True or False. They will sleep better at night once they are on solids?

[donttrythisathome]

Hi
I don't know whether this should be in sleeping or weaning.

Anyway DD is six months and I am BLWing. Sometimes she eats, sometimes she doesn't and I am fine with this.

I prefer BLW for all sorts of reasons (easy, letting the baby learn herself etc).

However I have lost count of the number of people who say babies sleep better at night once they are on solids. Obviously with BLW the intake of solids is random to say the least, epecially at the start.

DD is waking a lot for the last month or so, She used sleep through more or less.

So what do you think? If I started spoonfeeding her three meals a day might she sleep better?

Or would it not make a blind bit of difference?

my DD was an awful sleeper, and always has been a very good eater. Whether her tummy was full or not made not one jot of difference to her night wakings.

I'd carry on with the BLW if you are both happy with it.

It's a bit of a myth I'm afraid. From what I've read on here, most babies' sleep actually gets worse for a little while once they start weaning.

Most foods are less calorie dense than milk (although possibly slower to digest). The slow build up of quantity with BLW means less likelihood of upsetting digestion and that disturbing sleep.

Anyway, DO carry on with BLW, I bet your DD really enjoys it and it has so many benefits (IMHO).

bump

Absolute rubbish.

False I'm afraid. Bitter experience here.

True, for me, expect it is different for every DC. My DS was always a good sleeper but started to sleep less when he was ready to be weaned and longer after.

Made no difference here either! If you are happy with BLW stick with it.

My DS, now 7 mo, is spoon fed purees and his sleep has definitely got worse - I think the solids are harder to digest than milk as I can see him struggling with bowel stuff through the night, and this definitely stops him getting back to sleep if he wakes.

I'd stick with whichever weaning method is working for you! The sleep'll sort itself out eventually!

Thanks everyone.

This strengthens my resolve, though it is so hard to ignore everyone telling me I should be spoonfeeding her.

False ime.

I was v excited at the prospect of 12 hrs solid sleep when ds turned 6 months due to the double miracles of solid food and formula, neither of which he'd had up to that point.

Well, that was a big

naff all difference ime

I'm BLW too, but for my friends who did purees it made no difference at all.

For us I think it was increased activity levels that finally got DS sleeping for longer. He was a very early crawler / cruiser and that is when I saw a really difference in his sleeping / daytime naps.

Good luck!

False.

IME they start sleeping better when they start walking. Sorry.

False IME

my last two only slept when I night weaned them at a year and no4 is looking like he is going the same way.

Not that I've noticed!

Toss a coin - heads for yes and tails for no.

If your baby is a poor sleeper, then solid food will not help much, IME.

My baby didn't sleep through until he was over 2 yrs and at nearly 3 is still a poor sleeper - it's just his way, nothing can change him.

We are being punished for having an angel of a DC1 who slept for 12-15 hours every night, undisturbed.... wahhh!

False.

DC1 slept better when she... oh erm... she's 4, and still wakes regularly

True here, so it looks like it may be luck/a coincidence

False. Starting solids has no effect on the size of a baby's stomach (and therefore how often they need feeding).

false false false - and i'd so set my heart on it. i can still feel the disappointment.

but they all sleep in the end.

and they're babies for such a short time (i've been ironing name tags into uniform again, enough to make anyone wistful for pre-school days!)

rubbish - she's been on solids for 2 and a half years - still doesn't sleep.

I don't really think it makes a helluva difference. I was lucky in that DD started sleeping through from around 8 weeks.

She's 9 monhts old now on a varied diet. What I CAN say, is when she eats awfully little at dinner (5 o'clock) she sleeps till 4.30 in the morning. When she eats a hearty dinner with lots of protein and veg, she sleeps till about 5.30. So I can say that her diet does make a difference as to how long she sleeps.

But no, it doesn't make babies sleep 'through'. In actual fact, starting solids might even make them wake up a time or 2 more for a week or 2. (Reaching new milestone, new digestive function etc)

false- every time

If you are feeding vegetable and fruit purees then no, it makes no difference, but once they are starting to eat a fair amount of food like meat, fish, cheese sauces, potatoes then yes, I think it can make a difference. I am not doing BLW, partly for this very reason. However sleep is mostly about forming good habits and not so much about how much they've eaten.

Hmmmm... Hard to say either way.

Our dd didn't start sleeping better like magic once she was established on solids (as I'd hoped she would!). But once she was having three big meals a day as well as her breastfeeds, I felt confident that she was getting enough food in the day, could tell that she wasn't feeding properly at night as a result, and chose to night wean her. I would not and could not have done this if I had had any doubt that she was getting enough to eat. I wouldn't attempt to stop night feeds for a baby that wasn't on solids, that's for sure.

She's been sleeping through now for a month (she's 8 months). And tbh she does sleep more soundly and dropped the dream feed of her own accord since being on solids.

So in a way, yes, being on solids did help. However I don't do BLW (well not really, she has toast and stuff as finger fodos, but the rest is normal meals mashed up and spoon fed with "help" from her) so I knew she was putting away a hefty amount of food.

Do what you feel comfortable with.