14 month old baby wakes 2 times a night form milk help !!!

[lozzyb123]

hiya i have a 14 month old baby who then wakes up during the night she has 2 bottles of milk a night is this normal she drinks a 6 once bottle each time her routine ....

bedtime routine at 6.30pm(6oz bottle milk !
bed at 7-7.30pm
wakes at 10-11pm for a 6oz bottle
wakes at 2am for 6oz bottle

wakes for the day at 7am ! and has a 6oz bottle milk

im so confused she has to share her room with older brother wht the best way to get her to stop them manythanks 

laura xx

[Lolly]

What is her food/ milk intake like during the day? Can you give us her typical routine with what and when she eats and naps so we can see what's going on? Does she have a bottle to go to sleep for naps?

She is having a lot of milk for her age, they only need 14-16oz of dairy to get their needs met, and that includes the milk in her food. She could be habitually waking and using the bottle to get back to sleep. There are a few ways to approach getting rid of night bottles which will depend on your comfort levels. You could start by reducing the oz in the bottles by 1oz every three nights so she shouldn't notice there is less in there and it gives her time to adjust before you reduce it again. The other way is to water the milk down, if it's formula you add one scoop less to the 6oz every three nights so you will eventually end up with water, or add 1oz less of cows milk to 1oz more of water every three nights. You may need to try something like wake to sleep to try and reset her waking too.

I'm not very good at gradual approaches though so I would opt for a few rough nights and just refuse to feed and resettle any way I could. Is it possible for her or her brother to sleep in an,other room for a few nights while you break the habit? My two share a room and luckily my DS is a good sleeper so we have had plenty of nights where DD has been VERY noisy, but DS has slept through it.

What do you think?

Laura

[lozzyb123]

Hiya her day varies sometimes it like this..
6-7am - awake(bottle 5-6oz)
8am breakfast(eats weetabix and fruit)
10am-10.45 (nap )-not all the time tho
12pm lunch(usually will have scrambled egg on toast or sandwitch with yougaurt
1/2pm -3.30pm(nap)
5pm- dinner( eats loads of dinner )
6.30pm bath
7pm bedtime

She also has breadsticks and cucumber and fruit throught the day ! She does eat well during the day..last night she woke 3 times and drank 2 5oz bottles and woke for the day at 5am
Thanks laura xx

[Lolly]

Ok, so how about offering her milk to go to bed and then going cold turkey on the bottles at night wakings? If she is eating well during the day she really doesn't needs those night bottles, I think she is using them as a prop to get back to sleep and there is an element of learned hunger too.

You will have a few rough nights so you will need to do it when you have support, but she will get the message pretty soon if you stick to your guns. I would offer water if she wakes but not milk, she could be thirsty so that would solve that. You then settle her in whatever way you usually do. If she doesn't always have that morning cat nap it could be that she is ready for 1 nap, I wonder if some of the waking is because she is UT at bedtime?

What about doing lunch about 11.30 then nap at 12 for 2 hours or as long as she will nap (a bit earlier if she wakes earlier) then aim for her to be asleep at 7. Give her a milk drink at bedtime and then if you know she has eaten well you know she doesn't need those night bottles. When she wakes then you will need to resettle however you do normally. I use wi/wo and PD if necessary, there will be crying and you will need to make sure that you stick to your plan and don't feed her. You could also try pain meds at bedtime if you think she is teething (which she could well be depending on how many teeth she has), remember even if you can't see or feel anything they move around in the gums long before they errupt.

Laura