[pishajane]

My dd is nearly 10mo, & has been waking about 6-8 times a night to BF since she was 4mo. I'm going stir crazy from lack of sleep! Unfortunately, although we cosleep i cannot seem to fall asleep with her latched on. So, just wondering whether increasing her solids might help her sleep for longer than 2 hrs? Has anyone had any success with this? Currently she only eats little bits of finger foods, (fruits & vegies mainly) mostly just bites little bits off, sucks & chews for a while, then spits most out. She's def interested in eating, but won't actually eat much. Should i give her something more filling? I once gave her a piece of essene (sprouted wheat) bread & it seemed to block her up for 2 days, so i don't know if she's ready for that sort of thing yet. Someone suggested oatmeal, but she's not a big fan of spoon feeding...<br>
ANy suggestions would be great!<br>
Thanks, Trish

 

[maxsmum]

my child eats solids and still wakes at night quite often

 

[SandraS]

No, that's a myth. More solids can actually aggravate sleep, when it comes to sensitivies, gas, etc.

 

[alegna]

Nope.<br><br>
-Angela

 

[425lisamarie]

Not even. In fact, now that we can't keep DD away from all the food in the house, she sometimes wakes up to poop in the middle of the night!

 

[Jenifer80]

It's not the solids that will help them sleep more at night, but the actual feedings during the day that I have noticed. DS2 sleeps much better at night when he has nursed/ate more often during the day. He is almost 9mo and he is not too kean on solid foods. He'll eat one serving of oatmeal a day, but that's it- if even that.<br>
Maybe step-up the BFing during the day?

 

[amore74]

Is she actually eating or is she nursing just so she can go back to sleep?<br><br>
My Ds is 9 months and still wakes up several times at night but I don't believe it's because he is hungry. He wakes up and needs my nipple to fall back asleep. More like a pacifier than anything else. we co-sleep so it doesn't bother me at all.<br><br>
I don't think increasing solids before going to sleep will help. Like someone mentioned, it might make him gassy. Just like what happens to us if we eat too much at night. Maybe increasing his breastfeeding during the day might help you but it really hasn't helped me. I've tried that too.<br><br>
I think when they're this small they have short sleep cycles and they wake up often. My DS happens to not know how to "soothe himself back to sleep" like some books suggest (that's ridiculous! and I'd never expect that from him).

 

[iadoremybabe]

I think it might be a myth. We even tried turkey before bed thinking maybe the tryptophan would aid in solid sleep. Nope.

 

[BathrobeGoddess]

moving to life with a babe...

 

[Erin M]

My dd is almost 8 months old and she is definately sleeping longer now that she eats 3 meals a day. She is a HUGE eater. She went from nursing every 2 hours at night to sleeping 4-5 hours, sometimes longer. If for some reason she has a small dinner and a lot of nursing before bed she wakes up a lot more. But she's not tasting bits of food, the kid is self feeding a huge volume of food at every meal.

 

[pishajane]

Thanks for all the replies. I thought it prob wouldn't work, but i'm gettin a little desperate for sleep, so i'm willing to try a few new things! I'll try the extra BM during the day & see if that helps, otherwise i guess i'll just have to wait... it's a cruel system!

 

[jessekc]

no, not at all.

 

[hergrace]

Have you thought about the possibility of a food sensitivity? The lactaction consultant I worked with when DS was little always recommended eliminating all dairy proteins from mom's diet if a baby was waking that frequently to see if that was the problem.

 

[Kailey's mom]

My daughter eats solids 3x/day, snacks..and is still up to eat at night..definitily a myth. I was so tired on night that I gave her cereal as I was told that will make her sleep longer, OMG what a nightmare, let's just say we were both up all night (poor baby!