Help with waking! 17 month old

[margarita]

hello again.  My son has always been a bad sleeper.  Since he turned 15 months he started to just wake one time or not at all.  We were really happy that he had started to sleep better.  For about 3 weeks  now, he has started to wake again screeming and wanting milk (at about 2-3am) and then he wakes at 6am to start his day.  I usually try and give him water when he asks for milk but he throws a tantrum if I don't give the milk to him.  It's awful.  I was looking at the day of the other toddlers and I saw that they usually take just one nap at midday and that no bottles are listed.  This is usually his day:

6-7am awake
7:00am Breakfast
10:00am bottle
NAP (about 45min)
12:00 Lunch
4:00pm bottle
NAP (about 45min)
6:00pm Dinner
7:00 Pijamas/bottle/windown (usually a book or a movie)
8:30 BED

Should I be giving him a lot less milk in the day now?
Should he take one longer NAP?  Is midday the best time?

Thanks for the help

[Lola]

Hmm...I'm no pro but looking at your schedule..I'd think for starters, your lo's bedtime is pretty late.
I wonder if you can start to do the 2-1 nap switch now and give your lo a longer nap time with one nap?
You certainly should start weaning him off the bottle. I saw my GP last week and was advised to get rid of the 1 nighttime bottle at some point soon. I'd start with getting rid of the morning bottle...try a sippy to start or a cup....does your lo use a sippy at all yet? The Nuby ones are nice because they can hold them l ike a bottle and there's no straw and very little leaking.
what do you think?

[mari]

I can't see that the bottle of milk would be a problem unless he is falling asleep on the bottle.  He certainly shouldn't need a bottle during the night if he has enough food during the day.  How does he eat during the day?  If you think that the milk is affecting his eating then I would cut the milk.  My dd still has a bottle in the morning and at bedtime, but she doesn't fall asleep on it and she always has it after breakfast and after dinner/tea so that she eats enough.

I do think that bedtime is late and babies are usually having one long nap by this age.  There is a thread about the 2-1 switch on the naps forum, have a look and see what you think.
Mari

[margarita]

Thank you guys.  He falls asleep either in the car while running errands or sometimes with the bottle.  I will get help with the naps.  What should I be doing when he wakes up at night?  Today he woke up at 5am and wouldn't settle until a put him in my bed.  He woke up the whole neighborhood with his screams.  I stood there with him for a half an hour but he quieted down until picked him up and hold him and took him to my room.  I don't want to let him win with this because he is going to be waking everyday at this hour expecting to come to us.  I Wanna solve this before I switch him to a small bed!

[Layla]

Margarita - I agree that he should be making a transition to 1 nap now. Try to keep him awake until he is napping close to 12ish. Take him out of the house, provide lots of stimulation, etc... and as you get closer to nap time tone it down. Give him extra long wind-down and then lay him down to nap at 12pm. His day should look something like this:

6-7am - wake
12ish - nap (1.5-2hrs)
7pm - bedtime

If he wakes in the morning (which I suspect is from the o/t state he has hit from the late bedtime and incorrect napping time), I would do wi/wo or pd. I would cut out all the milk at night. He does not need it and he will be waking up and using it as a prop - which is something you don't want. I would water the milk down until you get to just water and then eventually place a sippy cup with water in it in his cot and let him know if he is thirsty, it is there....

As long as you do end up "giving in" and taking him back into your bed or giving him milk, then this will just keep on continuing. Don't worry about the neighbours... the most important thing here is to get your lo sleeping better and to keep him well rested.

I would definitely work on the nap for now and I bet the nightsleep will get better as well. Try to commit to this for a few weeks so if you have to do errands, don't let him fall asleep in the car. Do what you have to do before or after the nap... if he is taking catnaps, this also leads to restless night sleep.

See how you go
Layla