night. Faced with this behaviour, I would probably go and check she was all right and tell her to go to sleep and then leave. I would ignore the persistant cries as long as possible (I can even drift off to sleep through crying now!) If it became impossible to ignore her anymore, I would just go in and again tell her to go to sleep, and keep doing that until the message went home that she was not going to get anything from me. It sounds harsh I know, but it doesn't sound as though she has any reason (but habit) to be calling for you, and as you said yourself,you want to crack this problem before the new baby arrives.

Frizbe · 09/07/2005 21:06

No have to say we don't....

fishfinger · 09/07/2005 21:06

i do but I am last child demob happy

Janh · 09/07/2005 21:11

Oooooh, Lonelymum, kindred spirits!

DD2 used to do this at intervals ragtaggle, yes it is for attention - DH used to be the one who got up at night, and night after night he would go and be nice-funny-daddy and give her a drink and make her laugh, blahblahblah, and then finally the worm would turn and he would wake me up and I would go and tell her in no uncertain terms that this was not a good idea.

What worked best for us was putting her in the travel cot in the sitting room - it removed the noise further away from us and rammed the message home. Have you got one? (DD2 slept in a sleeping bag which stopped her climbing out.)

Lonelymum · 09/07/2005 21:12

Oooh Jan, aren't we horrible?

hunkermunker · 09/07/2005 21:12

I always have a drink next to the bed and always drink at least some of it in the night, so am happy for DS to do the same. Please repeat this back to me when potty training my never dry at night child though

Weatherwax · 09/07/2005 21:12

I always take a drink up to bed and often drink something in the night, my dd1 (7) often drinks from a bottle of water in the night. dd2(now 4) used to come into my room and help herself from my drink and lay down on the bed and go to sleep. So yes it is possible that your DD could be thirsty. My two know that once I am asleep I am very difficult to wake up and I think that encourages them to go back to sleep.

fishfinger · 09/07/2005 21:13

my mum usedt o dot his for my brother when he was littel and we lived in singapore

gievn that ist was so hot there mum was suprised whn the health visitor told her not to!

Emod · 09/07/2005 21:14

ours did this

we now leave a sippy cup in her cot and thats it.

she shouldnt be in a cot anyway (ours) as she is nearly 3 but thats another story

Original poster

Ragtaggle · 10/07/2005 22:07

Well so far, so good. She slept from 8-8 last night (Very unusual) and definitely drank some water in the night. She did wake briefly at five am but went back to sleep after five minutes. Probably a fluke but watch this space...

OP posts:

morningpaper · 10/07/2005 22:12

Yay good stuff Ragtaggle.

My dd is 2 and has a non-spill avent cup in her bed. She regularly drinks 4oz a night. Pees like a horse in the morning though!

bagpussmice · 11/07/2005 13:41

my dd 21 mths also has water in the night - she can't manage a non-spill spout so has a beaker which tends to spill abit on her sheets... she also has a v. v. heavy nappy in the morning - sometimes I even change it in the night as she sups so much! If she wakes crying I just go in and give her her drink back and 9/10 goes back to sleep straight away.

stripey · 11/07/2005 13:49

Ds2 drinks at least 10oz of water during the night we actually put 2 bottles in his cot and they are both empty by morning - not sure if it is habit or if he likes the teat (he never had a dummy).

He never wakes us in the night and will often stay in his cot for an extra half hour in the morning drinking his water so it works for us. He stands them between the cot bars and they haven't spilled so far. He is nearly 3 too.

NomDePlume · 11/07/2005 13:56

DD, almost 3, takes a drink to bed with her at night. Sometimes it's empty in the morning but mostly it is still 3/4 full. But TBH, it's not great problem her having it and I'd hate to think of her waking in the night being thirsty and either a) disturbing my precious sleep or b) getting upset becasue no one could hear her asking for a drink...

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