The dietary diversification in babies debated for many years. When to give solid foods? What to give? Young parents are often torn about the best practices to have. A new British study tends to encourage solid food before the age of 6 months to improve the quality and duration of the baby sleep. The study, conducted between 2009 and 2012, has just been published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
A total of 1303 children aged 3 months, living in Wales and England, were randomly divided into 2 groups and followed up until they were 3 years old. In the first group, the parents were encouraged to introduce solid food before 6 months, and in particular allergenic foods such as cow’s milk, peanuts, eggs, sesame, fish and wheat. In the second, the babies were breastfed until they are 6 months old, as currently advised by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Longer nights and fewer awakenings
As a result, babies who consumed solid foods slept an average of 16 minutes longer by the age of 6 months and woke up only 1.74 times per night, compared to 2.01 for the second group. Although these differences appear small, these data are considered to be significant. In addition, introducing foods known to be allergenic could also be beneficial for sleep and the child’s immune system.
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