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Help me help my child sleep, please

hbr.whitehbr.white member
in Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months
For the past month, our DD (21-22 mo) has started waking for long periods at night and asking for milk, and sometimes when given milk she is still restless and nearly impossible to calm. We rock her, put her in bed with us, nothing works. Sometimes she even requires milk in a sippy to go to sleep. I've tried substituting water for the milk, and this just adds to her irritation. Previously, she was sleeping well (for the most part) through the night. I know she has the ability to fall asleep on her own and can even settle herself at night, because she has done it numerous times in the past. Initially, I was attributing the night waking to a developmental spurt; however, this has gone on for a month now. 

I might add that she LOVES milk! She's actually not that great of an eater (volume-wise, I mean...quality-wise she eats pretty well), actually, and I think she's substituting milk for food. Consequently, I think she really does need the milk at night because she's actually hungry. I have thought about going ahead and transitioning her to 2% milk to see if that will trigger more of an appetite, or I've considered giving her skim milk at night when she asks for milk to help break this cycle. Also, we put her to bed between 8pm and 9pm. Most times she doesn't act tired, but we try to keep a consistent bedtime. Should be let her stay up later? Do you do a snack before bed? If so, please advise.

On the upside, even after a horrible night's sleep, she 99% of the time wakes up in a good mood. 

Mommy and Daddy are exhausted. Please help. Any advice is appreciated!
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Re: Help me help my child sleep, please

  • jnnfrrose6jnnfrrose6 member
    Sounds like she's testing you.  Don't really have any good advice, just to say GL.  We just had a check up and the pedi said we should expect LO to start testing soon with his sleep routine...
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  • Jmcmahon21Jmcmahon21 member
    I would just stick with a routine and not back down. We don't do a snack before bed just milk. We did the sleep lady shuffle probably a year ago and he's been a great sleeper ever since. Maybe try it and see if you like it, here's the link below. I liked it better than CIO, I just couldn't handle listening to him screaming and this seemed like a better, soothing method. Good luck, hope it gets better soon. When you're not getting sleep it's hard!
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  • limetangolimetango member
    My DD is 21 months and for the past week or so has been waking again during the night.  She usually only needs me to go in and rub her back and fix her blankie, and then she's fine.  I know right around 2 they get their second set of molars so maybe she is starting teething and the pain is keeping her up?  There is a homeopathic supplement called "Kids Calms Forte" which makes my DD sleep the entire night when she takes it.  I take the adult version and World War III couldn't wake me when I take that stuff.
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  • MNmama7112MNmama7112 member
    We just went through this, too. Part of it may just be that it's a phase (isn't everything? ;), but we had to do a little bit of our old sleep training again to break the cycle. We started giving my son a sippy full of milk probably 10-15 minutes before bed. We tried to make sure he'd drink a good amount so we knew he could make it through the night. Then, we went back to the basics of the sleep training we'd done initially at around 6 months. It only took one night of that before he was back to sleeping through the night. I'd say try to make sure she's nice and full before bed and then use whatever sleep training has worked for you in the past. Consistency is key, IMO. To me, it helped to prepare myself during the day for what we were going to do instead of trying anything and everything when he'd wake up. Have a plan (whatever is right for you and your LO) and stick to it. Things will get back to normal in time :) GL!

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  • PregsterDDPregsterDD member
    No advice, unfortunately. But we are going through the same thing at 18 months. I feel like a brand new mom again with the lack of sleep. We are just continuing with our routine and praying that it is a phase. It's been 3 weeks now. 
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