Sleepless AmyK here again... wondering if any of you found that your baby slept longer after starting on solids? My DS is now 17+ weeks and I'm thinking about rice cereal...

As always, I appreciate your feedback.

By Trisa on Saturday, January 3, 2004 - 11:31 am:

Mine were all on cereal by that time. But I was lucky. Both of mine slept all night starting at 6 weeks old. I would say try it. Anything is worth a try when you are dead tired!! Good luck.

By Newbabysarah on Saturday, January 3, 2004 - 05:45 pm:

Yeah, I found that it did make Sarah sleep better. She kept waking up in the middle of the night acting like she hadn't had anything to eat in days so I started her on the rice cereal and put a little juice in it for flavor and she liked it. Anything is worth a try!

By Tonya on Saturday, January 3, 2004 - 07:30 pm:

Timmy was such a big baby that he was on rice cereal at 3 weeks. I would put it in a cereal bottle with formula as his night feeding. He slept through the night then with no problem. Go with your gut. It wouldn't hurt to try it but only try that with formula at first don't add juice at first only 1 new food at a time to make sure you check for allergies. Never give 2 new things at once because if they are allergic to something you won't know which one it is.

By Lauram on Saturday, January 3, 2004 - 07:38 pm:

I started rice cereal with my first ds at 6 weeks. He was STARVING. My second one I can't remember- but it was after that. Probably around 2 or 3 months old. I have really BIG boys and none of them could wait! They didn't necessarily sleep through the night, but they were much more satiated overall.

By Boxzgrl on Saturday, January 3, 2004 - 08:47 pm:

Definitely, go for it! DD was much happier with solids. Not sleeping through the night but less fussy during the day. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

By Dawnk777 on Saturday, January 3, 2004 - 09:07 pm:

Well, oldest dd slept through the night at 8 weeks, long before I started cereal and baby food. She didn't get that until around 5 months. Tried earlier, but she wasn't too thrilled with it.

Youngest dd slept through the night off and on at about 3 months. I don't remember anymore when it got more consistent. I just know that the nights she slept okay, the 2 yo would wake up with night terrors. I swear they had a conspiracy going!

By Missy3 on Saturday, January 3, 2004 - 09:24 pm:

Go for it, just make sure she can handle cereal.
You will know if she can eat it or not, but she should be old enough too.

I have a 5 mth old and when I started cereal it did not make any difference he was still a sleeper!

Good Luck and as always check with your pediatritan first!

By Mommyathome on Sunday, January 4, 2004 - 12:27 am:

My kids started on cereal at about 5 months. I did find that they slept better at night if they had "dinner" (cereal), and then a night time bottle an hour or so after that.

It's different with everyone. I've read somewhere that solids have nothing to do with how your baby sleeps. So, who knows! Just trial and error

By Newbabysarah on Sunday, January 4, 2004 - 08:59 am:

I would like to amend my previous post: Tonya is right about not adding juice at first, I forgot because it's been awhile since I started feeding my dh the rice cereal. Generally when you introduce new foods you want to give it a few days every time you try something new so you can see if there are any allergies. Another thing about starting on solids is make sure the baby stays hydrated and gets fluids. When I first started my dh on solids, she got constipated very badly. The doctor told me to give her 1 oz juice and 1 oz water to dilute the juice every day to prevent constipation.

By Trina~moderator on Sunday, January 4, 2004 - 09:47 am:

I started DS on rice cereal at 4 mos.. He was a BIG baby and a little chow hound! It didn't help him to sleep through the night, however.

Concerning juice - DS also became constipated when we started him on solids at 4 mos.. A nurse at our ped's office told us to mix a little apple juice into his cereal. We did and it was a nightmare!! We were up ALL night with a SCREAMING baby! He got terrible gas and cramps from the juice.

By Jbarrj2112 on Monday, January 5, 2004 - 01:42 am:

I started my Grace on rice cereal at 4 months, also. I made it with formula - about the consistency of applesauce. It did seem to help a little, but every baby is so different. I started her on regular solids at 5 1/2 months, and it seems now (she is 7 months), that she sleeps BETTER, but still wakes for a bottle once or twice a night. A lot of people will cringe at that, but I give her a bottle when she wakes anyway. They don't need it at this age, but I like to keep her topped off anyway, lol. (Of course, my daughter still takes a bottle every 2-3 hours like clockwork - I guess she has an appetite, lol). I guess I am not much help, but it is worth a try. If your little one is 16 wks., I would say you could certainly attempt it. Both my pediatrician and medical school advise against putting the cereal in a bottle, however. I know that this is how it was done for so long, but they say that it doesn't teach them proper eating habits; ie., they will not learn to listen to their own hunger/fullness mechanisms. Whereas with a spoon, they learn to stop eating when THEY are full. It is a personal choice, though. When starting them fairly young, you almost have to feed them via the bottle or an Infafeeder, because they have not yet lost the tongue-thrust reflex. Except for special circumstances, nowadays they suggest that you wait until at least 4-5 mos. of age. Everyone is different, though, and everyone does what they feel is best. That's all you can do! Good luck; I hope starting cereal, if you choose to do so, works its nighttime magic for you!

Take Care,
Heather

By Jodie on Monday, January 5, 2004 - 06:03 am:

I started rice cereal at 5 1/2 months but DS hated it . After several tries I switched to mashed organic bananas and that was officially his first food.My LLL girlfriends told me mashed bananas are the closest in taste to breastmilk and hence a lot of breastfed babies like and tolerate those better rather than cereal.. My pediatrician was ok with that too. NO , that didnot help him sleep better at all. It was just a developmental step ahead for him , eating solids I mean.

My Ds is 2 yrs old and still wakes up once for half a glass of milk at 4 AM . I just leave his milk on the headboard in a cooler and he gets it himself and puts the empty glass back and snuggles up to me and sleeps till 9 AM . I don't even wake up anymore. Sure some people cringe but many many others have the same thing going with their toddlers. It's ok with me.I mean so many people I know sneak in a midnight snack daily! The poor kid may very well just be hungry.