Can switching to cows milk cause sleep problems?

[kellie_w]

My first post in toddler club hi all! I have successfully switched Luke over to cows milk in the past week and he seems to really enjoy it but now he has started waking through the night and waking for the day at 5.45am. He had been a great sleeper since 7 months and had started to sleep in until 7 as the mornings are darker. My mum has suggested that maybe it's the move to cows milk that has caused this, maybe it's not as filling as formula. Is there any truth in this? He has also dropped naps, and is between 6am and 8pm only sleeping for a max of a hour at lunchtime. Is this enough sleep for a year old? X

 

[aprilflower]

Formula and cows milk is around the same, do you give him something to eat before bed? I read somewhere that if you give your child some fruit or yoghurt before bed it fills there tummy more and they are more settled

 

[xxEMZxx]

I worried about this before I changed over with Liam but it didn't make a difference to him at all. I'm not sure if it is the milk or not, hopefully someone else will be able to help you x

 

[RachA]

It may depend on the formula you gave him. I only ever gave mine stage 2 but i know you can get formula that is stage 3 and also for hungry babies - if you gave these then its possible that the cows milk isn't as filling.
I know this might be an odd question but what milk are you buying? My lo hates cravendale and having read the bottle they filter lots of stuff out and therefore could actually filtering out filling stuff lol

 

[AlwaysPraying]

My guy did the exact same thing as yours!! I didn't know if it was from the switch or just a growth spurt? He'd wake up maybe once a week before this, but since the change, he's woken up 4-5 times a night. I can only think that it's becasue of the cows milk not being as filling. I have been giving him a bed time snack too most nights, a granola bar or something. Let me know how it keeps on

 

[kellie_w]

Thanks for your replies!

Aprilflower: i dont tend to give any supper, he has always had dinner at 6, bath then 8oz milk before bed at 8. i think i may try giving him a snack before his milk to see if that helps

RachA: Luke always had stage 1 until he was 11 1/2 months when we switched to toddler milk. He could never tolerate stage 2 milk and always cried directly after feeding. I buy normal full fat milk from supermarkets, i never considered cravendale etc but that makes sense about the filtering!!

Always prayin: Did giving your lo a snack make much difference? I never considered a growth spurt, it seems like there is one every month! I am reverting to formula again tonight to see if it makes any difference, dh has just given him a snack although i dont think a bread roll with jam was the right choice.... it went straight on the floor though! have you gone back to formula? x

 

[New Mrs W]

How strange, I am having the exact same problem at the moment, although I had never considered that it might be anything to do with him having cows' milk now. I am hoping it is a growth spurt and/or the fact that he has two molars coming through right now AND I noticed a a brand new bottom peggy peeking out today that wasn't there yesterday! I hope we both get our good sleepers back before too long!

Out of interest, how are you dealing with the wakenings? I am back at work now and so I have been so tired that I'm bringing him up to bed with us which helps him to go back to sleep but also means that we have hardly any room to sleep ourselves as he takes up so much room!

 

[kellie_w]

How strange, I am having the exact same problem at the moment, although I had never considered that it might be anything to do with him having cows' milk now. I am hoping it is a growth spurt and/or the fact that he has two molars coming through right now AND I noticed a a brand new bottom peggy peeking out today that wasn't there yesterday! I hope we both get our good sleepers back before too long!

Out of interest, how are you dealing with the wakenings? I am back at work now and so I have been so tired that I'm bringing him up to bed with us which helps him to go back to sleep but also means that we have hardly any room to sleep ourselves as he takes up so much room!

This makes me think more now that its a growth spurt as our lo's are days apart. Luke also has just had a new bottom tooth come through, but with the back ones i have no idea as he wont let us see that far in his mouth! we have kept him up later tonight, he just gone to sleep, as he slept in the car in traffic back from the beach from 4 til 5.30. No way was he going to sleep at 8 tonight! Just given him 4oz formula and 4oz cows milk and really hoping that he will sleep tonight as i now have a 2 tier christening cake to start decorating so will be having a very late night! Ill post in the morning to say if the formula helped.

That must be really hard working and dealing with this. The only way luke will settle again is if i lay on the floor next to his cot and hold and stroke his hand through the bars. It can take anything from 10 mins to over a hour for him to sleep again, but it does work. I try not to lift him through the night unless he is really upset or poorly and if he stands, i just lay him down whilst saying shhh and hold his hands.

 

[AlwaysPraying]

I've just given him milk in a bottle when he wakes and it's always done the trick. I don't want to do that though, he's getting so much milk in the night, it's crazy!

I just had his 1 year shots today and we talked about the night wakings and the nurse sugessted that we give him milk mixed with water if we have to. She said we should work harder to get him to sleep through without milk at all, if possible. Personally, because I know he can and he does sleep through a lot, it's not that he's incapable, it's that something has changed. Maybe it's not the milk specifically, but the change that's affecting him? He just knows its sitting in his tummy differently, does that make any sense?

No, we haven't gone back to formula at all, I just can't do that! I'm going to let him have this week coming up to do what he needs, because of his shots, but after that I'm going to do something, not sure what, to help him sleep more. I think the snack does work though. My issue is that we eat dinner so late, sometimes 6:30, and he's not done eating until 7, and goes to bed at 8, still taking 10oz of milk. I can't get him to eat a snack because he's still full from dinner! Tonight we are eating dinner at 5:30 and will give him a snack for sure. Will let you know how it goes!

 

[New Mrs W]

Well i am wide awake for some reason but *touches wood* so far so good tonight. He had a little grumble at about midnight but is sleeping soundly now. So why aren't I asleep too?! Grrrr! Good luck with the cake kellie xx

 

[kellie_w]

Hehe I hate when that happens! If I wake I can't get back to sleep as I expect to hear him wake too. Well, we went 9.30-6.30 straight through and he has woke in a excellent mood. I didn't get to bed til gone 1 so I wish I could say the same but not having to get up through the night was fantastic! How did you go after your last post? Going to try the same again tonight, as maybe it was just a coincidence! X

 

[New Mrs W]

Last night we didn't hear from him until 6:30 am which is perfectly acceptable! Just been down to him now as he was grumbling but managed to get him back off quite easily. Hope he wants a lie in tomorrow, hee hee! Glad you had a good night xx