solids and sleep

[wishin'&hopin']

My 8 1/2 month old (23 pounds) is still 99 percent breast fed.  We dabble in solids and occasionally he has had a large (for him) meal of solids at dinner time (as in he chowed on the hummus and ate bits of pita).  Is there a point where he NEEDS to have regular meals of solids in order to sleep well?  I ask because he had 1/4 of a cracker yesterday (apart from nursing) and he woke up TONS last night.  Now, a good night for us is 3 night wakings...this was every hour to hour and a half to nurse.  Today he will have more solids than usual because we have a sitter coming from 1-6pm and he doesn't take a bottle very well.  So, he will have lentil soup and probably cheerios while she's here (she'll offer a bottle but it's unlikely he'll take more than an ounce or two).

So, anyone have thoughts on whether there is a point where a baby needs to have solids to sleep through the night (or at least not wake up every couple of hours to nurse)?

[plantnerd]

I think sleep is a developmental thing.  My son didn't start sleeping more than 3 hours at a time until 11 months or so, when he was ready.  There was also a level of gentle/non gentle sleep training involved at that point, so it's tough to say exactly.  I didn't feel he was ready for that until that age though.

Your baby may benefit from a bit more food though.  I imagine it's tough to keep that little tummy from growling on only bm when he's crawling and being a crazy man all day.  Not that bm isns't nutritious, but it probably burns off quick being a liquid.

[Knitting Mama]

I think that it is very different for every baby. My 9 month old is finally sleeping better at night after regressions, teething, physical and mental milestones, but she's still 100% EBF (she eats a bit here and there but nothing substantial). On the other hand, my friend's 7 month old eats like a little piggy but he still wakes up a bunch at night.

Now, if he was 18 months and hardly eating, I would definitely worry that he needed more nutrition to sleep--and function-- better. But not at 8 months.