Daughter nearly 1 and waking twice in the night for past 2 weeks

[ntiernan]

Hi there,

My daughter up to less than 2 weeks ago was, in general, a great sleeper, sleeping through the night for approx 6 out of 7 nights. We were blessed! However the last 11 nights she has woken up at 12am and 5am. She goes to bed at 8pm generally without a problem, but then at 12am she starts to cry and goes hysterical if she's not picked up. The only thing to stop her crying is to give her a bottle. I find it hard to believe that she's hungry as she drinks a full bottle before she goes to bed and is a good eater during the day. However, once she finishes the bottle at 12am she falls back to sleep.

Then again at 5am she starts to cry and won't stop until she drinks another bottle. The first few nights of this waking, after the 5am bottle she fell back to sleep once we put her back in her cot. However, the last few nights, she screams when we put her into her cot, but once we lie her in our bed, she's out like a light!!

Any ideas what has happened or whats going through her little mind?? I don't want her in the habit of sleeping in our bed.

Thanks for any help shared!

[yaya]

HIYA! could you post ur routine for us ?
My 1 yr old is much hungrier these days too! I dont feed him if he wakes at night but make sure he's gettign plenty of food during the day and a large bottle before bed.
Thanx

[ntiernan]

Hiya,

Here's her routine:

7:30 She wakes and usually has a 6oz bottle but these days after having so much in the middle of the night she's not interested in her morning bottle
8:30 Breakfast - readybrek and toast
10:00 - 11:00 Sleep
11:00 - Snack (yogurt/Crackers and cheese/fruit etc )
12:30 - Dinner (meat, veg and potatoes)
2:00 - 3:30 Sleep
3:30 - Bottle (6oz) 
4:30 - Snack (yogurt/cheese sandwich/fruit etc)
6:00/6:30 - Tea (Scrambled egg, beans/spagetti on toast/risotto etc)
8:00 - 7oz bottle and bed

She's in a creche during the week, so she's in a good routine.......hopefully you'll notice something that if changed, would help her sleep at night. Or maybe she's having a long growth spurt and really is hungry at night!

Any ideas are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[yaya]

U say shes not taking much at the morning feed due to nightime feeds , maybe u shouldnt be feedign her at this time? I would increase her daytime bottles (morning and bed) and maybe her solids intake to make up for the hunger.
Are u sure there isnt  anything else teething? ear infection etc? that could be wakign her and the bottle is just 'soothing ' this? We gave DS a bottle when he was really poorly and found it soothed it but that was only fro 2 nights

[sandraorion]

Could it be that she congested and just wakes up thirsty from breathing through her mouth? That's what we are going through.

Other possibilites are teething, or as yaya suggested an ear infection.

[ntiernan]

Hi girls,

Thanks for your replies. She's not teething at the moment and doesn't have an ear infection, but as sandraorion suggested she has been a bit congested lately, so maybe she's thirsty from breathing through her mouth.

Her cold seems to be passing though so hopefuly she'll be back to normal soon.

Thanks again.

[yaya]

Have u tried just giving ehr water at night when she wakes? I do with DS , sometimes he gets thristy for the same reason too but I dont want to get him into the habit of feeding at ngiht again

[albertasweetpea]

We found the same thing with our DD around 10 months. I figured there is no way she could be hungry after chowing down on everything in sight during the day so tried giving her water at night when she woke. She was waking 6-10 times a night at this point!!    She would gulp down a few swallows then off to sleep again.
We ended up putting a sippy cup (non-spill kind) in her crib and when she is thirsty now, she just rolls over, has a drink and goes back to sleep  .

[yaya]

Michelle ur a star...why on earth have I not thought about this before?? (oh yeah , coz my lazy DS wont drink on his own!!!)