February 2008 Expecting Club

A good friend with 3 kids suggested adding some baby rice cereal to the evening bottles to try and help the baby sleep longer. I have held off bcs i know they say not to do so at this age (5 weeks) but i am desperate for some sleep. Connor goes 1-2 hours max at night and only eats 1-2 ounces before falling asleep...a vicious cycle that is killing me and my bond with him. 

Anyone tried the cereal trick? how much do you use and did it help?????  I am beyond exhausted and he will only sleep in the day if i hold him..otherwise he screams when I try to put him down...so no napping when he does!!!  And i do swaddle him at night...it helps him get to sleep but doesn't help him sleep longer!

You know what I have been doing is putting down Ainslie during the day so she is not as comfortable (we have a bed in the nursery so I co sleep at night) and she wakes a lot more often therefore eats nearly every hour.  Last night she woke about 3 times to eat but didn't stay awake long.  Which was a huge improvement from the 3 nights before.  So trust me-I know where you are coming from.  I cannot nap during the day either with 4 other children to care for!!!!!

At this point baby positively cannot digest rice cereal.  It sits like "sludge" in their sytem and comes out the same way it went in which is rough on baby's digestive system.  It takes the place of digestable formula/BM which is the only thing they can digest and use at this point.  Sure-generations have been adding rice cereal to baby's bottles early on-but...they used to give orange juice at 3 wks.   Make a mash of raw liver and egg yolk as a source of iron for babies beginning at 2 mos.  That wasn't a good idea either! 

Personally I would resort to formula before I would try rice cereal.  There is a reason the WHO doesn't suggest giving rice cereal before 6 mos.

Best Wishes!