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Solids causing MAJOR sleep disruption (9.5 mos old)

987 views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Beth2012 
#1 ·
I've been trying solids off and on (mostly off) since my little guy was 6.5 mos old. He has had such a hard time with them, despite being extremely enthusiastic about eating food and having every sign of readiness.

I started with avocado and that caused foamy green stools with blood in them. A clear sign that avocado was a problem. I then held off on all solids for another month, til 7.5 months - two months ago. We have had similar upset with peaches and pears. He seems to be able to tolerate only the following - sweet potato, banana, applesauce. That is all. By 'tolerate', I mean that he still has normal stools. No mucus or blood. The issue is, even after eating any of those things, his nighttime sleep is seriously disrupted. He will wake over and over and over to nurse to the point where I get zero sleep, because he wakes to nurse before I can get back to sleep myself. We will predictably have a chunk of about three hours like this in the middle of the night. When I abstain from feeding him solids, the difference is so dramatic that it cannot be a coincidence. I have seen this over and over.

I feel I have to choose between feeding solids and sleeping, so I hardly ever feed him solids. So he nurses like a newborn, every 2-3 hours around the clock, and I am seriously challenged to eat enough to sustain both of us. Not to mention, he throws a real tantrum whenever I am eating and won't give him some. Which of course happens every day. At dinner time we actually have to take turns entertaining him in the other room while we take turns eating, so he won't see the food. Otherwise he will wail all through dinner if he can't have any!!!

Any advice? Please?!? Our pediatrician says to simply keep trying the foods that aren't causing digestive upset and it will get better. If he's just not ready, that's fine - but I guess I am wondering if there's anything else I can do. He just wants so badly to eat and it would make our lives easier in many ways, too.
 
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#4 ·
I was talking to a friend the other day and she said her baby was having foamy green stool with blood in it and she researched it and it's an indication of foremilk/hindmilk imbalance. The baby was taking in too much foremilk and not enough fatty hindmilk. Does your DS's nursing change when he eats solids? Could that be an indirect problem from the solids also causing poor sleep?

No other thoughts other than that...
 
#5 ·
Hmmm, that's interesting. Thanks! You know, I honestly don't pay as much attention as I used to, to how much and how long he nurses. He only nurses one side at a time usually, and he's pretty efficient - finishes in about 10 minutes or so but will linger longer before and after sleeping (when he's sleepy, in other words). His nursing doesn't seem to change at all on the days he eats solids. I always do solids after a nursing session as that has always been the advice I've read.
 
#7 ·
Thanks so much for your reply. I guess I will just have to be patient then and keep trying periodically. I tried a bit of squash yesterday (as in, 3 tsp max) in the late afternoon, as I was wondering if he had more of an issue with the fruits because of the fructose. My daughter has issues digesting fructose so I have to wonder. I was having a late afternoon snack and he was making his emphatic "mmmmmmmm!!!!" sound he makes when he wants my food. So I decided to try. He was in bed 11 hours last night and woke, I'm guessing, 7-8 times. Mama's in rough shape today as I can't nap. DH is gone for the day and I have the older two. Anyway, I will probably keep trying but at longer intervals - maybe every 2 weeks or something. He will be 10 mos old this week.
 
#9 ·
Regarding meats, I think they may be good first foods because they are nutrient dense and iron rich. It was`also likely baby's first food throughout human evolution from what I have read. Here's an interesting link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1753-4887.2011.00434.x/full

Two years ago I thought meat as a first food was odd, but the more I read I realized that it wasn't so strange at all.
 
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