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My 18 month old son wakes up, crying, two or three times a night.
When I go in, he tells me he is hungry and I dutifully will go
with him to the kitchen and feed him yogurt or a banana. A
couple of times I have even made him a scrambled egg (at 2:30 in
the morning! Who is this person?!) The only reason I do this is
because he doesn't eat very much at dinnertime any more, so I
feel guilty that he may indeed be hungry. I know that by feeding
him at night he will come to expect it...and has....but on the
other hand, what if he really IS hungry? How can I get him to
eat more at dinner? I did sleep train him when he was 9-10
months old and is this just another sleep training situation?
I'm exhausted and I need him to sleep through the night like he
used to. So, has anyone ever gone through this and what did you
do?
sleeping over a hot stove
This is a lesson I have recently learned, in a different context. My husband disappears into our only bathroom for 30 minutes each morning for his shower, etc. My son would always wait until my husband was in the shower to want to go to the potty, and we couldn't convince him to do it beforehand. We are in the middle of potty training, and of course I want him to go when he has to go, so I would either knock on the bathroom door and have him go in (which my husband hates) or have my son pee in a little bowl, and pour it into the toilet when the bathroom is free. I don't like using the little bowl. After a few times, my son would ONLY want to use the little bowl, not the real potty, so he would intentionally wait until the bathroom was in use. Finally I got sick of it, and when he had to use the potty and my husband was in the shower, I said, ''You just have to wait.'' He cried and got mad, and wet his pullup. But the next day he went right in to use the potty before my husband's shower, and he has ever since.
So the lesson is, he didn't learn that he couldn't use the potty when the bathroom was in use, until I really showed him. I think the same thing will happen when you stop giving your son food at night. You should say at dinnertime that there won't be any more midnight snacks, and then stick to it. In the morning give him a big breakfast, and then repeat at dinnertime that he won't get food in the middle of the night. I don't think it will take him too long. anon
If this ''cold turkey'' approach is too much for you, you could choose one food that he tolerates, but doesn't really like, and offer only that, ever. No negotiating. For my son, to get him to stop expecting a full meal at bedtime (in his case, a stall technique to try to stay up longer), we chose cooked carrots. He just didn't like the carrots enough to make it worth the effort, and gave up the endless ''but I'm hungry'' thing at bedtime in about 3 days. Karen
P.S. Don't know if this will work for you, but some foods my toddler really likes are: steamed-until-it-melts-in-your-mouth broccoli/cauliflower/zucchini, tofu, roasted sunflower seeds, plain buttered pasta... All of which surprised me. The veggies seem to stimulate her appetite for other foods, she fills up on medium firm tofu in a chicken/garlic/ginger broth, and the sunflower seeds add extra nutritious calories (although a bit salty) to any snack or meal - I've used the seeds to fill her up when she refuses everything else.
P.P.S. If you haven't already, try more finger foods or making eating interesting using chopsticks - my toddler LOVES chopsticks, and we found a chopstick ''connector'' to hold the smaller disposable chopsticks - she uses them like crab pinchers. Oh, and we also let her add a little salt or pepper to her food so that she feels more grown up - she eats with a lot more interest if she's had a hand in ''cooking'' her food! anonymous
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