waking at night hungry????

[mimi21]

Hi everyone.

my dd is nearly 18 months and we have awful issues with her sleeping but now i am starting to wonder if her poor appetite is to blame. for example-
Sunday she ate quite well and for once ate all her dinner and sttn.

normally she hardly eats lunch or dinner and never sttn.
her routine is this.
wake between 5-6
bottle 6.30 taken down to 5oz
breakfast 8 - usually eats most of it.
lunch is split 11.30 sandwich/toast/omelettes - rarely eats.
sleep 12-1.30/2
when she wakes yogurt/fruit or sometgibg-usually eats.
diner 5pm rarely eats no matter what it is.
Bottle 7 has full 8oz of cow milk
bt 7.30
i won't go into nw but usually 2-4 times.

could she be waking hungry?? how can i.encourage her to eat??

[michaeljacknnugg]

Looking at your EASY, I would imagine she is indeed hungry. Looking only at the title of your post I was going to suggest what we do - rice pudding before bed - but I think you have more going on here than just needing a calorie top up.

What are you doing when she wakes at night?

I think we also need more insight into your mealtime routine to try and help you figure out how to get her to eat.

How is her weight for her age? What does and doesn't she like to eat? Is she a child that likes only certain things, or is she one who has a small tummy to fill? If this is the case you may be best off splitting up her 'meals' into small nutritious snacks that she can have through the day - just while you start to get some food into her.

Lots of questions, sorry! But I think this will help us start to help you figure this out.

[Lolly]

In my experience toddlers don't usually wake from hunger in the night. I would think it's more liekly that she is a bit OT by bedtime - with a 5/6 am wake up and earlier bedtime should help. I think I would pull bedtime forward so she is asleep by 7 at the latest, 6.30 if you can.

Many toddlers don't have big appetites, I know my two both went to bed plenty of times without eating at tea time and my DD had given up bedtime milk way before she was 2 but has never woken hungry in the night. If she is more likely to eat after her nap I would offer her a lighter snack before her nap and then a bigger meal after her nap so it would be a late lunch/ early tea. She may then need a snack along with her milk at bedtime.

Laura

[mimi21]

hi, thanks very much for your replies.

when she wakes at night she cries until we go in, we have to stay with her until she goes back to sleep. We are working through gw atm.

at breakfast we sit down altogether, she normally.does fine here, eating her own plus some of candies toast.
lunch we sit down together or with her friends, rarely eats.
dinner.daddy doesn't get in till late so we sit down.

she is quite lazy and makes no attempt to use a spoon. if she has finger food i have to give it yo her bit by bit as if presented with plate she throws on floor or stuffs lots in her mouth.

last night i gave her tea at 4.45 which she barley ate, we then done bath and ready for bed. i then sat her back at table at 6 when daddy was home to see if she eoukd eat and nothing.

i know she is tired, i have tried ebt but she.just messes about for ages.

i am just trying to understand why she wakes at night.
today she has eaten breakfast, a little bit of fruit, hardly any lunch and we are yet to try dinner.

i have even brought 1 yr plus milk today in the hope it may fill her up

[Lolly]

i have even brought 1 yr plus milk today in the hope it may fill her up

Are you keeping that for bedtime? I wouldn't give it to her before her breakfast as she may be too full to eat properly which is what you want. Have you tried giving her morning milk in a cup with her breakfast instead of before it?

Laura

[mimi21]

Forgot to say she is following her weight line perfectly.
she isn't overly fussy but when she decides she doesn't want it you can't persuade her otherwise. she will happily eat yogurt or custard not overly keen on rice pudding.
sometimes tho doesn't want those either.

be it homemade or other she will have a little (couple of spoons) and then refuse by blowing raspberries. I have been.getting her down leaving it a little then trying again with main, no.difference.

[mimi21]

Yes brought it for bedtime only a few cartons to see if it
no, we normally have breakfast at 8 she will have bottle about 6.30 we don't normally struggle with breakfast.

[Lolly]

If she is following her weight line then I would think that she is getting what she needs. I remember on one of Tracy's TV programmes she got a mum to put the same amount that the LO had eaten and drunk into a sandwich bag and then really have a look at the amounts eaten compared to the relative size of the LO. Their tummies are very small still so little and often is usually a better way to fuel toddlers.

What times are her NWs roughly?

Laura

[mimi21]

She really doesn't eat.more then a couple of.mouthful at each mean.

maybe 5 meals instead of 3 then??

nw can vary but between 12-1 / 2ish/ and then sometimes 3.30. up for day anywhere between 5-7.

[mimi21]

Bit of a better night, slept through till 4.40.then on and off till 6.

she ate much.more at dinner and had 1yr plus milk.

[michaeljacknnugg]

Fab news, hope it continues!