Is Sleep a Good Enough Reason to Introduce Solids Earlier?

Official advice is to breastfeed exclusively for the first six months of life. Experts say women should still heed this recommendation, although it is under review.”

by Laurel Ives, BBC Health, July 10, 2018

Summary

When it comes to infants and what they’re eating, there’s often a lot of questions about what the timings are. How long should they should be breastfed, and when should they be introduced to solid food? This study gives a bit of (baby)food for thought for parents who are trying to decide what route to take, suggesting introducing solid food relatively early might have noticeable benefits on an infant’s sleep.

The Benefits of Early Solid Food?

In a study conducted by JAMA Pediatrics, they had two groups of infants three months of age, one group was fed entirely breastmilk for their first six months and the other were given both solid food and breast milk. The parents then filled out online questionnaires until the baby was twelve months old.  The solid food group reported that its babies slept an average of 16 minutes longer per night and had fewer sleep problems. While not a huge difference, it does equate to about two extra hours of sleep for parents per week, which doesn’t sound too bad at all.

To read more of the study’s findings, check out the original article at BBC News.