baby rice -early weaning - sleep...help!

[Monstermonkeymum]

Not really a sleep question (I don't think) so bear with it being in this topic as wasn't sure whether to post in here or sleep! Ds is 18 weeks, ebf, and a big lad - 19lb 7. He is slap in the middle I think of the 4 month sleep regression and has dropped to 5-7 wakes a night (never a good sleeper anyway) and feeds for most. Dp has just started to feel the pain of this, as he has been roped in to take ds in the morning for an hour so I can survive the day. My feelings are that this is developmental and after lots of reading up, that we just have the weather the storm. However, after a one off phone call with mil, dh came upstairs and announced we were to start with baby rice and this would solve all our problems as he is clearly just hungry, a big lad etc, and was annoyed that I didn't see this as a solution or want to start any sort of solids early. I have read him all the research on it, but he is still not convinced and says that the web sites will all say something different in a couple of years, and I just wanted to get some personal comments from other parents on early solids / baby rice etc to see if experiences support this or not. So, has anyone weaned early, was it worth it, did it help with sleep, is baby rice okay at 4 and a half months etc? Thanks!

[Littlef00t]

I've heard that sleep regression shouldn't be more than 4 weeks and after that it's habit. Is he still sleeping in with you because I'd rather move into own room (against SIDS advice) than wean (against nhs advice), as babies are apparently more easily woken from 4 'months.

How does he fall asleep for naps and bedtime? If it's not by himself, you'll probably get more luck working on self settling than weaning.

[Helpys]

Baby rice is low calorie and bland- but the older generation seemed obsessed with it. Why not try him on porridge or mashed up bananas. Never add anything to milk, it's a choke risk and IME leads to a slippery slope of chocolate milk, juice etc- cavity risk.

[Monstermonkeymum]

At least I know I'm not alone with the ridiculous sleep wake ups...I never even heard of sleep regression until recently. They don't advertise that one in the fluffy world of having a baby - at least not the one I imagined! To be honest, when dp first said about rice, apart from annoyance at him, you do hope don't you, that it might be an answer make or make a difference, especially as ds seems to have so many wake ups compared to other babies. But I can see him changing by the day, so there had to be a huge amount going on in his little head which must account for the restlessness.

[Monstermonkeymum]

Working on self settling now. Going really well in day, just got to be braver at night when we still rock to sleep. Hard though when so tired, as you just want them settled as soon and solidly as poss so you can attempt an hours sleep. Not helping ourselves there though. Waiting for dp to have a few days off rather than do that one alone, or I may well do something more daft than put the toothpaste in the fridge from exhaustion. ..

[Jinty64]

I started giving all mine a bottle of formula before bed (I had to start with ds1 & 2 as I had to go back to work on night shift when they were 14 weeks). I found that really made a difference. Ds1 started to sleep right through with it and ds2 & 3 would go for 5-6 hours.

[Poppet45]

The babyrice does bugger all... and unlike fruit and veg purees its nutritionally pretty worthless but high in arsenic(!) so well worth avoiding as a first food. The arsenic content is the reason rice milk for eg says its unsuitable for under threes. Early weaning is linked to allergies and obesity so again its not really selling itself. The four month sleep regression is thought to be caused in part by a dev leap but also a peak in reflux and silent reflux symptoms due to an intolerance to cows milk protein which affects both ff and via the mums diet bf babies. With that amount of wakings I'd be seriously looking to reduce the dairy in my diet to traces at most and see if ithelped. About 40% of babies have a transient problem w dairy which gives them awful heartburn. And about 24% are affected by soya too. If these foods are the culprit and your strict, although it takes 3-6 weeks to totally leave your system - you should notice quite a big impact within a week. Bm is a natural antacid and larger babies with cmpi often feed frequently when laid flat at night to ease their heartburn. Have to say I'd rather wean early and face its hazards than move baby to own room and face a rather more life threatening risk

[tmae]

I can't help much I don't think but I have a big baby too, 5 months and over 21lbs, EBF, and he tends to sleep through the night so it sounds developmental to me. He might be hungry in which case he needs milk as it will provide the best nutrition for him instead of filling him up with empty calories. People tried to put pressure on me to wean early too as he is big so must be hungry but I think he seems happy enough with his milk so haven't given in.