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"Feeding your babies prematurely can help them sleep," says The Guardian, which could draw the attention of many new, sleep-deprived parents.
The title is based on the results of a new study that looked at 1,300 3-month-old babies, exclusively badfed, in England and Wales.
Babies were randomly badigned to either try to start solid foods (including some foods that can cause allergies) starting at the age of 3 months or 6 months (the current NHS recommendation) .
Overall, the study found that at the age of 6 months, babies in the first solid food group slept an average of 17 minutes longer than those who started only to consume solid foods.
They also woke up 2 times less at night for a week. Differences between groups decreased after 6 months.
The strengths of this study are its good design and its large size. It is possible that his discoveries influence the NHS guidelines on the introduction of solid foods, but this will have to be considered by experts with other relevant evidence.
Some of the findings of the study seem to suggest that some babies may be more ready than other solids early.
Parents who are considering starting to give solid foods to their babies before the age of 6 months should first consult a health care professional or general practitioner.
It is also important to note that all mothers in the study were encouraged to continue badfeeding even though they were beginning to consume solids early, and almost all of them did so.
Where does the story come from? by researchers from St. George's and King's College London, and by the Immune Tolerance Network of the Benaroya Research Institute in the United States.
It was funded by the UK Food Standards Agency, the Medical Research Council, the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Davis Foundation.
The study was published in peer-reviewed journal JAMA Pediatrics.
The opinion of the British media on the study varies from one source to the other. BBC News, for example, has given fair coverage and said that for the moment parents are still advised not to introduce solids before 6 months, although they say that this recommendation is in the process of revision. from 3 months could improve their sleep and their long-term health. Although the study suggests some improvement in sleep, it has not examined the effect on long-term health.
The Guardian provided an interesting independent expert opinion, including from Professor Amy Brown of the University of Swansea, who stated: "There is no physiological reason why L & H Early introduction of solid foods would help a baby to sleep.
She also pointed out that "self-declaration [ing] of infant sleep by tired parents was unlikely to be accurate."
What kind of research was this?
This was an badysis of the results of a randomized study. controlled trial (RCT) called the Inquiring About Tolerance (EAT) survey.
This study focused on whether early introduction of infants (at approximately 3 months of age) into potentially allergenic foods would reduce the risk of developing allergies to these foods later.
The researchers also examined whether babies who were introduced to solid foods earlier slept better.
The current NHS Council ideally states that babies should be badfed exclusively for 6 months. You can start introducing solid foods after that.
This type of study is the best way to objectively examine the effects of a single change, such as the early introduction of food.
Randomized trials of infant feeding are rare, as researchers must prove that they are ethical and likely to be safe to perform research.
What did the research involve?
In the EAT study, researchers recruited 1,303 badfeeding mothers and their 3-month-old infants to participate in the study.
They randomly badigned about half of these mothers to start introducing solid foods early (at 3 months) and the other half to wait for up to 6 months (the recommended age for weaning).
They then compared how babies slept (as well as other outcomes) up to the age of 3 years.
Only healthy, full-term, exclusively badfed babies were allowed to participate in the study.
All mothers were encouraged to continue badfeeding until the age of 2 years or later, as recommended by the World Health Organization.
Mothers of babies who started taking solids early were encouraged to continue badfeeding, but also to start their baby on solids starting at 3 months old.
During the first week, they were asked to introduce foods unlikely to cause allergic reactions, such as baby rice and mashed fruits and vegetables.
After that, they were advised to start gradually introducing 6 foods that are commonly related to allergic reactions:
- cow's milk (week 2)
- peanuts (in weeks 3 or 4)
- eggs (in weeks 3 or 4)
- sesame (in weeks 3 or 4)
- white fish (in weeks 3 or 4)
- wheat (in week 5)
They were advised to give to their babies 2 grams
Mothers of babies who were starting to eat solid foods at six months had no specific instructions on how to introduce solid foods.
Families received monthly questionnaires online for one year, then every year. 3 months until the child is 3 years old.
The questionnaires included standard questions about:
- what foods the baby ate
- how much was the baby badfeeding (how many times and for how long)
- baby's sleep last week
The quality of life of mothers was also evaluated when their babies were aged 3 months, 1 year and 3 years using a standardized questionnaire.
What were the basic results?
On average, babies who started solid early started them around the age of 4 months. Babies in the control group started them at the age of 6 months.
Only about 40% of babies in the first groups of solids were consuming the recommended amounts of food at 6 months of age (eat at least 75% of the recommended amount of 5 of 6 allergenic foods during at least 5 weeks between 3 months and 6 months).
Parents in the first solid foods group said they had trouble feeding their baby all the recommended amounts during the three-month period.
Babies in the early solid group slept longer and woke less frequently. the comparison group. The difference was greater when the babies were 6 months old, and decreased after that.
At the age of 6 months, compared to babies who were just beginning to have solids, babies who started solids early:
- was sleeping about 17 minutes more per night on average
- woke on average about 1.7 times per night, compared to 2 times per night
Babies who started early to have solids were also less likely to have sleep problems from their parents (odds ratio [OR] 1.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.22 to 2.61).
But these problems were rare. At their peak at around 10 months, about 2-3% of the early-stage group was reported to have "very severe" sleep problems by their parents, compared to 4-5% of the comparison group
. babies who have managed to eat the recommended diet of early solids.
How did the researchers interpret the results?
The researchers concluded that it was the first time that a randomized trial had shown that the early introduction of solids had a small but statistically significant effect on sleep
According to the recommendations In the current NHS, babies should ideally be badfed exclusively for 6 months, and solid foods should be introduced after this period.
But according to a survey conducted in 2010, about three-quarters of parents had introduced solids within five months.
One of the reasons parents began giving solids early was that their babies were waking up at night.
This new study suggests that babies sleep better if they start taking their solids a little earlier, at 3 months.
But parents should keep in mind that the effect was low – on average, babies slept only about 17 minutes more per night.
Babies who were better able to eat the early diet were also better sleepers early in the study. This suggests that these babies may have been more developmentally developed.
It is also important to note that all the babies who participated in this study were healthy and full-term (37 weeks or later in pregnancy).
Babies born prematurely may not be as ready to consume solid foods from the age of 3 months
Parents should not be afraid of not feeding their 3 month old babies because of "very serious" sleep problems.
Babies with these problems tended to wake up more often and sleep less, which, unsurprisingly, affected their parents' quality of life.
But the overall rate of such problems was low at less than 5%. It is difficult to know for sure how serious these problems were because babies have not been evaluated by health professionals or monitoring devices to measure their sleep patterns.
The NHS opinion is based on the best evidence available at this time, and it may change as new evidence becomes available.
It could be revised in the light of this study because much of the evidence probably comes from observational studies, where it is difficult to distinguish the impact of the baby's diet.
Before this happens, these conclusions will have to be examined by experts who can take into account this source and other sources of data.
If parents want to introduce solids earlier than 6 months, it is probably better that they discuss it with their health visitor or GP.
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