Hello Moms,
My daughter will be turning two in a few weeks. She gets up faithfully every "morning" between 3:30 and 5 asking for milk. She came off the bottle at 1 yr uneventfully. My daughter is not a big eater, she had severe constipation issues early on which affected her appetite. I feel as though she is hungry when she is waking that is why she is asking for milk.
She use to wake b/w 5-6 which is tolerable. I would give her a milk cup and she would go back to about 6:45- 7. But now it is becoming ealier and ealier. Is this habit or need???
How do I go about weening her off this early morning snack??
Her constipation issues are much better, she is on Miralax everyother day. Therefore her appetite is a little better. Is the milk cup at this time just a comfort or a hunger need?
Any feedback is greatly appreciated! We would like to have a third child but want to get the 2nd to go through the night (sometimes):)
My doctor told me to water the milk down. Keep adding more and more water until it's just water. Then for some reason they don't want it anymore. You may not even get as far as it being all water.
Good luck.
Nicole
My 3 yo grandson had these same problems.
I have a yogurt ( plain, whole milk) , juice ( usually white grape/peach) frozen fruit ( papaya, mango, strawberries, peaches, sometimes blueberries or whatever; dash of nutmeg or cinnamon, mixed in blender, every morning.
I shared this bf drink with boy and that about cured the constipation. Even now if he misses that morning drink more than one or two days a week his constipation reccurs.
He is a good eater in that he is willing to eat most everything. Just not when we want him to.
So, for the past year or so...we give him either a small bowl of cereal or 1/2 a PB & J just before brushing his teeth for bedtime. That seemed to take care of the waking hungry at four or five.
If the child is hungry, the child is hungry. Simple as that.
You could try the addition of yogurt to the diet (Stoneybrook farms is an excellent brand) Make sure it is natural, and has live cultures.
And you could try the addition of a bedtime snack.
Tincture of time, this too , will pass.
Best wishes and God bless
Grandmother Lowell
My experience is that waking early is habit not need. If she is truly hungry if you break the habit she may eat better during the day. How do you break the habit? Believe it or not, I find that telling my child as I put them to bed what I expect them to do at night helps tremendously. Give her a digital clock and tell her that she can get up at whatever hour you feel is right. She is old enough to understand this. Don't give the milk at that time. Go in, and rub her back and ask her to wait until the sun comes up. Maybe she needs a stuffed animal at that time? This is what has worked for my kids.
She is probably hungry in the morning, but the waking up is a habit, her belly is giving her the signal that it is time for some milk. It is a habit that needs to be broken. She needs to learn how to get through the night without getting milk at 3 or 4 am. You need your sleep and so does she. Meaning, this is something you have to stop, even if it means whining, crying, etc. What time does she eat before she goes to bed, what time does she go to bed? Make sure she has some fruit at night and some oatmeal or chicken and cheese or whatever she will eat for dinner, don't let her go without eating dinner. That way you will know for sure if she needs this early morning snack. Sometimes watering the milk down more and more each night will help and then eventually it is just water, but I think going cold turkey is probably best at this point, but make sure she is well fed the evening before. It is up to you to be strong and not give in. She is waking up and drinking milk because she is getting it and it has become a habit. If she is still having constipation issues, make sure she is getting plenty of fiber. Good luck, it will take a few days or more to break this.
If you think she's hungry, perhaps a little snack before bed would help. Also, I'd try to break the habit. We're working on our 18 month to break the same habit. Isn't it 'fun'? Our problem is that she shares a room with her 3 y.o. brother. We can leave her cry and he sleeps, but occasionally he hears her and wakes up. 2 awake at 3am is no fun. I hope you get it figured out.
She likely is hungry as you guess, but you need to train her stomach to eat during the day and not want food at night. The more it gets fed at this time, it will keep expecting it. So, I would suggest you start watering down the cup - she'll be unaware likely since it is the middle of the night, and her stomach will start learning that it won't get food at that hour. I did this with my girls, eventually it was almost all water, with just a little milk so it looked white. Once one of them thought it tasted bad, and I said, probably because it is the middle of the night and you are getting older so you don't like it - she never asked for it again after that. My other daughter just stopped waking up, her stomach learned it wasn't getting anything good.
Sounds like habit. A 2 y.o. shouldn't need to eat at 3:30 am. I don't think they want you to give milk during the night - it sits in the mouth and does a job on their teeth. You could consider a cup of water but that may cause more problems - again, reinforcing the habit of waking up and needing something to eat/drink. And when it comes time to potty train for nighttime, you don't want to put liquid in their hands.
Because of her constipation problems, is she getting any belly discomfort that might be waking her, and she then has an urge to address a tummy or intestinal issue by drinking something?? You could also add a really high quality liquid nutritional supplement to be sure she is getting all the nutrition she needs plus help to eliminate the constipation so you don't need to add miralax. I have great info on that if you want it.
Try some other item to help her self-soothe and put herself back to sleep - it can be a stuffed animal or a special blankie or anything else. Ask her what she wants to take to bed to keep her company if she wakes up. But tell her it's not going to be food, drink, or Mom! She should be eating plenty during the day to last her through the night. You can try a clock and teach her where the little hand has to be, or use a digital and tell her what the first number has to be - whatever she's able to recognize best.
Another thing you can do is to put a light on a timer so it turns on at whatever hour is acceptable - the down side is that it may wake her on days that she would otherwise sleep late, but you can either cross that bridge when you come to it, or use a tiny nightlight or something with a low wattage bulb that won't wake her if she's really soundly asleep.
Whatever you do, be really consistent and loving but firm. You're all entitled to a good night's sleep!
GOod luck!
I have to agree with the last poster. It sounds like a habit. I have to admit, though, that i have fallen into the same pattern. It is just so much easier to give them some milk in the night and have them go back to sleep than to listen to them scream -- esp when i have a newborn that i am also getting up for!
There are a couple things you can do. I have taken to putting almost 90% water in their cups and just a tad of milk to make the water white. This, i think, helps with the cavity issue.
Another thing you could try is to put this mixture in his crib after he falls asleep at night. That way when he wakes up it will be there waiting for him. He will drink it and go back to sleep. as he gets older change the drink in the cup to water. it should fill his belly and let you and him sleep a while longer.
Or.. you could just listen to him scream for a couple of nights. That would break the habit as well.
Good luck!
Hi C.,
When my eldest son was a toddler he'd wake to nurse. I couldn't take the lack of sleep so I would refuse. He'd cry but eventually he'd stop waking up.
Good luck,
: ) Maureen
Hi C., sounds like your little one is using this as a comfort -- kinda like kids that wake and go into their parents bed in the middle of the night. I would suggest try and just send her back to bed without it, if she is still in her crib (unfortunatly mine was not at this point) I would give the cry it out method a shot (I happen to be a believer) she's not waking multiple times in the night, so it shouldnt take but a couple of nights if that. as far as her constipation, my daughter battled it for a long time, my pedi suggested a tablespoon of mineral oil every morning. I used to whip it into a carnation instant breakfast and she loved that! it's tastless so she never even noticed it. It was a miricle for us. I would watch what you give for a laxitive, they can be addictive and miniral oil is harmless. my daughter took it every morning for a year!! my pedi didn't even want us to attempt potty training until we had a handle on the stools because she did not want my daughter to associate the potty with a painful event. only have what has worked for me to offer, I hope you find some resoloution. best of luck!! L. C.
