Waking at Night from Hunger?!

I would just add that the rice cakes are probably being burned up quickly, unless they are brown rice. Same with spaghetti - give her whole wheat (not a whole grain blend which also has white flour in it). If she'll eat oatmeal rather than a "white" cereal, that will hold her longer. Peanut Butter might be better than bananas, which have a high sugar content and get digested quickly. Always go with the "darker" alternative - sweet potatoes instead of white, whole wheat or oatmeal bread instead of white, and so on. These complex carbohydrates take a lot longer to digest. It's actually a good habit to get into anyway, for the long term, so it's probably a good time to start. As far as waking up at 5 AM, it will be interesting to see if she stays asleep longer as soon as we change the clocks - it's light awfully early these days. Good luck.

At about that age my older daughter must have gone through a growth spurt because for about 2 weeks she woke up in the middle of the night to eat. I would give her a yogurt or fruit cup and she would go right back to bed. My friends daughter did it at the same age to and she would want a bowl of oatmeal and then go to sleep. I would give her something in the night and hopefully it will pass quickly. Good luck I know its tough when they were sleeping through the night. My daughter did it when I was 7months prego so it was tiring.

Sounds like she needs it. Really sometimes I am amazed at what my kid can eat. At that age my DD was gearing up for a big cognitive leap and was hungry round the clock all of a sudden. She was breastfeeding so that's what she got at night. But I be sure the pre-bed snack I gave involved protein and fat so it will hold her through the night. Rice cakes, bananas and white spaghetti will just raise the blood sugar and then crash a couple hours later, increasing her hunger. Fat and protein with a whole grain would be a better choice. And make sure what she is eating during the day is similar, get away from the empty white calories if possible, she needs to fill up on the good stuff.

Really, who is to say what is normal? I have a 2 year-old son and some days he picks at his food and doesn't seem to eat enough to get through the day, other days he devours 4 eggs at breakfast, or 3 fish burritos at lunch! Your daughter may be making up for what she missed when she was sick and/or she may be experiencing a growth spurt. Either way, I think that you may find success with some protein before bed. It will help her feel full for longer than some other foods.
Good luck!

Hello V.,
With raising my own son; and now my 2 nieces, I have found that if I give them a bed tie snack an 1/2 hour before they go to bed, they sleep soundly. As a snack I usually give them fruit, veggies, or a bowl of cereal. I read somewhere that a bowl of cereal is a good night time snack. Plus it can be healthy like Cheerios' , and filling! But as i see stated, she could just be in a growing spurt, but we still have to watch what they eat, so that it doesn't turn into a life time eating habit. Most stuff has a lot of sugar which does cause weight gain. My niece got a bit over weight these past few years; and now she is loosing it; and doing great, but I had to change the snack time bad habits to healthier foods and they work great! Both my girls are very sound sleepers now and active in their lives! God bless you V. and your daughter! Always.
Sincerely,
Kathy N.

Out of curiosity, have you noticed that she's also having dramatic increases in thirst? Is she going to the bathroom much more frequently?

If so, please call the doctor immediately - it may be signs of type 1 diabetes.

That being said, my kids won't go to sleep unless they have full bellies, and sometimes a snack is the difference between an hour earlier and an hour later at bed time. They've frequently awoken at odd hours hungry.

Higher fiber foods will make her feel fuller quicker. it sounds like you're offering pretty good choices and not loading her up on really awful foods. I would think the bananas, in particular, would be very filling.

Good luck. Please keep us posted on what happens.

i think after being sick it might be kinda normal. my son had hand/foot/mouth disease last summer and didn't eat for a week - he got by on those pediasure shakes. once he felt better he ate like a horse, but he didn't sleep well for a couple weeks. i wish i could give you any advice, but at this age i think letting her eat as much as she wants is fine, and recovering from an illness, she probably is catching up. hang in there, she'll even out soon i'm sure.

This is normal. There may be 2 things going on - she's catching up from what she lost with her illness and/or she's going through a growth spurt. This type of eating became very normal for my son whenever he was going into a growth spurt. Typically he's pretty picky, eats a little this, a little that. When he's on a spurt, food is not safe around him! He literally will eat/snack the entire day, from the time he gets up until he goes to bed. Immediately upon waking he wants to eat and wants 2 cups of milk before bed. He's going to be 3 now so I know what's happening when it starts but being she's only 18 months old, this may be the beginning of it for you. There will be time where he will go to bed and literally look larger to me the next day. He's changed shoe sizes in 1 month before. They go through these cycles. Very normal. Just don't get in the habit of feeding her during the night for too long. It will mess up her sleep cycle. Maybe in the next couple of days when you know she's eaten plenty, you will just have to let her sooth herself back to sleep until it's time to get up. Otherwise all your work of getting her to sleep through the night will be over.