Quote:
Originally Posted by blazzin1
My beautiful 17-month old daughter (Reese) is STILL not sleeping through the night!! I can count on one hand the number of times she has actually slept thoughout the night without getting up. Anyway, we give her a small 4oz bottle after bath when we lay her down in her crib to go to sleep. It usually takes 2 small bottles and then her pacifier to initially get her to sleep. Then she'll wake up 2-3 times during the night (usually around 12 & 3 am) wanting another bottle (which she gets). So we are going thru 4-5 bottles every night. I think this is excessive, but if we don't give her a bottle, she cries and cries and cries, and then NO ONE gets any sleep!! I know she is probably waking up hungry, because she hardly eats anything solid at home. Although, I am told she eats like a horse a daycare (other kids around). I don't know how to fix that one either!!! I know we are probably not helping the problem by giving her bottle after bottle, but we need some sleep before work too!!!! Otherwise, she is very healthy and happy. How can I get her off the bottles already and sleeping thru the night??? Is she too old for bottles at night (she gets "sippy-cups" during the day)??? Isn't she too old to not be sleeping throught the night already???
We started putting an ounce of water in her bottles before filling up with milk. My wife was told that by gradually increasing the water in her bottles, she would start to lose the dependancy on them. Don't know yet if that is going to work, but trying it out. Parents, if you have any other advice, it would be grealy appreciated!!!!
Help! Mom and Dad are soooooo tired!!!!!
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1. Yes, she is too old for bottles at night. You are basically "feeding" her to sleep and that's not a good thing for the child. She knows if she wakes up and cries then she will get a bottle. Yes, they figure that out really quickly.
2. If she does wake up and cry you are going to have to let her cry it out. I know this is harsh and will tug at your heart (believe me, I know this) but you have to break this cycle now before it gets worse.
3. Is she teething? My daughter, who will be 18mos in 2 days, is still cutting teeth. She wakes up sometimes crying but it never lasts for more than a minute or two at the most. Check to make sure she doesn't have a low grade fever, unusually rosy and warm cheeks or excessive drooling. If so, try a shot of childrens Tylenol to help with the pain. Obviously don't do this if she isn't exhibiting signs of teething.
4. Are there any noises that might wake her up? The wife and I like to watch television before we go to bed so we found that if we shut our bedroom door, we never wake up our daughter.
5. If she's eating like a horse at daycare then suggest the daycare people cut back a little bit on her feeding while there. Let her eat more dinner at home so she will make it through the night.
The biggest thing is getting her off the bottles completely. We were lucky and our daughter slept through the night almost immediately. Like... a month after we got home from the hospital? Something like that.
If the problem persists you may want to seek the advice of your doctor.
I hope this helps. Best of luck!