The Milk Monster

Samantha has developed a new habit that is about to be the end of me. She has decided that at about one o'clock every morning that she MUST HAVE SOME MILK. I do not want her drinking milk in the middle of the night, not only because it is disturbing to her sleep but also bad for her teeth. She wakes up and cries for milk. I tell her no and she continues to cry....and cry.....and cry and get up and down, up and down up, and down until, well, it is about 5 in the morning and I am so tired I finally give up. I mean 4 hours is a long time for her to be so persistent right? I talked to her pediatrician about it when we were there for her two year check up and she said just to keep being persistent and she will stop. Well it has now been almost 2 weeks and there is no end in sight. Last night when I finally gave up after 3 hours of crying at 4:30 in the morning, I handed her some milk and she took a drink. She sighed with relief, looked at me and declared "Mommy, Sami is feeling much better now." I was so frustrated and tired that I was almost in tears but her simple statement made me laugh out loud and made my frustration disappear. With that proclamation she rolled over and went right to sleep. Maybe I should just give her the milk when she first wakes up and save us both a few hours of anguish. I guess this stage too shall pass.