Category: Parent Talk
well, this is really about two things actuilly, water, and the amount of liquid intake he has at night
my son drinks most of his bottles at night, between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 A.m. he has about *gasps! 3 bottles a night. we started givving him water at night but that would mean he'd be drinking any where from 24 to 32 oz of water a night. I red somewhere that that's not safe for a baby of his age, but I just don't know. i need help! I don't understand why he's eating more at night, he's getting more then enough food during the day, so he's not hungry, i've heard of babys doing this when there brest fed but not so much when there bottle fed. and do to reasons i'm sure your all aware of, I could not brest feed him.
not to minchen, he's obviously not sleeping threw the night, got any tips or ideas on that also?
help! *momma pulls hair out!
oh my gosh!!!! i have seen this movie before and it can really suck. i never knew you could give a baby too much water. as long as he is eating his food and seems healthy i wouldn't worry. my daughter did the same thing around one year of age. i breast fed her brother but bottle fed her. that's in another post somewhere on this board. anyway, it is an attention thing. especially if you have the little baby and she cries, he can wake up and ask for water and get mom's attention too. give it to him but no fun no fuss. just go in, hand him the bottle and leave. no picking him up,rocking, singing, and cuddling. If he wants a bottle, he gets it but for big boys night is for sleeping. In fact i used to say that "daarlin' here's your bottle. big girls sleep at night." i would walk out and shut the door. after about a week of this, she decided that it really wasn't all that much fun and she slept through the night.
guidelines say that a baby should drink their age in ounces of water. so for instance, savannah is 9 months, so should have 9 ounces of water a day.
have you considered putting cereal in his 10pm bottle to possibly help keep him full throughout the nite?
you might consider speaking to noah's doctor about this.
i also just found this on baby center...
Once your baby is 6 months old, it's okay to give him sips of water when he's thirsty. You still don't want to overdo it, though, or you might give him a tummy ache or make him too full to eat well. After his first birthday, when your baby's eating solids and drinking whole milk, you can let him drink as much water as he likes
but again, i suggest talking to noah's doctor. where he was a premie, this might make a difference. also if he is still on formula, that would make a difference also.
he's not on formula any more, hasn't been since 10 and a half months, and rice or oatmeal are boath totally out of the question because he's I guess you'd say, elergic, when he was smaller he'd cry every night at the same time, and wouldn't stop for hours and hours on end. and i stopped givving him the cerial in his bottles and all the evening/night crying completely stopped. i tried starting him on cerial again a fiew weeks ago and after two days of the cerial the evening/night crying started again so we had to take him back off.
I am starting to think that it is an attenchen thing but I want to be sure, if there's something wrong, i want to know, I don't want to ignore a possible problem.
and we're told by our doctor to throw all the preemie stuff out the window at 12 months because they say that's when preemies are cot up, and he's cot up everywhere, he's on track for everything so i'm not worried about the preemie stuff any more.
it's just confusing because everyone will have a different answer, and sometimes it's hard to know the right thing to do
The thing about water is he won't over drink it. He'll feel a tight stomach,so stop when he's had enough. Try so food like potatoes or some fruit before bed and I agree with the poster that says it's probably mommy he's wanting. Smile. I say if you don't mind the changing, let the water flow.
I don't know if this will help, but babies, like grown ups, are individuals with individual needs, and they will not necessarily follow the pattern that we think they should or what is convenient for us. It is, indeed, frustrating because they are fully and one hundred percent dependent on us to supply those needs.
Most of us adults and even teens do wake through the night for some reason or another, such as for a bite to eat, a drink, or sometimes, because we are wrestless. Thankfully, we do not have to depend on someone else to supply those needs, so not much is talked about it. I'm sure we'd frustrate others if they are caring for our needs night and day. As a matter of fact, I know that most people would be mad at us for disturbing them, as that is how it is, and caregiving is a lot on some people.
An example of how we are all individuals with individual needs, including babies, is that I eat plenty during the day. I eat until full and fulfilled, but that does not stop me from waking through the night to eat more and have about four cups of fluid. even if I hydrate myself really well right before bed, I still, for some odd reason, become more thirstier during the night. I even wake to read a book, take a bath, or sometimes talk to friends I know are awake. If those needs are not met, I can't sleep. Sure I will not die if those needs are not met, but I'd be very uncomfortable and probably toss and turn for the remainder of the night due to discomfort. If I know I'd be like this, I could only imagine a helpless, defenseless infant, who is far from capable of meeting the minutest of physical or emotional needs.
I've never slept through the night since birth unless I have sleep meds or night caps, and I like to stay away from those as much as possible. I did annoy the heck out of my mom. I can't tell you how many times I've been spanked, lost priveledges, and have been subjected to multiple punishments to make me sleep through the night and stop constantly getting out of bed to bug and annoy her. When my mom realized that all of these things would not do any good, she was creative in finding ways for us both to compromise. She appologized for her treatment of me. I was young, very young, but I still remember everything. When I was three, I'd have drinks and snacks next to my bed where I could reach them, and everything was easy access so I could get it without bothering my mom. I did wake her for when I was sick or for accidents and bad dreams, but that was it.
She also allowed me to choose where I'd sleep. I chose some of the strangest sleeping places, such as taking sheets and pillows into the bathtub to sleep, but my mom did not care. So long as i slept and stayed in bed, she was happy.
What helps when my God children are over is that I know they, the babies, will wake at least three times a night. That is perfect for me, as the chances of me being already awake are great. But, if I'm asleep, I just take it in stride, wake up with the child, and do all that I can to supply his/her needs, and I do it joyfully. I personally feel that if I view things with a positive attitude and in the light that that helpless life is depending on me, I won't get frustrated or resentful. My mom always told me that ninety percent of everything depends on attitude, and that is so true.
I could choose to get mad at the baby, frustrated to high heaven, and get resentful that the baby is not sleeping through the night and is continuously being a bother to me and that I've seen it enough during the day, or I can think of things in a positive light, knowing that I'm helping someone who needs me, as I could one day need to depend on another, and I'd hope they'd not resent me or get frustrated with me because I bothered them during the night or wanted one of my needs met when it was not convenient for them. (I have MS, and this disease could possibly rob me of everything I have. I pray that it will not, though.)
I have such strong opinions about these things, as I've not only been a caregiver to special needs people, which will wake up many more times during the night than a baby, and I myself might find myself in the situation where I'm helpless and depending on others quite often. So, I will treat any human being as I want to be treated because the saying that "It could be you." has never been so real to me than now due to the fact I'm being faced with MS and all.
I truly hope that you are understanding where I'm coming from on this, and i hope you do not get offended at all by this. I'm merely expressing my personal feelings and views on the matter, not targeting any one person whatsoever. I hope that you find the help that you need and overcome this hurdle. I also hope that my take on things has helped, as well with coping and providing insight from a different perspective.
I never want to believe that it is an attention thing when they are that young, as I do not want to pretend a cry could mean something to my convenience. Babies are nonverbal, and at that young of an age, it is not attention. It is genuine needs.
The reason that babies could sleep through the night and stop crying for us after we've ignored their cries for a week or for however long it takes for the behavior to cease is not because they reason that night is for sleeping. They have given up because they realize nobody will come when they cry. The fact is that babies only understand cause and effect. They cannot reason in depth. It goes like this:
I cry because i'm hungry/wet/thirsty/scared. Mommy comes. It feels so good because i know that when I call out for her, she will protect me and take care of me. Boy, it feels good.
Mommy gets tired/annoyed at me and wants her sleep. So, it is easy for mommy to follow the myth that I'm only crying for attention, even though my diaper might be causing me to itch, even though i'm thirsty to high heaven, even though I might want some emotional comfort because it has not been so long ago that I was in the womb and close to her and am feeling unsure about the world around me, even though I've not developed enough object permanence to realize that mommy is just in the next room because I can't talk and tell her otherwise. i don't have the vocabulary to defend myself and tell her that I really need her and that I'm not starving feverishly for attention. She can pretend that my cries mean nothing important because i'm nonverbal, hence she can just shut my door, let me cry and cry and cry and cry until I eventually give up. Why isn't mommy coming. What's going on. I eventually realize that it is no good, so I give up. I just accept the sentence of sleep because i'm not given the choice.
So to think it is an attention thing is only a myth. Babies cannot be spoiled. In order for one to be able to manipulate or become spoiled, one must develop a sense of reason and possess the proper mental faculties in order to make such things work.
Check out the article titled Mistaken Approaches to Night Waking for more information. This article is written by a pediatrician concerning the topic of how to deal with baby's sleep. It is very insightful.
I pray to God that if I were to become helpless and nonverbal that people would not reason the only reason I'm vocalizing for my needs to be med is for the sake of starving for attention, only because it is not a time that is convenient for the ones caring for me. I do not want them to dismiss me because I can't hold them accountable for it. I pray to god that treatment is successful and that I live a long, normal, happy, prosperous life without ever needing to depend on others for everything or for anything.
I can't tell you how many sad case studies I've had to do for my med degree when babies were ignored, thinking it was an attention thing, only to later find out that they were crying a lot due to medical reasons, such as food alergies, and sometimes, it was something more severe. The mommies felt horrible for being so misguided and beat themselves up for believing the myth that the babies could be spoiled, which prevented them from helping their infants sooner. However, for the more severe cases, the dammage could not be fixed. This is why I'm trying with all my might to dispell this horrible myth. Babies cry for a reason, and though it takes a lot of work, we must do what we can to figure it out, not take the easy way out and blame it on being spoiled or attention seeking.
i am not advocating ignoring them when they cry. i am saying come back in pat them in the bed and keep them there. self soothing is part of growing up. i would not let a baby cry for hours and hours. good grief aspie, that would be wrong and not to mention heartless.
Sure I knew you weren't saying ignore the baby, and sure they need what they need at night, but it is the case that children sometimes do things, because they want us there. You have to decide and try to work out the best solution without pain, or punishment while they can't say specially if you know they are okay.