Toddlers Sleeping Habits

I wish I could help. My kids have fast metabolisms like me and always woke up hungry. My oldest didn't sleep all the way through the night until he was three. My youngest is two months shy of 3 and is finally starting to sleep through the night once in a while. Most of the time he wakes up at 5 wanting to eat. It does help to give them some protein before bed--a spoonful of sunbutter for us (we can't do tree nuts or peanuts), or some turkey and crackers, or yoghurt. Protein takes longer to digest and will hold them longer through the night. Making sure they get enough to eat throughout the day helps, too. That can be challenging with little ones who are always on the go and don't want to stop to eat!
Hope that helps!
J.

My daughter was the same way and very attached to her bottle. She woke up many times during the night at that age. I basically did what I had to to get her back to sleep. I let her have a milk water mix in the nighttime bottle until she was 2 and only water after that. I didn't want teeth problems. Usually I could just hand her the bottle and she would go back to sleep. I also put a water bottle next to her and that cut down onThe times she would cry for me to give her a baba. I had one of her stuffed animals hold onto it for her. She liked that. I could imagine with twins they wake eachother up too. My daughter officially gave up the bottle at 3 years and one week on her own. I anticipated a huge struggle with it but it wasn't.

Hello,
I know it can be very hard hearing your children scream and cry for milk in the middle of the night. My daughter is 3 years old now. And when she was 11 months old I took her bottle away completly and chaged it to a sippy cup. However my husband would let her take her sippy cup of watered down juice to bed and milk. I would go in and get it out of her bed once she was asleep to take it away once it was gone she would wake up crying. I was fustrated and didn't know what to do so i asked her pediatrician at her next checkup about it which was only a few months away at the time. He told me that allowing a child to have a bottle or sippycup w/milk or juice during the night could lead eventually lead to cavaties. Once I heard that I knew I had to do something so to make this kinda short. When she was 13 months old I just simply put her to bed without it. It was night easy she would cry for it (saying my sippy). I took about 2 nights and then she never asked for it again. Yes she did cry for about a 1/2 hour or less but then she would fall her self to sleep. I know it is hard to do that but is does work. I hope this helps somewhat!

I would feed them. They are hungry. Most parents know the difference between wanting too much attention and hunger. They are still babies and need food. I don't think they care what time it is for the rest of the world...they want food. Never understood why someone wouldn't feed their babies bc of time? Of course later when they are older and know how to eat enought before bed and teeth and all but they are young.
Also try and get some good fats and protein in them before bed..
Good luck :-)

There are three things you can not make a child do: eat, sleep, or pee and poop, when and where you want them to (sigh). I think that you maybe in the stage that the nap should go and/or you should increase their activity level a lot.

I know you are probably in shock as you read that statement.

I offer my own experience. My daughter was 18 months and started to stop sleeping except for 5 hours a day. She did this for three weeks. It was really miserable as you can imagine..... temper tantrums in the extreme and I was exhausted. Then for a week she slept for 18 hours a day. Then she did her no sleeping routine for three weeks again, and sleeping for 18 hours a day for a week.

At this point I went to the doctor. He recommended Sherry for me at 8 o'clock for me and "knock out drops" for her. She took them once. I used the Sherry for a week until I saw the doctor again.

He then recommended taking her out of her crib and no more naps....ever. I was in shock. No more naps. I was in shock and sad...there went my baby.

But she slept her regular 12 hours again. So as tiny as she was the no more naps worked.

I had to be careful in the car and just before dinner. Sometimes she fell asleep into her dinner plate at first, and as funny as it was I had to be careful to not allow it.

Okay this is really one of the problems people bring to this forum that upsets me. I know you are trying your best to be a good parent. However,I can't believe you let a child cry until they are sick. THIS IS THE LOONEST NEW FASHION IN CHILDREARING.
I first saw it resurge it's vile head in Europe 15 years ago and kindly explained to the parents that a small child needs to be cuddled and reassured. No tribal or natural culture in the entire world before Western Civilization was so hard on their children.
Now my friends who did that have a completely rebellious daughter. Exactly what they must have wanted.
The cry it out theory was instituted by physicans in the 1940's and from that we got HIPPIES and YUPPIES. I was a hippie politically and turned into a feminist. At least I channeled it into something creative for everyone in society all cannot.
Look around. See who has well adjusted older children. Ask if they did the cry it out thing or had other methods.
Now I know you are trying your best to raise healthy happy people so first off children get hungry at night. We don't anymore. But they have strange metabolisms.
I would cook for my child even if it was 4 AM. When they say they are hungry they eat. I had to do this for my firstborn as she had a metabolic problem. By age three it was gone.
Water is not food. Mothers who nurse at night until the child is two or more years of age don't worry about brushing teeth. If they are so hungry at night give a bottle of milk preferably goat milk since it is more like human mother's milk.
One of my grandsons had to have his teeth fixed as four year old. But these are the baby teeth and today his adult teeth have no fillings.
Good luck I. you'll sleep better once you give them the bottle of milk at bedtime.