Babies sleep better when they consume solid foods earlier, according to a study

If you have trouble getting your kids to sleep, there may be a simple solution. Feeding solid foods earlier could do the trick, a new report suggests.

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The National Health Service (UK) and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend that mothers breastfeed only about six months before introducing solid foods.

However, health facility researchers in England and Wales recently conducted an essay, published in JAMA Pediatrics, to determine whether early consumption of solid foods can influence infant sleep . The assessment was a secondary analysis of a primary study on food allergies.

To do this, they separated about 1,300 babies, aged three months, into two groups. One ate solid foods at the mark of three months, while the other was breastfed for up to six months.

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After analyzing the results, they found that babies who started eating solid foods after three months woke up 0.27 times less often and slept about 16 minutes longer than those who started at six months.

The authors said that there was a reduction of more than 50% in the number of families reporting severe sleep problems in their babies. They also noted that improvements continued throughout the first year of infancy.

Patricia Denning, an expert in pediatrics at Emory University who was not part of the study, described the results as "interesting".

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"Quantitative data from this study, while statistically significant, may not be clinically significant," said Denning at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Sixteen more minutes of sleep are "questionable for the baby," she said.

Although the authors still do not fully understand the link between introducing solids earlier and better sleep in babies, Denning has hypothesized two possible factors. She explained that increased calories and delayed gastric emptying of solid foods could prolong "the duration of the satiety sensation allowing longer sleep time."

Nevertheless, she advises mothers to consult their doctor before making changes in children & # 39; regimes.

"It is also important to note that the authors are careful to point out that if parents introduce solid foods earlier (under the supervision of a physician), a concomitant benefit may be a slight improvement in the characteristics of the patient. sleep".

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"They do not recommend a change in guidelines based on this single study, so it is very important not to overinterpret the results of this study."