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  1. #11
    Mommy_Mea is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    I also remember reading that adding cereal does not help with sleep because nothing is more nutritionally dense than breast milk. believe me, I read everything in desperation to get my kids to sleep at that age! (and at every age until they finally started sleeping well after a year) Many years down the road, it is easy for me to look back and realize they were sleeping the best they could. I was so sleep deprived back then though!!
    DS1 June 2009
    DS2 June 2011

  2. #12
    petesgirl is offline Emerald level (3000+ posts)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chitowngirl View Post
    Thanks for the advice and commiseration.

    My DH has been pushing to add cereal at night to help DD sleep longer. I am currently breast feeding so that would mean changing to a bottle at night which I am reluctant to do. I have also heard you should not do that before 6mo. I am going to discuss with the pediatrician at the next visit, but does anyone have any recs about this?


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    Before starting cereal (with a spoon) I would supplement with formula. But, that's a personal choice and may not necessarily help the sleep. When I read your post though, my first thought was wondering if the baby isn't getting enough to eat during the day and that's only because (1) my first two babies hated bottles so they wouldn't eat well while I was at work (reverse cycling) and (2) my supply dropped dramatically when I went back to work so even though I was nursing them at night it still wasn't enough.
    If you added a bottle at night (even pumped milk) sometime would your DH be willing to get up once so you could get a longer stretch? Of course then you may run into supply problems too...
    Last edited by petesgirl; 09-27-2017 at 09:10 PM.
    Mama to :
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    DS2 (Apr 2017)

    "You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...Until you climb inside his skin and walk around in it."
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  3. #13
    jbbhb's Avatar
    jbbhb is online now Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    Oh mama, I feel for you! With my second (now 5 years old) I had to go back to work at 10 weeks and he reverse cycled big time. We were up every two hours then I would have to go work a twelve hours shift, it was miserable. So miserable that I ordered a cosleeper from amazon in the middle of the night. It was a life changer! It was so much easier for me to not physically get out of bed to nurse him. I would just pull him over, nurse and doze, then put him back. I also stopped changing diapers (unless he pooped) or really interacting at all with him aside from feeding him. I tried to keep it as minimally stimulating as possible. I also highly recommend the book "sleeping through the night". Not necessarily for "sleep training" but for helping you to understand sleep patterns and create positive sleep associations. I found it really helpful.

    As a side note- I teach pediatric nursing and this is a resource I give to students for teaching parents. It is a myth that rice cereal will help infants sleep longer (although I do see how it seems logical, I'd be hungry if all I ate was milk!) https://www.healthychildren.org/Engl...-to-Avoid.aspx

    Good luck and I hope you get more sleep!


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  4. #14
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    Thanks for all the tips.

    We have the pediatrician appointment today so I will keep it all in mind when I discuss with him. Sounds primarily though like it's just something to suffer through until she gets a little bit bigger.


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  5. #15
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    That is really still pretty young to have a good sleep pattern. Only time will help...hang in there!

  6. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by petesgirl View Post
    Before starting cereal (with a spoon) I would supplement with formula. But, that's a personal choice and may not necessarily help the sleep. When I read your post though, my first thought was wondering if the baby isn't getting enough to eat during the day and that's only because (1) my first two babies hated bottles so they wouldn't eat well while I was at work (reverse cycling) and (2) my supply dropped dramatically when I went back to work so even though I was nursing them at night it still wasn't enough.
    If you added a bottle at night (even pumped milk) sometime would your DH be willing to get up once so you could get a longer stretch? Of course then you may run into supply problems too...
    Cereal is an old wive's tale and cereal has far fewer calories than breast milk. If you do a bottle of bm at night and can have your husband take a shift, that would work. My first one was fine with that but my second only wanted it straight from me. Pediatricians are a great resource but they are doctors and not sleep behaviorists and will have their own philosophies that are not medical in nature so keep that in mind and listen to your mama instincts about what your baby needs. It will get better, just takes time and there are no shortcuts or tricks that really make the sleep deprivation of new parenthood better!


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