15-Month Still Waking up to Eat

My opinion as a grandmother of 17 is that you're putting him to bed way too early. The price is having him get hungry and waking up.

Offer water instead and tell him we don't eat until morning. he will cry for a night or so, but then he will stop waking.

Waking to eating is a habit. You have to break it to change it.

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You might try just leaving a bottle of water in his bed. Maybe he will find it and go back to sleep. My kids (3of them) didn't truely sleep til I got up until they were about 3.

If he is in bed by 7:15, there is a good chance that he is hungry by that time. Either have him eat a little later or keep doing what your doing and soon he his belly will be able to wait until later to eat. I would just be happy that he goes back to sleep until 6:30 mine would just be up and ready for the day no matter what time they woke.

When my son was about that age we started giving him a sippy cup of water to keep in his bed with him and that's all he would get during the night. He was PISSED for about a week and wanted to nurse because that was the habit. But 12 hours is a long time to go without a drink for little ones (adults too, i still sleep with a cup of water by my bed and take sips throughout the night), so i would suggest just giving him water when he wakes up. Don't worry too much about what kind of cup/bottle he's drinking it from until he's not waking you up for it. Having a bottle a little longer really isn't going to hurt him if there's just water in it.

I agree with a little later bedtime. It doesn't have to be 9, but maybe closer to 8 at least. But I think it also depends on when you prefer him to wake up. If you're household is up at 6:30, then just work on getting rid of the bad bottle habit. For the next week or so, slowly give him less milk in the bottle. As he gets less, he may decide it's not worth it to get up. If that doesn't work, just go in when he wakes up and try to soothe him for a few minutes, and then let him cry for a bit. After a few days you'll break the habit.

Now if you do prefer he sleep later than 6:30 in the morning, then definitely move back the bedtime. I have a 12mth old and 3 yr old, and they both go to bed closer to 9, but sleep till at least 8:30.

I disagree with other posters saying put him to bed later. Babies and young toddlers have been shown to do best with a 6-8 pm bedtime as it is part of their biological clock ( get Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Weissbluth!) - your bed time is right for him. Sounds to me like he has just developed a habit. And yes, it probably does help him get back down to sleep feeling a full belly, but it's not necessary and he can learn to extend his sleep without it.

I would start by 1) wean him off of the bottle so this isn't anything comforting or needed by him anymore.
2) keep a sippy cup of water in his crib. My son has one every night put in his crib with him. This is enough to hold him over if he does wake.
3) Stop going to him at the early morning. You have to know your son as to if going in there once to try to comfort him without a feeding is best, or if your presence is only going to wake him more or make him more upset. With my son, we didn't go to him because I knew this would just make it harder for him to settle back into sleep. Of course, he wasn't this age because we cut out all night feedings by 7 months.

I would not recommend letting him get up at 4 am, no way. Now possibly, if it's 5:30 but you really don't want much of a habit of this either. Maybe you have to if he's been awake since 4 am or something, he at least learns that he's not getting a bottle and eventually then this should lengthen itself out to 6:30 or so.

Children this age should sleep around 11 hours at night (my son sleeps 12 and even more when he's extra tired!) so please don't move his bedtime or I think you will have a whole new set of problems.

He will adjust and he will be just fine. It is time to get rid of that feeding (and well, bottles period.) I would probably not go to him at all to send the most clear of messages and avoid his confusion, but you know your son best and I think you could go to him and show him his sippy cup or maybe a quick cuddle - but then straight back into bed. I just caution against this or rocking to sleep, etc. because then he's just found a new reason to keep waking up :) Good luck!!

Yep, stop feeding him. And stop giving him a bottle.
If you want to go in to him, a sippy of water is the most I would give.

I'd probably go in 1x, lay him back down with a paci, and leave. Then let him cry. (Just my style.)
It would take a day or two and you'd be through it.