[Resi]

Little update on the night time weaning.. Now when Oliver wakes up (anytime between 3-5AM) he asks to eat. He woke up at 3:30 this morning and the first thing he asked for was a banana. I got him one and he ate half of it and then asked for a yogart and he ate 1/2 of that. He used the bathroom, brushed his teeth, and then it took until 6:15AM for him to fall back asleep! He was in bed the whole time talking and goofing around. When I fed him I brought the food to his bed so he would not have to get out. The night before he woke up at 6AM and the night before that it was around 4AM and he had a yogart. Now I know he is still waking up because he is hungry. I also think he wakes up to use the bathroom. He is a picky eater and a small eater so he never eats a lot of food during the day. Last night before bed he ate 3/4 of a banana and that still must have not been enough to hold him until the morning! I was trying to get him to eat all night before bed time but he would not eat anything I tried until the banana right before bed. So now I don't know what to do. I can't let him be hungry in the early morning but I don't want to have to feed him and then stay up with him for 2 hours before he falls back to sleep. I don't think I should nurse him that early either because I'm trying to get him to make it to at least 6AM. What do you think I should do? Any ideas? I wish he would just eat well during his meal times!

[**Jenn**]

I actually went through the same thing with Liam. Lochy is generally a good eater, every once in a great while he'll wake up in the middle of the night hungry but hardly ever.

Liam is much like Oliver--very picky and eats very small amounts. It feels like a constant battle to get him to eat anything, or more than a few bites of the few things he will eat. What I ended up doing with him is sending him to bed with a sippy cup of water and a small bowl of animal crackers (or something like that). That way if he woke up hungry something was right there next to his bed (on the little end table) for him. It seemed to work for us and he did eventually outgrow it. He's still not the best eater, but he's better than he was even a year ago--he'll actually eat cheese now!

[bittersweet]

Wow, this is tricky. Especially since he is picky eater. Easier said than done, but if it were me, I would not offer any food from the time he goes to bed until he wakes up for the day in the AM...regardless of what he has or hasn't eaten during the day. I think continuing to offer food at night is only going to contribute to worse sleeping/eating habits. There are plenty of hrs in the day that he can eat. He won't starve himself. After a few nights of not getting food, I think he will eat more in the day eventually.

From the books I've read on children and sleeping, they say sleep is controlled by the brain, not the stomach. So he is waking at night and wanting to eat b/c he is used to waking and eating at night...he's always done it this way. And now that you aren't offering milk anymore, he is switching to food. But I think this is equally bad for his teeth among other things.

I have an 8 yr old cousin that has the same habits STILL b/c her parents let her wake and eat in the night when she was young. She is a HORRIBLE sleeper b/c of this.

I suggest getting up with him, taking him to the potty and if he asks for food, tell him night time is for sleeping not eating. He can have breakfast in the morning.

But i totally understand your struggle. Of course you want all his needs to be met and it is hard to pick what to do and what not to do.

[soImarriedAnerd]

plus I would add a high protein bedtime snack before you go to sleep...something that will keep that full feeling longer. This was our trick with london... he gets a snack before bed and we realized when it was high protein he slept WAY better.

[Mars]

^^ It's hard but I have to agree.

As you have weaned him off night weaning, perhaps you can slowly wean him off the night eating too. Maybe offer a little less everytime.

I have no idea. It's easier to say when you're not the person going through it. I can only imagine how hard it must be.

[Resi]

I feel like I should say no to him about food too. I don't want to go from one thing to a habit that is worse IMO. I just feel bad because it's like I'm starving him althouth I'm not.

Angela - what kind of snacks to you give London before bed? The first thing I though of was eggs or cottage cheese because he usually likes those but he has been turning them down for the past few weeks. I think he is sick of them. I wish he would eat more cheese because it's got the protein and it's suppose to be good for teeth if it's grass fed.

I wish I didn't have a picky eater that eats tiny bits at a time!

Tonight I'm going to offer him a before bed snack and if (when!) he wakes up I won't be going to the kitchen. It will be a bathroom visit, drink of water (he will drink a ton of water in the middle of the night too!) and back to bed. I hope this gets better fast because I'm tired today! Last night I was getting so mad at him again.

[**Jenn**]

I felt that way too Resi, like I was starving Liam by telling him no when he was hungry. I didn't want food to be this constant thing with us. I thought that maybe he just can't physically eat a lot at one sitting so he needs to eat more frequently. Doesn't help that he has ALWAYS been very small for his age. That's why I let him eat in the middle of the night. I was so concerned with it during the day but then to refuse at night when he would ask I couldn't bring myself to do.

What I ended up doing was stop "meal times." We didn't do the 3 meal a day thing. He basically grazed. When he was hungry I gave him something to eat. I also bulked up the stuff I knew he liked--put protein powder in his pancakes or sprinkled it in his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, spread some kind of purreed veggie in his grilled cheese, that kind of thing. He also really likes those children's protein drinks--we call them milkshakes. This is what we get: Kid Essentials Advanced Nutrition For Kids

It's a very fine line because I don't want him to eat if he's not hungry, and I don't want him stuffing himself if he's full just in case he might be hungry later when I won't give him food. Speaking as someone who has food issues and struggled with an eating disorder for years, I don't want food to become an issue with my kids. I know how powerful it can be and I don't want to go there.

[ShannonMVT]

Ditto the others who said no food at night. It is probably a habit for his body to tell him he is hungry at that time, since he has always nursing then. And it will take some time for him to realize that he needs to sleep at that time. I agree with a bedtime snack, I wish I had more ideas for higher protein, but we struggle with protein as well. Maybe hummus and crackers? I guess that is more fat that protein. Or avocado?
I have done oatmeal before bedtime as well, or even bread. I know it doesn't last as long, but I try to stay away from sugar/fruit before bedtime and the things he eats best are fruit/breads.

[~*sierra*~]

*hugs* i hope tonight goes better sweetie!

[soImarriedAnerd]

hummus and veggies, beans, egg, crackers with cheese, fruit with yogurt and oatmeal are our big night time snacks... and shakes (think fresh fruit jamba juice type shakes...these are very very common overseas---you just buy the frozen packets of fruit mush! If I had a home I would use a blender!
During the day we have breakfast and dinner but between then I have a monkey tray (I don't know where the term came from ) but I just have a special tray for london and I keep it full of things for him to snack on and a VERY small cup of something to dip them in (hummus/yogurt mainly). London just grazes most the day but he usually finished a full plate between breakfast and dinner.

[Resi]

Wish me luck tonight! He had 1/2 a banana and then an egg shortly before bed time. If he wakes up I'm telling him he has to wait until the morning to nurse and eat. I let him know before bed time that we are not going to eat until th emorning because night time is for sleeping only.

[Frozendesire]

I think you've gotten some really awesome advice. A bed time snack packed with things to keep him full longer will help I'm sure!

I have one suggestion that seems to work for my boys (regarding different things), watching the sun. I would say something like "The sun's sleeping, and so we must have a bed time snack and go to sleep. When the sun comes up we can eat again!" or something like that.

[soImarriedAnerd]

I like the sun idea only issue is our sun changes when we travel and its down before dinner sometimes! LOL

[ShannonMVT]

They make little sleep training clocks that you can set the time on and one side shows a happy little animal in the sun and the other shows the animal sleeping in the dark. You set the time that it switches over and it's meant for teaching your kids to stay in bed until you want them to get up. I know it doesn't really apply to you, but I thought it was a neat idea.

[**jessie**]

You are doing great Resi. I know a friend of mine who has a daughter Oliver's age and she has been feeding her a banana at 5 am for months now... it's a real hard habit to break.

[Mars]

How did it go last night?

[Resi]

Shannon, I'll look into that clock because maybe it will work for our situation.

Steph, I do tell him in so many words that he can nurse and eat in the morning when the sun comes out. But it's always still dark when we wake up anyways right now because of winter. He knows what I'm talking about and repeats back that he can have "nay nays" and eat breakfast in the morning.

Last night went well! He fell asleep at 10PM (another late nap so bedtime got pushed up). He woke up sometime around 4AM and asked to nurse, I said in the morning, he said something like "get a banana and cheetos" I said we eat in the morning. He layed back down and went to sleep until 6:40AM and at that time he nursed and we got up for the day when he was done. I was surprised he didn't ask to go pee or start crying. He must have been to sleepy to fight me.

[Mars]

I hope it continues.

[alicenwonderland]

nice!

[soImarriedAnerd]

woot!