My baby girl is over 4 months and is the size of a 6 month old. Maybe there are other factors involved, but it seems that when I feed her cereal (rice) during the day one or two times that she wakes up during the night starving and sucks down a whole bottle (formula). When I feed her just bottles, she sleeps the whole night. What's the deal? Shouldn't it have the opposite effect? Should I wait to feed her cereal until she's like 6 months? Or do any of you have any other suggestoins? Please help. (I asked a similiar question earlier, but failed to mention that when she wakes up that she is usually hungry. She used to sleep the whole night pretty consistently.
2007-01-17 04:08:37 · 17 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
As many have already said, wait until your daughter is 6 months to begin cereal. Size doesn't necessitate the need for cereal. The formula provides enough calories alone at this age. Just feed her last bottle right before you go to bed at night. It may be a growth spurt; give it a couple of weeks and she should be sleeping through the night again on formula only.
2007-01-19 08:25:51 · answer #1 · answered by bgirl79 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It has long been a common misconception that feeding babies solids at an early age will help them sleep longer. However, repeated studies have shown this not to be the case although some parents swear it works. Until a baby is about 6 months old, all her nutritional needs are met by drinking breast milk and/or formula. When solids are first introduced, the intent should be to supplement formula/breast milk feedings and not to replace them. If her tummy is filled up with rice cereal, she will not drink enough formula/breast milk to satisfy her nutritional needs thus making her more hungry with the cereal than without it. Infant rice cereal is limited in the amount of actual nutrients and vitamins it contains as compared to the formula/breast milk. Your baby will show you signs when she is ready to begin solids. Watch for her to have good head and neck control so she can eat without a "bobbly" head. If she is pushing her tongue against the spoon then she has not yet lost the natural tongue-thrust reflex that baby's use to nurse or suck from a bottle. She will also show interest in others eating by watching the food go from the plate to your mouth, she may reach for the food, and open her mouth whenever food on silverware goes past her. There is no reason to begin a baby on solids until he/she is ready to. I would suggest that you give her a full bottle first than offer a few bites of cereal if she finishes all of the formula and still seems hungry. If she continually leaves some milk in her bottle then she is getting enough to eat with the bottle and doesn't need any solids at this time. A baby can stop nursing or drinking from a bottle when she is full simply by not sucking anymore, but does not have the skills yet to let you know when she is full when eating solids from a spoon. She will need to be able to turn her head away or push the spoon away before she is able to let you know she is full. This is a skill she will not develop until she is a little older.
2007-01-17 05:01:20 · answer #2 · answered by sevenofus 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You should give her bottles too even though you have fed her rice cereal. At 4 months old you might want to talk with your Pediatrician about feeding of rice cereal at this time in her life. Also you might want to thin down the rice cereal to a milky consistency. If you are feeding her a more solid form of rice cereal it could be constipating her waking her up, putting a bottle in her mouth will quiet her down. But that doesn't always mean she is hungry.
2007-01-17 04:16:33 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all if your doctor told you to start solids then stick with that. I would talk to your doctor regarding the concerns of her waking up at night. I don't quite understand why everyone get so upset when people go on this website and tell others that there child eats cereal at 4 months. My child is 4 months old and we have just started him on CEREAL. The doctor told me he is totally ready for it. I would stick to what your doctor says and not Yahoo Answers!! A doctor knows best what is right or wrong for your child. My son has also been sleeping through the night since he was 8 weeks old!! Good Luck!
2007-01-17 04:34:26 · answer #4 · answered by mommymatthews 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Maybe she is she getting used to the cereal and now the formula isn't filling her up. The only suggestions I can think of are either wait until she's 6 months or try feeding her some cereal right before she goes to bed. Good Luck!
2007-01-17 04:14:36 · answer #5 · answered by Aaliyah & Natalie's Mommy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a myth that starting solids will have a baby sleeping through the night. If you are breastfeeding it's best to wait until the baby is 6 months before starting solids since breastmilk is all the baby needs until then. However a baby can be started at 4 months on rice cereal. They need to be able to sit supported ina high chair, take food from a spoon and move it to the back of their mouth to swallow.
2007-01-17 04:24:22 · answer #6 · answered by Melissa 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
total grains should not be began till infant is 6 months. the first cereal i might want to attempt is rice cereal - It has no fiber. Then i might want to upload oat and barley in any order. starting up toddlers on solids at 6 months is a clean one by technique of me. Remeber to study out how a lot formulation he's getting such as his solids. He should be taking in between 32 and 40 oz. an afternoon... yet he might want to no longer be taking thirteen bottles an afternoon... attempt to consolidate the bottles into 6 or 8 ounce bottles... highly those interior the breakfast, lunch, and time for dinner slots. best of success
2016-10-15 08:54:48 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She may not be ready for solids yet. I fed my children cereal till they were 6 months and solids once in a while not every meal or everyday. She may be consipated or it can cause heartburn sometimes. Just try feeding her cereal every other day till she is 6 months and the solids try twice a week. Good luck and congrats on the baby.
2007-01-17 04:14:36 · answer #8 · answered by smile114 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
is she eating a bottle before bed or just cereal??
my son is 4 months, sleeps through the night and bigger baby, like yoru daughter!
he eats cereal and baby food about 3 times a day, i started him early b/c he's such a hungry boy.
i give him dinner (cereal w/ baby food) at about 5 or 6 pm, then he'll nap and then he'll eat a bottle before bed at about 8-8:30.
if she is just gettting cereal before bed, then that may bethe problem. give her cereal around dinner time and then a bottle before bed. that way she will go to bed on a full tummy.
also, i thicken my son's bottle's with cereal to help it stay down (he's a spitter!) and that may help her tummy stay fuller. add about 1 teaspoon to every 2oz. i don't have issues with it not coming out the nipple either, but if you do, then just poke an extra hole or two in it.
take care.
2007-01-17 04:17:28 · answer #9 · answered by joey322 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
When you just start solids, it's all a game for babies. They don't realize it's food and that they are supposed to fill up with it. So, most of it ends up on the bib and doesn't get into their stomachs. It is normal for babies to get hungry immediately after being fed solids. My son has been on solids for over 3 months now, and he still asks for milk almost immediately after chomping down on his cereal/fruit/veggies! Our doc said it's normal and it takes a long, long time for babies to understand that it's food!
If you're referring to the common misconception that solids help babies sleep longer... it's a myth and has not been proven by any studies.
Don't worry, and good luck!
2007-01-17 04:14:01 · answer #10 · answered by DM 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋