Rice

Hi A.,
I HIGHLY recommend reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth to understand biological sleep rhythms. Babies at your daughter's age may still need to eat twice at night. He recommends feeding them at night until 9 months as long as they go right back to sleep. Now is also the time to start putting her to bed at night much earlier and making sure she is getting 2-3 naps per day. Email me if you're interested in learning about biological sleep rhythms and Dr. Weissbluth's methods.

As for putting rice cereal in the bottle, the AAP discourages this as it can lead to overeating and obesity. It is recommended that you feed the rice cereal with a spoon before offering a bottle. I know that our parents did it with us but look at the amount of people with overweight/obesity problems in the U.S. today. Dr. Weissbluth, who has vast experience in sleep and sleep disorders, has found that food consumption before bed has no effect on sleeping through the night. It may seem like it does but is probably due to the natural evolution of biological sleep rhythms.

Good luck!
L.

I started rice cereal with my daughter at 4 months old and it was fine, but my doctor and many websites say to not put it in the bottle. Have you tried mixing rice with formula and feeding it to her separately. My daughter slept at least 8 hours in a row by 4 months old and could go even a little longer before eating. I think sometimes babies wake up for other reasons besides being hungry. I think their weight determines if they can sleep through the night without eating- I think around 15 pounds or so.

Ditto what Love said. I just wanted to add that new research shows that giving a baby cereal just before bed doesn't help them sleep any better. It's an old wives tail.

4months is still pretty young and if she is occasionally waking in the night she may at times need to eat do to growth spurts and what not. sounds like you have a good sleeper for the most part. good luck.

Hi A.,
Be careful with the tylenol, it's very easy to give too much, which can be dangerous. Babies don't get overfull, that's the beauty of them. They eat when they're hungry and stop when they're full. Your baby will change sleeping patterns many times over the next couple of years. You might want to try to unswaddle her (she's a bit old for that now) and not feed her when she awakens. Maybe she's just needing some reassurance from you. This happens. Good luck!

My son started on rice at 5 months and it wasn't in the bottle. He'd get the bottle w/rice for lunch if we weren't at home. Your little one has growth spirts. My son still wakes every 3-5 hours and inhales 4-8 oz of formula even though every one said he should be sleeping at least 6-8 hours. He'll cry even if I don't get him and I DO NOT BELIEVE in cry it out either. Rest assured your little one is fine and goes through many many changes.