Did your LO sleep better once you started weaning?

[marzipananimal]

I've heard different things about this and wondered what your experience is/was?

DS is 3.5 months and already has very good head control and grabs toys and puts them in his mouth. I definitely won't start before 4 months (and was planning to wait til 6 months) but for the last 3 weeks he's been feeding every 2.5-3.5 hours at night. I'm not sure I can cope with that carrying on til 6 months! And from what I've read there doesn't seem to be a problem with weaning from 4 months if baby seems ready (though I'm happy to be corrected if you can link to some evidence). WWYD?

personally I would rather wait, just because food is such a pain and milk is calorifically dense.

I suspect my view is coloured by that fact that weaning made both my children sleep less, not more.

I weaned at 4 and 1/2 months, Health Visitor recommended that I did, and I listened... I don't regret it as such but for a month he wasn't really interested we attempted lunch every day and most if it went in the bin (stuff I'd lovingly prepared the night before a la Annabel Karmel) it was depressing. At 5 and 1/2 months he suddenly took to it. Hes 8 months now and its going wrll.

But in answer to your question NO, he doesn't sleep any better at all!

I forgot to add my DS now has 3 meals a day, and he still wants breast feeding during the night, roughly every 3 hours.

No, not one of the 4 slept any better for being weaned.

no.

ds2 is sleeping even worse.

and i see your 2.5-3.5 hrs and raise you 40 mins - 90 mins tops.

sucks, don't it?

No. DS slept (slightly) better at 5 and a half months. Started weaning at 6 months. No difference.

No, unfortunately not!

No, worse.

The sleep pattern you're describing is not a sign of your baby needing solids. They pick up and put things in their mouths because their mouths have so many nerve endings, they're just exploring, they're not hungry.

Sitting up, loss of tongue thrust reflex, able to reach for, pick up, chew and swallow food are what you're looking for.

What you're experiencing is a combination of normal baby behaviour probably combined with growth and development spurts and the beginning of a slight sleep regression.

It's tough I know but a baby developing so quickly needs calories and frequent milk feeds will provide this.

You just do what you can to get through it.

Hasn't changed a jot. I've waited until 6 months and she's still waking up as much as when she just had milk.

Hope the sleeps improves for you soon, but I'm not convinced solids will get you there, sorry.

Oh dear! Well a mum I spoke to today said her dd started sleeping longer once they gave her baby rice so maybe it works for some [hopeful emoticon]
Maybe it's not worth thinking about starting early though if it's not likely to help
nicky at 40-90mins. How are you still alive? I only cope by going to bed when ds does at about 7.30 roughly every other day

no, sorry.
and also what someone else said-it's actually a bit more of a pain than just milk. 2.5-3.5hrs at night i would think is actually on the better side of average for this age.

No I started weaning at four and a half months, but it made no difference to sleep at all. I found that growth spurts, teething and illness were the main factors in how much sleep I got and still get. Whenever DD is going through one of the above I can guarantee that she will wake every 2 hours and she is 18 months. It is just part of being a parent with a young baby. She did by 6 months go for 5/6 hours at a stretch when none of the above were bothering her and goes longer now unless her nappy is very wet. It does get easier, try to take naps when you can if possible.

do you think it is average? my friends with babies (and those without) recoil with horror when i tell them how often he feeds :(

no, weaning made no difference, still lots of wake-ups.

your baby is def within the bounds of 'normal', aye.

i dream of 2 hrs sleep in a row. . .

My dd didn't manage longer than 2hrs until she was at least 8 months. Usually it was hourly, sometimes more frequently day and night.

Weaning made no difference at all to sleep. However it did raise my stress levels to new heights . She wasn't that interested at 6 months & didn't really get food until about 9 months. I think the feed pattern sounds pretty normal for his age TBH.

For reasons to wait try here.

My DS bf every two hours until he stopped bf at 18 months. At 4 months it was much more often and didn't sleep any better once he was weaned.

No, not a jot of difference, and like you I was really hopeful.

I did have to put a stop to constant feeding though, and as long as I knew she had fed properly, I wouldn't feed for another 3 hours once she was a few months old. This worked really well, it only took one lot of 3 hours for her to feed better and last longer.

No way do they sleep better in fact at first it is worse!

I agree with missanthropy - it sounds like developmental/growth spiurts as opposed to readiness for food. And I just wanted to say thanks to Scaredycat, what a great link! the best info on weaning I've read so far. I know it's here on MN but I didn't realise that sort of info was on here, I've just been reading posts/posting.

*spurts

Sounds like a growth spurt to me, although DS fed every 2-3 hours day or night until he was about 7 months old.

His sleep didn't improve at all until he was 8/9 months, then it got worse again and finally sorted itself out when he was about 21/22 months.

For the last 3 of mine it made not one bit of difference, even at 10 months DD2 and 3 were still waking every 2-3 hours for a feed nd that was on 3 good meals a day plus snacks.

DS is 7 months and the same, not one bit of difference he's stil up every 3 hours maybe more.

Weaning is such a faff especially in a younger baby as there's only certain food you can give them and they cannot do finger foods yet. A bit of mashed carrot or baby rice does not have enough calories to make a difference IMO