My 12 month old still wakes twice 4 a bottle. Any advice on how to cut this out

Hi All,

My just turned 12 month old baby goes to bed every night at the same time of 8pm, sometimes before depending on how tired she, but never after 8pm with a 6oz bottle. She wakes up during the night at about 1am and 4am.  Assuming she is hungry, i do a 6oz bottle.  Sometimes she drinks it all, and other times she doesn't.  I want to try and get her out of this habit, as i currently dread going to bed, knowing that i have to get up at least once.  Am i being selfish about my sleep deprivation?  Should she be sleeping through the night, and if i manage to stop her waking during the night, should i carry on giving her the 2 bottles of 4oz in the day.  Bear in mind i still give her SMA...should i be changing to full cows milk?.

Any help or advice would be greatly appricated

PS she is not teeting as far as i know, as she has had tooth 8 come through, but her 1st molars could be starting to come through 

First of all it is not recommended to give a child up to the age of 3 normal cow milk so you should not think about switching to it when you have 12-months old baby.

Your baby might  wake up at night not because she is hungry (as sometimes she does not want milk at all) but because she needs an affection, needs to know that you are around her and that she is safe. So instead of giving drink to her just cuddle her and put her back to bed. Otherwise it might keep going on like this.

Hi Milina, are you a Health Visitor?  Sorry to ask, but who has told you to not give cows milk until 3....every person and 4 health visitors i have had contact with have said to wean off formula and go to full fat cows milk at 1.  I did the same with my eldest and did her no harm.  3 seems a little long for formula feeding. 

I will be tring the 5oz formula 1oz cows milk for 2 nights, then reduce more and so on.  See if that workks 

No, I am not a health visitor but in every parent/child magazine I had read says that cow milk should not be ginven to under 3 years olds. That is why you have SMA junior which is designed for 1 year and older toddlers as cow milk does not contain any iron but has lactose that can cause alergy in children.

 I do not believe health visitors anymore since mine had told me that I was to breastfeed my daughter every three hours when it only relates to bottle-fed children.

 This is only my oppinion and you have rights to do what you think is good for your child.

The health benefits of follow on milk are really debatable.There is a certain amount of iron in cow's milk.If you fed your one year old milk only then no they wouldn't get enough iron from cow's milk alone.Iron is also found in many other food sources naturally.If you feed your one year old a full balanced diet there is no need to continue feeding them formula past a year.Vitamins and minerals found naturally in a balance diet are of greater value than those given artificially in a formula.

Lactose is found in all milk products,except those that are lactose free.Formula is made with cows milk,and a whole lot of other stuff added.Lactose doesn't cause an allergy.Some babies are allergic to lactose,in which case they would be allergic to normal formula except lactose free(Wysoy and other similar).They may have excema,don't gain weight,genuine allergy.Some have an intolerance which becomes more obvious when you change them onto whole cow's milk,and they often grow out of,which is what my 2 year old has just about done.

It's also worth bearing in mind that a lot of the information you find in these magazines is sponsored by a certain make of formula,most are making 1+ milk now.That ad with the giant cup of milk is just one ad we're also bombarded with.What they don't mention is the higher amount of sugar these products contain,which is why the babies like them so much.There's a lot of money to be made in telling mothers their baby NEEDS something,cos we all want what's best for our baby.

As answer to the original question,I would make sure babies eating lots in the day.My ten month old has breakfast,dinner ,tea.9 oz bottle mid morning.9 oz bottle  bedtime 8:00.Wakes at 7ish in the morning.If they're getting enough food,they shouldn't need milk in the night,it becomes a habit.Offer water and a quick cuddle if she wakes,but back to bed without too much attention.Try and get your baby to settle themself.As you put them down give a particular teddy each time,so that that toy becomes a sleep cue.If they do stir in the night if they have that toy nearby they will learn to settle themself.All my children have had one or more sleeping toys.Also have a consistant routine through the day,and a good bedtime routine,all those things help.My children all sleep very well,they always have.Which means I do too.

Hope you have some luck with your baby

Erica

CM Cheshire West and Chester

if your little one is still wanting milk during the night its most likely hunger as well as comfort, it might be worth trying some weetabix or porridge before bed, i did this for my little one as she was doing the same and it helped a lot, good luck

Sometimes toddlers wake up at night for bottles not because they need a bottle, or really even need attention, but because they don't know how to go back to sleep without a bottle or mum! We all go through sleep cycles in the night and wake briefly between cycles, but most of the time we don't even notice because we then go straight into another sleep cycle. With a toddler who never learned how to go to sleep unassisted without mum or a bottle, they are going to actually get up at the end of a sleep cycle and need help going back to sleep. Sometimes by gradually weaning from the night time bottle, and helping your little one learn to go to sleep without help, she'll actually sleep better because she won't need you or the bottle after a sleep cycle ends! More on toddler night waking at http://www.toddler-tips-and-tricks.com/night-waking.html.

Of course, if she knows how to self-soothe and can usually go to sleep unassisted then she may actually still be hungry and you may want to help her get more calories during the day so she doesn't need them at night!