My Daughter Drinks Milk Every Time She Wakes up During the Night

Milk in the night is bad for the teeth. She really shouldn't have any milk after she's brushed her teeth.

Just change it to a small cup of water only at bedtime.

This is what I do with my kids. I slowly cut back on the amount and start to slowly water it down. Before they even notice it's all water and it's MAYBE an ounce they are getting. Then once I get them down to such a tiny amount I start ignoring them at night or if I can't handle how long they are screaming I will go in and hand them the small bottle or sippy cup and lay them on their back in their crib while I hold it. Try buying the night specific diapers in the meantime. Those hold a lot more pee so it may help till you get her down on her consumption.

If she is really dependent, wean her like Sunny D mentioned. Slowly add more and more water until cup is 100% water. Its not that big of a deal if she goes to bed with water. If she is drinking too much and wetting too much, make it ice water (mostly ice). It will melt through the night so there is something available, but she won't be able to drink too much at once.

Added after your SWH: S., get ear plugs for your family. Tell them it's going to be a loud week at night and to wear the ear plugs and not come out of their rooms. Stop staying in the room with her. Tell her it is night-night time and she has to go to sleep. And then let her cry.

I know it's hard, but this idea that it's playtime with her is because you have never laid down the law. You have let her think that night time is for staying in her room and having milk and napping.

So it's time to pay the piper and set up the future for everyone getting to sleep, including her. Believe me, S., she NEEDS to sleep. Not just everyone else. Give her the GIFT of learning what night time is for by taking the bull by the horns and showing her that sleep time means sleep time. It will take about a week if you don't give in.

Original:
You can either do what Lizard is suggesting, or you can take the bull by the horns and tell her no more milk in the middle of the night. She will cry and fight you and come in your room and raise holy heck, and you can march that little girl back in her room and tell her no.

She is too old to be doing this. You haven't put your foot down, S. and weaned her before now. You need to. She hasn't learned to self-soothe at all - she is trained to wake up and demand milk. And that is to her detriment. She needs to sleep through the night, and she will not do that if you continue to cater to her this way.

If you do Lizard's method, and she transitions to wanting water instead of milk, lower the amount until there's only a little bit in the cup, and NO MORE. But if you aren't 100% consistent, you will not get any sleep because she will ride you to get what she wants, and you might as well not even try.

Lastly, I want to mention that letting her drink milk at night is an invitation to a mouthful of cavities. She will have a ton of dental work done and it will be awful.

Good luck,
Dawn

Don't give her milk at night. She's two and doesn't need it. Offer a sip -ONLY a sip of water if she says she's thirsty. It may be rough for a few nights, but then it will be fine.

at 2 she is old enough to go cold turkey. give her a sippy cup with about a oz of water and thats it. she should be sleeping through the night. she is not waking for it because she needs it anymore it is because it is habit now. I would just cut it off and say no more milk. You don't say it but if she is still nursing it is more for the cuddling than the drink. I would just cut it off totally.

I would just NOT GIVE HER MILK (in the middle of the night). (and if you do, make sure you brush her teeth right afterwards or she is going to have a mouth full of rotten teeth.) After whining/crying/screaming for a night or two (or a week)??, she will get over it. You need to take charge and teach her healthy habits. You can do it!!! :)

Make her stop growing or break her spirit do she knows no matter how hungry she is her needs won't be met.

That, or just keep feeding her when she's hungry (milk is a superfood), and realize pull ups at night keep the bed dry.

Milk has proteins, lipids, sugars, vitamins, minerals, and water... Meeting the needs of a growing child.

She's probably using the milk as a soother and it's become a habit because you've continually done it. Give her water, she'll soon loose the craving for the milk and will probably sleep through the night since water isnt as appealing and soothing as milk is. She might cry a little, but I doubt it will last more than a night or two if you stick to your guns. Your other option is to continue to get up and give her milk, she will grow out of it in the next year or so on her own.

What about trying to give her more milk during the day? She really needs only 16 to 24 oz of milk a day, her doctor can tell you how much for her. And that is total, some can be incorporated into her diet through yogurt, cheese, the milk in her cereal and pudding you make her. Too much can keep her from eating other nutritious foods she needs. Try to make sure she has all her milk during the day and early evening and when she's had her fill just tell her no more milk for the day and stick to it. When there's been something my guy doesn't agree with and we've talked to his doctor about I tell him "the doctor said" and he can't and doesn't argue : )

He just turned 3, and when I got him off milk at bedtime we went to a sippy cup he can keep with him at night, filled with ice water, he loves it cold. He gets the one cup and sips on it if he wakes. You're right, too much liquid at night can interfere with potty training, so if you go to the sippy with water tell her she gets just the one cup per night, when it's gone she needs to wait until the morning.

I think if she is getting enough to drink through the day and is having a snack at night before bedtime she would not be hungry during the night.

My grand kids would always have a bottle during the night if they needed it. They took bottles until they were done. It was no issue in my home if they drank milk from a bottle or a cup. Milk is milk.

You said she pees the bed every night. That means to me she is wearing panties at night. If she is not then skip the next paragraph and go to the bottom one.

I think if you want her to be dry during the night at 2 you may have rethink that. She is too young to even consider being dry at night. She should be in a diaper or pull up at this age. She will start being dry all night when her brain tells her kidneys to stop producing urine while she is asleep. This is not something anyone can tell a child to do or make a brain do. It just happens. Once that happens she will be dry no matter how old she is.

If she is just wetting out of her diapers then try Huggies night time pull ups. The ones with Disney Princesses on them. They work for my 8 year old and the ones with Buzz Lightyear work extremely well for my 5 yr. old grandson. Make sure she goes pee before bed too. That really helps.

I would make your life easier by putting her in Huggies Night diapers, they are the best and worth it because she won't leak through them.

As for the milk, my son did this at around 2 yrs as well, giving him milk was the only thing that helped him get back to sleep. I felt he actually needed the calories and didn't feel bad about giving it to him. After a couple of months, he just stopped waking up for it. He has a sippy cup with water in his bed and that's all he needs at this point.

Until my son was about 22 months, he would wake up at night most nights and we thought he was hungry so we would give him milk. We were getting really frustrated that he kept waking up at night. We tried just about everything. He ended up getting constipated really badly, so we decided not to give him any milk to see if it helped him go. That first night he slept through the night, even being as constipated as he was. We were shocked and decided to try it again. He slept through the night again. We switched to soy milk and he has slept through the night ever since. Milk doesn't bother him during the day but apparently upsets his stomach at night. I'm guessing that he's just too busy during the day to notice.

Ditto Riley J.

I really don't know why, having milk is a "no no" for kids.
My son and I are milk drinkers. Love milk.
If/when my son has milk at night, it is usually because, he is GROWING a ton. And then sure enough, he sprouts up.
AND when he has it at night, I simply have him rinse his mouth well after drinking. He has a water bottle next to his bed. He KNOWS to do this.

As far as wetting the bed at night, and thinking that in a linear way, that it is because your child is drinking milk at night: well, sure maybe. BUT... keep in mind that night time dryness... is something that does not occur, PHYSIOLOGICALLY, until even 7 years old, and this is normal and per Pediatricians. Night time dryness, is all about the maturing and development of the internal organs/brain/myelin nerve sheath development and bladder. It is not per age.
Your daughter is only 2 years old.
My son, is 5 and still wet at night.
My daughter at 5 was still wet at night too.
Even at 7 years old, she'd have accidents.
No biggie.
I merely have like 4 washable waterproof bed pads, that I put directly, under them at sleep time or nap time.
Then the sheets do not even get soiled.

And my kids, NEVER ever, get "confused" about wearing underwear during the day and night diapers at night, because I simply explain to them about their body and that they body is not ready yet, to be dry at night. And it is not them being naughty. It is the development of their body. And they understand and understood.

I give my son milk, when/if he wants it.
And he is healthy and grows like a weed and is real tall for his age and strong.

Next: a 2 year old does not necessarily sleep all night solid. They may wake or have night mares. Or someone is snoring. It wakes them. They are growing and changing a ton.

i think just stop giving her milk, period. i went through this with my younger daughter a couple months ago when she was 10 months old, my older took a paci which always soothed her. she isn't drinking because she is thirsty or hungry, it is a learned behavior, she knows if she wakes up she gets mom and milk. she is no fool. it wont be easy at all, and could take a week or so, but it will take much longer, or perhaps never happen if you wean her little by little. at this age she totally knows the game of control. she will prob be very upset for a couple nights, and no one will sleep well, but she will learn. she is not trying to manipulate, just knows what she needs to do to get what she wants. i am telling you it is 100% worth it, because both of you need good sleep, she will learn independence and self reliance, and you will still give her all the love she needs and wants.
does she have a lovey/blankie/stuffed animal she loves?
good luck