My 3 month old is waking up to eat 3 times a night, should I give him cereal?

Question

He is breastfed and does't eat well when he does wake up to eat.

Answer 1

Thats normal for a breastfed baby that young. Your breast milk is specially designed for your baby's tummy. Its so easily digested allowing them to get every little bit from it. Thus their tummy's don't stay full for long, in turn causing them to wake up and need to eat more often. Giving him/her cereal is just going to replace that full tummy of breast milk with something he cant digest as well if at all given his age. His digestive track isn't as developed, the cereal could do more harm than good. All you'll be doing is making his tummy work harder at something it cant digest properly, making him sleep longer while depriving his developing body of what he needs most.

Welcome to being a mommy, sleep is sometimes a sacrifice to give our children the best. Instead of being frustrated when he wakes at 3am to feed AGAIN, be happy that you've chosen to give him the greatest start possible to life.

Answer 2

No, don't put him onto solids until 4 months at the earliest! My daughter is almost 5 months old and she still sometimes wakes up more than once or twice a night. He will gradually go for longer in the night. Once he's 4 months old try giving him some banana at, say, 2 or 3pm which will give him plenty of time to digest it before bed, but will also keep him full for a bit longer.

Answer 3

Giving a baby cereal will not guarantee that your child will start sleeping better. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it doesn't. So why do it? It is recommended that you wait until at least 4 months of age to give any kind of solid food and if you can wait until 6 months its even better. I didn't start my son on cereal until he was 5 months even though his doctor suggested I start at 4 months. My son wasn't ready for it because he wasn't ready for a spoon.

Also if you do give cereal you are to give it with a spoon and not in a bottle.

Answer 4

Many Babies below 6 months will wake up that many times each night because their stomachs can't hold that much. Breast milk digests very easily, too. Cereal is good as a thickener for reflux babies but it doesn't make them sleep through the night. He's waking up because he's hungry - chances are he's a 'grazer'. When he gets older and he's still doing that then you try and tackle it, but right now, it's his show.

Answer 5

No food yet!

My kids got breastmilk, but I had to pump it and give them bottles. They were never good with the boob, and on whim I tried a bottle and they drained it and slept for 7 hours straight! It was heavenly for me to sleep that long, too!

You can get good electric breast pumps at Babies R Us. It frees you up to pump when you want, and even if you're not home they can have your milk! Imagine this...a babysitter can give her a bottle while you and your hubbie are out for dinner!!

Breast milk can be frozen, it can stay out longer at room temperature than formula, you can put it in a bottle and feed your kids anywhere without having to whip out the boobs. I would try pumping and bottles. I tried all the bottles out there and liked Avent the best.

Please keep up with the breastmilk even if you have to pump it. They have better immune systems when they get your milk. My kids have NEVER had ear infections, get colds about twice a year and only see their pediatrician for well baby check ups. Your child will be healthier in the long run.

Best of luck to you!!

Answer 6

You sound like your actually feeding him toooo much. I think he just needs to be nurtured back to sleep. Tuck him in tight in his blanket, give him a pacifier, turn on some music or white noise, turn him on his side and gently pat his back... he will go to sleep guranteed. Now its normal to have to feed him once during the night this is acceptable.. but 3 times ... NO WAY! Also at 3 months you can start giving them cereal, my doctor said it was fine.. but with my daughter I didn't really notice that impacting her sleep at all. Good luck.. It will get better!

Answer 7

no baby's that age can not eat cereal it's just he is not getting full with the breast milk u might want to give him the baby formula !!! but that is perfectly normal at that age if u are breastfed

Answer 8

before he goes to bed give him a bottle of milk with a pinch of cereal in it. try that and if that doesn't work then move up to two pinches a night and so on.if he does get constipated, which he might then give him a bottle of water too and he will go within a couple of days. good luck and i hope you get some sleep soon!

Answer 9

If he doesn't eat well when you do feed him, I wouldn't give him cereal. He could be going through a sleep pattern change which is pretty normal for little ones. what i would do if it continues is give him the cereal before bed.