Q: I am a mother of a 15 months old baby. I breast feed him till today along with solid food. I have some concerns about his sleeping habits. Regardless of the time, he sleeps only for 1 hour and then wakes up and again I will have to breast feed him. Only then he will be in control. I consulted a doctor here, she said that my baby does not need any milk in the night for nutrition purpose. She advised me and my husband that at night my husband should take care of him such that he will come to know that he will no more get milk in the night. We tried this method but it didn't work, he cries a lot and is uncontrollable. Now that he started biting nipples I am thinking of weaning him. Please advice me on how to make his sleeping pattern more organised without breast feeding him? My child has never been bottle fed and he drinks water with the sippy cup. I tried giving him milk in the sippy cup but he throws it. What should I do now?

A:At the age of 15 months you are rightly giving solid foods to your child. However I feel it is early to wean him off the breast milk. What you should do is offer him a sumptuous dinner before he sleeps. This could be milk and cereal or any other solid food of your child's liking. This would ensure an uninterrupted sleep. He may still require to suckle at the breast for a while before he doses off, with which there is no harm in continuing. It is a good thing that he has not been given any bottle feeding. There is of course no point in offering a bottle now. He can be offered milk in a cup. You however don't have to insist upon it or force him. He can always take milk products like curd, paneer, or milk with cereals and puddings like suji kheer, dalia or ready made cereals available in market. You should, if possible, continue breast feeding till about 2 years.