Dr. Robert Needlman
Specialist in pediatric behavior and development.
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 Ask Dr. Needlman
Pablum in the Nighttime Bottle | | | QUESTION | | | Dear Dr. Needlman,
Why is it no longer acceptable to offer babies pablum in their nighttime bottle and to offer water in the night when the baby wakes to encourage him to sleep through the night? My mom had five babies and raised us all this way with no ill effects. She remembers that we were all sleeping the night by a few weeks old and 12 hours a night by three months. Why is it no longer acceptable today? It obviously worked back then!— Sandra in Toronto, Canada | | | ANSWER |
May 29, 2001 | | | Dear Sandra,
Your mother was obviously blessed with terrific sleepers. But I'm not convinced that the pablum should get the credit. (Pablum is a fortified mixture of cooked grains and brewer's yeast; basically, it's a form of cereal.)
Studies that have looked at bedtime cereal feedings generally have not shown that they help babies sleep through the night. Pablum and other cereals have sugars in them, which, if they hang around in the baby's mouth during the night, promote cavities. (People make less saliva when they sleep, so whatever they eat or drink tends to sit on their teeth.)
Water in a middle of the night bottle, however is fine. In fact, for older babies, I recommend water as the only liquid during the night. Very young babies, of course, can't go a full eight hours without milk or formula, but--if you believe the research--filling them up with pablum probably doesn't really make them sleep better.— by Robert Needlman, M.D., F.A.A.P. |
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