2.5 yr old waking up during the night asking for food

[BANNIGAN]

My 2.5 yr old boy normally sleeps throughout the night (7.30/8pm through to 6.30/7.00am) but most recently has started to wake up 2 or 3 times in the night saying he wants dinner or any other excuse for us to go see him. We usually give him cereal or he takes a bowl to bed with a cut up banana or apple, so I cannot see that he is hungry. He does push his dinner away sometimes after eating half of it. Please help, grey hairs appearing

[andy hughes]

Your son is feeling insecure, so he asks for food because this ensures that you will bring him something which will comfort him - as you suggest, it's unlikely he is actually hungry.

Make sure he is actually ready for bed - try some exercise or similar stimulation before dinner. After dinner, give him a nice warm bath, and a warm drink, or cereal before he goes to bed.

When he is in bed, read him a stroy, and make sure he is warm and comfortable. Does he have a night light? If not, try putting one in, or leave his bedroom door ajar with the landing light on. When you have said 'Goodnight', busy yourself with a few simple tasks in his room for a few minutes, so he can see and hear you are still there, but don't get into conversation with him - tell him it's time to go to sleep.

After five minutes or so, go to your room or the bathroom, and make sure you hum or sing so he can hear that it's you, and knows you are still there - a lot of children imagine that their parents go out of the house and leave them - bizarre, but true!

Once you have built in these security measures, you should find your son is sleeping through until morning - be patient, he is learning a sense of self, and with that comes a sense of insecurity, which you need to help him overvome. It's not serious, and these simple measures will set his mind at rest at bedtimes.

Good luck.

[phae]

I think we can safely say hes not hungry... but have you been getting him food just to get him to go back to sleep? if so, stop! It's will take 4 days of being tough to stop this night waking. When he wakes, put him back in his bed without saying a single word. Tuck him in and tell him softly its nite time, go to sleep. And walk away with no eye contact or further chit chat. Don't even enter into negotiation about food.

You may need to do this twenty times one night. But by the fourth night, I bet ya he stops waking altogether. Its just real important that you dont give in to the night waking, even if he gets quite upset. Remember, no eye contact, no talking. Be a bit robotic.

It's really hard doing this. especially when your son has cleverly picked on a mothers yearning to make sure her children are fed! Depriving them of food one thing us mothers cannot ever imagine! But console yourself that he is not hungry... just breaking into a bad habit. Justify to yourself, that getting up in the night will make you tired, and irratible in the day, so he will only suffer long term if you dont break the pattern. Be tough now, and it will stop almost immediately.

I can promise you that this method will work and your son is suffering no hunger pains!

Good luck x

[rampart]

Our little ones try everything to get out of their bedrooms. They want food, toys, a story, everything.

We have always promptly returned them immediately to their rooms with minimal conversation.

Over time, they quit that tactic and try to think of another!