Baby sleep is hard enough, now we’ve got to figure out how to manage solids on top of this too?! As a first time Mum NO-ONE told me that what I fed my baby was going to have an impact on sleep. Then I became a sleep consultant and boy did I experience a steep learning curve! So I want to share with you how solids can impact sleep so you’re not in the dark and so you can set your little one up for sleep success!
Nutrition plays a key role in sleep for a variety of reasons. Deficiencies in iron, zinc, vitamin d3 and magnesium for example often show up as restless sleep in toddlers. Poor protein intake (especially from animals – sustainably and ethically sourced) often results in disrupted sleep and early mornings waking from hunger. We want to set our little one’s up for success when it comes to sleep so a holistic approach is always the most successful. When I work with a client, we look closely at their little one’s diet to make sure the foods they eat are supporting and not disrupting sleep.
Nutrient density is an important factor to consider when it comes to feeding our littles. Although their growing bodies need a variety of nutrients, it is important to focus on foods that are nutrient-dense. This means that the food contains a high level of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients for the calories that it contains.
Foods that have little to no nutrients, you might have heard being called “empty calories“. These foods don’t really support optimal functioning, growth and development, mood regulation and of course, sleep. An example of these types of foods are highly processed packaged foods (cookies, crackers, store-bought bread etc.).
In a perfect world, all we would have available to us are nutrient-dense, health supporting foods and that is all our kids would ever know making our lives much easier as parents! But that isn’t the case, it is what it is. And unfortunately as they get exposed to highly palatable foods (think added sugars and flavouring in packaged foods), they start to seek it out. Don’t stress about it though, I always say, go for the 80/20 rule. If your kiddies are eating real, whole foods 80% of the time, don’t worry about that 20% that isn’t as nutritious.
Because I really care about this topic (given my background in nutrition), and want to reward you for caring too, I created a whole FREEBIE just for you! It’s called Eat Well to Sleep Well. And did I mention it’s FREE.
