Can I mix breast milk and a rusk?

[Loubyloulou88]

Is it ok to mix a bit of rusk with my breast milk to give to my 7 week old in a bottle? He doesn't sleep for long after his 3am feed because he falls asleep during (and is impossible to wake - even after a nappy change!)

Hoping that a bit of rusk in his milk will help to fill him a bit more so he sleeps longer. Any thoughts?

Do not do this! It's dangerous from a choking hazard point of view and from the fact that babies cannot digest anything other than milk until roughly 6 months. You could irritate your baby's gut and cause life long issues.

I'm sorry to say that babies rarely wake due to hunger. Even once weaned most babies maintain the waking pattern they had before. Your baby is waking for comfort, closeness and (from an evolutionary pov) safety from wild animals by making sure they stay close to mummy.

No, his stomach is too immature to cope with anything other than milk. You will give him tummyache and possibly permanent damage, neither of which will help him sleep better!

In principle breastmilk + rusk = yes, for a 7-week-old = no. And there are healthier things to give a baby than rusk when the time comes too.

No please don't. It's a choking hazard and it will serve to do nothing but upset the tummy. Just go with it for now he's only little. If he's falling asleep half way try undressing him so he's not so snug and warn and sleepy.

No! It is solid food, he's not ready for that yet. It will not aid sleep either.

Some babies are good sleepers, some aren't. It is very rarely to do with food.

17 weeks is the earliest you can give anything other than milk. www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/Pages/solid-foods-weaning.aspx

Your baby is way to young to give anything other then milk

Even at 17 weeks a rusk is not an ideal first food, they are full of sugar and have no real nutrition in them. Adding any type of food to a baby's bottle is very dangerous. Until they can eat off a spoon they are not old enough for solids. The NHS recommends around 6 months but never before 4 months.

7 week old babies are not, in general, good sleepers. It is hard when you are going through the worst of the sleep deprivation but it does get better in time.

Ok thank you all for your advice. I've heard of people mixing the two but didn't realise that it was probably with older babies. I'll definitely stay away from the rusks!! Will just just have to persevere and try to find ways of keeping him awake

Anything other than milk in a bottle is a no no for any baby of any age. (Other than prescribe thickeners etc for reflux)

They really can choke on the lumps that pass thru the teat.