2 year old not sleeping

[kate88]

Hi my name is kate, I Have a 2 and a half year old daughter called Eloise and since the day she was born i dont think we have ever had a full nights sleep! im at the end of my tether especially as im back at work now.
 The situation is this...
 Eloise has never been a good eater even at the age of 5 months before solids she was only having a 4oz bottle if i was lucky! When she started on solids she was fine then the older she got the more scared of food she got so in return woke up more for milk!
 I have been to the Health advisor numerous times and tried everything they said
 First it was controlled crying, well that might work if she was crying for comfort from me but she has no interest in wether im in the room or not aslong as she gets some milk, so she will end uo having a MASSIVE tantrum and make herself sick til i give in.
Then i was told to just give her half bottles of milk n get her off it slowly, so tried this n all it ended up doing was making her wake up twice as much even up to 5 times in one night! i had to give that up as it was making me and eloise horrible to be around as we where both tired.
The problem seems to be that no matter how much i can get her to eat in a day she i waking up in the night hungry to the point on occassions i can hear her belly actually rumbling.
I really dont know what to do anymore and any suggestions would be a massive help as i would like to remember what its like to sleep through the night and not wake up feeling exhausted and im going to disney land paris with my sister and stepmum in 6 weeks and were all staying in 1 room and im terrified shes going to wake them up aswell!
Thanku

[<Catherine>]

Hi there and welcome to the forum

Firstly, we font believe in any kind of CC or CIO, Tracy the Baby Whisperer believed it breaks trust between parent and baby and that there are more gentle methods of sleep training.

I'm sure we can help

Can you post your routine - wake up time, nap time And length (if any), bedtime and timings of Night waking etc.

Does she have any props other than the feeds? Ie, dummy etc.

[kate88]

Hi cathrine
 Eloise normally wakes about 8am and naps just afta lunch for about an hour but this isn't every day normally only when Shes at the childminders
Her bed time routine is the same everynight she has dinner around 6.30 then a bath at 7 then has a cuddle n snack with me and goes to bed around 7.30, she goes to bed fine I will read her a book give her a kiss and a cuddle and turn the light off and 9 times out of 10 she will happily lie there until she goes to sleep,
 The thing with her waking up in the night is that there is no routine to it for example lastnight she slept straight through til 5 then back to sleep til 8 but the night before she woke at 12 and then again at 3!
Which is y I dread goin to bed because I don't kno how much solid sleep I'm going to get.
Katex

[j.and.e]

If she has no medical issues and is healthy i wud just stop milk at nite. Explain it, maybe get a gro clock, maybe a small presant if she stays in bed all nite. Expect it to be tough at first but she will probably eat better and sleep better without milk at nite. Xx

[<Catherine>]

And you're having to feed her at each night waking in order for her to go back to sleep?

When she's not with the childminder does she not nap? Do you notice any difference to her nights on the days she hasn't napped?

I agree, you definitely need to remove the feeding at night and unfortunately you probably just have to go for it and expect to have a few very tough nights.

[kate88]

Should I go in there when she starts cryin and explain try n explain that big girls don't need milk? I kno I need to take the milk off her but I am genuinely scared I tried a while back and gave in!
 I'm finding this harder than when I took her dummy off her which was as simple as "sending all the dummies off to all the poor babies in the world!xx

[<Catherine>]

The key is definitely to stick with it and not give in - if she knows you will give in she will just make it harder!

I dont have any experience with getting rid of night feeds - Im not sure whether, at this age, you are better to just remove it altogether and deal with the aftermath or to gradually reduce the amount and/or offer water instead. I will ask a few other ladies for some opinions on that.

[snowbird]

Hi Kate,

We're having a similar problem with feeding in the night.  LJ's been waking a couple of times a night for a couple f weeks now and wanting milk, as well as Ews. So hard! We went back to carefully watching her routine and A times and she STTN 3 nights in a row! Then last night she woke at midnight, had milk and was up at 5am! Eek!!

Regarding the milk, were cutting it down by an ounce every 3 days but not sure if we'd be better to just cut it out! Am hoping cutting it down will work as don't want all the upset!

Feel for you and hope ut gets sorted soon. Interrupted sleep all the time is blooming hard work!

Snowbird xxx

[j.and.e]

I wud explain big girls dont need milk at nite. I wud leave a sippy or sports bottle with water nr by for a drink if she is thirsty. Xx

[kate88]

Lastnite was the first nite without milk, I didnt offer it to her when she went to bed and she didn't ask for it! She had sum juice by her bed which she woke up for about 12 n I went in n helped her (was in a cup so she had to sit up need to get another sippy cup) then she asked for her favorite book and slept straight through til 7.30! Hoping tonight will be the same if not a bit betta, not gunna pin my hopes on it tho!
Xx
P.s New to this forum business so don't kno what any of the abbreviation/initials are plz could u translate? Although I think I've got DD-darling daughter?

[Truly Blessed]

Hi Hun, that's great news, long may it continue.

Yes, you have a Dear/Darling Daughter LOL  This may help:

Site Acronyms/Abbreviations - What they are, and what they mean.

x.

[**Clare**]

We have the same issues with our 21 month old DD. Just be careful, we got her off the milk in a bottle at 15 months and replaced it with a sippy cup of water, now she wakes for that!! She will NOT go back to sleep until she's drank from it, its a complete nightmare!! Some nights she will find the cup herself and go back to sleep without me having to go in but the problem we are having is her nappies are leaking from the amount she is drinking! I dont have the energy to take it away and deal with the screaming but I know thats what I need to do!!

Well done on last night, fingers crossed for night 2!!

[snowbird]

How are you getting on, Kate?

Catherine - any luck on finding out the best way to cup the milk?

Claire - I know how you feel! Can't bare the thought! Xxx