Sippy Cup of Juice and Wakes up 3-4 Times a Night

I kno this does not help getting him off the cup but if you want a good night sleep put a cup next to his bed for him and b4 he goes to bed tell him its there also tell him that that is the only drink he is getting so dont drink it all. i think its deff better to give juice then milk cause milk will rott his teeth. i think Dana T (below) idia was good water it down thats what i did for my daughter when i switched her from formula to milk.good luck sweety

Get Dad a pair of ear plugs for a few nights and take the baby and go downstairs unitl he has worked it out. As long as it works, he is going to keep doing it.

You know all the reasons why you need to do this.

M.

Who is in charge here? As long as you give in, he'll keep throwing fits. Here's the rule..you have to drink some water FIRST and then you can have juice. Fill it up half, not all the way and show him it's not even full. THEN, he can have juice. Water should help fill him up and quinch his thirst so that he won't have so much juice either.

If he refuses the water, he CANNOT have juice, NO matter what! If that means he cries himself to sleep, then he cries himself to sleep. This is NOT being mean. This is making telling him that you are the parents and you make the rules. Kids have no respect for parents who always give in. Trust me on this.

If he wants to scream, there needs to be a designated place for this, NOT in the room with the other brother or in your room. It can be in a den, library or some place where he can put a pillow in the corner or on the floor and cry it out. Might want to put a stuffed toy, book or something else there, too.

Ask him which is more important..having water or nothing at all. Try letting your juice supply literally run out. There will be NO OTHER choice. Stop giving in. Need to tell him the sugar from the juice isn't good for his teeth, either. Set boundaries. You can have juice first thing in the morning and ...... Setting boundaries are part of life lessons.
I do understand your situation, but the longer you give in, the harder it will be to change it. Also.....make SURE you're giving him adequate fluids throughout the day. It only takes 3% water loss to be in dehydration. If he is that thirsty, maybe he's not getting enough throughout the day.

There is also a book called RAISING RESPECTFUL CHILDREN you might want to check into.

You can try watering down his juice little by little, eventually he will be drinking water. Or you can not fill the cup all the way. When he's ready, you can work on getting him off the water just before bed (for potty training). I use the counting method, I count to ten to myself, my daughter can sip while I count but no more. Ever few nights I drop a number. Now she uses big girl cups, so at night I can put only a small amount in the cup for her and once it's gone it's gone.

D.,

I undrestand that it is hard to let them cry, but you and your hubby are going to have to choose a week or so to let it happen. We just had to switch our kids night cup for juice to water... altough they brush their teeth everyday, their last dental appointment didn't go so well. Six months ago they all had really nice teeth & no issues... last month all of them (2 1/2, 4 & 5 yrs) all needed caps and fillings. The 4 & 5 yr olds were able to get the work done in the Small Smiles office, but we have to wait till Feb to get the 2 1/2 year old done... he has to go to Children's and be put under to have his work done.

I have had to have one of my kids put under for something else... I must say it's one of the most scary things I've ever been through - you feel as if your heart is being ripped out, you can hardly breath & all you want is for them to wake up. And now I have to go through it with my little buddy... just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes. If I would have thought the juice at night would have done this - they would have never started the juice at night thing.

I wish you luck!!! I know it's a hard thing to deal with!

I like the "earplugs for Daddy" idea. Could Dad sleep downstairs for a few nights until your son stops throwing the hissy fits?

good luck

K. Z.

Hi D.,
I have 2 girls that share a room and while we don't have the sippy cup problem we do run into other challenges. I can certainly appreciate how stressful it is to parent 2 different children especially when they share a room.
What my husband and I do is we keep a pack-n-play set up in our room for just such times. Have your 7 month old sleep in it for a week until your 2.5 year old can adjust to life without juice.
We just recently did this as our 1.5 year old girl would wake up several times during the night wanting to be held, and we would always run in because we didn't want our 2.5 year old girl awake. I am happy to say they are both sleeping through the night now!
I hope this helps you. Peace to you and your family,
L.

Oh wow I feel your pain,but take it from experience the sippy cup of juice is NOT a good thing. I did that to my daughter and at 2 she had enamel breakdown, and had to have crowns on her 2 fronth teeth!! I think you should talk with your hubby, and let him know you are going to try and take the juice away at night so there may be some rough nights,but it is for his own good! Not sure what to tell you about the sleeping arrangements---GOOD luck!!! It will take time but I am telling you it WILL save his teeth in the long run!!!!!!!!

Stop the juice NOW!!
My daughter will be 3 on Saturday and she just had to have crowns put on all but 5 of her teeth.
We gave her juice in a sippy cup including at night (watered down at night).
Her dentist said juice and fruit are the main causes of tooth decay in children. They should be given as part of a meal (as a serving) only, not as a snack or a beverage. Eating other foods with fruit and juices helps keep the sugars from clinging to the teeth.
Also, she advises against putting anything in a sippy cup other than water. I guess the sucking required to use a sippy cup pulls the liquid below the gumline where the sugars get trapped.
Please learn from my mistake and save your son's teeth (if it isn't already too late).

Time to get your husband to help out:( Everyone needs sleep, not just him. Does he have the weekend off? Have him to Daddy Boot Camp and let him deal with your toddler. Not only is juice at bedtime and during the night HORRIBLE for his teeth, and WAY too many extra empty calories, but you're setting your son up for potty training failure by letting him drink so much liquid at night. He doesn't need water at bedtime or during the night. Let him have a set amount (a couple ounces at the MOST) after brushing his teeth, and a sippy cup of a couple ounces for when he wakes up and after a few nights start weaning off that. Let him scream. I'm not usually a proponent of CIO, but he's old enough to learn that tantrums don't get you want you want. Explain before bed what is going to happen from now on and each time he wakes up. It shouldn't take long to break the habit.

Is he on medications or has this just because it is a habit that is formed over time? For sleep I suggest to give him a warm bath with Chamomille some type of bath wash that will relax him. I use aromotherapy from bath & body. Always makes kids relax. Try to get a regular schedule going, he is growing up & he needs less sleep. So skip the naps or make them earlier or shorten them. If he isn't ready to sleep he will be up & down. Give him his juice to drink before bed. Try reasoning with him, by telling him "now drink all the juice you want because, no more after this". As long as he isn't holding it in bed juice is fine. Do you have a place to set a cup near him, so that if he wakes up he can get a drink & lay back down. Try that, but definately monitor his sleeping patterns, I had one just like him, to this day he doesn't sleep through the night and he's 29, but with my other 2 children the minute they started waking up in the night, I immediately adjusted their nap time & extended the time they went to bed. They both sleep great an get up easy, the oldest is still like he was getting up and down at 2 yrs old, and he is hard to get out of bed. So believe me what ever it takes to dispose this bad habit. Good Luck........

you need to talk to him about it during the day, and tell him you will not give him juice at night. let him have his hissy fit then. after the fit, talk to him about what alternatives he has. teddy bear, water, etc. let him make a choice about what other option he wants. help him prepare for the "tradgedy" of no juice. it'll help... but i'm sure he'll still scream at night... stick it out and don't give in! he is testing his boundaries and learning how to manipulate you :) so don't let him. sorry, i've had two year olds twice... it's not fun...

I see this is a couple of days old, but just saw it and haven't read other responses so I don't know if anyone else said this....but I do hope you are brushing his teeth after this sippy of juice!!! Juice and milk and the absolute worse to let a child go to bed with and not get their teeth brushed, they have sugar in it (which I am totally not one of these moms who freaks about sugar) and it sits on their teeth all night if it's not brushed and totally sticks to the teeth causing all kinds of problems.

Hi, D.! It sounds like you have a problem on your hands! I know how you feel about not wanting to wake up your husband and your 7 month old son. I don't blame you! I think your older son is trying to win a battle, and needless to say, you have to put up a fight and not let him win for three reasons... 1) he needs to realize that you are the boss, not him; 2) he will end up with rotten teeth drinking those sippy cups of juice and milk several times a night; and 3) you will never get him potty trained during the night if he's drinking that much. My girlfriend's kids (2 out of 4 kids) have completely rotten teeth which are all rotted out along the gum line simply due to bottles of juice and milk at bedtime. They look horrible! It's not the child's fault. You don't want your son to end up like that! You need to take your baby, your husband, and yourself and set up camp downstairs for a few nights while you let your older son work it out and get used to not having the night time sippy. I wouldn't even give him water, because he will be peeing all night long. I'm sure he's soaking wet when he wakes up in the morning. That can make night time potty training difficult. Having all of those drinks at night is just a habit, and now is the time to break his habit. Take the bull by the horns and let him know who's boss! I know how hard it is to let your little man cry, but make it very clear to him why you aren't giving him the sippy cup. If he needs a little sip of water before he goes to bed, give it to him and nothing more. Lay down the law with him and maybe even make a chart with stickers that he can put on in the morning from not having a sippy at night. After he gets five stickers in a row, then he can take a trip to the dollar store and pick something out. Give him a reward for doing well, and praise him for being a big boy! Be the strong mommy, and he will get through it in a few nights. It will be beneficial for your ENTIRE family! I know your tired of getting up every night -- you need your sleep as well as he does! I wish you the best of luck, and I would be very interested to hear how it goes!!

You could try doing it gradually by adding more water and less juice every night until you've slowly worked down to just water. And then decrease how much liquid is in there. He might be getting woken up by the need to pee, so if you can cut back on the fluids he might sleep for longer periods of time. Good luck!!!

I don't know what to say that will help you but I am curious as to why he is so thirsty. If it were me I'd ask my doctor to see if there's something up with that.