The Long Night...

On Saturday, Thing 2 was eating every 2 hours and would drink down at least 6 ounces at each feeding. So, The Mr. and I decided that it might be time to start cereal. We already had rice cereal on hand. So I made a bottle and put some formula into a bowl, poured in some rice cereal and mixed it up. As I started to feed Thing 2, you could tell he was unsure what was going on and what exactly this substance was that I was putting into his mouth. After a few bites he got the hang of eating from a spoon and swallowing the cereal. He ate almost the entire bowl of cereal before he felt that it took way too long to have food hit his tummy. He then proceeded to drink 5 ounces of formula after eating the cereal.

On Sunday, Thing 2 was again eating pretty well and we, again, felt we should try the cereal before he goes to bed. Thing 2 seemed to remember what the spoon was for and how to eat cereal, so this time went much smoother and he even ate the whole bowl of cereal plus drank 5 ounces of formula.

This sounds like a wonderful thing right? Thing 2 eating cereal. One of the many firsts in his life. I figured that once he started eating cereal before bed, he would definitely sleep through the night, as that is what Thing 1 did. I could not have been further from the truth!! On Saturday night, Thing 2 went to bed around 9pm and then woke up at 3am. He kept The Mr. up until 5am. Of course, then Thing 1 woke up at 6am. On Sunday night, Thing 2 had his cereal and formula at 8pm and then stayed up until midnight. About an hour after he went to bed, he started fussing so The Mr. got up and put a pacifier in Thing 2’s mouth. Thing 2 was fine until 3:45 this morning when he decided that would be a good time to eat again. Needless to say, I was up with Thing 2 at 3:45 this morning, feeding him formula. I put him back to bed at 4:20 but then had to get up at 5:30 this morning to get ready for work!

My question is, is this normal? Are there children who decided to stay up all night after eating cereal instead of sleeping?

Please think of me tonight, before you go to bed and know that I will probably be up all night with a baby who decides that it is time to play after filling his belly with cereal.