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Hi K.,

All 3 of my children were breast fed. My last two babies seemed to want to eat at least every 2-3 hours at 4 months. Sometimes during the day it was even every hour. Seems like if I remember correctly they were both going through a growth spurt at 4 months. As for the night time feeding, my children didn't really sleep all night (at least 7-8 hours) until they were 6 months old. You might let her cry for a minute or two and see if she will fall back asleep. Babies wake up several times during the night and she may just need some help soothing herself to sleep with out being fed. A good way to do this is to be sure to put her to bed while she's still awake. (You may already be doing this, but I learned this with my second baby) My first, I used to feed him until he would fall asleep and then put him to bed. As a result he had a horrible time falling back asleep if he woke at night. With the last two I put them in bed awake and both learned how to fall asleep with out pacifiers or having to nurse til they were asleep. Hang in there! You will get to sleep again, I promise. Just work on helping her learn how to get herself to sleep if you're sure she's not actually hungry.

When starting solids it’s important to look at if she’s exhibiting the traits that indicate she needs more than breast milk, so I wouldn’t introduce solids just to try and get your daughter to sleep through the night. At 4 months her digestive system might not be mature enough to handle solids and you could end up causing food allergies. Talk to your pediatrician for guidance before you start solids. On the breast feeding issue, I have 4 month old twins that I’m nursing during the day when we’re together (every 2-3) hours but at night I give them a big bottle of breast milk and formula mixed (1-2 ounces bigger than their day time bottles) and them put them down for the night. I only use formula b/c I just don’t have that much expressed breast milk with two babies. They sleep from about 9 -7 every night except when they hit a grow spurt. We did have to train them to do this using the cry it out method but after about a week they got it. You could also try co-sleeping if you need some sleep. Here’s a good website with information. http://www.kellymom.com
Good luck to you.

I wouldn't do cereal yet because it could cause allergies and that can become a real problem later. Just because other people did it with their kids and had no problems doesn't mean the same will happen with your child. There is a reason the doctors say to wait, so I would follow that advice. My pediatrician also said that there is no evidence that the cereal will help them sleep longer anyway. In some cases, if your child's system isn't ready for it yet, it could make it worse because they get a tummy ache from it and then they're up screaming.

Now, as for the nighttime feeding. My daughter's pediatrician said when she was young to "tank her up" during the day so that she would have more calories in her and it would help her sleep longer at night. This means that you should actually try to feed her more often (or more ounces) during the day, especially in the late afternoon/evening, so that she can sleep longer periods at night. The other thing that I would say is that by 4 months old, the night waking could be a habit (especially if it is like clockwork as you mentioned), instead of hunger. Try letting her fuss for a few minutes (5 or so to start) to see if she can get back to sleep on her own. If that doesn't work, then try giving her a pacifier (if she takes one) or just soothing her back to sleep without the feeding. Try just doing it once per night to start with and then wean her off of the other nighttime feedings as you get the first one dropped. It may be hard at first, but try to be consistent for a few nights at whatever feeding you pick and don't give in and feed her. Also, don't get her out of her bed. Just soothe her (rub her tummy or pat her back) and tell her goodnight and leave so that she can try to get back to sleep. I promise you, this works if you stick to it. Just make sure she's getting lots of milk during the day and then let her slowly learn a new nighttime routine.

Best of luck to you!

I started 1Tbsp of rice cereal in her bottle before bed around 3 or 4 months because she hit a growth spurt. They should start eating cereal mixed with milk and fruit around 4 months 2 or 3 times a day and they should stay sustained longer. I started her with apples and bananas. Hope this helps!

K.- Buy the book, The baby whisperer Solves all your problems by Tracy Hogg. She explains everything and will literally answer all your questions. I had a friend who was told by her Pediatrcian that her baby was colicky. I walked her through step by step what to do in this book, and PRESTO!! No more colic withen 2 days. She will fix your night time feedings in a few days. Good Luck!

Hi K.,

I started giving all three of mine cereal at 3 mo. Some doctors will tell you to wait til they are 6 mo. I would give my kids a small amount in the morning and then a little bigger amount before bed. my first child i nursed til 6 mo so i spoon fed him the cereal and breast milk mixture. the other two were bottle babies, so i just put the cereal in thier bottles. it really worked for us. as soon as i started giving them the cereal before bed, they slept atleast 6 hrs. then as i increased the cereal intake they slept longer. just watch thier poopie diapers and make sure they don't harden up too much. good luck and happy sleeping!!!

D. Mattern-Muck
The MOM Team
Raise your income and your rugrats at the same time!
www.formyrugrats.com
"The only thing that counts is faith, expressing itself through love." Galatians 5:6

K.,
I agree with Valerie. I think maybe the night-time waking to feed is more out of habit than need or hunger. I have a 16 month old that I breastfed on demand until he was 15 months old. I work full time so I also pumped at work and our nanny gave him bottles while I was at work. If she's eating well out of the bottles at home, then she's not necessarily overcompensating when you're home.

I think eating isn't the problem, it's sleeping. I don't know how you feel about CIO (cry it out) methods, but whatever you feel comfortable with, I think you need to focus on helping her self-soothe and be able to go back to sleep on her own. If she's gaining weight and all her vitals are good (which I assume they are) I think that at 4 months she should be able to make it through the night without eating. Helping my son fall asleep on his own was one of the hardest things I had to do. But after just two nights, he stopped waking up and slept all the way through!

I don't recommend the cereal because of food allergies. It's common to induce food allergies by feeding them too soon. Their little digestive systems are not fully developed yet and introducing something foreign like cereal could actually cause food allergies that might otherwise not appear if you had just waited until their bodies were ready.

Good luck as I imagine you could use the rest!

I had the exact same problem with both of my kids. My son, now 2, woke up a lot throughout the night. I decided that I was going to try a little cereal before bedtime, of course with the pediatrician knowing. He started sleeping longer through the night and seemed very content. There were nights that he would wake up and just cry. At first, I admit that I would get up and tend to him only finding out that he was not sick, or wet. It started to become a habit and I finally decided that I was going to let him cry himself to sleep after being told by the pediatrician that I had to stop letting him make me feel guilty! It worked!!! Of course for the first few nights I felt so bad but I had to let him soothe himself and he did!!! I guess you just have to see what is right for your baby and you will make the right decision. Only you know what to do. Don't feel bad if you let her cry herself to sleep, if she is not sick or uncomfortable then she will be fine and so will you. Rememeber, we need our rest and sleep in order to stay sane. The happier you are, the happier she will be!!! Good luck!

My 6 1/2 month old breast fed baby started sleeping through the night (most nights) at the end of the 4th month. (Born Aug. 29th, began sleeping approx. 6+/- hours in the first week of January.) She started doing this when she found her fingers. This works great for us. I don't have to get up to find a pacifier. She stirs a little, finds her fingers to suck on and then goes back to sleep! I am not worried about breaking her of the habit. Most babies stop sucking on fingers/ pacifiers between 1- 2 years of age and mine only does it now when she is tired. Good luck!

We gave a little bit of cereal in their nighttime bottles that I had pumped at night started a little after 3 months with both my girls. Especially my second girl because she was starving! We really had a hard time getting her full until we started giving some cereal. I know a lot of pediatricians say not to but my family dr. that we see said that it was our call and usually ok to do. It's more of a new thing. Years ago babies started cereal and solids much earlier. It's really up to you. Once we started giving ours a little cereal and I do mean a little in their nighttime bottle they really were sleeping better and happier. I think it's totally up to you.

One thing that I had heard works but never tried is that when they cry to nurse at night, just give them a bottle with a little water instead. They will be mad the first night or two of this but if it is a habit to nurse and not out of hunger then they will learn that they're not going to be able to nurse and usually stop waking up to nurse. But if it's hunger than they will take the water and then maybe want to nurse also. This might help you know what it is.

K.,
I won't repeat everything that's already been said. I'll just say that I agree with the moms that say wait for allergy, age, AAP, WHO and "it doesn't work for everyone" reasons.
At four months your young one still needs your comforting a lot. Since you work during the day, she gets her mama lovin' in when she can, at night :-) Also, keep in mind that no matter the age, breast milk digests in about 90mins. The reason bf'd babies eat more often when they're younger is because they're unfamiliar with the uncomfortable sensations caused by hunger. At 4mos your dd is dealing with those sensations in her tummy fairly well.
*Most* babies do wake less at night than every 3hrs. It might be the routine of it. Personally, I am anti-CIO. I would recommend instead "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" by Dr. Sears. Your library might even have it. Your local LLL chapter or API chapter might also have it. If those are not available, then you can find it on Amazon.com for less than $6 used.
Also, although a lot of babies seem to "sleep thru the night", very few of them stay that way. My Nursing Support group in Oregon joked that whenever you settle on a given thing as being the norm with your baby, go ahead and prepare for change. :-) That to say, your baby may not be sleeping exactly how you want her to right now; She may be nursing way more than you want her to; try to back up and think about how quickly this age will pass and she won't 'need' you near as much. They grow up so fast - why speed up the process?

Here are links so that you can find if there is a LLL group or API group in your area
http://www.attachmentparenting.org/group/webtx.shtml
http://www.llli.org//Web/Texas.html

Congratulations SuperMom on nursing successfully and working!

HTH

K., mama to
Catherine, 4y
Samuel, 14m

Try a little of cereal in the bottle, or bump up the oz in the bottle, try just feeding her some cereal with a little fruit. She might get full long enough for you to sleep. That's what I did for my son. I had no problem after that. I also work in Childcare, i have alot of experience with children. Give it a try and see what happens.