Massive milk intake at night?

[GingerNut]

I thought I'd have stopped asking basic questions like this by now, but clearly not

DD has a bottle of milk going to bed - we generally put 10oz in it; she went through a phase of only taking 5 but as we were about to start just giving her 5 she started taking the whole 10 again.

For two nights now, she's woken twice and cried and cried till we gave her more bop - 10oz each time! So that's 2 nights of taking 30oz of milk overnight.

She didn't eat much on Saturday but by Sunday morning it was pretty clear that she was a bit constipated; once the blockage was cleared, she ate pretty much normally yesterday and drank plenty of water but still drank half a cow last night.

She's had a cold and a cough for a couple of weeks now but it's improving and she's not sick, really - she's in grand form, just snotty and coughing occasionally.

Is there a growth spurt at 15 months, or what? Other 15 month olds surely don't have this sort of intake at night, do they? And what are we doing wrong? I can't get her to eat more during the day, she's very definite about when she's finished. But she mustn't be getting enough.

Share your stories about mysteriously massive milk comsumption if you have any, preferably ones with happy endings where they suddenly start sleeping through : )

 

[Bexx]

Hi hun, I'm breastfeeding so I don't know what amounts are going in, but Zachary is 15 months too and is fluctuating wildly with how long he stays on the breast for his 6am feed. Over the last few weeks, he's had quite a few sessions of nearly 30 minutes when he usually goes less than 10. He started sleeping through about two months ago, prior to this he would be up 10+ times a night for lengthy nursing sessions when he had a growth spurt, I guess he has to compress all that into one feed now lol.

I do think there is a growth spurt around now and a pretty major one too. In the last few weeks, his physical and mental development have grown really fast.

 

[GingerNut]

That's true actually, she's gotten massively more confident and sturdy moving around lately, plus she's saying far more words in the last couple of days, and she's trying to imitate what we're saying, which she didn't do before. Maybe it's that!

 

[Bexx]

Definitely sounds like a growth spurt hun. Hang in there and it really will pass - she may even go longer stretches at night once this is over!

If she's feeling a little poorly from her cold then she may be finding the extra fluids very comforting too.

 

[lauren10]

My daughter has been drinking more milk at night. She had 12 ounces before bed for about a week...her usual is 6-8...and was also getting up at night for more. What I did was reduce the amount of milk she was getting in the day, to get her to eat more solids...which in turn filled her up more at night. Now she's back to sleeping through and taking 5-8 oz at night. I'm definitely thinking growth spurt!!

It's a vicious cycle because the more milk they drink at night, the less they'll want to eat in the day...and the more milk they'll want at night...etc.

Have you tried giving her water instead of a bottle at night? I find it sometimes works. I've also tried giving her a bedtime snack before or with her bottle...it seems to hold her over a little better.

 

[GingerNut]

I'm trying to get her to eat more during the day, she doesn't have milk at all during the day, just water (except when she's with my parents, they don't agree that she's too old to need bottles, but that's a whole other thread!).

There's no way water would do. You don't mess with this kid when she wants milk! We'd have hysterics all night if I tried that. The thing is, I know if she looks for it she really needs it - she never cries for it unless she's going to drink the whole bottle, and if she's that hungry I don't really want to leave her that way till breakfast.

 

[lisa9999]

Not so much at night, but in the mornings she drinks it like its going out of fashion! At least 10oz.

 

[lauren10]

I'm trying to get her to eat more during the day, she doesn't have milk at all during the day, just water (except when she's with my parents, they don't agree that she's too old to need bottles, but that's a whole other thread!).

There's no way water would do. You don't mess with this kid when she wants milk! We'd have hysterics all night if I tried that. The thing is, I know if she looks for it she really needs it - she never cries for it unless she's going to drink the whole bottle, and if she's that hungry I don't really want to leave her that way till breakfast.

Oh I agree with that, hence the water "sometimes" works for us. My daughter gets the same way...when she wants it she wants it!!

Then maybe the reverse will work...offering milk in the day...so at least your not getting up at night as much? just an idea...

Or maybe it's just something we just have to brave through until it (hopefully) passes!!