Need Help Getting Daughter to Sleep

I would suggest replacing the milk at night with water. She may protest at first but you need to stop the night feedings. She doesn't need to eat in the middle of the night at her age.
She probably is not eating a lot since she fills up on milk. You'll have to cut down the milk dramatically and offer food. It probably won't be easy at first so good luck!

Wow this is very much my life.
1. Try a lower fat milk it will make her feel less full. Try to limit milk to just meal times. Give only water through out the day.
2. As for the sleep she will do it again. I promise. My son has gone through stages and eventullay works it out. We just have to play the waiting game.
3. The teething could be playing a major part of this if she is uncomfortable and the milk is soonthing to her. We use the natural teething pills. They seem to make my son feel better.
4. The doctor says they will eat when they are hungery... I hate this saying.
5. I have a toddler size portion sheet on my refrigerater. It cam frm parenting magazine. It may help you see she is eating more than you thing.
Good Luck

If you are in the book club, you can ask me about sleeping. I see you have some good advice. I give yogurt or cheese for bedtime snack. One note of encouragement, the closer you get to 3 the better they get at bargaining. At 2, they are having trouble understanding that you are offering a good trade (eat then get milk, for example). But as they mature, they get it and start taking the deals. Good luck!

I agree that it could be just her age, teething, or the fact that she is just in the habit of drinking so much milk all the time. But, constant thirst can, also, be characteristic of a few medical problems. If none of these suggestions from others make a difference in the way she is behaving and she continues to show such thirst night and day, I'd have her checked by her doctor/pediatrician. Constant thirst is a characteristic of diabetes and thyroid problems. It would be better to eliminate those worries and be safe than sorry later.

Also, children NEED whole milk until the age of 2. They need the extra fat for brain cell development. We are not allowed to give daycare children lower fat milk until after the age of two.

Good luck and God bless.
http://www.MissBrenda.com

Oh, I cant imagine your frustration. But I also understand that the "tough love" approach of just dont giver her milk, and let her cry at night, is easy to say and impossible to do!. So, a few things I would try... in order to help her eat, my kids LOVE eating foods that are bite sized and on toothpicks. Right now as you are trying to change the milk habit, I wouldnt try to change her favorite foods too, but add something exciting in order to encourage her to eat. My kids were allowed this privelage at about 2 with supervision.. Also maybe try letting pick her food out at the store,and even help make it. Simple foods like PB&J, or a plastic knife to cut up some cheese or bread. If yours is as independant as mine, that may help. Now as for the milk, maybe you could try putting ice into a cup of milk and set it next to her at bed time. She will drink what she can of the milk, but may be content as the ice melts through out the night, to drink that. Also, it means that if she wakes up and the cup is right there, she may be able to get back to sleep with out waking you. I might even get her a special bedtime cup that is insulated, that she only gets at night. As she gets used to the taste, she may allow you to water down her milk, which could help with the calorie consumption. Also (obviously) if you think that something may be wrong, check with her pediatrician, and keep fighting if you feel like you are not getting answers. Sometimes children with diabetes have a hard time eating, but genuinely need to drink all the time. Hopefully, I have helped with some realistic advice, and that over time she will become more able to manage her sleep and eating patterns. GOOD LUCK!!

Don't know if this would help you, but this is what I did in similar circumstances with a son that loved his milk, to the exclusion of eating, and was waking up all night long.

The pediatrician said that my little one was waking up because his body thought it was hungry... and the reason for the hunger was just a habit. He explained that if I were to wake up hungry one night and eat a bite then my body would likely wake up the next night expecting me to eat again. So, based on his suggestions, I tried the following:

1) Cut the milk in the night bottles (acutally they were the Nuby brand which is a cross between a bottle and a sippy) slowly until the night bottles are only water (like the poster that suggest putting in 1 oz water for 3 oz milk and then slowly increasing the percentage of water while decreasing the milk).

2) Reward son in the morning with a bottle of milk and lots of one-on-one cuddling before starting our day.

3) At mealtimes, milk in a cup only... I only put in a small amount but cheerfully refill every time he asks politely. There is a slight delay as I have to run to the fridge and back again and again and again (I only put small amounts each time so I get my exercise too).

4) One last milk bottle after dinner and before the bedtime bath (again with cuddles and one-on-one loving).

5) Only water bottles at all other times.

I have been doing this for over a year. My son will be 3 next month and he still asks for a milk bottle during the day but I just act suprised and make a big deal out of checking the clock to see if it's almost bath time. If it's not almost bath time, then he must be talking about a WATER bottle--silly boy! And I promptly give him a water bottle. If he has a tantrum about not getting his milk bottle, then I just cut the day short and we have a milk bottle followed by bath time and then bedtime... no matter what time of day it is. He doesn't do that very much anymore and I figure he must not be feeling well when he does.

I have worked to find his foods that he will favor sometimes (e.g. blueberries) and serve them at every meal with the foods I'd like for him to eat. I don't worry if all he eats are bluberries five times a day because he will suddenly refuse to eat the blueberries and then we're on to a binge for canteloupe (which I always accompany with other items). He seems to prefer finger foods, or foods that he can cut with a plastic knife all by himself. I have also tried feeding him things sequentially (least favorite food first, followed in successive order by items that he increasingly prefers). That works too sometimes. Good luck!

My daughter is 2(3 next mo)and she still gets up all the time. I put a toddler bed in my room so that if she has a bad night she can come stay in the bed. She has now quit using it but when she has a bad dream, sick or teeth coming in than she comes downstairs to the bed. Does she still nap? Have you tried not letting her take a nap and putting her to bed at the same bed time. My 2 yr old does this on weekends and thats the only time she would stay in bed all night.
Eating is still a problem for my 4 yr old. She has been a very picky eater since she was born. She eats pb&j everyday for lunch. My doctors have said it not a problem as long as she eats and they out grow it when they go to school. We will see next month. So just feed her what she likes. It maybe repative to us but atleast she gets something to eat. My kiddos are only to have milk at meal time and water in between.
Good Luck!

The first thing is to stop giving her milk when she wakes up in the middle of the night. The more you continue to give her milk the worse your problems will be. When she wakes up in the middle of the night you can go in her room and try to soothe her for a few minutes but that's it. Once she knows she is not going to get milk when she wakes up she will eventually stop waking up (just remember you're the boss here so stick to your guns). She should get milk with her meals but I would try to cut out giving her milk between meals. Also, at meals I would tell her she needs to eat before she even gets the sippy cup of milk. Of course she is not going to like this but it will give her the incentive to eat and then her reward is the milk. If she doesn't eat, she doesn't get it. Also, I would not allow her to have any liquids after 7:00pm. This will start preparing her for potty training down the road. This will be difficult the first few nights but before you know it she will be sleeping thru the night again! But you have to see it thru in order see results. :-)

I need an answer to this same question for my 2 1/2 year old son. He has only slept through the night 2 times, ever. Things got better for a couple of weeks but he got sick (again) and it started all over again. The same exact thing, crying for milk. He refuses water and we just tried the soy thing. Like Roopas little girl, my son wont eat or sleep. He lives on milk and foods like cheerios, mac-n-chz, and snacks. Also, like R. I have tried everything, from letting him eat when ever and what ever he wants to only serving him what we are eating. I get allot of friends saying its my fault for him eating and sleeping this way. Hes always been this way from birth. He spits everything out. The only veggie he would eat was green beans but that was a year ago.

Help us get some sleep and get our kids to eat something good for them. Please don't say, "don't give him or her milk". That is not the answer and it is abviously something we have tried. It not about who is boss.

(By the way I'm taking him soon to an ENT to make sure it not a throat, tonsil, or adenoids thing. I kind of hope it is so we can fix it. Nothing makes me happier than to see him have a mouth full of food and swallow it)

SAHM of 2 1/2 yr old boy who put himself on a liquid diet.
T. Lee

I don't have much to offer on the sleep front becuase my almost 3 year old still wakes up 1-3 times a night. It's not about milk for him, but there's always something!
But here are my thoughts on the eating issue - I agree that 3 gallons of milk a week is probably too much. And she really doesn't need milk at night. I don't think you said whether or not you are giving it to her when she wakes up. But if you are, and you could do this throughout the day, start watering down the milk that she is drinking between meals. Maybe give 3 oz milk and 1 oz water. Do it for a few days and then switch to 2 oz milk and 2 oz water. I disagree with teh post that kids over 1 only need 8-12 oz a day. My understanding is that it is more like 15-20 oz is appropriate. That's about what my son drinks. I usually try to limit it to meal times. Your daughter is still so young so any idea using rationalization probably won't work. My son is very small for his age and a book that I read really helped me to be objective about eating - the author's basic premise is that it is the parent' job to provide consistent and healthy meals and snacks. The child's job is to decide how much to eat. So in practice, you offer your daughter a snack or meal, and that's the end of it. She decides whether or not to eat it, which parts of it to eat, when she's done, etc. No bribing, no cajoling to eat more, no focusing on the food from the parent aside from casual conversation. You might find that once you let go of the struggle, she will be more inclined to eat. And if she doesn't, then periodic visits with your pediatrician for a weight check should alleviate any concerns.
Good luck!

One thing I know for sure is that kids this age can play you like a fiddle and you won't even know what's happening. Nothing so sweet has ever been more manipulative as a toddler. First thing to know is that kids over age 1 should only be drinking 8 to 12 ounces of milk per day. Second thing to know is that she won't starve herself. If you consistently put nutritious food in front of her at regular times (3 meals and 2 snacks, plus optional bed time snack), she'll eat it when she's hungry. My daughter had this "milk-a-holic" problem too. I realized that she wasn't eating because she was getting all of her calories (and that "full" feeling in her tummy) from milk. So I just cut the milk. By dinner time she was eating a decent amount of what was on her plate. Meals and drinks were better overall after the second day of me being the Milk Nazi. She had sippy cups with ounces marked on them, so I literally measured 4 or 5 oz of milk at each meal. If she wanted something more to drink she could have water. If she threw a wall-eyed fit (and she did) she could go to her room.
I would also heed the advice of the mom who mentioned that constant thirst could be a sign of a medical problem. If you take the milk away and she starts guzzling water like crazy, you can know that it's true thirst and not that she's using milk as a meal replacement.
The key for changing her eating/drinking habits is consistency. And you do not need to transition slowly. Just do it. She may go on a food strike the first day, then wake up legitimately hungry at midnight. At this point you might offer milk the first time she wakes up, but if she's up after that she gets water.
As far as sleeping in general, she should be sleeping 10-12 hours at night and having a 2 to 3 hour nap during the day. That routine should look something like: Wake up at 7, nap from 12 to 2 (or 3), bed time at 8.
Good luck!