Did your LO sleeping habits change when introducing solids?

[PGTB]

When introducing solids for the first time did you notice your LO sleep habits improve? When and what did you introduce first and what changes if any did you observe in the sleep patterns?

I have a lot of pressure from the family and in-laws to introduce solids to DS who is a bit over 6 months old. I think he is ready for solids, shows lots of interest grabbing objects from the table and putting in his mouth, wanting to explore and he sits fairly well with support. The popular opinion around me is that introducing solid foods or at least cereals mixed with milk should improve DS poor sleep. Everyone I spoke too basically said he is hungry and that is why he wakes up and stays up during the night and is fussy having difficulties falling asleep during the day. I don't know whether this is the real cause of his sleep issues, but I am concerned he is not eating enough. He was 27.5 inches and shy of 16lb at his 6 month appt. At his age most kids I heard of eat over 6oz in one serving, he is eating more like a 4 month old (about 5 oz, 5.5oz serving) than like a 6 month old.

TIA!

[PGTB]

Did your LO start sleeping better when mixing cereal into the BM or formula or feeding cereal from the spoon before bedtime?

I forgot to add that DS has been good at drinking milk and water from the regular adult teaspoon. I haven't purchased the baby spoon yet as I was trying to delay solids introduction. But a few days ago he started boycotting the bottle and we fed him EBM from the spoon little by little, it worked, so in our case I am going to spoon feed the cereal and then offer BM.

[AnnieW625]

No it didn't change at all, but DD2 was already sleeping through the night by then.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Ds1 slept worse when we first started but that was back in the day when 4m was ok. We tried, it made him sleep worse so we quit and tried again at 6m. Teething, pulling to a stand, his first cold, travel...all happened around then too and he slept horribly (for the next few months, in fact). No idea which was the main sleep disruptor.
eta- before all that happened at 6m he had been sleeping through the night!
Beth

[llama8]

My DD started solids at 4 months (cereal and fruits) She loved it. She finally slept through the night and was content with a full belly because of solids. Bottles went right through her.

[wellyes]

The popular opinion around me is that introducing solid foods or at least cereals mixed with milk should improve DS poor sleep.

I think this stems from the fact that most babies start solids around 4 months, which is also when babies generally start to STTN.

I don't think he'd necessarily gain more weight.... DD's growth petered out when she started solids. I also don't think it would help with fussiness. But feelings of hunger at night, I dunno.

It couldn't hurt to try, right?

[jgenie]

I have the oddball DC - we started solids after six months - DS1 took a while to really get into it -DS2 loves solids and eats almost everything we give him - DS1 didn't STTN until 15 months - DS2 is up every 2 hours at night and he is 9.5 months old. He's just too busy during the day to have any interest in nursing and makes up for it at night. :hug: Try not to let family get to you - decide what you think is best for DC and don't apologize for it. I found the phrase "We've decided this is the best choice for our family." to be invaluable (it works well in all areas of child rearing). GL

[BabyBearsMom]

We started solids at about 4.5 months. Before then DD was waking once during the night. When we introduced we also increased her bottles (she was doing four 4 ounce bottles, we upped it to two 6 ounce bottles and two 4 ounce bottles) and she started STTN. This was all at the recommendation of our Ped who told us that this was the easiest way to wean baby from the middle of the night feeding. There was maybe a week after we did it that DD would still wake up, but we could give her a pacifier and she would go back to sleep without eating. Within a week, she was done with that wake up.

We did not add the cereal to her bottle (I've read that can be a choking hazard). We just gave her 1 TBSP of rice cereal with 1 oz BM or Formula, heated for a few seconds. We also tried Bananas and Avocados. She liked the avocado the most and ate that a lot. Now DD is 7 months, eats a wide variety of foods happily and STTN every night. I don't know if it was the addition of solids that helped her sleep thruogh the night or the fact that she was just getting more food in the day and wasn't hungry any more at night.

[wendibird22]

Nope. DD1 didn't STTN until nightweaned at 19mos. DD2 was STTN from 6wks until about 6mos. We started solids at 6mos and she's been waking at night most nights ever since.

[brittone2]

Kellymom has good info on this and mentions two studies:
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-sleep.html