3 1/2 months and trying out rice cereal a good idea?

Megan - posted on 09/05/2009

I started giving my 16 week old cereal last week it has helped her alot with not spitting up, so I would give it a try if I were you. She also has a problem with being constipated so my ped told me to put karo syrup in her bottles and that has helped alot..hope this helps

Jennifer - posted on 09/05/2009

I also wanted to start my daughter on rice cereal a couple of weeks before her 4 month check-up but I waited to get the official "OK" from her pediatrician. She has been on rice cereal for a week now and seems to not get hungry as often as she used to. I know my Doc told me that rice cereal can have a constipating effect and it has definitely slowed down my daughter's BMs and made them stickier.

Natalie - posted on 09/05/2009

I just started my boy on rice cereal and he's 11 weeks. I think it depends on the baby, not the age. Also, I heard that if babies spit up a lot there's a formula that's rice based and it's supposed to help them keep the milk down. Maybe ask your pediatrician about it.

Tessa - posted on 09/05/2009

My baby started doing the exact same thing at 3 1/2 months. She hit a growth spurt and would guzzle the milk. I started feeding her about a teaspooon of cereal after the ffeedings where she usually spit up the most and she has gotten much better. Also I would feed her milk a little earlier than usual so she wasn't starving by the time I offered it to her. Also, because I am breastfeeding, I talked to a lactation consultant about it. She said that sometimes it helps to prop the baby up in a swing, bouncy seat or car seat for about 30 minutes after they eat to help minimize the acid reflux. My baby is now 4 1/2 months and no longer projectile vomits her entire feeding.

I hope things start getting better. I know how frustrating it is when your baby loses everything he eats!

Devin - posted on 09/04/2009

My son is just turned a month in and half and i started him at rice ceral when he was jsut about a month. But he was also a little over 10lbs. My husband and i were big babies has well adn our moms started us a rice ceral just as early. But we only give it to him at night right after we give him his bath. He fills his stomach up and he sleeps better thru the night we had to get the tri cut nipples so he could get it. But we give him the gas medcine right before we give him is rice bottle jsut incase he gets a little constipated.

Emma - posted on 09/03/2009

Farleys plain baby rice shouldn't hurt, I gave my daughter at 7 weeks old a teaspoon in the evening to avoid colic and it worked a treat. It also regulated her stools. When my oldest was little you could get a product called Farex which was like a very fine baby rice but I haven't seen it on the shelves in the UK for quite some time. Igf you can find that it is very good also.

Tiffany - posted on 09/02/2009

Hi Rebecca. My son is almost 5 months and I put him on rice cereal at 3 1/2 months. He too has reflux. He's on soy formula and with the cereal it has helped him keep more formula down. He still spits up but not near as much. But let your dr know what you are wanting to do he might give you some more information.

Mel - posted on 09/02/2009

oh and be wary that the rice cereal could make him constipated to. i had the choce between constipation formula or reflux, and i decided i needed to go the constipation one due to the fact that i was alreayd giving everything for constipation including prune juice, parachoc, water, coloxyl, everything and i didnt want it to get any worse. i never used rice cereal. only pureed fruit and vegies. they are much better

Mel - posted on 09/02/2009

yes it would be a good idea with the reflux. they started my daughter on solids at 3 months for weight gain and because giving solids before milk helps line the stomach and cant make it so they dont bring up the formula

Ginger - posted on 09/01/2009

I would try..but I would also check with his doctor too. I think it sounds like hes so hungry that he eats so fast..that's kind of how it was with my son he started eating so much that I had to start giving him something other than formula otherwise I would go through formula like crazy! I also started him on cereal at around 3 months

Nicole - posted on 09/01/2009

My babe just had his four month check up today, and the doctor gave me some info on feeding ages. It says its ok to start cereal at 4 months. My child doesn't have acid reflux, or anything like that, and every child is different. I agree with Ashley, you should talk to your doctor first, just to make sure. Any time you make a feeding change you should talk to your doctor, just on the off chance that sometime happens, they know what's going on.
(Cameron had an allergic reaction to a store brand formula, so I'm holding off on solids until he's 6 months; as long as he keeps eating the way he is now.)

Katie - posted on 09/01/2009

i started my baby on rice cerial at 2 months because he was eating to much and always hungry.. he was fine with it and ate off a spoon great. i started with 3 spoons 1x a day and made it very runny and then after a week or so i fed him 2x a day and so forth.. i didnt replace it with bottle time. it also didnt help him sleep any better. it did make his poops harder for a few days then went back to normal.. he also had a reflux problem and it helped alot

Amanda - posted on 09/01/2009

Quoting Rebecca:

3 1/2 months and trying out rice cereal a good idea?

Hi there,
My son is 3 1/2 months old and he is formula fed. He had had problems with reflux since he was born and in the past 2 months it seemed to get a bit better but just recently he has started to pretty much projective vomit everything back up, nearly every time I feed him.(I feed him with him almost sitting up and burp him frequently). I'm wondering if this has anything to do with him all of a sudden guzzling down his formula like no tomorrow!
Would it be a good idea to possibly start introducing rice cereal and see how he goes on that maybe once a day? to help keep his "food" down?
Oh by the way he has tried anti-reflux formulas and they had only made him very constipated :(
Thanks for your help!

Hi Rebecca, I started my son on cerel at 8 weeks old. He did good with it. He also has acid reflux and is doing great. I give it to him morning and night. Hes now 5 1/2 months old and doing wonderful!

Ashley - posted on 09/01/2009

I think you should check with your healthcare provider first. If he is projectile vomiting like you say there could be something else going on and you should probably get it looked at. If he is guzzling down his formula like he is starving and then vomiting he could have a problem called pyloric stenosis...it's when the opening from the esophagus to the stomach doesn't open properly and the baby doesn't get enough food and vomits it back up, usually it is projectile. It's most common in infant boys 1-3 months old. If that's the case it's easily corrected with a minor surgery. But check with your pediatrician first and let them know what's going on. If your baby does have something wrong starting cereal will only make matters worse.