Can it still be hunger waking him up???

[JoC]

Hi, not sure where to post this question...
Ds is 18 months and still not sleeping through. Wakes at any time between 3 and 5 and, stupidly, I have been giving him milk. My mum thinks he may well be hungry in the night so she suggests giving him a botle of formula instead of cows milk as it is heavier and may well see him through til later.
Does anyone think this is a good/bad idea???
Ihave done wi/wo for ages with him and after 2 weeks gave up as he gets really hysterical when i go in to him.
I just give in to him now and give him milk, but the time he is waking has been getting progressively earlier. (2.20 last night!). Although i did do wi/wo for 40 mins and he went back to sleep, but i think this was a fluke!
Thanks

Jo

[taygensmom]

By 18 months your LO should be able to sleep through the night without waking up for hunger. If he is waking up hungry then he is moving some of his daytime feeds to the night, which would need to be reversed. I do not think giving him formula is a good idea. Instead, you need to work on weaning him from that night time feed. If you post your feeding/sleeping schedule you can probably get some help in figuring out where to start...

[mari]

Have a good look at his food intake during the day.  Does he eat well?  what time is his last meal?

I offerr supper (although Alex doesn't always want it) as we eat at 4.30pm and I worry that they might be hungry, and they always have milk at bedtime too.

At 18months he should be able to go all night without food and if you've started giving him milk when he wakes it's probably a habit that you need to try to break.  As you have had some success with WIWO I would try to carry on doing that.  I know that it's hard, it took 4 hours the first night that I did it with Alex and I did it for 2-3 weeks.  If you change your methods too soon then it will confuse him.
You could offer a sippy of water to start weaning the milk.  I leave one in the cot for Alex and she gets it when she needs it.

[TDR'smom]

I also leave a sippy cup of water in Tyler's room for him.  My pediatrician said that at 18 months they could very well wake up hungry, but should be able to put themselves back to sleep.  Kind of like how we do, as adults.  WI/WO is probably your best bet (hard...I know) or give him a snack before bedtime?  We don't give Tyler a snack before bedtime as he eats dinner at 6, however, between dinner and bedtime he gets to drink a TON of milk.

GOod luck!

[JoC]

Thanks or your help.
He has tea at 4.30 at nursery then eats with us at home tooabout 5.30 ish. He has same as we do then fruit and a yoghurt or some cheese, whatever he will eat. I think it is habit to be honest, he expects it cos i give it to him!!!
I feel deja vu here all the time. Just get the routine good, then illness, teething and its all over the place again!
Thanks again. Did wi/wo last night so will be consistent and do it again tonight.

Jo

[mari]

Good for you Jo, let us know how you get along.

[JoC]

Well, he woke at 11.30 last night, quite unusual, when i went in he was wet through. After changing him he was wide awake, so (foolishly) decided to bring him in with me (he will sometimes sleep longer with me). He was having none of it, just pointed to his room, so we went back in there, then cried and pointed to my room...this went on for 20 mins. In the end i tried to settle him in my bed. Hour and half later, gave in and gave him 2 oz milk. Went straight back to sleep til 5.30...wet therough AGAIN (all the flippin' fluids) so changed AGAIN and gave him milk.
Given him LOTS to eat tonight and over 8oz of milk...lets see if we make it til midnight!!

Jo

[TDR'smom]

Sorry you had a tough night!!  What type of diapers are you using?  Huggies Overnights work well to soak up all the night time "liquids" they drink....

[JoC]

Thanks judy, will try to get some of them, he does pee a lot!
Jo

[mari]

also, what size are the nappies?  when I find her soaked through I try the size up for nighttimes.  She is in a 5 daytime, but 5+ nighttime.  I don't find that huggies are any different to pampers really ( other than price, huggies are on offer at the moment!)