Me and my husband wanted to do this from a long time .. stop milk at night for my girl who completed 18-mons. Some time back I successfully took her off the bottle. But her night time waking up for milk was slowly becoming a hassle. She sometimes wakes up once and there are times when I felt she wakes up every other hour.
How it affected us?
1. Milk at night is en route to spoling her teeth. Plus its a bad habit.
2. Lack of sleep for me. Constantly getting up in the middle of the nite made it impossible for me, most of the times to fall back asleep. Hence it made me feel dowsy and tired almost every day.
3. She didn't have much sleep either ... as she has to wake up, cry and wake me up..everytime she wanted that milk. That way she started taking long naps during the day.
The Turning Point ..
Couple of weeks ago when I went for my Daughter's 18-mon vaccination visit, the doctor's advice to stop milk at night prompted me to act immediately. According to the doctor, if your son/daughter eats moderately through out the day ... then drinking milk at night is not due to hunger but because of a persistent habit.
Even if your toddler is not a good eater, stopping milk at night would still be a thing to consider. They would wake up on a empty stomach and are prompted to eat anything you give them without making it a Big deal about it.
How I started making changes?
We usually buy the Organic Whole Milk. She is used to drinking milk along with her break-fast, lunch and dinner. That remained the same - whole milk. The changes I started making are exclusively for the 2 AM and later feeds. As soon as the kids finish their dinner and my daughter has the milk , we brush their teeth.
For a few weeks till she is adhusted to the new routine, I have decided to give her a early morning feed - regular milk around 5 AM. So she doesn't get up too hungry and is cranky.
Week 1 : I started mixing half milk and half water for the 2 AM and later feeds .. I made half and half milk and water. The first day, she did'nt like it much .. but fell asleep soon. The next few nites were fine too.
Week 2 : Now I started making 70 % water and 30 % milk. Its very watery milk. I am telling you , this she did'nt like it at all. She used to cry. But when I patted her, she fell asleep. The same routine followed the next few nites.
Week 3 : Its all water for her now. Soon after dinner and her milk, we usually brush the teeth. She didn't really like the water in her mouth. She is , these days getting used to it. She is fussy and taking time to fall asleep. We are turning off the light after she sleeps and she keeps sipping the water off her S.cup and fussing, but eventually falling asleep.
She gets up usually around 2 AM and when she asks for milk, I am giving her the water. She was mad and cried for the first 2 -3 days. Thats when I took her to the next room and after crying and fussing, she fell asleep and got up at around 5:30 AM. Then she has her regular milk.
Apart from this, I have also started giving her less milk during the day. Like, a few days back I stopped giving milk after Lunch. She naps now without any sippy cup. So now she knows, she cannot have any milk once she is in her crib.
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