Sleep deprivation

[cdmj2111]

Please help. My 2 & a half year old boy for the past 2 weeks is waking every 2 hrs or less! He demands milk. I know i've done wrong, but at the begining i gave him milk. Actually even last night i gave him milk, i am just so tired. I have decided that the rest of the week i will sacrifice sleep if it get's him back to normal.

Now i am a walking zombie. Please can someone remind me how to get him back in to a normal sleep pattern. Thank you from a very tired mum of two.

[maggie01]

My daughter had the same problem not so long ago with her daughter. In the end she made sure there was nothing physically wrong with her and let her cry it out. It is hard to listen to it but in the end they get the message that you are not going to give in and go to sleep. Best of Luck.

[kick3m0n]

if the crying it out technique sound sstressful, it might help to put your vaccuum cleaner on while she cries. This has a two fold effect 1) wee ones are quite often comforted by the white noise it generates and 2) it's a lot easier for you to listen to than a crying child. Good luck.

[foxlove]

Hi there,

Haven't yet got to this with my one, who is seven months old, but has not yet gone through the night and usually feeds once or twice....but....I do think that the 'crying out' out method sounds harsh and am not sure I could do it, although as I say I haven't reached my wits end so who knows. The Baby Book by Sears and Sears seems to have some sound advice and I've also heard of a book called 'The No-Cry Sleep Solution' by Elizabeth Pantley which is an american book probably available on Amazon, those who've used it seem to rate it. Hope you find a way.....let me know!

[Marvin84]

Kick3m0n - that's a great bit o' advice!

[funnywebsite]

Giving a kid milk every 2 hours is asking for more trouble. Just say no and they will eventually get the message. Two year olds are testing how far they are able to test you and if you are soft they will push for more. You have to start setting the goal posts now or it will be too late.

[cricket doll]

my son who is 2 & a half went through the same stage at 2 and it lasted for around a month.

I always gave him a drink at bedtime, but he frequently woke up for a drink. the health visitor said because he was a very small baby (on or just below the lowest percentile but healthy), it was vital to maintain his nutritional intake and so keep giving him milk if he wanted it.

After many interupted sleeps and my son constantly wanting his bottle, I decided that I would slowly reduce the amount of milk in the bottle and dilute with water. My son took to this fine and eventually it was just plain water. I then moved onto the next step which was to lessen the amount of water in the bottle, again slowly each night until eventually he just had an empty bottle. again he took to this fine and sleeps more contented now.

His food & milk intake during the day has noticeably increased and he is not craving a through-the-night drink anymore unless he gets really hot, then I just offer water.

I appreciate this may not help everyone, but just thought I would let you know my experience. I did consult with my health visitor about what I was doing and she was happy about it as long as my son was settling and his daytime intake was compensating.