Wondering if solids are causing sleep problems???

[missyb]

Over the past month I have been having a nightmare time with my almost 9mth old and his sleep (day and night).

After much tiral and error I am now thinking that maybe it is his solids that are part of the problem.

He LOVES his food, will eat anything and everything, has taken to lumps and fingerfoods well. Is on 3 decent meals a day (probaly around 3/4-1cup each meal-and would take more if I offered it) and has 3 or 4 bottles a day depending on how the sleep goes.

But I have a few questions,

1.  How do you really know that they have tummy ache??  He is happy when he is up, but wakes after 25min when he goes to sleep, so am thinking maybe tummy pains are stopping him from going into that deeper sleep.

2. Could lumpier food cause tummy aches??  I have gone back to basics where food is concerned but keeping the texture up. But am thinking that since I have limited any new foods over the last few weeks that it could be the lumpiness causing the problems.  Thinking that although he can cope with the lumps in his mouth that his tum can't.

3.  Are some food ocmbinations no goers?  Is it possible while certain foods on their own are ok, mixed together they're not?

Pretty random I know, and i am really clutching at straws but this sleep thing is becoming a nightmare and I have exhausted the teething, routine, developmental and separation anxiety routes.  Kind of left food till last as he has always been so good with it but am thinking that it is potentially a problem.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

[Peek-a-boo]

How has his poop been?  If there's a digestive issue it often shows up on odd poop.

I think it's  quite common, actually, for solids to disrupt sleep, but more common for it to be the type of food, not the texture.  Grains in general (rice cereal in particular) can be quite difficult for many LOs to digest. 

[missyb]

Thanks for your reply Bethany.

His poop's haen't been great (hence the reason for me heading down this path) He does go every day but it is firmish and not the ideal toothpaste consisitancy.

He has plenty of fruit in his diet and drinks a lot of water.

With rice ceral, is that what most baby cereals are made out of?  He has baby museli each morning with fruit, must go look at the packet to see what is made out of. 

What else can i give him for breaskfast if I can't give him baby cereal?  It takes him forever to eat a piece of toast and to only give him fruit I would need to give him the whole orchard it just doesn't seem to satisfy him, although he loves it.

Is rice cereal in pasta and things aswell?

[Mimi 2]

There are cereal that are made up of other grains so you can give that a try if you think rice is the culprit.  You can even give him regular cereal (non-baby like cheerios, weetabix, cornflakes etc.)

Do you keep a food diary?  This might be a good idea to rule out any food that might upset him.  Try sticking to just simple food or food combinations for a few days to see is his sleep is still affected.