Conference moira::parenting_v3

    What we did with David was introduce four meals a day of solids,
    one meal at a time.  First was cereal at bedtime.   Then we added
    breakfast, then lunch and then dinner.  I continued the on-demand
    milk.  As he gets older he gradually started wanting milk only
    with his meals. 
    
    He still won't sleep through the night if he doesn't get his
    bedtime cereal.  
    
    --bonnie

    
    I'm not sure that a "good, solid feeding" helps all kids sleep through
    the night.  JA's sleeping habits didn't seem to be associated with her
    eatting habits.
    
    Also, no two Pedi's, parents or kids will agree on the amount of food
    and timing of meals.  Each kid seems to need different amounts of
    different things at totally different times of day.
    
    I know we worked very closely with our Pedi on when to introduce
    certains foods, what foods to introduce (poultry before beef, yellow
    vegs before green vegs, etc.) and the amounts.
    
    Even at 14 months, JA's eatting habits do not necessarily resemble any
    other 14-month old kid.  Her cousin eats 3-4X more than she does and
    mucho daily snacks of "anything" - sugar, chocolate, nuts, spicy
    Chinese food ... ANYTHING at ANYTIME ... and is also off the scale
    on weight!   Again, this may NOT be related to his eatting habit,
    however, I tend to think "in this case" it is.  They used to "tank him
    up" (and still do!) so he would sleep through the night.  
    
    Our sitter's child also eats totally differently than our child.
    She, too, eats much more than JA and has a wider range of "likeables".  
    
    This doesn't mean than JA has "better" or "worse" eatting habits, 
    just says very few kids will eat alike and be hungry at the same time.
    
    JA was pretty much (and still is) a "demand feeder" (within some
    reasonable guidelines).  I don't worry much about it, since she gets
    daily vitamins, loves milk and dairy products, eats at least two
    meals a day ... she's healthy and of average weight/size.  Somedays
    she'll eat a lot more than others ... and some days "different" things.
    
    As a baby, we pretty much followed the Pedi's monthly visit
    recommendations and food guidelines.  Now we let her try almost
    anything and cut it up into finger-food size.
    
    Just my two cents.
    
    Dottie
                                                 

    Two things:

	How much cereal are you feeding him?  Both my sons started out with
	full (albeit baby-sized) bowls of cereal - just a tablespoon was
	definitely not enough!  A bowl was about 4 oz of formula mixed with
	enough rice cereal to make it quite thick (they didn't go for the
	"keep it thin" theory, either).

	The waking may be for some other reason than hunger.  5 months is
	very possibly teething time.  (Of course, for my first son, I was
	sure that he started teething at about 2 1/2 months - lots of
	drooling, unexplainable grumpiness, etc., but the first tooth didn't
	actually show up until he was over 8 months old!  Teething makes a
	wonderful catchall explanation.)

					cheryl

    We were talking about sleep patterns at a La Leche meeting last night. 
    While solids in general haven't been statistically proven to help, as
    you can see some people find it works.  We were speculating that the
    type of food (fats and proteins taking longer to digest, proteins
    considered a sleep inducing food versus carbohydrates for energy) might
    make a difference.
    
    Besides teething, many parents notice night waking returning when the
    child has a developmental leap.  For example, when a baby starts
    getting mobile she might want more comfort at night to settle her
    anxiety created during the day.  You might want to reference the book I
    often lend out, "Nighttime Parenting" by William Sears, MD for some
    facts and tips.
    
    One way to figre out what meals are right for you baby is to follow her
    lead.  Offer her tastes of appropriately mushed foods if she seems
    interested when you are at the table together.  Don't focus on
    quantity, let the child lead you.  (An aside: some working
    breastfeeding moms use solids when they are away as a method to reduce
    formula and not impact breastmilk consumption.)
    
    Many kids aren't on any type of solid food at 5 months so don't feel
    rushed.
    
    Lots of decisions to mothering, aren't there?
    
    =ss

    I'm curious to know, do any mothers who's babies are breastfed sleep
    through the night.  (Are they full enough to?)  My son Chase was
    breastfed (no bottles) for 8 months, and he woke up everynight one
    or two times to nurse.  Was it habit or hunger?  When I started
    the bottle before bed he was sleeping through the night in just
    a few weeks.  

    re: .5
    
    It was probably just your baby's particular pattern.  David was
    breastfed for three or four months, and he slept through the night
    from about five or six weeks old.  And I've known bottle-fed
    babies who needed to eat a time or two during the night.
    
    

    
    My daughter who is almost 6 months has slept 12 hours since she was 5.5
    weeks.  Only breast till last weekend. Her brother [now 5], woke every
    2 - 4 hours at night starving - no matter what I fed him!  He still
    wakes up at night.
    
    I think food might help some kids - but I wouldn't plan on it.
    
    Rochelle 

    My daughter was breastfed til she was 3 months old and started sleeping
    through the night when she was 3 weeks old.  She's a little over a year
    now and still loves to sleep.  Her daily naps usually total about 4
    hours, but recently she's been sleeping 5.  I think she's in a growth
    spurt because I believe she gets enough sleep during the night (about
    11 hours).
    
    - Kathryn
    

    Neal is back to sleeping through the night. We're feeding him
    solids about three times a day, and liquids four or five times
    a day -- two of which are breastfeedings. He seems to be getting 
    enough now; we're just "going with the flow." Flexibility is
    the name of the feeding game. (The *parenting* game for that matter!)
    
    Now if I could only teach Neal to stop his latest trick. He clamps 
    down with his gums while he's nursing (OUCH!). . . 8^}
                                                          
    BJ