16 Month Old Waking up Hungry!

Hey congratulations! My boy did the same thing, until I fed him a huge bedtime snack right before bed. Like a glass of milk, 2 graham crackers and a banana; or a glass of chocolate milk, with a peanut-butter waffle. I know you mention constipation, but without breastmilk, he might only "go" once every other day and that's his normal -- my boy goes between once to every three days. And I put him down around 9 or 10 pm now that he's 2 1/2... most moms think I'm crazy but it really works for us:)

sounds like a growth spurt to me. My oldest woke up in the middle of the night hungry until he was 6 because he was growing so fast. We actually kept him on formula for that night hunger as I wasn't interested in cooking anything or taking him out of his room. He eventually stopped waking up in the middle of the night. He also has acute hearing so I generally have a fan blowing in his room to generate white noise which helped him stay asleep.

All kids go through this stage at about this age. He is about to have a growth spurt. It's a normal stage. It should only last about a month. It helped me to be prepared and have simple snacks ready to hand to J. Sometimes I would put stuff in the snack size baggies and leave it within reach so I didn't have to go to the kitchen.He went back to sleep soon and I was so glad when he finally started sleeping all night again.

push dinner to 6:30pm, done by 7. Follow your routine and still get him in bed by 8:30-9. If he sleeps to 5:30 or 6am........not so bad! Truly you already have him on a darn good routine. I think you can tweak it a bit. I wouldn't let him cry because he is hungry either.

Yup. I feel a growth spurt coming on. I'd deal with the constipation on a case by case basis and feed him anything I could that would hold him over. I don't know what time you do supper, but maybe you could move it closer to bed time, or have a good solid bedtime snack. I recommend Whole Wheat French Toast with a tablespoon of peanutbutter. he will likely scarf it down and sleep really well. :-)

T.

He's hungry, he's growing, having a growth-spurt... so he needs it. It is his BODY saying he is hungry. He needs it. He is developing in MANY ways physically & cognitively. Even their immune system too.

Boys, can have VORACIOUS appetites. My son is like that, compared to my daughter. GINORMOUS appetite, and frequent. But he is a picky eater... but BIG appetite.
My Mom (Grandma) says: just watch when he is a teen... they eat LOTS more. This is nothing.

My Daughter on the other hand, ever since this past Summer... she gets hungry every 2 hours or so. Literally. At the beginning of Summer her height was below my shoulders. At the end of Summer... her height was ABOVE my shoulders. She grew by leaps and bounds. Height wise.

What you might want to do: is make a cooler or insulated lunch-bag tote and keep it upstairs... so when he does wake and is hungry, it is right there all ready... and you won't have to go downstairs in the wee hours of the morning. It is convenience at those early hours. That is what I used to do... with my son. Only our kitchen is upstairs.

Your son is normal. Our Pediatrician was un-phased by it and says it happens. Some kids have big appetites and metabolize it quickly. Their body tells them what they need.
The "good" thing about it all is this: My son KNOWS his body and KNOWS when he is "hungry" or not. He WILL tell me. No matter what hour. And he will only eat if he is hungry. So, I am glad. He really knows his body cues and can express it. Accurately.

Hunger phases/growth-spurts will come and go. But throughout childhood.

All the best,
Susan

I would do dinner and bedtime snack at that age and it worked like a charm.

If he's hungry, you feed him. I know you don't like the timing, but he won't do this forever...promise! We shouldn't not ignore our children and let them cry it out. They cry for a reason and we need to fill that need. What I had to do with one of my children was feed him a snack right before bedtime when he was younger, something like oatmeal or the such. He had to have that to get through the night.

You could try avocado. That was my children's first food. Wonderful delicious item (and I don't mind eating the rest myself. lol)

Mother of 4

Sometimes we miss read our body signals as hungry when really we are just thirsty. I read we do it something like 70% of the time. He might just need some water in his crib. you could just help him find it and lay him back down, he might just go back to sleep. And don't worry it wont back fire when you are potty training, you can just lessen the water.:) Sometimes my kids do the same thing. I've noticed that if they eat right before bed time they wake up feeling like they are starving! Don't know if that info will help you or not, but I try to not let them eat right before bed. Also when they do wake up like that, I let them have water and a piece of bread, nothing fancy, and then they can go back to bed. And it doesn't reinforce getting up early to eat a grand meal. But a lot of the times they are good with just the water.
It kind of sounds like his clock is just a bit messed up. If he is not getting two naps a day, you might want to try that. Sometimes not getting enough sleep in the day causes them to wake early and then they are not getting enough sleep at night, and the cycle repeats. He should be getting about 12 hrs at night and 3-4 in the day. Hope this is helpful.
Good luck!
E.

Don't know if our experience is relevant, but here's what happened at our house. Each of our three children started needing "two dinners" around this age. All I could figure was that they were wanting to feed themselves more and more, which we tried to encourage. However, I guess it took them so long and so much effort that they would get tired and "finish" eating before they were all the way full. They seemed satisfied for the moment, but then would be starving later. So we moved supper -- either an early supper and a bedtime "snack" (which often felt like another whole meal!) or an early heavy snack and then a late dinner right before bedtime. Bottom line, sometimes it felt like I spent from 4 to 8 continually feeding children, but after being woken up in the middle of the night several times, it was worth the trouble. A few times they ate one of these "snacks" for over an hour, but they did start sleeping through the night again. Good luck!

How long has it been since he's been weaned? If it hasn't been more than a week or so and you still have a supply he could get it built back up just for a night feeding.

It could be a growth spurt, or he could be hungry. You didn't say what time he eats dinner but if he is eating dinner around 5:30/6pm, you could give him a small healthy snack before he gets ready for bed. That might ward off the hungry monster so early in the AM. An apple would be idea as it will fill him up and it's bulk fiber/water will help with constipation.

Good luck!
S.