Weaning and sleeping

[CricketSoph]

I've read the BLW blog (and the dutch page) and this BLW malarky does look like a good idea.... BUT my DD is 4 months and 1 week and was awake hungry every 11/2 to 2 hours last night. She's exclusively BF and genuinely did seem hungry - nothing but boob would settle her and when presented with boob she got down to the job in hand with much sucking and swallowing and then fell asleep.
The blog seems to suggest in such situations that she doesn't need baby rice, she needs more milk but how? If I try and feed her during the day when she's not asking to be fed, she gets into a horrible snacky cycle of small feeds every hour or so and i'm not convinced she's getting any more milk overall anyway. Also to add in to the mix, she had some calpol yesterday lunchtime because her teeth really seemed to be playing her up and her tongue push reflex thingy seems v strong at the moment - her dungarees won't be getting tooth ache thats for sure :-)
My HV seems to be pretty good in that she does say wait to 6 months to wean (but also says that be prepared for the baby to be being fed every 2 hours by this stage if you do wait) but HV looking after my friends (similar ages) say baby rice will help them sleep. I know this makes no sense as baby rice is less calorific but has anyone experienced getting more sleep once a baby starts solids at this age? I know it would have to be spooned gloop...
Sorry, essay post but I'm not at my best... knackered :-( is there anyone whose baby started to sleep more when offered baby rice? if not, how do i get more milk into her?

hi cs, imo it hasnt made any difference in dd's case sorry at least not initially and in fact it can have opposite effect as their digestive systems have to learn how to cope with 'digesting'. can actually make them more unsettled depending on what time you feed them of course

should add that dd was a frequent feeder too and has only just started spacing out at nearly 7 months (she is on 'solids' now too)... sorry probably not the best person to reply!

Thanks tibsy. It does seem like theres not a lot i can do then. i think it feels worse because DD used to be such a good sleeper; from about 5 weeks to about 3 months she slept 8pm - 5am with no probs at all. Then at about 3 months she caught a cold and we thought that once that was gone she'd go back to sleeping through but it seems that was just wishful thinking and she's actually getting worse at sleeping not better

cs - dd had a 'good period' although not as good as yours! then became ill and it all went pear shaped. i'm all for baby led breast feeding, but dd would have been a permanent fixture if i'd have let her!! (some days i did if she was under the weather )
anyway, if you're feeling fed up with lack of sleep, join us on the new 'SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK' thread, we do have some ideas, but unfortunately as the thread suggests, we're not getting much sleep.

hopefully someone else will post with some other ideas too

Sleep does seem to go a bit random when they hit 4 months, judging from my experience and that of my friends. I waited until 6 months to wean (DS is bf) and his sleeping did settle down a lot on his own just before 6 months (i.e. before solids). Then of course he got a bad cold and 2 teeth so it all went up in the air again

Some people will tell you that their babies started sleeping better after they started giving baby rice at 4 months, but they will never know whether this was coincidence or not...

4 month growth spurt. you either ride it out, or you wean early and say it was the weaning that settled things.

replies have made me feel a bit better, thanks! if it is a growth spurt BD (great name BTW!) how long roughly can I expect it to last?
just hope that my friends' babies don't settle better on solids... i'm already viewed as the hippy-dippy one in the group and i think it will be difficult to stay strong and wait for 6 months if i get the "just give her baby rice, my HV said the 6 months advice is only for developing countries really"

you could tell them that babies in the UK and babies everywhere in the world including "developing countries" have the same or similar rates of gut development, and that the current advice is that babies' guts are ready for solid food around 6 months, not at around 4 months. hopefully that will stop them.

oh, and 4 month growth spurt - DS2's lasted around a week to 10 days. No idea if that's normal or not though!

depends on your baby tbh. sometimes a week or so, sometimes longer. you have to think of the 4-6 month period as a major milestone for a baby. it's kind of when they stop being a brand new born baby, start being more aware of life in general, start playing properly..kind of (!), and it's also when they start thinking about moving, rolling , sitting, pushing up on their front. it's like over load for them.

also, it's when, as a mum, you've probably half managed to get some sort of vague routine organised, you're starting to get sick of sleepless nights, you may also be starting to think about returning to work if you took the 6 months off, so then there may be childcare to sort etc, you've got people in your ear asking if he's on solids, asking if he's sleeping through....it's like a major time for things to seem stressful again when you thought you had it all in check. and you know what, if you just take each day as it comes, soon enough you'll be out the other side..

i know, i know. difficult to say that though because it looks like i'm saying their choice to wean early is wrong (which it is but i don't want to say it to their faces!)
I think it just seems more intuitive to those who haven't looked at the research to say that babies develop faster in countries with better nutrition/health care therefore they'll be ready for solids sooner.... tbh that seems like a sensible argument to me sometimes and i HAVE read a lot of the research.
ho hum, at least you've confirmed what i thought!

sorry, "i know I know" post in response to Clairemow's what to say suggestion.

Think I will ride with it for a couple of weeks and see where we're at then. Seems much more manageable to think in terms of 2 week blocks rather than the 8 weeks to wait til she's 6 months old.

Just wanted to complete the story in case anyone searches this in the future - looks like it was a growth spurt as she's now back to waking once only (touching wood, fingers crossed etc)

I went through the same quandry and this is where we are now - My DD was exclusively BF to 6 months and would eat loads, still woke at night every couple of hours. I thought weaning her would solve it but tbh it has not completely worked (yet). She has just started 3 meals a day (on Tuesday). She still wakes every 45 minutes between being put to bed at 7 - 8 and midnight - 1am. Then she sleeps until 7 - 8am. It is an improvement but she is obviously filling up in the late evening for her long stretch. It has certainly not been the overnight miracle some would have us believe.

Stick with the BF if you can, lo may slow down on wieght gain but so long as she does not lose wieght and is a good size to start you are OK.

Every HV you speak to will have a differing opinion. Go with your instinct and you will be fine

dd's 4 month growth spurt lasted just under a fortnight. i was mix-feeding because i couldn't get my milk production up so i really noticed that she was drinking twice the amount of formula. i remember taking her into bed at night a lot and co-sleeping with her on the breast, have you tried that?

and ruth, i remember dd's sleep going haywire at abouht 10 months, i think it was becasue her tummy was being filled with less calorific solids too close to bed time, so i moved teatime back to 4-ish and she slept fine.

In my experience solids have no effect on sleep. DS has just had a growth spurt this last weekend. (He is 2yrs 8 months & eats a LOT of solids anyway btw). His solids intake increase dramatically and he actually ate more than me on Friday & saturday ....yet he still woke 3 times on Saturday & sunday night for some extra bm.