What would you do?

[sgmom]

I wouldn't be asking this question, but because we EC, I'm curious what the best way to go about doing it would be.

Our girl (16 months) is a very healthy 25lbs, but doesn't eat much during meals, and drinks only water out of a cup during the day. So at night, we give her a bottle of milk to fill her up before bed, and give her a little added nutrition (we add vitamin drops to the milk as well).

The routine is bath, then a snack (like a banana) and a bottle of milk while she lays down on the floor (with a pillow and blanket) to watch her favorite show, then potty (she almost never pees this quickly after her milk), then bed.

This naturally leads to a FULL diaper in the morning.

I want to adjust the schedule so she's not getting so much liquid right before bed, but I'm not sure how to do this, and still stay consistent with her routine.

How do you deal with keeping them dry at night, without actually doing nighttime EC? If we were to switch her milk to before the bath, I know this would help with the heavy diaper problem. But is changing her routine a good idea?

Another problem is that she REFUSES to sit on the potty (and won't even let me change her diaper) until she's fully awake, and by this time she's already let go of her morning pee.

Any suggestions on how to give her less fluids at night but not screw up her routine?

I'm open to suggestions on ways to establish a better routine than what we have (which I don't think is really all that great to begin with).

She sleeps kind of funny (wakes up and changes positions a lot), and it occurred to me that she might just be wet and trying to find a more comfortable position. Or that her full bladder is waking her up...

Ideas? Suggestions?

[zoebird]

whenever hawk wakes up in the night, we potty him (currently). in the past, not so much because he would start screaming rather than settle and we were all "jangled" from that.

more recently though (and he's 16.5 mo), he wakes and asks to go potty (sits up and points toward the bathroom door), or he just fusses a bit and moves around, so we just pick him up and he--barely awake--goes potty.

that has kept him dry all night for the last few weeks, even though he normally is anyway.

as for the liquids, i don't know. i don't knwo what would work better, other than giving her food before bed, and i dont' knwo if that would be better. can't say.

[sgmom]

I thought about pottying her at night, but there is NO WAY she would go for that. If she does fully wake up, she'll sit up until she sees us coming to check on her, then she'll lay back down. Getting her up (and undressed) is just asking for a fight.

I wonder if I should start sleeping her without pants (she sleeps in jammies - pants and a top), or maybe in a cloth diaper with a snappi? She would probably let me change her out of a wet cloth, but there's no way I can potty her...

She stayed dry through the night for about 2-3 months somewhere around the 7-9 month mark (or was it earlier?). I'm not looking to do nighttime EC, but I also don't want her sleeping in pullups when she's 3, if you know what I mean.

I just can't help but wonder if she's waking so frequently because she has to pee, and if I keep her dry at night, maybe she'll sleep better. And hopefully in the process, learn to stay dry through the night.

That would be nice.

[Shanny2032]

Could you start reducing the amount of liquid in the night bottle by an ounce every few days until it is gone while at the same time trying to make up for those calories during the day? I don't think there is anyway she'll be dry at night if she drinks a full bottle just before bed.
As far as her restless sleep 2 things you mentioned might be the problem as well as her full bladder/diaper: tv right before bed and or banana type snacks that close to bed. Even though it is natural sugar it is still loaded with sugar. Just some thoughts, she really could just be a restless sleeper.

Maybe you could switch the bottle to an after nap cuddle time with you and watch her show then? While slowly phasing out the night time bottle you could also try this with the TV and change that to a reading time.

[sgmom]

Bananas have been known as "a sleeping pill in a wrap", so I'm sure that's not what's keeping her up. I know other foods like almonds, yogurt, and honey are supposed to be very good at promoting sleep, as well as warm milk (I would try the warm milk, but it's still liquid right before bed).

Books are a HIGH stimulant for her (reading before sleep is a promise for a fight come time to sleep), and laying in front of the tv seems to get her nice and drowsy (heavy eyes, thumb sucking, etc). We do have a few "wind down" minutes between her 20 minutes of tv and bed though (we don't take her straight to bed after her show).

I would be an interesting test to do her bottle and show before her bath, then follow up with quiet time right before bed (30 minutes of quiet play in her bedroom, maybe).

It's definitely something I didn't consider... She could just be a restless sleeper, but I have noticed that the heavier her diaper, the worse she sleeps. Last night we did bottle, bath, banana, then bed, and she slept through the night. She's still sleeping, so I don't know how wet she is. She's sleeping sideways right now so I know she moved around a lot, but she didn't wake us up (which was nice).

I'll try a few of these suggestions though. I like the milk idea earlier in the day (although I'm not sure how that's going to affect her bedtime routine, but I guess we'll see). Thanks!