Does stage 2 rice cereal really help baby to sleep?

Question

I have recently been told that my 8 1/2 month old needs the mixed jars of rice cereal before bed because he's waking up in the night wanting to eat. They say it will make him fuller. Is this true?

Answer 1

I do know that heavier food, makes longer stretches of sleep for baby. When my twins were 2 months I started giving them the rice cereal in their formula and it extended there sleep about an hour. So, it wouldn't hurt to try and see.

If that doesn't work, you may want to begin giving him some Gerber 3rd foods. They actually have meals like Chicken Noodle Dinner and Spaghetti Tomato Sauce with beef dinner. When my kids were 8 1/2 months, I gave them these meals and they didn't need to eat until morning.

Answer 2

Yes, rice cereal will help a baby sleep longer. I'm happy to hear that your baby is over 6 months old. I personally do not believe you should feed a baby rice cereal or any solids before 6 months.

It's not jarred food. It's a dry mix that you can mix with milk or formula or breastmilk. You make it the consistency of pudding. If your baby doesn't like it, you can add applesauce or something yummy and that might help. My baby didn't really like it.

I always give my daughter dinner around 6 or 7pm, then let her eat again before bed if she's still hungry. That way, she will sleep through the night! (She's 19 months old).

Answer 3

Your baby is waking during the night because 8 month olds wake during the night. Statistically this is true. IF he is waking because he is hungry it may be because he isn't eating enough breastmilk or formula during the day. It also may be that he just isn't capable of going 11-12 hours (or even 8) without food. And there is NO food that is going to sit in the stomach for more than 3 hours, there just isn't.

Also there is no need to ever give your son babyfood at all, nor rice cereal.

Why feeding babies real food is safer and better:
http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/vast_voedsel/rapley_guidelines.html

"Cereal is not at all necessary, particularly the baby cereals. Regular (whole grain) oatmeal is more nutritious for your baby"
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/first-foods.html

"The truth is, there is nothing special about these foods that makes them better to start out with. Babies don't actually even need rice cereal."
http://askdrsears.com/faq/ci2.asp

Will giving formula or solids at night help baby to sleep better?
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-sleep.html
There's no evidence that it will help. Some babies will sleep worse, due to reactions to the formula or solids (tummy ache, etc. are not uncommon), particularly if baby is younger than around 6 months. Two studies have indicated that adding solids to the diet does not cause babies to sleep longer. These studies found no difference in the sleep patterns of babies who received solids before bedtime when compared to babies who were not given solids. Here are the two studies:

http://www.kellymom.com/parenting/sleep/sleepstudies.html

Scher A. A longitudinal study of night waking in the first year.
Child Care Health Dev 1991 Sep-Oct;17(5):295-302.

Abstract: A longitudinal study of the development of sleep patterns addressed the issue of continuity and change in night waking in the course of the first year. Mothers of 118 infants, who took part in a follow-up study of normal babies, completed a sleep questionnaire at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.

Regular night waking was a common characteristic throughout the first year:
Baby's age % babies waking at night
3 months 46%
6 months 39%
9 months 58%
12 months 55%

Armstrong KL, Quinn RA & Dadds MR. The sleep patterns of normal children.
Medical Journal of Australia 1994 Aug 1;161(3):202-6.

The above study is the definitive work on sleeping habits of (Australian) children to 38 months. The researchers surveyed 3269 parents, with a 96.5% response rate, over a one week period. The parents had to report on their child's sleeping habits over the past 24 hours, plus answer a few questions related to their perceptions of their child's sleep behavior.

What did they find?

* There is a wide range of normal childhood sleep behavior.
* Circadian rhythm is not well established until four months of age.
* Daytime sleep becomes less regular with increasing age, the most marked reduction in length occurs around 3 months of age. However, a surprising 11% under 3 months of age don't have a daytime sleep every day.
* Frequent night waking that disturbs parents is common from 4-12 months (12.7% disturb their parents 3 or more times every night).
* Night time settling requires more parental input from 18 months.
* Nearly a third of parents have a significant problem with their child's sleep behavior.
* Sleeping through the night: 71.4% did this on at least one occasion by 3 months of age, but many of these relapse into more frequent waking in the 4 to 12 month period. It is not until after 24 months that regular night waking (requiring attention) becomes much less common.

Answer 4

yes...but talk to your doc first....Heinz makes their food in stages by the month of the child....follow acorddingly...I have been giving my son a bedtime snack since he was 6 months....didn't start sleeping through the night until about a month ago....he is now 17 months....once the teeth are in and the growing pains slow down..you then may find yourself with him not waking up......

Answer 5

This will stay in his stomach longer, yes.

Answer 6

yes....i tried this with my baby and he slept great for the first few weeks.....