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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To wonder if the obsession with getting babies to sleep through is contributing to obesity problems

15 replies

Wrigglebum · 04/04/2013 12:09

I was just googling getting some ideas for what to do about ds2's sleep (wakes a lot still at 11 months). Most of the advice out there seems to focus on getting as much food and/or milk into your baby in the hope they'll sleep l

OP posts:

Original poster

Wrigglebum · 04/04/2013 12:13

Bollocks, posted too soon. Bloody iPhone!
Anyway, in the hope they'll sleep longer in a carb induced stupor

I know you can't force a baby to eat (I'm looking at you ds1 ), but surely if you're always offering over and above what they need it could somehow reset their appetite to over eating?

Just idly musing really.

OP posts:

scaevola · 04/04/2013 12:14

If that were the case, the obesity crisis would surely have been raging much worse in previous generations, where both sleeping though and prescriptive feeding were common 'obsessions'.

Original poster

Wrigglebum · 04/04/2013 12:17

Good point scaevola, I think it's mostly down to portion size inflation and far too much sugar and processed crap.

I'm so careful not to make my children finish their plate etc as I want them to listen to their appetite, not just gorge themselves.

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cheeseandcrackers · 04/04/2013 12:26

From the title, I thought you meant the effect a non-sleeping child had on its parents' risk of obesity as a result of the large quantities of chocolate and cake required to get through sleep training nights...

For what it's worth, no amount of food had any effect on ds's (non) sleeping patterns.

Nyunya · 04/04/2013 12:32

That advice seems to be based on the assumption that babies only wake at night because they're hungry.

Even though we have night weaned dd she still wakes 2-3 times.

Original poster

Wrigglebum · 04/04/2013 13:01

Yes, I'm just accepting I have a non sleeper! Trying to stretch out the feeds now and cut them out eventually- will give up bf soon and I don't want to be heating milk at 2am.

I have just successfully weaned myself off dr pepper and chocolate so at least there's some weaning progress!

OP posts:

mumofweeboys · 04/04/2013 13:56

I think after your first u just except some sleep, some dont, it doesnt matter how much u feed them. My nearly 2 year old often wakes during the night, he settles quickly and Iv just accepted its how he is.

wibblyjelly · 04/04/2013 14:09

6 mth old ds has just started sleeping through the night. I can understand why people think that giving them food helps babies sleep more, as I had just started weaning ds. However, he has also started moving a lot more, and I think it is more to do with being tired than the food.

Squarepebbles · 04/04/2013 14:29

Doubt it.

In the 60s you were encouraged to have a fat,chubby baby.Raw egg and rusks were used to pad out baby milk.

No obesity epidemic in the years that followed as kids got exercise,didn't eat junk and weren't sat in front of screens all day.

Fairylea · 04/04/2013 14:34

I don't think it's about cramming them to the point of bursting. It's more about making sure they have the opportunity to consume all their daily calories during the day rather than letting them sleep for 6 hours during the day, them waking up twice a night looking for milk and the parent wondering why.

Of course some babies are non sleepers. No amount of milk or whatever else will work until they are ready to sleep!

But for my two dc I made sure they didn't sleep longer than 2 hours during the day and when they woke I fed them (as well as feeding on demand) and they both slept through from about 9-10 weeks.

Fairylea · 04/04/2013 14:35

When I say 2 hours I mean 2 hours in one go as little babies... and adjusting naps as they get older.

noblegiraffe · 04/04/2013 14:40

My 9 week old cluster fed last night for hours, finally finishing at midnight. I was hoping for a big long sleep to follow, but she woke up after a mere three hours hoping for some more food.

extremepie · 04/04/2013 14:53

I know one couple who this is true for - their son would constantly wake at night and every time he did they gave him a full bottle of formula/cows milk. Consequently he was probably the chubbiest baby I have ever seen and not in a good way - he was in size 6 nappies by the time he was 1 and kept getting rashes in all his 'folds' because he was so big!

They were just doing their best though, I know they were exhausted and didn't know what else to do :( As it turned out their son was diagnosed with ASD and my ASD son has similar issues with sleep and milk so no amount they gave him would have helped.

innermuddle · 04/04/2013 15:09

I wonder if the increase in obesity has more to do with the increase in processed food. I think I remember reading somewhere that reduced fat & sugar in foods confuses the body's hungerand fullness signals so that people who eat low fat and sugar products eat more calories overall.

Tee2072 · 04/04/2013 15:25

The increase in obesity is due to portion size and fear of letting our children play outside.

How many of you, during the school holidays, said good bye to your mum at 7 and came home when it got dark after running around with your friends all day? How many of you let your kids do the same?

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