Sleep Makeovers for Toddlers

The Midnight Muncher

It's the dead of night, and you're jolted awake by cries for a bottle.

What's going on: Your child craves attention more than milk. A healthy 1-year-old doesn't need to eat during the night. "If she's waking up for a bottle, it's out of habit, not a nutritional need," says Barbara Burch, R.N., a pediatric nurse in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

What to do: Burch favors completely cutting off the after-hours milk supply. In addition, don't respond to her first whimper (just peek in to make sure that she's safe); she may soothe herself back to sleep.