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cpmwatson
04-08-2004, 11:00 PM
It was suggested to me to start putting rice in my 10 week old's formula to help her sleep through the night. Has anyone tried this?? And what kind of rice were they referring to? I was to embarassed that I didn't know to ask.

s_gosney
04-09-2004, 12:55 AM
They are referring to the baby rice cereal (it's kind of like malt-o-meal). This was widely recommended in the past, but new research has found that there is no truth to babies sleeping longer with rice. Some mothers disagree with that, but it is certain that formula has more calories than does cereal. Also, there are various reasons to not introduce solids that early because babies' tummies aren't yet ready. The American Academy of Pediatrics has even revised their recommendations for not starting solids until 4-6 mos old. I know it's not what you want to hear, but it could be quite a while before your baby sleeps through the night. There are lots of older babies who are eating a good deal of solids that don't sleep through the night. If you want to read more about any of this, try going over to the baby bargains board, feeding forum. There are lots of very knowledgable, helpful mommies over there who would be glad to answer your questions! Good luck and hope that helps!

cpmwatson
04-11-2004, 08:40 PM
Thank you for the information. I think I will stay on the formula as suggested by my pediatrian. Happy Easter!!

NewMom1212
05-04-2004, 01:24 PM
When Daniel was getting close to sleeping thru the night (he's go 5-6 hours without waking for a meal) I started feeding him more frequently during the day. This worked! Instead of every three hours, I bumped it to every two and a half - he ends up with one extra feeding during the day and you slightly shift his wake and bed times to fit best. Once his was given the opportunity to stock up on calories during the day, he didn't need to wake at night. Within a week, he was sleeping 10 hours at night!

Good Luck.

P.S. I did this at nine weeks and Daniel was sleeping 10 hrs. at 10 weeks and has been at 11.5 hours since 12 weeks.