Toddler Not Sleeping Through the Night - Avon,IN

Sounds harsh: but just take the bottle away. It is easier to get rid of it at 2 years than 3 years.
You will have 2-3 nights of waking up and crying, but then she will sleep through the night when that habbit is broken. It beats her waking up EVERY night like she is doing now!

Number 1 why is she still taking a bottle? Out of site out of mind. Take bottle away now completely and dont give in. It will be hard for a couple nights but that is about it then she will probably sleep more through the night. The bottle at this point is more for you to pasifie you not the toddler She really does not need it . It has become a habit.

I am in a similar situation. My youngest is 18 months and also goes to sleep fine, but will wake up after about 5 (avg) hrs and not go back to sleep until I pick him up. It has been going on about a year and I have gotten in the bad habit of putting him in bed with us (mainly to get some sleep myself). Unfortunately I have no advise. My older 3 (7,11, & 14) were all excellent sleepers. Let me know if you get any great advise.
It is good to know I do not have the only child that does not sleep, but wish you the best.
D.

I would definitely try nipping this in the bud. By that age she should be able to sleep through the night without a feeding. You have to be strong - the longer you let it continue the harder it will be for her to stop. Let her take a sippy cup of water to bed with her at night, but she should not be having milk in the middle of the night - it's bad for her teeth. My advice would have to be tough love. It'll be hard for awhile, but it's really the only one I can think of.

The only suggestion I have is to make sure when she goes to bed that she has a full stomach. Do you think she is doing it out of habit or because she is hungry? I know some kids get in a routine and don't like to brake it. I have a two year old son, so I can relate.

I don't really have any suggestions except you need to stop giving her milk unless you are also taking the time to brush her teeth. Anything but water sits in her mouth and reeks havoc on her teeth:(

I would suggest taking the bottle away completly. I was told at one year my daughters should no longer be using the bottle and no milk in bed - especially after brushing their teeth. They are two now, and still get up periodically, but it has nothing to do with needing food, they just go thru spurts where they get up for three or four nights in a row - and with twins its hard to let them cry becuase they wake up the other.

We use sippy cups filled about 1/4 with water, and use the same cup every night. When they see the cup, they know its time for bed and when the water is gone, that is all they get. I would suggest trying this out, it may take a couple nights but it will be worth it, if your child sleeps thru the night. I know, sleeping thru the night - what is that? :-)

Unfortunately, I believe she has gotten accustomed to getting up (I had the same problem with my son). My solve would be to stop giving her the bottle. It will be really hard at first, because she'll throw a fit, but after a few days, you'll be thrilled that you're starting to get some sleep. Oh, by the way, this will backfire on you, if you "give in" on occassion and give her the bottle. It'll just prolong her getting used to soothing herself back to sleep w/out the bottle.

You said she falls asleep fine, is that with or without the bottle?
If it's with the bottle, I would suggest weaning the bottle (for all reasons mentioned previously). Also, if she is falling asleep with the bottle, and always has, there is a pretty good chance that is the only way she knows how to fall alseep. She hasn't been taught how to fall asleep by herself, so when she wakes during the night she can't just roll over and go back to sleep b/c she doesn't know how. You need to teach her how to fall asleep on her own without a bottle or pacifier. Use her special blanket or stuffed animal and gently teach her how to fall asleep using that instead.
I would suggest using the "bottle fairy" or some fun story like that. Before bed, tell her the new babies from Heaven need the bottles. Try to get her excited about it and gently convince her to help gather them all up, put them in a box, address them to the Bottle Fairy and put them out by the mailbox. The next morning she can check outside and find glitter/sparkly stuff by the mail box that shows the fairy came. And where the box was is a box addressed to her from teh bottle fairy containing some special present (maybe a new stuffed animal to sleep with?)
Just my suggestion. Take what you want and leave the rest. Good luck to you both and I'll cross my fingers that your nights will be restful from now on!

Take the bottle away. She's gonna keep waking up if she knows your gonna give it to her. Also a bottle at that age is not good for her teeth.

My son nursed, so I can't comment on the bottle thing, but he did wake up to nurse during the night 1-3 times every night until his 2nd birthday. (I'm not sure if your 2yr old is just 24mo or almost 36mo--at that this young age, where she is in the year still makes a differece!) I think that my son woke to eat during the night because he was actually still hungry. He was SUCH a busy kid during the day that he often wouldn't stop to eat, so I think that he made up for it at night. My son stopped completely on his own almost overnight. It did get a little taxing as he got older (only because I was in the beginning of pregnancy at the end and needed more sleep), but I think he still needed it until he gave it up on his own.

Hi L.!

I just posted a responce to another mom with sleep issues. The advice I gave her will work for your two year old also, so I'll just copy & paste it, with a few changes due to age differences in your babies.
By the way... I fed my, now, five year old from a bottle until he was ready to switch to a cup, which was at age four. He has perfect pearly whites and no dental problems.. (But he's been brushing his teeth since age two, no toothpaste of course & didn't eat much sweets..lol) so don't believe all the hype about bottles. Below is the advise for getting a good night's sleep. Hope it helps! :O)

If I had followed the advise of the baby books, I could've saved the family alot of sleepless nights. So, on child #3, I finally did what the professionals advised & the benefits were well worth the few weeks it took to get there.

Step one, You have to let the baby cry herself to sleep. So be prepared for some tough moments on your heart-strings..

Step 2, Get into a ruitine of feeding your child her last feeding & then having something like a bath or singing or a radio playing lulubies that will teach your child to calm down & expect to go to bed. (I stood & rocked my baby while singing 3-4 songs.) Make sure your baby is AWAKE when you put her in her crib/bed. Make sure her diaper is fresh, & since you just fed her, she should be good to go.

Step 3, LEAVE the room, (after you kiss & say good night.)

Step 4, if the baby cries wait for 2 minutes before you check on her. Walk in the room, check her diaper, if she's dry, say goodnight & leave the room.
If she continues to cry wait five minutes & walk in, check her diaper or burp her & leave the room.
If you're sure she's not sick, wet, or has a gas bubble, then do not go in the room anymore.
Use a monitor to hear her, & she may cry for 20 minutes the first few weeks before she goes to sleep. That's OK.

Step 5, if she wakes up crying, don't rush to feed her. Give her 5-10 minutes to see if she'll go back to sleep. (That's the hardest part.) Check in on her for wet diaper if she continues to cry, but then put her back in bed without the bottle. (I gave my son a stuffed animal for comforting, and a pacifier..)

I breastfed my baby for 6 months, & by the forth month, he went to sleep at 7PM and woke up at 7AM. Plus he took a three hour nap in the afternoon. (using same steps to put him down awake in his crib...) (He was adorable amusing himself & talking to himself in there as he got himself to sleep.) & I think that helped him to learn to entertain himself, because he plays well & is very imaginative with his toys now. He is now 5, robustly healthy & very smart. Early walker & talker. Not to mention loveable & secure, so don't think that doing these steps will damage your baby, (like I did with my fist 2..lol)
Good Luck!! K.

She is conditioned to wanting the bottle - she doesn't need it. Most people stop the bottle at a year. With anything it is harder to stop the older they get. You need to stop the bottle now and she will be mad but she will get over it. Remember that you are the parent and you call the shots, not your child.Once she gets over it she will be much happier since she will be sleeping better. Also, you should be concerned about her teeth since she is drinking milk all night and not brushing afterwards. Good luck and stay strong!

My girlfriend just bought a sound machine and played rain, she slept, for the first time, for 8hours! Of course, her other child came in and peed in her bed that same night, so she didn't get to sleep, but at least her daughter did.. worth a try, she's been fighting getting her to sleep for a year!

Sounds like a bad habit has been formed. It's always tough to break these. Even though you may get less sleep during the process, focus on the full nights of sleep you will get in the end. If you know she is not hurt or sick, I recommend you let her cry.It may not be easy, but I don't know any other way. Don't give in, though it will take longer if she thinks you don't mean business.

Don't dilute her milk.
She needs more food.
Try feeding her a snack before bedtime. Some think like cereal or a small sandwich.

First off it is your child....please do not feel bad because you still give her a bottle. I hate when people mouth off about it. Our ped told us to put tonic water in the bottle and milk in the sippy cup.....but my DD is 2.5 and I haven't done it yet! I just wanted to wish you good luck and tell you not to get down when people chime in about your dd still having a bottle.

A.

She's probably just gotten into a bad habit of wanting to eat and see you when she wakes up. My son is 9 months and my pediatrician told me that he no longer needed to get up in the night- unless is was closer to morning. We ignored his cries one night (very hard) but he never woke up again. It's such a hard decision. I bet you are tired too. At least if you let her cry, you know you are teaching her that it is ok to be awake in your bed and to put herself back to sleep. Hope that helps.

At two years of age, your toddler should be at least sleeping a minimum of 5 hours straight. So either she is truly hungry or she fell into a habit that only you can help her break.

First you'll want to increase her food and milk intake during the day. If she doesn't want to eat a lot at one sitting - feed her something solid at least every two hours during the day. Also make sure she is not filling up on liquids. Have her eat solids first and then follow-up with juice or milk. If she continues to wake every 2-3 hours at night, then you'll know it's a comfort thing, not a hunger thing.

If it is a comfort thing, you'll need to try the rock & soothe process every waking for a couple weeks and give her nothing to drink. She's old enough for you to tell her that she can have her milk before she goes to sleep and then in the morning with breakfast, but not at night because she is becoming a big girl now.

Since she is your youngest, you may have a subconscious need to keep her preserved as a baby and that is how this habit got perpetuated. She's becoming a "big girl". Potty training should be started at this point and night feedings will make that more difficult as well. If you didn't have this issue with your other 2, keep in mind that they probably were treated like a "big boy or girl" around the age of two or three out of a need for you to focus on whomever was an infant at that point. So you may want to take that into consideration.

Did your older children have a bottle at 2? I think if you take the bottle away, she will stop waking up for it. It will be rough the first few nights...but I think you will be thankful afterwards! Good luck!

Try rice baby cereal in milk warm not cold but tap warm water ...and about 4-5 oz and just let her lay down semi propped up so she does not choke on it ( I know some will comment NO NO NO on this but IT WORKS!!!!!! so pfff on those who say no bottle GIVE A SIPPY CUP! to sleep to us mommies that need to do what we gotta do!) pffffff! if it works dont knock it! right?! right!

LOL let me know how things work tonight! But she shouldnt hav ea bottle anymore it should be sippy cup!

She's probably not even wanting the bottle, or even a drink, but reassurance from you when she wakes up (?)
My daughter is almost three, and we've never had that issue, mainly because she never took drinks to bed. She does wake up some though, and I let her have a stuffed animal or maybe a night light would work, if it's maybe just a calming thing. My daughter does get scared when she wakes up at night, so I'll leave a light on outside her door, w/ the door cracked sometimes. Good luck. Also maybe try a good size snack after supper, but not too close to bedtime to make sure she's not hungry at nighttime (?)

first i have to apologize for some of the comments you have received....
anyhow, have you tried a toddler formula? i only suggest that b/c too much milk isn't really good for a lil one. my mom said that all three of us took a bottle until we were 3 1/2 and had the toddler form. so maybe try that. it'll help keep her full as well. i know she could either be hungry or even just want it for comfort, either way be there for her. i know a lot of these people well saying to take her off the bottle and get her to sleep w/out it but all babies are different and need different things. my son has to be nursed to sleep for naps and bedtime and wakes a few times a night to nurse himself back to sleep. and that's just how it is in our family. also think about what else could be going on, she could be teething or just wants to know your still around. my niece is going through something similar w A LOT of milk consumption, but she's teething big time- she'll be 2 in a few months. again everyone is different and hey, she may even be going through a growth spurt. i hope this helps a lil.

Loose the bottle-mainly for her teeth! I am sure you will have a couple of rough nights- but it's not like things are great now. You're going to have to bite the bullet soon anyway. She's growing up!
Good luck-

Why does your two year old get any kind of a bottle???? TOOO old for a bottle. If your toddler is really thirsty, give her (or him) a drink of water out of a cup.

You have to take the bottle away. Children are supposed to be broken of the bottle around one year of age. It is not healthy for their teeth to still be taking a bottle. Please speak to your physician about this, or research it on the web. Our toddler was doing the same thing at 2 years of age when she was still taking a pacifier. The first night we took away the pacifier, she slept all night and has done so ever since. hope this helps and good luck! A.

I have three 4 year olds and it was really hard to get them to sleep through the nite, but I started by taking their milk away for the night and putting water in their bottles. But I took a week off of work and every time they woke up in the middle of the nite I would just put them back in bed, it took about 4 days of this but it finally worked. Good luck to you.

You still give your 2 year old a bottle? My doctor told me to bottle break at 1. Sounds like you need to let her cry it out.

Hi L., One of my children was like this and her body was just plain used to eating at that time. I diluted very little at a time or just gave her a little less. I think I only did a half ounce at a time. It did take a while so be patient. I know it's hard when you're dead tired. Good Luck and God Bless. N. L.

She shouldn't have the bottle in the first place. She is way too old for any bottle, day or night. Water is the only thing she should have after you brush her teeth at night. My son is 3, but a year ago he had $7500 worth of dental work, so I am speaking from experience. He had a sippy cup though, not a bottle. Your first step is to eliminate the bottle completely and then work on the sleeping. She's probably only doing it for the attention, you know, to make sure you are still there, kids are really clingy at this age!! Good luck.