It was recommended to me by a physician friend that I feed our 7 mo old cereal before bed time (for better sleep). She is a peanut, 5th percentile on size, and wakes often in the night to feed still. So, its a great idea in theory, but just wondering if any of you actually do this. It just seems like its going to be a very messy thing to do after bath and jammies. I'm willing to try it, just wanting to know that if we do this whole production of highchair, bib, dirty face and jammies, that its going to do some good. Putting cereal in a bottle is not an option, she is breastfed and refuses the bottle So if I decide to try this just want to know that others have had better sleeping by feeding cereal just before bed time. Thanks.
(right now she gets solids three times a day and I do them at family meal time)
I thought it was just a wives tale, but I'm going to try it anyway.
update: didn't make a difference.
My pediatrician says this doesn't truly work, but the "wisdom" keeps getting passed along. It's worth a shot to try, but I wouldn't count on it working.
It's always best NOT to put cereal in the bottle, so it's good that she refuses it coming from that. lol. But on that note, I have noticed that my DD sleeps MUCH better if I feed her 1 hour before bed, to give her tummy time to settle. I used to feed her right before putting her down, figuring that it would help her sleep longer, and she was still waking up 6-7 times a night when she was 8 months old. My MIL mentioned the 1-hour thing, so I gave it a try, and that night she only woke up 4 times. Within the week, she was only waking up twice. (She still wakes up twice at 10 months, but that's mainly because I don't mind waking up with her most of the time, and I don't have the heart to make her cry it out when she doesn't get those 2 nightime feedings...)
I know lots of people swear by it, but I didn't find it helped my son at all. I think some babies (especially the skinny minnies) just need to eat often... My son was definitely still waking ever 3 hours at 7 months. He didn't sleep 7 hours in a row until after he was one and didn't sleep in a way that I got anything close to a full night's sleep until 14 months.
I did a lot of reading up on this when my son was only 4 months old b/c he was waking up a lot in the night too. Anyway, from everything I read it basically said that feeding them cereal before bed works in about 50% of the kids. So, I say give it a try. If it doesn't work within a few days to a week, stop doing it. My son was a big kid, the opposite of your little one, and I think he was just hungry too. His body worked through all his food to keep him going and he woke up often, but after that cereal trick he started sleeping through the night! It might not work, but in my opinion 50% is a high enough percentage to give it a try. Good luck!
All kids are different. My son was a preemie and woke to nurse through the night. Right around 7 months I could tell his waking was different. So I did some work and learned a lot about infant sleep so I could teach him how to sleep. We worked for about 6 weeks doing and saying the same things so he learned what to expect and what was expected with no crying it out. After that time he was sleeping 10-13 hours most nights. He woke sometimes to nurse but not very often.
Your daughter is small and telling you she still needs to nurse at night. Giving her cereal isn't going to change the fact that she may need to still night nurse. Many, many ebf babies don't sleep thru the night fully till they are fully weaned. Perfectly normal. If you are giving her solids already during the day I doubt that a bit of cereal is going to help her sleep longer.
I highly recommend Dr. Sears Baby Sleep Book, The Baby Whisperer and The No-Cry Sleep Solution. These were my life-savers when I was trying to learn about infant sleep so I could teach my little man how to sleep (because babies don't automatically know how! Who knew!?). They all have invaluable tips and tricks. I used ideas from each to form a sleep plan for him. But with my daughter (baby 2) she was never the sleeper my son was until she was over a year old and mostly weaned. Even then she still woke occasionally to nurse until she was fully weaned at 20 months. Different babies different needs. And that was perfectly fine with me!
feed her before the bath lol. then bath and into bed. don't make the bath into a big playtime production. feed her swish thru to clean her up and into bed. she will sleep better if she has a full tummy
I have a 10 month old. She is also very small. Just recently got back on the charts for height and weight. She is breastfed and eats three meals a day with the family plus snacks. I tried giving her a snack right before bed too and it never worked. So, I don't do that anymore. She still wakes a couple of times a night. I figure eventually she will sleep through the night. So, try it with your baby. It may or may not work.
Yes, my aunt who had raised 8 children told me to do this and it did work. Rice creme.
My child had teeth. Has your daughter got at least two. That is the signal that her stomach is ready.
I don't think it would hurt to try it and see how it works out.
Feed her the cereal before you give her a tub.
Even though shes breastfed, I gave my daughter the Enfamil Restful (when it gets into their tummy it thickens and they sleep better).
But before that came out, I did feed her cereal before bed. And I used the oatmeal, not the rice. Oatmeal is more of a filler then the rice.
My baby was starving all the time. I eventually gave up breastfeeding at 3 months and gave her formula mixed with baby cereal. Her ped recommened it anyway cause she had acid reflux and spit up all the time. She started sleeping through the night at 3months because of it. Thank God for that!
