It's really hard to break the habit, when dd1 was like that with a newborn on the way I resorted to thermal Sippy cups with milk that she could find in her cot and have while we sorted out her daytime foods. But she was happy with cold milk. Make sure he is getting iron as it stimulates their appetite and find foods he likes and let him graze all day and encourage more at night/dinner time doesn't really matter what food it is for now you can slowly swap it over. As a last resort add in more milk during the day so he feels full instead of wanting it at night. We finally swapped the milk at night to water when dd was 3.5.
Subbing as I have this problem with both of mine, and like ForShelby need help in breaking the cycle.
For us it is the bottle+milk combo. Both of mine will flat out refuse any sippy cup, or a water substitute at night.
DS will take a sippy cup.... but it's the milk I want to avoid. He has his cold too, that's no problem. The part I'm most bothered by is that on a bad night, he can be up 4-5 times demanding milk. And by demanding, I mean as soon as I open his door he's standing there thrusting his bottle at me and chasing me to the fridge. We measured exactly how much he was having overnight on one of these bad nights... and it was close to a litre!! He shouldn't even be having that over the course of a whole day let alone overnight. It's ridiculous and beyond just a few bottles.
If I give him a bottle for him to find in his bed during the night, he'll polish it off quickly and want more. He's like a bottomless pit! The last couple of weeks I've given up caring if he's having a 'dinnertime food' at dinner, and just making sure he's eating more. I give him regular snacks during the day.
Here's an example of a good day, which was today.
7am (yes he woke at a normal time instead of 4.30am... that's a whole other thread!) - up for breakfast with Daddy. breakfast toast + dry rice bubbles (fetish for crunchy foods...)
9am jump on mummy to abruptly end her sleep-in
10.30 snacktime while we do the groceries. snack: cheese rice crackers and water
11.30 home from shopping, light lunch before a nap. light lunch: apple filled fruit bar, mini toast and more water
12 noon - naptime. - gave a bottle of milk to snuggle up with.
1.20 awake from nap, cuddle and watch cartoons for a bit.
2.00 snacktime again snack: more mini toast and water. offered banana but was refused. offered apple but was refused.
2.30 playing with toys
3.00 more snacks snack: yoghurt and a bite of the cake I was trying to sneak..... lol
3.15 more playtime
4.30 bubble bath
4.45 quiet play, puzzles, books, blocks and cartoons.
5.30 dinner time dinner: big bowl of cheerios cereal... again dry for crunchy enjoyment.
6.00 put on his foot brace and snuggle on the lounge
6.15 bedtime. brush teeth, tuck into bed with a bottle of milk.
So today he's only really had 2 bottles of milk since waking this morning. I've made a point of only giving a bottle at sleep time, and only AFTER a meal. I hope I've got it right and this is the solution. But I'm worried it won't work. Fingers crossed my mistake is not giving him enough snacks and just resorting to milk as I know he likes it.
Tonight will be the true test. I also wonder if his milk habit is affecting his sleep and causing him to wake so early as I posted about in another thread. (for the last 3 months or more he's been tormenting me by waking between 4 and 5.30am without fail and NOT going back to sleep even in my bed.)
Wish me luck! But please, anyone who has solved this problem and broken the habit give me more ideas. OR tell me I'm spot on and this will be the magical cure. I prefer the latter......
Might I also add.... I wish he'd eat something that isn't crunchy or a biscuit/cereal type thing. But for now, I just want him to be full. As long as it's not deep fried, coated in sugar or dipped in syrup we're good.
Okay i have just been through myself (thanks for the heads up HOTI), what i did was cut the amount of milk down in the bottle to start with, she didn't even notice that she was getting all water and a dribble of milk for colour. I know she was still getting the bottle but it sort of gave me the confidence to know that i was 'winning'...lol
Then (and this is the hard part) i only gave her a bottle first up in the morning and then before sleep/s. She threw HUGE tantrums about it and it was horrible to watch but i just kept her distracted (which i know is harder with a new baby) and offered food or kept giving her a bottle of plain water to drink. I worked out that it was really only a habit and a comfort thing as she was not really that thirsty once she only got given water to drink.
The thing about giving her the water in a different bottle (and we tried about 5 until we got one she liked) is that she started to think of that one as her daytime bottle and the milk one was only for set times.
She was and still is sometimes a terrible sleeper but i was finding because she was only drinking milk she was either a) waking up frequently because she was hungry or b) waking up because she had a wet nappy.
I don't know if any of this info helps at all but i know i was at the end of my teather with the constant demands for milk, no sleep, constipation from drinking so much milk that i knew i had to try and do the tough love approach. That worked for me and yes i had to leave the room occassionally to cry because i felt so bad when she was upset and it would have been easier to just give her the milk but i knew that her behaviour was starting to effect the whole family unit. Good luck, stay strong...my little one eats like a horse now
Might I also add.... I wish he'd eat something that isn't crunchy or a biscuit/cereal type thing. But for now, I just want him to be full. As long as it's not deep fried, coated in sugar or dipped in syrup we're good.[/QUOTE]
My daughter only ate toast with vegemite and noodles/pasta and anyone that told me to get her to eat something else i would say "Feel free to try"....then when they failed i would say "See not so easy is it"...made me feel better anyway I TOTALLY get the just give them anything to eat as long as they eat something!!!
Milk junkie
Reply With Quote
We measured exactly how much he was having overnight on one of these bad nights... and it was close to a litre!! He shouldn't even be having that over the course of a whole day let alone overnight. It's ridiculous and beyond just a few bottles. 
that's a whole other thread!) - up for breakfast with Daddy.
Bookmarks