Not Sleeping Through the Night - Hinesville, GA

Her intestines are not ready for cereal. This will lead to problems such as abdominal pains and constipation. Stick with just the formula or breat milk for now. You can add an oz of juice to 4oz of distilled water. Good luck!

No advice of my own, but maybe try the book "The No Cry Sleep Solution" --the author covers a lot about sleeping in general (not just not crying). Maybe it will help.

I agree...every child is different. I am pregnant with my 5th child and not one was the same. Perhaps the carbs is hurting her tummy? (Refined carbs really isn't the best first food for an infant.) Perhaps, change to veggies and see if that helps.

My other thought is that perhaps she has started teething? Some do that early. They go through so many different stages and phases that it's really hard to tell what's going on at times.

Her appetite is probably growing too. Was there a reason why you started food so early? It's usually not recommended to start solids until 6 months old. Just thought I'd throw that in there. Good luck!

Hi R.,
It could be a growth spurt, and also like the others suggested, her digestive system not tolerating the cereal yet.
She has shown that she can sleep through the night without eating, so my advice would be to try to get her back to sleep when she wakes up without feeding her and see if she truly is hungry, or just having some discomfort.
Good Luck! She'll sleep through the night again soon!

My daughter did the same thing at about that age. We fed her cereal at night, mixed it with veggies, cereal then a full bottle. Still she would get up between 12 and 1 a.m. for about a month. She is now 7 months old and for about a month now she has finally stayed down. I think it's just a time to adjust to a new routine and sleeping patterns and habits. Try to keep her on a schedule and see if that helps too.

Once they have shown that they know how to sleep thru the night, you really shouldn't go in there anymore. It is best to let them cry it out and learn how to put themselves back to sleep. It is hard to do but well worth it to have them sleeping thru the night every night. Getting your sleep is very important. It shouldn't take them to long to figure out that you are not coming in.

FYI 4 months is EARLY to start solids...it could be upsetting her tummy. You did not indicate artificial milk or breastfeeding as her main source of nurtrition, but either way it is a myth that solids correspond to sleeping longer. (clearly in your experience, she was sleeping without additional foods) and babies wake up for other reasons.....

This is the time developmental milestones really begin...rolling over, sitting up and TEETHING which can cause discomfort and she may be waking to be comforted (and not necessarily hungry)

I always recommend comforting your baby, you are a parent 24 hours a day...and remember this time will pass....

C.

I'd back off the solids and see what happens. I don't think it's usually recommended until 6 mos. anyway... I know many people do it earlier but your baby might not be ready.

Are you giving her cereal morning and afternoon? Try seeing if morning and night will help. If you are giving it to her morning and night then do you have her on a set schedule? I know with some babies it helps to have one. Use the baby lavender soap and lotion to soothe them during and after a bath put on some soft music or read a story to see it that helps. It is really about trial and error. Good Luck!:)

when do you give her the cereal.

The first thing I thought was that the digestive system is not developed yet for food, and maybe it is hurting her tummy? Also, babies generally do not sleep through the night-they generally sleep a lot at first during "4th trimester" but that only lasts about 3 months. The average age of sleeping through the night is two years. She is also probably teething, even though you may not see those teeth for a while to come.

Hi R.,

I have heard that it is an old wives tale that cereal helps babies sleep through the night. I didn't give cereal to our son until he was 6 months old and he started sleeping through the night at 10 weeks. Based on my experience, with a now 15 month old son, I think that the issue is that you have a growing and changing baby- who also might be going through a growth spurt. Growth spurts supposedly only last 4-7 days so you might want to try feeding your baby in the night but after a week, you might want to get tough. In otherwords, you might want to train your baby to go back to sleep herself, which would entail not rushing in every time you hear her. This is VERY hard to do, as we did it with our son at roughly three different stages when he would start waking up. It is best if you and your husband can support each other! I can tell you, that after 2-3 nights of letting our son cry and not going in to get him, he did it! He slept ALL night (7:30pm to 7am) without waking up! (I still breastfed him at 10pm however until he was about 6 months old but he didn't really wake up for that).

C.

R.:
My children didn't have any problem with cereal. Good luck.
P. S

g

its too soon for cereal (or any solids) at 4 months old. my daughter did about the same thing, slept through the night around 3 months and then started waking up again around 4 months. like the other moms said they go through so many milestone developments in such a short period of time; rolling over, sitting up, teething, etc. its best to wait until over 6 months to start solids and any kind of sleep training, after they have their six month growth spurt. we used the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley and had great results (after 6 months). every child is different and you know your child the best. trust your instincts and follow your heart, no matter what anyone else says.

I agree... it is too early to be introducing anything but breastmilk (preferrably) or formula. Their little digestive systems are just not ready.

I would not introduce ANY dairy for the first year (and longer if you can!) And their little immune systems are just not ready for immunizations until after 2 years!

Most doctors will tell you the opposite of all this, another example is that anti biotics are absolutely counterproductive to ear aches.... oil and garlic or homeopathy works MUCH better.

If you want to email me, I can help you with a few tips that my pediatrician gave me... she is great and I feel blessed to have one that is not all about drugs for evey thing!

All the best!
C.

It's probably too soon for cereal and it's bothering her tummy. Stop the cereal and see if she goes back to sleeping all night again. Might take a few days for it to happen though. And don't start the cereal again till she is at least 6 months old

Maybe her tummy wasn't ready for cereal and she might be having a little gas.I think the only time cereal helps them sleep is when the are having trouble, like hunger in the middle of the night,but it sounds like your little girl was sleeping just fine.Try cutting back to cereal in the morning.

Every child is different. My kids never slept the night till a year old. My Nephew at 6mo slept the night. and now my 5mo old nephew goes from 7p-6a. every child is different, it seems like it last forever, but it wont. Your child is growing and needs more food as he grows.

I too heard that feeding my little one would help him sleep through the night. This has never been the case for us. The more I fed him the more he woke up. I dont know....

My son slept throught the night early, then around the same time started waking at night. It turned out for him he was teething. Everytime time the teething passed he would sleep all night again till the next new teeth started to come. I started both my kids on cereal at 4months per Dr. recomendation. They handled it fine. All kids are different I agree. But if he seems fine during the day, not fussy or acting like the tummy hurts, not spitting up, i would not be to quick to blame it on the cereal.

J.

That's an old wives tale. It has now been shown medically that babies digestive systems aren't ready for solid foods before 6 months. You should speak with your baby's dr to see what he/she recommends. You baby may be going through a growth spurt and be hungry again. Also check to make sure jammies aren't too tight/ room is cool or warm enough. You are so lucky! Most babies don't sleep that long that early! I don't think I slept for more than 2 hrs straight till my daughter was 6 months old. (I also breastfed which had her getting up every 2-3 hrs to nurse!) Good luck...I would always talk to your dr first if you're unsure about something.