Does cereal really help them sleep...

amanda1680

I swore I would not start cereal until 6 months (actual age), but I am losing my mind from sleep deprivation.  I promise this will be my last post about sttn.  I have tried close to everything to get this kid to sleep at night.  Last night was brutal.  I cried and yelled, and I feel terrible.  My kid will be 5 months old on Friday, how much longer is this going to last??  The pedi actually told us at her 4 mo appt that we could give cereal to help her sleep.  I totally rolled my eyes and told DH, "No way."  At this moment in time, however, I am actually entertaining the thought.  I am desperate.  DH just keeps saying "Give her some cereal."  Has anyone started cereal for this reason, and did it work??  I realize I'm grasping at straws here.  Slap some sense into me. 

jkchs2003

I give LO cereal every couple of days after her "dinner" feeding and she doesn't sleep any different. Granted I don't give her a whole lot, just about a tablespoon worth.

kimbo1216

Studies say it's inconclusive either way.  Most say it's coincidence if it does help.  Old schoolers say it definitely helps.

I am in the same boat as you.  If the pedi approves cereal tomorrow, we will start it by spoon before bed. I don't have a firm belief in waiting until 6 months to start solids.  We will introduce a little at a time though.  We will probably wait to start purees and such until 5.5 or 6 months--maybe around Thanksgiving.  Not a lot, just tasted to see how she does and we will let her tell us how much to give.

She is not doing the tongue reflex and is showing more interest in our stuff, so we will see how it goes. 

Telly21182

I've heard it's just a coincidence when LOs sleep better after rice cereal.

I planned on waiting until 6 months to introduce any kind of cereal or solid, but Ty doesn't seem to stay too satisfied and so I think I'm going to introduce rice cereal around the end of the month (he'll be 4 1/2 months then), and then solids about a month later.  If he miraculously starts seeming satisfied then I'll hold off, but at this rate I feel like no amount of BM is filling him up! 

Spartanmama722

I'm in the same boat with sucky sleep still. Last night there was crying from both me and Ev when he'd already woken up 4 times and had been awake at that point for over an hour and I just couldn't deal with him being awake anymore, so I totally know how you feel. I asked our pedi whether cereal would help his sleep at his four month appointment and she said the research she's done shows it really doesn't help. If she hadn't told us to wait until 6 months for solids I might have tried it anyway though - I'm at the point where I'm open to anything (safe) that could possibly help with Ev's sleep.

 

LaRue86

I am on the NO side of the argument. Avery has reflex and we have to add cereal to every bottle. He had been STTN, but as we have added more and more cereal (per doctors instruction) his sleep has regressed. His reflux is a lot better, but he wakes at least 2x per night now. He gets approx 6 tbls of cereal a day, 1 tbls per bottle

brobin01

So as another sleep deprived mommy, I have tried cereal and cereal mixed with banana..It helped her sleep from 9pm-12am..after that, LO woke up and wanted to have a party. Last night, I just said eff sleep. I was so tired! But I turned on the lights, played with her and finally she fell back to sleep about 3:30am, then woke at 6:30am. So if I were you, I would give it a try. Feed baby cereal first, let baby's food settle, then bath, then bottle. See if it works. GL honey!!

P.S. we start her off in her crib, and then end up co-sleeping. That certainly doesn't help. She just twists, turn and fuss all night! It's like nothing satifies her. Then I nurse her, she falls asleep nursing, and then as soon as I close my eyes, she's up again..fussing! All I can say is hang in there.

Turtle143

I'm sorry. You may remember from your reply to my pity party post the other day that I'm in the same boat as you. Last night was worse for us too. She was up at 4am and finally went back down to sleep at 6 then up again at 9.

Our pediatrician told us anywhere from 4 to 6 months is fine to start rice cereal, but like you I wanted to wait longer. I've certainly thought about giving her the rice cereal (we already bought the stuff, everything is ready to go!) but I'm not sure it will help her sleep at night. I think people think it will slow their gastric emptying and maybe they will feel full for longer period and thus will help them sleep for longer periods.

I'm never any help with this. Like I said...we're in the same boat.

We are now co-sleeping and that doesn't help either. I think I'm going to "pimp" the book Hepcats recommended on my thread.

GL and know that you're not alone!

DramaMama06

i'm there with ya. J wakes up at 1 :30 and the EVERY 30 MIN... we're going to give solids a try and see what happens.

amanda1680

Thanks for all the support, ladies.  I've said it before... while I don't wish it on anyone, it's nice to know that I'm not alone.  I don't know if we'll end up trying the cereal or not.  I'm not really comfortable with co-sleeping, plus I feel like that would be just one more habit to "break" down the road.  She doesn't even sleep better with us anyway.  *Sigh*  I don't know.  I just keep hoping that one night, she'll "get it" and just sleep.  I would be estatic if she just got up once or twice.  I'm rambling now.... anyway, thanks again for the support, you ladies are the best. 

Brooklyn2577

L is not STTN either.  Last night we were up at 11:30, 1:30, 3:30, 6:20.  I posted on FB today that my new motto is Sleep is for the weak.  While I know eventually I will sleep again, it sure doesn't feel like it right now.

My two friends that have babies close in age to L said they do cereal and their kids are not sleeping any differently.

aanchor

I started giving Keaton rice cereal last week (I know it is really early but I was desperate as well), he gets 1 tbsp before his evening bottle and it has helped him sleep longer.  He isn't sleeping through the night but he is sleeping for 5 hours which is much better than what he was doing.  I say give it a try!

kas80

When I went back to work I couldn't handle the sleep deprivation like I could when I was at home (no naps to help me out) and we started cosleeping just so momma could get a bit more sleep.  Now, she flat out refuses to sleep anywhere except our bed, with us.  She won't sleep in any room she's alone in, she won't sleep in the PnP next to our bed, of course won't sleep in her crib.

So for what it's worth, I would go with your hunch to not start bed sharing in case your LO reacts the same way ours did.

I was firmly in the no solids until 6 months camp but I think I may start some at 5 months just in hope that it will help with her sleep.  Also we have a lot of other things we've marked at 6 months (sleep training, starting the weaning from BFing process) so I don't want too much change happening all at once.

Turtle143

amanda1680:

Thanks for all the support, ladies.  I've said it before... while I don't wish it on anyone, it's nice to know that I'm not alone.  I don't know if we'll end up trying the cereal or not.  I'm not really comfortable with co-sleeping, plus I feel like that would be just one more habit to "break" down the road.  She doesn't even sleep better with us anyway.  *Sigh*  I don't know.  I just keep hoping that one night, she'll "get it" and just sleep.  I would be estatic if she just got up once or twice.  I'm rambling now.... anyway, thanks again for the support, you ladies are the best. 

This is my fear too! This morning she napped in her crib for 40 minutes but I think she was just too exhausted from last night. 

sunset+skies

I'm pretty sure it's MOSTLY a coincidence that D's started STTN since we started with rice cereal before bed.

We'd been working for just over 2 weeks on soothing him back to sleep by means other than feeding throughout the night. So that, combined with a fuller belly at bed time probably helped. 

AeL347

as a mom of 2, I've found that the best way to get baby to sleep is to ensure that baby gets good naps during the day (an overtired baby sleeps worse than a well-rested baby), and then get on some bedtime routine... bath, lotion massage, BF/bottle, story, song, swaddle, then sleep... do the same thing EVERY night and baby will get that this is the time to sleep long.

this has worked wonders for us!  Nighttime sleep routine gets my vote over rice cereal - I had no luck with this for DD#1 (I think it actually upset her tummy at first).