12M old Suddenly waking all hours @ night

So we have had a great sleeper from 2 months old until 11 months. Now, out of nowhere for the last 3 weeks DS has been waking at night and nothing except a bottle & rocking gets him back to sleep ( a habit I dont know how to stop). It started when he had a runny nose so I went in to comfort him and gave him a bottle to ease the congestion. My Ped says this is how most sleep problems start, they get sick, you comfort them, they learn that you will go in when they cry. She also says I shouldnt put him down at night with a bottle/rocking anymore, but this is our routine for his nap and bedtime so I dont know how to change it.

Now that he's not sick anymore, he is waking anywhere from 1-4x's a night and it's killing us. Last night, I let him cry for 5 mins and he went back down, only to wake up 15 minutes later. When I do go in and try to rock him, he starts SCREAMING and thrashing around trying to escape out of my arms. At this point, the only thing that calms him down is a bottle.

We recently switched to milk, and cut one bottle out of his routine, is is possible he's hungry? We went from 27 oz a day to 20 of milk. (Ped says no more than 20 but we've giving the nightime bottle lately so were going over). I dont think he's starving bc we will give him 4 oz, he will fall asleep and I will put him in the crib, and then he wakes up a half hour later and I give him another 3 ounces. If he was starving, I would think the 4 oz wouldnt do the trick at all. The only other thing I can think of is that he might be constipated from the switch to milk. I'm trying prune juice.

Sorry for the long post, TIA for any advice/ experience with this! I want to try CIO but how can you be sure there isn't something wrong? I also don't want him to feel abandoned from it. I read all these things online saying that they don't feel deserving of your love if you do CIO and that its cruel.

Message edited 11/29/2011 9:37:55 AM.

Re: 12M old Suddenly waking all hours @ night

Maybe my experience will help you out!

My CIO Experience

Re: 12M old Suddenly waking all hours @ night

All childern go through phases. After this one then he'll go through another. I know it seems like CIO is cruel, but it's the only way. This way he can learn to soothe himself.
My older DS went through this. Was a great sleeper then around 10 months he got sick (his top teeth were also cutting). Me or DH rocked him to sleep every night then he'd wake up later only for us to rock him again.
I took him to the Ped and she said he's fine now. No longer sick and the teeth cut. He's just training you to come in. He cries and we run in, rock him to sleep then wakes up to find out we no longer are holding him so he cries again.
We had to CIO. WE both worked and lack of sleep wasn't good. I bought the Homedics Sounds Machine. Played the music and put on the night light projector. I remember the first night was tough... He cried for an hour and a half (on and off). Finally from exhaustion he went to sleep and slept pretty much the whole night. Second night he cried a half hour and by night 4 and was fine. Of course he went through this phase around 16 - 17 months and now doing it again at 2.5.

CIO at an older age really isn't cruel. Look in your monitor. If something is really wrong you'd know b4 even putting him down. IF he has no fever, no runny nose and his teeth aren't cutting then he's fine. Believe me it's tough, but it'll work and you will feel better when you sleep.

Re: 12M old Suddenly waking all hours @ night

Aww Kris...sorry things haven't gotten better since we last spoke.

If it makes you feel better, J has been sick since the weekend and we've had sleepless nights since. I'm HOPING he doesn't change his sleeping patterns because of this as well.

Re: 12M old Suddenly waking all hours @ night

No experience here but I wanna say I've heard you can give them a bottle or water to keep in the crib? If he just wants the "feeling" of having a bottle, but you don't want to provide the extra calories. I could be completely wrong here though...

Re: 12M old Suddenly waking all hours @ night

GioiMia & Erica, thanks for sharing your experiences, I might have to try CIO if this keeps happening, I don't want this to become a new routine.

Hugs Sabri Hopefully we both get sleep soon!

Lisa, thanks for the suggestion, but not sure I'm comfortable with a bottle in the crib. I've heard it can cause bottle rot.