Sleeping worse since starting solids?!

[ellie]

and i thought i was knackered before ...
everyone kept saying how LO would sleep better when he started solids (he's always woken every 1.5-2-3 hours most nights) we started blw a few weeks ago and his sleep is worse and so much more random! a few nights he's slept maybe 4 hours but most nights its back to every hour or so.

could use some help - i know hes eating plenty as his poo went from liquid bf poo to squidgey semi solid now its completely solid (sorry for tmi) - he does eat a lot of fruit, but he loves it - could it be giving him tummyache? it doesnt seem to matter what times he eats (last night he had tea at 5 but usually its more like 630 and he was worse last night)

any advice?

 

[eddjanuary10]

i have heard that alot of babies sleep becomes disrupted when they first start solids as its something new to them, a change in their routine. Also between 6-10months i have read that babies between 6months-1year can start waking more often in the night as they are constantly learning new skills. My lo has started doing this too and he isn't really having much in the way of solids at the moment except for a little baby rice so i put it down to him learning new skills, he is trying to sit on his own and even crawl now. Miss the good nights zzz's though, hope they come back for us soon! hugs

 

[OmarsMum]

Omar woke up last night at 3 am. I think it's the food before bedtime. I gave him pasta beofre bedtime (my mistake) & he didnt take his bedtime bottle as he was full. He had a big poop when he woke up, & stayed awake for 2 hrs before taking his bottle & sleep (he usually sleeps 12 hrs straight without feeds). I also noticed that he's waking up for sips of water as solids r making him thirsty. Tonight planning to give him formula only close to bedtime & see how it goes.

 

[OmarsMum]

i have heard that alot of babies sleep becomes disrupted when they first start solids as its something new to them, a change in their routine. Also between 6-10months i have read that babies between 6months-1year can start waking more often in the night as they are constantly learning new skills. My lo has started doing this too and he isn't really having much in the way of solids at the moment except for a little baby rice so i put it down to him learning new skills, he is trying to sit on his own and even crawl now. Miss the good nights zzz's though, hope they come back for us soon! hugs

This is so true, Mine used to wake up & starts waving bye bye or come & looks amazed at his hands. His new thing now is trying to situp , & wakes up & half sit up alone, then starts crawling in his cot at the middle of the night.

 

[eddjanuary10]

i have heard that alot of babies sleep becomes disrupted when they first start solids as its something new to them, a change in their routine. Also between 6-10months i have read that babies between 6months-1year can start waking more often in the night as they are constantly learning new skills. My lo has started doing this too and he isn't really having much in the way of solids at the moment except for a little baby rice so i put it down to him learning new skills, he is trying to sit on his own and even crawl now. Miss the good nights zzz's though, hope they come back for us soon! hugs

This is so true, Mine used to wake up & starts waving bye bye or come & looks amazed at his hands. His new thing now is trying to situp , & wakes up & half sit up alone, then starts crawling in his cot at the middle of the night.

awww, thats so sweet how he waves bye bye lol, they are just so cute when they look all amazed at discovering something! maybe more so during the day when we are not trying to catch our much needed sleep lol!

 

[snugglebot]

They do go through a huge growth spurt around 6 months too so although you might be giving solids, he might be hungry in the nights too. My little guy has great nights 7 hrs (from 2 hours frequencies) to bad nights, waking 3 times. There is no real rhyme or reason.

That said, you may need to start teaching him to self sooth a bit more. When he wakes up in the nights what are you doing? Feeding or just comforting? I listen...wait to see if the cries turn into "I need you cries" - they usually almost always do - but then I go in and comfort for a bit...if he isn't rooting major I try to calm him down and help him go back to sleep...but if he seems hungry I feed him. Sometimes I do think it is his tummy or thirst...either way, I nurse. But try and keep him awake until I put him down.

Anyways, hope it gets better for you.

 

[polaris]

Thomas slept really well from 4 months until 6 and a half months, usually just one night feed. But since then his sleep has been erratic. We have good nights and nights where he will wake up 3 or 4 times for no particular reason and wake up at 5 a.m. and not go back to sleep. His new thing is rolling onto his tummy in the cot, he then gets very upset and starts screaming, he has never really rolled except for about a week when he was about 4 months so this is pretty new for him and I don't think he knows how to get back onto his back - also when I go into him he is up on his hands and knees at the very top of the cot so I figure he might be working on crawling too!

So basically I don't think solids have a whole lot to do with it. Thomas is eating three good meals a day and there is no difference in his sleep whether he eats a lot or not much on a particular day. I think they wake for all different reasons. Good advice from Snugglebot about self soothing too.

 

[JShaw]

I found I needed to introduce a bit of water once I started with solids, and it helped his poos too (he was going days and days without pooing).

I also found he didn't sleep as much at night either. He used to go stretches of 3-5 hours intermittently before the introduction of solids, now he's up every couple of hours at night. Could also be from teething I suppose too... he started getting teeth right at 6 months and has 4 now.

 

[geekone]

Hi my lo is the same we were sleeping 12-13 hours a night now he wakes at 3 or 4 and I struggle to get him back to sleep, he does have a whole 7oz bottle though when he wakes so he is likely hungry!!

 

[Seraphim]

Yes, yes, yes.
I've been wrecking my brains.
We've cut two teeth too, and more on the way.
I agree with snugglebot too - we've managed to get things back on an even keel now x

 

[snugglebot]

Yup every night is a surprise...(always has been with my guy though)...after 3 nights of getting up at midnight, and 3 am...he decides to wake up at 9pm insists on a feed and then sleeps until 6:30am ...

we just have to remember they are in control of when they sleep, not us. No point stressing it.