What do I do if she didn't eat dinner and wakes up hungry?

[Cari]

My 22 mos old had 3 bites of peas and 1 bite of sausage and didn't want anything else for dinner.  She had a cup of milk before bed, but I am afraid that she will wake up hungry.  If she does, what do I do?  She might be teething, she has had her hands in her mouth alot lately, and hasn't really eaten much in the past few days.

[JennŠ]

When mine does that, she gets some more milk if she wakes up.  That usually does it for her.  And teething meds to help the pain.  Failing that, yogurt or malt o meal as a snack.  Easy on the mouth.     

[Katet]

My ds (19mo) had about 1oz of milk for dinner, he had a decent afternoon tea though... I won't be feeding him until breakfast (apart from water) after about 9-12mo they don't have hunger at night apart from "learnt hunger".
I know with the teething we have at the moment my ds is living on very little & my ds#1 did the same sort of thing.

[The Vern]

I don't understand, how all of a sudden after 12 months, a baby can't wake hungry? What magically switches off in their bodies that if they don't take in enough calories during the day, they won't wake hungry wanting to make up for it???  We've been struggling with food intake at dinner and hardly any milk before bed (in a previous excellent eater and sleeper) and DD is waking up anytime between 3-5 near starving, taking 8-9 oz.  We've been trying all kinds of things to get her solid and milk intake to go up in the evenings, such as switching to milk before dinner (her bedtime bottle was 1-3 oz), so if she takes it before dinner, she takes 5-6 oz, and stuffing her full at dinner (by offering one thing after the other once she turns something down).  I'd love to hear if Bailey woke up or not!

[Cari]

Well, she didn't wake up...........in the middle of the night anyway.   She did wake up an hour earlier than usual, 6:30am.  But that was O.k.  And amazingly she wasn't starving for breakfast.  Next time I won't worry

[Katet]

The Vern - there are the occasional growthspurts, but generally if they don't eat at night & then you start offering you effectively create the "hunger habit" as their body learns to need food at that time & it only takes 2-3 days in some babies/toddlers to learnt to "need" that night time food & once they are getting it the metabolism kicks in expecting it, so you need to cut it back so they take more at other times.

[The Vern]

OK, so how do we tell whether it's true hunger or habit? And what if it is hunger - I don't prescribe to letting my daughter go hungry! And as we all know, it is next to impossible to get a hungry baby back to sleep.  What do you suggest we do??? Would love your help! Thanks,  Maria

[Tatumsmom]

I'm going to lurk on this board as I totally agree with Maria. My dd is 13 months and she has been doing great except that she still can't make it past 5:30 most nights and wakes up hungry. I've tried every suggestion to up her calories in the day and every suggestion to wean nightfeeds. She is great eater in the fact that she will eat anything the problem is she doesn't eat very much. She has dinner at 5:30 and then a bottle before bed at 6:45 but still wakes in the early morning hungry. I wish someone had the magic answer because I have tried everything....I think she might be going through a growth spurt because the last couple of nights have been bad. Last night she was up at 12 and 5:30 looking for food. She hasn't been that bad in a long time so I'll blame a growth spurt. I would also love someones help!!
Kim

[Katet]

Maria, what I did when my ds was 12mo & I was pretty sure if he could go 11hours between bf at 4mo that at 11mo the 5am feed (that came back with teething & illness around 8mo) was just "learnt" hunger. So because I bf I simply cut back the time he fed for his normal feed was 5mins so I took him off at 4 & then soothed him to sleep for the rest... by the time it got to 2 mins I stopped & just soothed him... It took over an hour, but then he slept until 8am with his last feed being 7pm so from then on I just helped him back to sleep.
So as you bottle feed, just cut down  either less formula or more water & when it gets to about 2oz offer water instead.
The other thing is, is it truely hunger or thirst... my ds's both had sippy cups in their bed from 9mo & I taught them how to find it so they could have a drink at night... if you live in a cold place with heating on it may well be the "dryness" that is making her need the milk so water may work just as well.
You say it is almost impossible to get a hungry baby to sleep, from my experience it is only impossible to get a thirsty baby to sleep, a hungry one will  often go back if they aren't thirsty.

Finally 4/5am is a "long light sleep phase" before a deep cycle, so it is a hard one to get babies through anyway & nearly everyone I know has got into a habit of feeding at that time & it only takes doing it a few days for the body to adjust to getting food at that time

[Tatumsmom]

Hi Katet,
That is really interesting about them just being thirsty, I have thought that for a long time but my dh thought I was crazy. I think I will try only offering water at every wake up. I tried this when she was younger and all it did was cause her to wake up more. Maybe now that she is older and eating more real food, water at night will be the answer. . I tried putting a sippy in her crib one night but she never found it, so maybe I'll give that another go. We do live in cold place with heating going all the time. I have put a humidifer in her room and it seems to help (I forgot to turn it on the last few nights). She has slept to 7:30 a couple of times, so I know she can do it.
Sorry to hijack the thread but thanks for the suggestions.
Kim

[The Vern]

Thanks for the suggestion to try a sippy in the crib. Will give that a go.  Last evening, she had quite a bit to eat for dinner, 1 oz of milk before bed and woke at 2. I tried for an hour to get her to sleep, which she did on and off, but at 3 it was all out wailing again, signing 'milk', and pointing to get out of her room.  She took 7 oz in one swift gulp and then right back to sleep.  It's not every night - night before last, she slept right from 7:30 to 6:15! It makes me think some evenings she just doesn't get enough dinner maybe and is truly hungry. In any event, I will try the water sippy in bed and see how it goes.  Thanks again, Maria

[binxyboo]

thought, whats this get out of room jazz? Do you take her out to make the bottle? Is there a light on, do you talk to her? 

As soon as Riley's jaundice cleared as a newborn, night feeds were always done in the bedroom in the dark. It was never an option that we get up and go into a different room. Of course, it was easier as we were nursing. So, do you take her with you to get the bottle, or did you mean she is just at the age where she is clever and can point and show you where she wants to go to get things?

[The Vern]

Ok, yeah, I think she's too smart for her parents' good!!! She signs and points out of her room because she knows that's the way to the milk.  We only have a very small night light in her room, which we've had since day one - it's sort of behind the chair.  I don't talk to her. I have brought her with me to get the bottle at times, mostly to avoid her waking dh with her crying, but then we sit in her room for the bottle and it's right back to bed. Might change her diaper obviously as needed.