Adding Rice Cereal to Formula to Make Infant Sleep Thru Night - Fact or Fiction?

I tried this with our first one and it didn't work for us. I had also heard that formula fed babies sleep more, so I tried adding more formula to his diet (we were partially breastfeeding), and that didn't help him either. I think that some kids are sleepers, and some aren't. Our first definitely wasn't. I tried everything that I had read/heard about, and nothing worked for him. We finally did a cry it out type method at 4 months, and he has slept like a charm every since- he's 4 years old now. You need to do what is best for you and your child. You can try music, letting him/her sleep with a shirt of yours, pacifiers, etc. I wish I had more supportive advice, but I haven't figured out anything great. Good luck!

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Sorry, but adding rice to a bottle actually has the opposite effect. Their tummies are so small that they will eat less formula or milk because it is very hard for them to digest the cereal. Babies dont know that night time means sleep time. In the womb they wake and sleep whenever they feel like it. It is up to the parent to show the child and to set up the routines. Think about it, everything you do has a routine, even bedtime. So do the same for your children. Its not a schedule but a routine. Babies up to two years old should be sleeping about 15 hours( Including naps) so this is what we did. (sorry I have a 7 month old girl) she went to bed when she started to get tired which was around six. so we would feed her at 530 give her a bath and then she would go to bed 6 or 615. at first she would cry but only for at the extreme 20 minutes. even now she fusses but only for the most ten minutes if at all and then she falls asleep. but then at 800 I wake her up and feed her, put her back to sleep and then before I we would go to bed,around 1030 or 1100, I would go and change her diaper and feed her again. at first she would still wake up around 400am but once her stomach was big enough,around 3months) she was only waking out of habit. And you know this because she would only eat an ounce or two. So i would give her a "dummy" bottle. i would sit on the rocker with her and every night i would put less and less in the bottle. This way her body can slowly adjust to eating more throughout the day and less in the middle on the night. Then after 4 or 5 days she stopped waking up. Now she goes to bed at 6pm i wake her up feed her and change her diaper around 930.She goes back to sleep and sleep until 730 800 in the morning!! Sorry this is so long but I hope you find this helpful and good luck!! Just remember you are the mom and your child needs your guidance!!!

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Absolute fiction as well as increasing baby's risk of allergies!

No one sleeps "through the night". We all wake up a little here and there.

Your baby wakes up when they're hungry and will let you know. Respond to your daughter's cues.

Untill a baby is at least a year old-- they do not manipulate. They do not know how to. Remember that at this age- a baby's wants are it's needs and we know you want to attend to your child's needs. You cannot spoil a baby- they are not a piece of fruit.

I know nightwakings can be difficult but keep saying to yourself "this too shall pass" and remember that it will be just a short time before they won't even want you to walk with them anymore. LOL.

Congratulations on your new baby!!

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Myth! I agree with Angela.

It didn't work for mine and it has no merit. I taught my daughter to sleep through the night by Ferber's method. Everyone has their own way of teaching their child to sleep through the night; the method that worked for me was crying it out. Since she was 3-4 mos old she has been sleeping consistently 12 hrs a night and 3 hrs during the day during her naptime.
Now I know a lot of you out there hate this method and strongly disagree with it. I have gotten enough nasty comments about my method so please, take it with a grain of salt and I'm only telling C. what worked for us.

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I'd say it's fiction. Go ahead and try it as you have nothing to lose, but it didn't work for my daughter either. At six months (and alot of parents do it as early as 4 months), I personally felt comfortable letting my daughter cry when she woke up during the middle of the night, and it broke the habit within two nights. In reality, she wasn't hungry, sick, in pain, etc. so there was no reason to interfere with letting her trying to get back to sleep on her own or to feed her. The school of thought is that as long as you are going continue to get up to tend to your daughter (i.e., holding her, feeding her, etc.) the longer the ritual will continue. Good luck!

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It seems like the majority of moms is against it for the purpose of sleeping through the night. I agree - babies need to eat every 4-6 hours because their stomachs are small.
My son's ped rold me to give him cereal when he consistently drank more than 48oz a day (he was breastfed for 6 weeks and formula fed after that), did not spit any of it up, and was still hungry. This happened at about 16 weeks - he was drinking over 65oz a day and not wasting it.

Oats can cause allergies, which is why most peds suggest rice to start. Rice cereal, as well as the others, offers iron, which is essential to your baby's development (so there is some nurtitional value). Around 4-6 months of age, the iron stores that your baby was born with start to get low. At first cereal should be very thin. If your baby has trouble swallowing or pushes the food out with his tongue, he may not be ready to start cereal yet. Try again in a couple of weeks.
When starting any new foods, make sure to start only one new food at a time. Wait 5-7 days before starting another new food to make sure that your baby doesn't have an allergic reaction to it. If you start more than one new food at a time, and she has an allergic reaction, you may not be able to tell which food caused it!

Putting cereal in the bottle could cause choking since you have to make the hole in the nipple bigger. If you decide you want to start off this way, they make strainer type bottles (I can't remember what it's called) that has a bigger nipple hole already and you can make very thin cereal to feed your baby. It really is important to use a spoon though, as it's an important skill for babies to learn.

Basically, feeding your baby a little cereal isn't going to make her be a marathon 8-10 hour a night sleeper. You might get more than 2-3 hours though :) Check with your ped, since your daughter may have medical issues that we (the moms on the board, collectively) aren't aware of. Start with rice as it's least likely to cause allergies - but don't decrease the fluids you give her. My son was drinking 65oz a day which his ped says was too much - she told me to reduce to about 52 and make up the difference with cereal. Good lucky with whatever you choose to do.

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Hi C.-

I was told babies that little have a hard time digesting cereal...I also was a bit of a victim of it. "Back in the day" when I was a baby, my mom's neighbor told her to try it with me (before I was 3 months). She said I gobbled it down and then about 20 minutes later, stopped breathing. I guess what happened was I tried to spit it up and it got stuck trying to come up b/c my system just wasn't ready for it. I guess they threw me over their shoulder and slapped my back and it all came up...my doc also tells her patients that if it's not milk or formula...it doesn't belong in bottles. We spoon feed cereal at 3 months.

Hope this gave you some insight! Hang in there...my son didn't sleep thru the night until about 7 months old...and he was even eating foods by then.

I tried it with my first son. I actually tried everything to get him to sleep through the night. Finally at 18 months he started sleeping through the night. It did nt work for me.
good luck

My doctor told us that it was not a good thing to do. And definatley do not put the cereal directly in the bottle. When your child is ready to start solids, cereal is a great starter, but not until your child is between 4 and 6 months.

First of all C., I think you have to learn your baby. You should figure out how she is. Doctors are good and all of that, but Doctors are not right all the time espcially when it comes to your baby. Mom knows best. Follow your instinct.

I gave my daughter rice single grain at 4 months at night and she did sleep through the night. On the other had I gave my son the same cereal at the same age and guess what!!!!!! No good he is 11 months and is still getting up 3 times a night. Heck I need help too!!!!! Anyway. Always follow your heart and your motherly instinct. Some peeople can be too opinionated about babies. Moms have been having babies before, formula, cereal and "doctors". I really disagree with the "doctors" thing. I gave my daughter and my son organic whole milk and Oberweis milk at 9 months, they turned out wonderful. Not suggesting it to you, just stating how everyone is not right. Babies are people, remember that and not everything is good for everyone. I suggest you try a very little amount of Rice. That cereal is light and not heavy like the Barley and the oatmeal. See how she reacts and go from there. Pay close attention to her. You can find out for yourself if it is Fact or Fiction for your daughter. I wish you all the best and tell me how it goes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi C.!
I actually was told to do the same thing by my mother who says she had us on cereal at one month! My daughter was sleeping 6 to 7 hrs and then went back to 3-4 hours at night, so at 11 weeks I started rice cereal. I first gave her 1 tsp for 2 nights, then went to 2 and now I give her 2 1/2 at her 4 or 5 o clock feeding. She then has a bottle at 7 or 8, 5.5 oz.(she's eaten 4-5 oz since 3 wks old!) Now she only gets up once after about 6 or 7 hours. Not thru the night yet, but definitely better! Good luck! It won't hurt to try it! Mine even eats it off a spoon already!

I have a 2 1/2 month old daughter and I was told the same thing by my mother and mother in-law they both said it worked. I tried it when she was 1 1/2 months old and the first night my baby slept 6 hours straight, she would only sleep for only 4 hours straight if I was lucky. She is now sleeping about 7-8 hours straight. I to just put a little in her bottle with formula and mixed it very well. Every night she drinks it all down. I did get a bottle with a little bigger nipple. Works like a charm 99% of the time!

I don't think 15 week old babies are designed to "sleep thru the night". I wouldn't do it because you aren't supposed to add solids until 4 months at the earliest. I never tried it because all the baby books and my doctor were very much opposed to it.

Good luck! She'll sleep through in due time!

C.,

I agree it's a myth. Like almost every baby question we ask...the answer really is ALL BABIES ARE DIFFERENT. Both of my children have been breastfed. My first didn't sleep more than 2 or 3 hours at a time for months. My second has only been waking once a night since I brought him home almost 3 weeks ago...same feeding technique and very different sleeping patterns. He eats a ton during the day...she grazed 24/7. I'd shy away from anything that could potentially cause alergies or upset their little tummies. Congrats and good luck!

FICTION! Please don't do this! It won't make your daughter sleep through the night and adding any solids before 4-6 months can greatly contribute to food allergies and other issues later on. I'd also like to ask why you're so eager for your 15 week old to sleep through the night? I don't see why some parents consider this a milestone. (Don't get me wrong, I know sleep is a GREAT thing!) Do you always sleep through the night? I know I don't and my 16 month old never has. Infants have regular sleep cycles where they will wake 2-3 times per night no matter what. Any good pediatrician will tell you that children don't develop the ability to consistently sleep all night until 3-4 years old. This doesn't mean night waking has to be a 'problem' though. It's just another very normal part of parenting.

Sorry for the tangent! Hope that helped somehow! :)

Hi - I too was a 1st time 38 year old mom!
When my son was 16 weeks old, I did put a small amount of rice cereal in his last bottle before bed (I pumped) and he slept a good 6 hours the first time.
The rice cereal worked for us, and I'd do it again. He's almost 3 now and I can't believe how fast the time has gone!!

J.

I agree fiction and that it's not a good idea for the health of your baby. Idea to help your baby to learn sleeping through the night...If it's been 3 hours since she last ate, wake her up to eat until she is sleeping through the night. (Don't wake her to eat in the night of course, but rather just when she wakes up to eat in the night). This helps her to learn that night time is restful sleep time and day time is eat/play/nap time.

C.,

Most doctors disagree with this method of putting cereal in their milk but I have always done it. When my son was 3 months old I would put a bit of cereal in his formula (not so much to make it thick)where he can still sip it through the nipple of the bottle. That helped him sleep a little longer through the night because he was full. I am not saying he slept the whole night, he just slept longer until his next feeding.

I have have a 8 month old boy and a 3 year old girl it didn't work with either!!!!! It's Definatly a Myth in my book!!!

I was told by my doctor that I shouldn't do this but everyone in my family told me to do it because it worked for their kids and so i did and it does work. I have two kids and I put cereal in both of their bottles and all it does is help them stay fuller longer which helps them sleep better and longer, its not going to hurt your child and it will be a benefit to you as well! I would try it and just see how your daughter reacts to it. Don't make it to thick or she could choke or not digest it properly. It won't hurt to try, you'll know if it works by the way she responds to it, good luck. Hope you get some sleep soon, I know how those sleepless nights can be :)

I think it's more fact than fiction, in my opinion. We fed our three kids (ages 17, 13, and 7) rice cereal when they were between 2-3 months. They drank so many bottles, and were so hungry between each feeding, that it seemed to make sense in a way. And it SEEMED to help us with sleep habits, as well. We NEVER put it in the bottle, though...we kept it separate and fed them from a bowl with a spoon. The cereal/formula mixture was definitely thin enough (VERY runny and thin) that it could have been fed out of a bottle, but they would have drank it too fast. I know that every baby is different, and that sleep varies between each one no matter what is done, but it really seemed to make them more content. None of the three kids developed ANY allergies to food like doctors warn. I say to TRUST YOUR OWN INSTINCTS! All babies are different...all mothers are different...all doctors are different. Now, THAT'S a fact! Good luck!

C.-
This is total fiction. First of all, sleeping through the night is usually defined by pediatricians as 6 hours in a row or more, so your little girl may already be doing this. And if she's not, she will do it when she is ready. My first son was exclusively breastfed and slept from 10pm-6am at 6 weeks of age, and never looked back. My second son, now 6 months old, is also exclusively breastfed and sleeps 7pm-3 or 4am, nurses, then is back to sleep until 7am or so. At 15 weeks he was sleeping 3-4 hours in a row only. Every baby is so different, it doesn't matter what you try to do-you can't force them to hit milestone's earlier than they are ready.
E.
stepmom to Jacob 8,mom to Kyle 6, and Lucas 6 months

I say fact! Just a tablespoon or so depending on the baby's age, and how much formula your mixing it with. Check the consistency before putting it into the bottle to give to her. It helped my son. It's whole purpose is to fill the tummy up a little more than with straight liquid so you and her can get an hour or more of sleep. It didn't work for the whole night for us. I just wanted more than two hours of sleep in a row. Good Luck. Follow your instincts not books.

C.:

Sorry, fiction!... the ability to sleep through the night has to do with neuromuscular developement - not a full stomach.

Additionally, rice cereal is a filler - it has NO nutritional value.

P., RLC, IBCLC
Pres. Lactation Support Group, Inc
www.lactationsupportgroup.com