1.5 YO sleeps through the night but wakes up crying for food...

[tedythegr8]

Hello,
My 1 and 4 month toddler is sleeping through the night, sometimes wakes up for a pacifier, but almost every day he wakes up and cries until he gets his formula bottle.

If this information helps, he goes to bed in the evening after drinking a bottle of formula, brushing teeth, and a short song.

Has anyone been through this?
How can I stop him from crying when he wakes up ?

 

[artmom]

1 and 4 month toddler? I don't understand. Is he a one and a half year old? Or are you saying he's a 4 month old baby?
Anyways, if he's waking up crying until he gets nourishment it's obviously because he's very hungry. You can't make him stop from crying when he's needing a basic necessity of life.
But don't worry. It won't last forever. Soon he'll be big enough to get out of bed and pounce on you to get up and make his breakfast.

 

[tedythegr8]

Thanks for your reply!

He is almost one and a half (not 4 months).

I most definitely don't prevent food from him, it's just a month ago he would wake up bubbling cute baby gibberish, calling Mom or Dad (not crying) and we would come to him and in the meanwhile prepare his bottle with formula.

Nowadays it feels like he want's to eat immediately as he wakes up, which feels as if he correlates waking up with eating - and this is what I was wondering if I should work to solve.

Any advice except for waiting for it to pass ?

 

[artmom]

Never wanted to imply you didn't feed him. Sorry if it came off like that. I've been told by some that I have a "dry sense of humor" that not everyone gets.
It's a growth spurt. I experienced it with my daughter. They can wake up with growing pains, hunger pangs, and discomfort in their pajamas if they grew especially quickly overnight. That doesn't happen too often, but not impossible. But the hunger pangs can be very painful. I'm pretty sure you feed him regular food, now. Formula is good for babies, but now that he's a toddler it might not be enough for him, anymore.
If you find he's having stomachaches , try Gripe Water. You can find it in the baby aisle.

 

[tedythegr8]

Never thought you meant I wasn't feeding him. I feel so fortunate to have anyone here on the forum support and share their experience with me, so any input is appreciated.

He eats a formula bottle in the morning and before bed and the rest of the time it's regular food (not baby specific food).

There are days when I am able to take him out of bed quickly and we start playing and he stops crying so maybe he forgot about the food but immediately as he sees me approaching the kitchen to fill his bottle, he goes crazy.

I was thinking there's a behavioral pattern I can try to make him wait patiently (don't laugh at me ) for the morning bottle ... does that exist ?

 

[artmom]

Hmm.. crying is the form of communication for babies. He may be tuning into his baby side when he knows a bottle is being prepped, even if your just going to the kitchen.
Try encouraging him to use words and let him know that he's not a baby, anymore.
Having big fits is him having a tantrum and you definitely want to nip that in the bud before he's 2.
Weaning him off the bottle might be a good idea.

 

[tedythegr8]

Thanks a lot for the advice, I really appreciate your time to help me out