DS almost 19 weeks, introduce solids? help! need sleep

[lilimama]

Although DS has never slept through the night,waking every three and a half hours since birth but we're now waking every hour to hour and a half and he refuses to sleep until I BF him, literally howls the house down for an hour unless I do.This has been going on for about three weeks. When we eat, he complains bitterly, something between crying and moaning, drools and makings eating, licking lips and tonguing movements. He tries to grab our plates and the other night I turned around and he went for my pizza.

I really don't want to intro solids too early, esp incase of allergies and would wait it out if the signals did not seem so clear. Or does every baby go through this. Should I ignore it? I'm getting really exhausted from lack of sleep, as he won't be calmed my DH anymore at night. Only a good long feed will let us get another hour of sleep.

Help!!!!!

You know that babies aren't meant to be introduced solids till 6 months, however mine were both 4 months (as per advice from HV), although they weren't as bad with the sleeping as your DS appears to be, they were grappling at food constantly. It worked for us.

can you co sleep?

it sounds like a growth spurt, and milk is the best thing at this stage to get him through it.

I introduced solids at five months, and it was such a hassle that I wish I'd waited until 6-7 months. It certainly didn't help with their sleeping! if only it had been that simple.

The risk of allergies is a very good reason to wait another 6 weeks or so.

As for reaching for your pizza - babies will put whatever they can grab hold of into their mouths at this stage, whether it's edible or not, it's totally normal.

My DS is 18 weeks, and I've just started introducing solids for all the same reasons as you. He's taken to it like a duck to water, absolutely loves his food, and is now only waking up once at night (he would previously wake up about 10-15 times a night).

Personally, I'd say there's no harm in trying some pureed fruit or veg. I tried DS on steamed pureed parsnip and carrot that were just lying around on my vegetable rack, and have now tried lots of things. He showed no interest in baby rice.

If your DS doesn't want it yet, he'll let you know