feeding more helps baby sleep at night?

[purplerose]

has that actually worked for anyone? say it's a 9 month old; would nursing more in the daytime make the baby less likely to wake up at night? i know people who put rice cereal in their baby's bottles at just few weeks old! my daughter eats solids 2-3 times a day and it makes no difference to her sleeping how close to bedtime she eats but that is always the advice.

[skycheattraffic]

The only thing that helped DD get a longer stretch of sleep before her first wake up at night was cluster nursing. I never discouraged it but she rarely initiated it. Once in a while I would offer often in the evening and if she was receptive then it would buy me an extra hour maybe. I don't know too many AP moms IRL, most people i know FF and CIO and they swear by stuffing the kid just before bedtime. Other than cluster nursing, in my experience, most attempts to tank baby up before bed just lead to a gassy baby who is more likely to poop at night and that cuts into sleep for sure. This is just my experience.

[htovjm]

I think it works for us, but of course every child is different. DS eats every 2 hours during the day and clusters in the evening (which I initiate). I lay down with him at about 7pm and he nurses/dozes off and on until 9pm when he goes to sleep. We all use this time to wind down a bit. Then I normally offer DS something before we go to bed between 10:30 and 11pm (he sleeps through it). If I do that, he usually sleeps until 6:30am. If he's too asleep and won't nurse, he normally wakes me up once in the night. If we do anything against routine and miss the evening wind down, he's normally more wakeful at night. He's 6 months old and not eating any solids yet.

[contactmaya]

I was lucky enough to have my first two babies sleeping through the night by 2-3 months (last feeding at 10ish  until 5ish) I definitely encouraged more feeding in the day. We also had a consistent routine of going out in the morning  to a playground, so plenty of fresh air exercise and light exposure at that time to set their clocks.

My third baby is 5mths and still wakes most times once or twice at night,  most often once, and sometimes she has slept through the night (well, twice, but i remember it well ;-) )

I try to feed her alot during the day too, but other factors have changed, First, we go to bed earlier, at 8ish, so that would be her last feeding (meaning she would wake up at 3 if she was my like my other  babies, and in fact she does wake up mostly around 4) Also,  our routine is  inconsistent because she has to work around older kids schedules. Another big factor is that she gets woken up more during naps because of noise, my poor baby, and it makes me so sad, gets overtired, and  its hard  to fight it. 

In sum, i still believe more day feeding equals less night feeding, but i mean breastfeeding, which is still the superior food at that age. We arent doing solids yet (occasional pumpkin purree at the dinner table because it was there) My others started solids late as well. 

My theory is, give them lots of beastmilk, and try to make most of it during the day. Set their clocks by exposing them to light and air  in the morning.   Just my experience.

[MN BabyDust]

It makes a difference for my 9 month old DD. She is a hungry little thing with a fast metabolism like her dad. It helps to bulk her up, especially in the evening. She nurses on demand all day but as she gets older and busier it is not as often. Mostly before naps. She loves solids, so she has dinner with us, often then a little snack an hour later, and either nurses or takes a bottle before bed. I have been using the bottle before bed more because it seems like she drinks more. Now that we are on solids I don't have a problem with her having a little formula now and then, and sometimes I mix some in with breastmilk in the bottle. It seems to hold her longer. I know all babies are different, so it may be totally different for someone else.