How Can I Get My Son to Sleep Through the Night?

When he wakes up he wants to EAT??? It's more than time to put a stop to that. When he wakes up maybe offer him a drink of water, but that's it, then tell him to go back to sleep. He may be upset and cry for a few nights, but wait it out and pretty soon he'll be into his new routine.

You cold also try giving him a small snack before he brushes his teeth at night (a piece of cheese, a few crakers, nothing sugary) and tell him that he's not getting anything else to eat until breakfast. That way maybe it won't be such a shock to him when you deny him food throughout the night.

Go to ask dr sears Web Site, Dr Sears has never failed me! Read Night Time parenting, also by Dr. Sears, it saved my life!
Do know this will pass. As soon as you have it figured out something else will appear, as parenting seems to be a constant state of flux.
Are you nursing? If so, keep him close and nurse him. He may be going through a growth spurt and needs the nutrition, as it doesn't seem to be enough to get him through the night. Two may seem old in our culture to nurse, however, our bodies were designed to nurse longer than most American children are given.
The days (or nights, in this case) are long but the years are short.
Enjoy your little one in the mean time!
J.

are you nursing or bottle feeding?
if nursing, he might be waking simply to get some close time with you. even 2 year olds need snuggles and huggy time with mom and dad. have you tried cosleeping and just not offering to nurse him? you probably have...

www.askdrsears.com

please write to me if you have any more questions, or whatever... id be happy to help. my son self weaned at 19 months.. :D

Is he waking to take a bottle or sippy cup? If so, get a sippy or straw cup to replace the bottle and put water in it. Leave it in his bed and call it good. If he wakes, go and explain to him he has a drink in his bed, thats good, see him in the morning.

If he's waking to nurse, he might just be needing some mommy time/snuggles. If he sleeps with you, tyr moving him on the other side of your husband for a while. If he's in his own bed, then have your husband go in and tend to him. It'll take a couple days, but he'll be ok. He's waking out of habit. If you are nursing him before bed, then he is getting the fat and calories he needs for the night.

Employ your husband to help out for a few days. He'll cry and have a fit and it'll be hard, but he'll start slepeing through if you keep up with it. Good luck.

How do you know he's waking up to eat? Don't feed him anymore during the night ! Just give him a sip of water if necessary, then work on getting him back to sleep. Don't turn any lights on, and tell him it's not time to get up yet. Also, by 2 years old, a child should be eating regular foods that keep him satisfied enough to sleep through the night.

When my daughter weaned from the breast (almost 2 yrs.), she started sleeping all through the night. Perhaps that may be the solution for your son.

There is absolutely no reason for him to be getting up to eat at night. He still does it becasue you allow it. You need to take control of the situation. It won't be easy - at this point it is out of habit for him, a habit that he won't want to break.
Good luck!

OMG!!! Did you say almost 2 years??? I can't imagine that, I would have put the kabosh on that months ago!!!!

You just have to go either cold turkey or down to just once a night for just a week then, shut it down!!
He is just doing it out of habit now:)

Good luck girly!!

Try the water. We too have fed our children far too long, and that's what we're trying now... Also, if it goes much longer (our oldest woke nightly until he was 3 1/2, not because he wanted to eat but just because) and we finally ASKED him to sleep through the night, in his own bed. We rewarded him with small rewards (stickers, a small pack of crayons, etc) nightly for a while, then he had to go TWO nights, then four, then a week...and eventually it was a non-issue--and it didn't take many prizes. But--he was older; that might not work w/ a two year old, but if it goes on much longer that might work! Good luck; I know how hard it is to be in those patterns and just wish you could SLEEP!

He wakes up to eat because you feed him, and now his stomach is used to it. Wean off one feeding at a time (maybe one every other wk, and just comfort him if he wakes for that time still. It will be rough at first, but truly, if YOU ate a few times a night starting now, soon you'd be hungry then too. Your body adjusts to the intake. Good luck!

Just stop feeding him! He should have been done eating through the night some time ago! Now it is just a habit he ha formed. It will be hard at first since it has gone on so long, but I would start by telling him no more nursing or bottles at night(or milk or whatever it is he is having), and then offering him only a sippy cup of water when he wakes up and then putting him back down. He will cry for several nights for sure but just keep only giving the water and putting him back down, and work your way to nothing. he is old enough to learn to put himself to sleep at night if he is just given the tools and encouragment to do it by you.

I had to go cold turkey. Still nursing at 26 months, but cut off the night feedings at 1 year (he didn't need them). I was too tired, so more power to you for lasting this long. It was a couple of long nights with some complaints - thankfully nothing too major - and now he sleeps (most of the time) for 11-12 hours. With our son though there could be no exceptions to the rule - no water, no food, no mommy milk. Otherwise we were back at step one and waking in the night. Good luck!

Assuming you give him enough to eat to fill him up right before bed, he's doing it out of habit.
I've found that my toddler sleeps MUCH better if he has a right-before-bed snack of oatmeal and a sippy cup of milk. He loves it, it fills his tummy, and it's good for him.
At 18 months, your son is very capable of sleeping through the night without eating. It may take a few sleepless nights, but you have to break the habit. Give him a drink and leave it at that. I sometimes have to give my little guy a drink of milk, but that's it, as long as I know he has had enough to eat already.