Almost One Year Old Still Eating at 3A

It's time to let him cry it out, in my opinion. It will be harder for you than it is for him but he is plenty big and old enough to make it though the night without a feeding. By six or seven months old, I made all three of my kids cry it out when they would wake at night to eat.

I too had a son who would do this. I always felt he was hungry and since I was a SAHM I did not mind getting up. But, now that my son is older and I look back, I wish I had stopped this right away. It took my son a very long time to stop this habit. Since his bodies time clock told him to wake up to eat in the middle of the night, he would even though he had long stopped eating. So now I had to deal with a child who woke up with nothing to do. This went on for years. I feel that if I had stopped when he was much younger, he would not have this problem. It was very hard on him when he started going to preschool because this interfered with his napping. He became a very tired little boy. Sometimes we think that just because we are SAHM that certain "rules" can be broken because we can pick up some extra sleep here and there. But, in reality, sometimes we need to think farther down the line and what might not be such a good thing in the long run. I hope this helps.

Hi Mama! Go with your gut! My 14 month old still wakes up at least three times a night and nurses. She is a small, frequent eater & has to have those night feedings to get enough calories. I know it isn't forever & that she'll adjust her schedule based on her body's needs. If you are ok with the 3am wake up then keep going with it!

Because he has learned to eat at that hour, he wakes up to eat at that hour. It's not really normal for a child that age to eat at 3:30am; he doesn't NEED to eat then. He should be eating enough during the day to fill his caloric needs, and it is important for his development to get a good, uninterrupted sleep at night. That's when all the brain development happens! Wean him off the night time bottle, definitely. Tonight give him 4 oz, the next night 3oz, and so on until it's just a bottle of water, or a binky. Within a week he will be putting himself back to sleep as long as you keep your interaction to a minimum when he wakes up (don't talk or pick him up, just rub his back or say "sh-sh-sh" or whatever he likes that calms him). Good luck!

I would go with your instinct! Every child is different but if you want him to start sleeping thru the night I would consider giving him a snack at bedtime, fruit, cereal ..something that will stick to his rib so he doesn't get hungry in the middle of the night. Also I would stop giving him a bottle..by the time they are 1 they should be able to drink out of a sippy cup and break the bottle habit, of course that is my opinion, but go with your instinct but the longer your continue to him the bottle the harder it will be to break the habit. At night time or nap time for now it should be okay but I would encourage you to have a sippy cup so that you can transition him easily. The main thing is, if your child is healthy & happy what difference does it make. If you can handle it at this age..go for it mom.

My mother in Law was a great fan of putting cereal in with the formula when she put her kids to bed at night so they would sleep through the night. She made the nipple holes larger on the night time nipple so the cereal could easily go through. Just a side note, I am hypo glycemic a precursor to diabetes, when I opened my home day care I was pleasantly surprised to find, in my state, day cares were required to feed the children every two to three hours, either a meal or a snack. I wish I could hug the person who was smart enough to go against the way my generation was raised, admonishing children to wait until the next meal (which might be 6 or more hours away from the last meal) then swatting the little hand that darted out for food. Really it was common place to be punished for being hungry. Glad you are enjoying your son : ) They grow so fast my youngest is 15 & we have long ago moved away from our home day care.

Every child is different and as your Dr. is saying he should have the extra. Well that extra is coming in at night. He isn't 2yrs.old, if he were then I would have cause for concern. He's eating properly so I wouldn't worry about it. There are more than your child that gets up in the middle of the night for a bottle. My youngest (but now grown) wanted his bottle at night until he was almost 18mos. He then started biting the nipples and realized that the bottle was no good anymore. He then went to a sippy cup. Like I said everyone can tell you what to do, how to do it, but every child is different. Once he reaches the age of 18mos. and is still looking for that bottle then its time to wean him, whether he cries or not. He will get used to it. Go with how you feel about your son, he is your child, you have him 24/7. Some children are still having a bottle at the age of 2 or 3 or their sucking on a soother.
Go with your own instinct, you know your son better than anyone else.
Good luck and let your son be your baby for now, they grow up to fast as it is. If you don't mind, then leave it be.

I believe in going with your baby's needs. My daughter had a 1:00 a.m. feeding until she was 13 months old, then she suddenly stopped waking up for this. If you are OK waking up and feeding him, I would wait to see if he grows out of this need.

As a mother of 6 (almost 2, 4, 7, 8, 10, and 15) I have the following suggestions for you. Start by shortening his second nap each day and laying him down about a half an hour later for his first nap. With all of my kids somewhere around their first birthdays they switched from two naps to one long 2-2 1/2 hour nap. They would need a mini meal/ healthier snack that would stick with them through the night and for a while go to to bed a little earlier , but sleep through the night. Young children typically wake up throughout the night, without being fully awake. Tell him to go back to sleep, hand him a lovie that he likes and sleeps with, keep the lights out, and don't take him out of his bed. Reassure him that mom is still here but that it is "night night time" and quietly tell him to lay back down and go back to sleep. Hopefully this helps. It takes a lot of energy to keep up with a toddler, which means you need your rest to. Good luck and hang in there!

Hi nm,
I suggest the 4th feeding be just before bed. OR, wake him at 10pm to eat the 4th, and right back to bed. Then, when he wakes at 3:30, leave him be as long as his diaper is clean.

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Your Peds is right. At this age we do aim for about 4 bottles a day. Tend to give a bottle with each meal and one for a PM snack. For example.... Feed him Breakfast (Cereal mixed with a little fruit) at 7AM; finish this meal with his bottle. Give him lunch at 11AM finish this meal with a bottle. Give him a cracker snack at 3PM and finish this with a bottle. Dinner at 7PM finshed with a bath and final bottle. The first few days will be a little hard, because you will be trying to get extra calories in him after a night time feeding.

Now know at this time, you will have to stop feeding him at night. Go in give him cuddles and settle him back down. PLEASE do not do what many moms do. When you go in to settle him at night; NO LIGHTS.... Keep it as quiet and non interactive as you can. Give it a week and it will work.... Good Luck.

This would be a good time to start measuring out his milk for the day and giving it to him in a sippy at meals to make taking away the bottle easier. I am not sure if it would help your situation, but both of my boys alway had a sippy cup of water in the crib at night. Sometimes they would wake up just thirsty, but by the time I heard them and got to them, nursing was the only solution. With a cup of water your child can satisfy thirst without fully waking up and it is not going to hurt their teeth at night if they fall asleep with it. Otherwise, I would leave it for now. He might also be going through a growth spurt and need the extra calories. Sometimes I am so hungry by the time I wake up that I feel sick, so 10 to 11 hours might be too long for him to go without some food. Just make sure he's not getting too much milk during the day (or formula) so he's getting enough nutrients from solids too. He will be waking you up in the middle of the night for something else down the road anyway. I try to take one night at a time myself. :)

Wow! Your plight sounds like mine exactly 2 years ago! My twins are now 3 years old but one of them did continue to wake up at 2am well past 1 year of age. My ped tried to convince us that at this point it was just habit forming and we should really try to get rid of the 2am feeding but I knew my son was truly waking up hungry! He finally stopped waking up in the middle of the night right at 16 months of age. It sounds like a long time and I'm sure others will disagree but I know I made the right decision and would do it again exactly the same way. Good Luck with whatever you decide!

My 15 month old just stopped getting up at night for a bottle about 3 weeks ago. I am a sahm too. I didn't not feel the need to break her of this. I like to take cues from my children. If you don't mind getting up, then there is no problem.

Hello,
Do not worry about it...my (almost) 14 month old still wakes to eat at night. I am, however, trying to wean him so when he does wake, I make sure that he cannot settle himself. If after 5 minutes he is still crying hard, I assume he's hungry. I then try to give him only one breast (if you're bottle feeding him, try using half as much). If he takes the bink and falls back asleep I don't push the second side, but if he refuses, I give in. Every child is different and every mother has an instinct that can't be doubted. If you think your child is hungry, feed him. My parents were convinced that there was something "wrong" with my son for waking a few times a night. Now, he only wakes once, around 4:30, and I feed him because he goes to bed at 6 and I'm sure he's hungry. So, hope this helps, and if you need anything else, just email me because I have SO been there and done that. :)

My doctor told me that babies no longer need night feedings after the first 10 days of life, that they do it because we train them too. Following that advice my boys have been sleeping through the night since 1 months old and are now very healthy and active young boys. If you want him to stop waking to eat, you need to stop feeding him when he wake, and rather help him find other ways to sooth himself back to sleep. At this point it is really not good for his teeth to be going back to sleep with a bottle.

My youngest woke to nurse at 4am until he was a year old, then just one night didn't wake for that feeding and slept until 7am. He just didn't need it anymore and I didn't force him to stop.

At this point is it learned hunger. If he was waking at random times during the night, it might be real hunger, but 3:30am - he is used to getting his belly filled at that hour.
You can water it down oune by ounce every couple of nights until it is just water to wean him off of it.
Also, google the 'wake-to-sleep method' and you can try that. (too long to post here).
Good luck!
~G.
www.bebettertoyourself.blogspot.com

I would say include a protein at supper or for a bedtime snack. That should hold him over.

Feed him! Our son woke up till he was 18 months old to nurse at night! Once we weaned, he started sleeping through the night.

Once he's off the bottle, you can just give him a sippy of water to take to bed with him. He should start sleeping through the night then.

PS> I can't believe Jen's answer of a baby doesn't need night feedings after 10 DAYS OLD! I would have switched doctors IMMEDIATELY!

The best way to combat this is to give him a little water at night when he wakes, and settle him back down, and then after about a week or a little less of that, give him nothing, just comfort him a little when he wakes, and give him nothing. He will get the point that its not worth waking up for. I am sure you can fill him up a little more before bed, maybe some diced banana or babyfood bananas and then the bottle before bed? This worked for us.