One-year-old Still up at Night

Maybe you could try giving her a snack before bed and give her a sippy cup or bottle of water when she goes to bed, that way when she wakes up, maybe she will see the drink and drink that. Also, she may feel that it is not worth throwing a fit over and sleep through the night. It may or may not, every child is different. My daughter did not sleep through the night until she was weened from the bottle at 14 months old. It was very hard at first but had to stay consistant for it to work. It took a week until she quit asking for it. She has pretty much slept throught the night ever since. We did have to let her cry it out some nights and she would only cry for 5-10 minutes and go back to sleep. If the crying bothers you at night, you could go in her room and comfort her but just not giver her a bottle or breastfeed. The water in the bottle trick didn't work for me, but you could give it a try to see if it would help. I hope maybe some of this helps, I totally know where you are coming from. Maybe she just needs to get a little older too before she sleeps through the night. Good Luck.

When my youngest was that age we had the same problem. Have you tried feeding her some plain cereal before bed. If she's waking up in the middle of the night hungry then try sending her to bed with a full tummy. It might help.

If she's just waking up in the middle of the night but doesn't seem to be hungry maybe it's just a little mommy time that she thinks she needs. When my youngest was just one she would get up and just want cuddled some nights. So I sat aside that special time right before bed when I would just sit in a rocking chair in her room with her with the lights off and just sing or talk sweetly to her , that worked everything out for us. I know it's tough but sometimes it's just something they have to out grow on there own.

I don't have any advice for you, just sympathy. My 8 month old wakes up 3-4 times a night. The first time he wakes up I bring him into bed with us, mainly b/c I'm lazy, so then I just roll over to nurse for the other 2 to 3 times til we all wake up. I've appreciated reading all these great responses and am going to talk to my husband tonight about implementing some of the ideas. Thanks to you all! L., first time mom

Drika,

Be grateful that it is only once per night. Relax and she will grow out of it.

L. :)

Offer some water in her bottle or sippy cup, after a few initial times, they realize that's all they are going to get and they stop waking for it, or if your home is like mine, extremely dry and hot, she may really be thirsty, and after water be able to go right back to sleep. The sooner you accept there is no such thing as restful, long uninterupted sleep the easier it'll be to get up and see what the matter is. Oh, and children are more resilient than adults. So, it's likely if let your daughter cry it out (you'd be surprised at how quickly they go back to sleep) your son wouldn't be effected in the least bit.

We went through a horrid period of time when my daughter had been sleeping through the night and then all the sudden at one, she began waking up and screaming for a bottle. No amount of letting her cry it out would work. I discovered after a month or two that if I fed her oatmeal closer to bed time...she would sleep through the night. She would not necessarily eat the whole bowl.

I know it isn't the best thing to deal with but the only way to get her out of the routine of eating at night is to not feed her at night. If you can go to her and comfort her but dont feed her. You will have a few restless nights and maybe wake up your 3 year old but in the long run it will be so much better and you will get to sleep all night. If shes use to eating she will get up to eat, if she realizes she isn't getting fed she will give up and she might cry but stay strong. I've gone threw this and this is the only thing that solved the problem.

E.,
My boy did the same thing. She's gotten into the routine of waking up even though her tummy is full and she CAN make it through the night with out more food. Offer her a sippy cup of water when she wakes up. Water won't fill her like food and so her body will train/realize that she doesn't need a 'refill' in the night. Hopefully, after a week or so of this, she'll stop waking up.
Deb.

My toddler did the same (he's 17 mo. now) and I just gave him a bottle. He was so hungry, even though his appetite is healthy during the day, that he would get angry and kick up quite a fuss if I tried to put him off. If you're hungry, you're hungry! I kept bottles made up in the refrigerator, ready for him, so he could eat and go right back to sleep quickly. He soon went back to sleeping through the night, until we all got sick and now we are cycling through the up-at-night thing again, but that comes illness and the readjustment necessary afterward, as well as teething, growing pains, etc. It will pass in time, I'm sure.

SAHM of seven, 23 yrs - 17 mos.

I believe that you have gotten her into a habit, first of all I would feed her a high protein snack prior to bedtime,this might help her avoid the hungry's at night. But my first thought would be to discuss this with her doctor to rule out any type of medical problem that she might possibly be having. (I don't want to scare you but better safe than sorry.) Often time this is just a habit that they get into and the child ends up getting food and attention from the parent.
So please check with the doctor and go from there.
Best of luck.

I also went through this with my son. He didn't need to but had gotten used to eating during the night. Our pediatrician recommended the following. When you daughter wakes up have your husband give her a bottle (we started with 4 oz). About every 3 days take away an oz. (down to 3 then 2 etc.) After we got to two my son decided it wasn't worth the effort and his body was used to getting it's calories during the day and he stopped waking up. I hear you about being tired (I have a 3 & 1/2 yr old, 22 month old, and 4 month old) but hang in there, just remember it's all temporary :)

I have an 7 month old son and I stay at home with him while my husband is overseas. I have noticed that if we had an easy day that he wakes up once at night. But, if we had a busy day then he will sleep through the night well at least until 6 am. Since you are working I would try to have your babysitter do more things with her, keeping her more active and going. Also try to be active with her an hour before she normally goes to bed. I but my son in his jumper to get him tired out. Also another thing you could try is feed her meal or cereal a little later than normal. This works well for me and I hope that it will for you!
-A.-

This is a tough one. I know with my daughter after a couple of nights it became habit. You may try a more substanial bedtime "snack" to see if it is a hunger issue. If it were not for your son, I would recommend what we did which was to walk to our daughter's door, let her know that we were there and that it was time for sleep. We did not pick her up or revert to anything we had ended (like a pacifier etc) but I did not have an older child to worry about waking either. It took about 4-5 nights of her crying for 1/2 hour or so, but she was not hungry, dirty or hurt.... She just needed to learn to soothe herself back to sleep.

Have you tried giving her a bottle before she goes to bed with a snack. She may truly be hungry. I know both my boys were born hungry. We added an "extra" feeding at 8:30. We gave them something that would stick with them like: crackers, or some Cheerios, and their milk. that seemed to help them make it through the night.
Be cautious though, she may be doing it out of habit.
Question for you? Does she sleep in your room, or in her own room? You said that she slept all night while you were out of town. Do you think she knows you are home and that is why she is waking up? Children can smell your sent and may be she is aware of your presence. It was just a thought. Best Wishes.
J..

My youngest (currently 15 months) was the same way and only started sleeping all the through the night, consistently, about 2 months ago. We just made sure he was nice and full before bed and he started sleeping better.
He also has a sippy of water in his crib; sometimes he just needs a little drink and then goes back to sleep quickly.
Lately, his diaper has been more wet at night, and that really bothers him, so we started changing his diaper before we go to bed. He usually sleeps through the whole process.
Last, when he has a rough time getting back to sleep and we've done all we can to help him, we put him in a pack 'n play in another room so he doesn't disturb everyone as much if he needs to cry it out. He actually preferred it to his crib for a couple weeks.

The only thing I can think of is trying to fill her up as much as you can in the evening with food, milk or both. Then she won't wake up due to hunger. But she may just be waking up due to habit. Not sure how to break that habit.

When she wakes in the middle of the night to eat, substitute water for milk or formula. Give it a little time, but with water, she will get that full feeling and her body will train itself not to be hungry at night. She won't like it at first, but you need to expect that. Try doing it over the weekend, that way you'll have more time to rest during the day,and a weekend is about the time it should take.

I have a seven year old, a five year old, and a 16 month old. My five year old didn't sleep through the night until he was 16 months old. My 16 month old, just started a few months ago, and my 7 year old did it at 5 weeks. You have to decide how you feel about it, but personally, I think if they are hungry, they should eat. Maybe it is a habit, but mine all stopped on their own when their bodies were ready. Good luck, and just know that it will all pass.

I had the same problem. I would get up with my daughter and just hold her. Let her know that she is still loved by doing that. I think that should comfort her and hopefully it should end the getting up thing in a short time. I know that it did for me until she gets another tooth that is! Good luck!

A friend advised me to offer water in the middle of the night. She said my child was probably thirsty, not hungry. A couple of nights of offering only water and my child decided it wasn't worth the trouble and began sleeping through the night.

It's not her ~ it's her stomach that is waking her up. The body gets into the habit of eating in the night and we can all succumb to this if we let our stomachs rule.

Try this: change her night-time bottle to water instead of milk. Initially she will be upset, but don't leave her crying. Stay with her while she works through her sadness. Gently pat her back or butt and tell her that you understand how much she misses her milk. Tell her you also wish she could have milk... that you too are sad about it. Acknowledging her sadness will help her to understand that nothing can be done but that her feelings matter.

It will take a few nights for her body to get over the need for food, so you will feel pretty tired for a few days (this is what husbands are for - switching off the night-time duties). Eventually she won't wake up anymore ~ water is not something the body will wake up for unless it is dehydrated, which most babies are not.

Good luck!

I think it's probably habit. When my son woke in the night, after we decided (with the pediatricians blessing) to stop the middle of the night feeding (around 5 months) my husband would go in to soothe him. Since Daddy doesn't smell like breast milk (usually!) my son quickly figured out that he wasn't getting any, nor was he being teased by me. My ped said that once they hit 11 lbs. you don't need to do that feeding. On top of that, I was having heart issues and she said my health was more important at this point. He didn't sleep through all the time, but he knew he wasn't getting food, just a pat and a reminder to go to sleep. Great excuse, that heart :-)!