Cereal

Alina - posted on 02/21/2011

are you mixing the cereal into the bottle, or spoon-feeding it??? I give my daughter 6oz bottles mixed with 1 tablespoon of cereal... She has a BM after every meal... Maybe it is just too thick... try mixing less

Emilie - posted on 01/25/2011

My husband and I tried my daughter at 4 months with rice cereal and she didn't do well. I tried again once she hit 5 months and she has eaten it better this time. She does get a little constipated but she still poops...it just takes her longer to get it out. Sometimes she will go two days without pooping but she never goes more than 2 days without pooping (poops monday thursday). I've been told that if they don't poop for more than 2 days to call the pediatrician. If you are worried just call the doctor. That is what they are there for:)

Precious - posted on 01/23/2011

its okey my dear co-mom kassady... i have a 5month bby girl and just starting eating- because you breastfed mostly, your baby has just not adjust yet. just keeping and giving foods to him, rice is okey but try to have alternate foods-as cereals mixed with vegetables and fruits, fresh juices too for a day.And all your worries will be gone.

Denise - posted on 01/23/2011

We started Tavia off with 2 tsps rice cereal, waited for a few weeks and started her with veg, if you make your own start off with gem squash or sweet potato, your baby will let your know how much they want, and then wait a few weeks and introduce fruit. If you give bottled, half a bottle is sufficient. Some babies need only one meal a day, others up to 3 meals a day. The only thing is PLEASE do not remove their milk feeds. The milk is still top priority... Once your baby reaches 7kgs upwards, they normally need more food....

Lisa - posted on 01/22/2011

I had the opposite issue. My baby (4 months) would only have a dirty diaper 1-2 a week while being breastfed. As soon as I introduced cereal, she dirties every day. I bought the cereal with DHA and Priobotics.

Denise - posted on 01/22/2011

It is quite normal for the tummy not to work after having given cereal. Our dr gave us laxon to give our little one and that helps...

Patricia - posted on 01/20/2011

Breastmilk and/or formula are their main source of food, we are to be just introducing them to new textures and flavours right now. My son has a couple of tablespoons of cereal in the morning with the veggie of the day and some 2hours before he goes to sleep at night mixed with a baby spoon of prunes. My son is a big baby and loves to eat :)

Britnee - posted on 01/20/2011

My son is 5 months and I just started him on 2 tbsp of rice cereal at night before bed I haven't noticed too much of a difference with his bowels. However, he has always been a gassy baby and around 2 months old he started going only once a week at first this concerned me and after talking to his ped. she told me to give him about 1-2 oz of prune juice if he became distressed. I know that it is common for the rice to cause constipation so like the other moms have said try switching to baby oatmeal to see if that helps, if not try the prune juice it seemed to help my son, though they say that in some babies it is not uncommon for them to go up to a week without a bowel movement and as long as they are not showing signs of distress then there is nothing to fret about.
My question is how often in a day are they supposed to get rice cereal? I have researched everywhere and can not find how many times they can have solids. Being a first time mom I don't want to under feed my son but at the same time I don't want to over feed him either does anyone have any suggestions?

Michele - posted on 01/19/2011

I started my son on cereal at 6 weeks...we had no trouble at all with him. I would talk to the Dr & see what you can do. Maybe doing less cereal to start with would work. I wish I could give you more suggestions hun, but I would definitely talk to the Dr.

Laura - posted on 01/18/2011

the same thing happened with my daughter and we were told that rice cereal,bananas and apple sauce are constipating foods and you should use foods that start off with the letter p as in prunes,peas, peaches... because these will help your baby poop. also babies systems change as they grow and i have read that breastfed babies can go up to two weeks before having a bowel movement. i would recommend not giving your baby juice because it's hard enough as adults breaking down all of the sugars let alone babies. if your baby is not in any kind of pain than i would not worry about it too much. mine went two days before having a bowel movement so i did the p thing and now she is used to the foods and usually goes everyday sometimes every other day. but our ped. said it's ok. that breastfed babies absorb the nutrients in breastmilk that it doesn't leave much waste. so her going every other day is ok. i hope this helps and good luck!

Rachel - posted on 01/18/2011

my 4 month old daughter gets constipated all the time from her soy formula and i read somewhere that rice cereal can make them more constipated so i use oatmeal cereal instead. she poops really well since we tried it. if he still hasn't had a bowl movement in a few days my dr said its ok to give them a few oz of baby prune juice twice a day, or undiluted apple juice once a day. sometimes a bottle of pre boiled water works just as well, if your baby will take it. hope this helps! :)

Stephanie - posted on 01/17/2011

Use apple sauce I ment to say

Stephanie - posted on 01/17/2011

Ok I give my daughter oatmeal cereal the doctor recommends rice but rice constipates babies. Do what I do take oatmeal or barley cereal mix it with stage 1 baby food I recommend Gerber mix the whole jar with the baby food and put 1 oz of the baby formula or breast milk and mix it together make sure the cereal is not thick thick because then it won't constipate the baby make sure it's watery but Not watery like water

Tarra - posted on 01/17/2011

Well my little one NEVER poops. since birth its been about 1 time every 4 days. doc said it was normal.. but anyways i started feeding her rice cereal and told the doc about it and he said that rice cereal constipates. if you are going to give cereal you should do a barely one first.. now back to the pooping thing as i said my daughter never pooped but now i mix fruit with the cereal and i get one once a day. If you are worried about it buy some baby prunes and mix a tbs with the cereal!! good luck!

Melissa - posted on 01/17/2011

i have started rice and oatmeal with my daughter, and she's doing good and enjoying it, i have tried peas, beans and sweet potatos leaving 3-5 days in between, but then she seems to spit up shortly after having the veggies, i have held off for about 1-1 1/2 weeks now on veggies, i will try again soon. The spit up is the color of the veggies. Don't know if her belly isn't strong enough yet causing the spit up or something else, but she's doing good with the cereal

Jannie - posted on 01/17/2011

Looks like everyone in here has the same going on with their baby, I'm a mother of twins and they start acting like the are getting ready to teething, they constantly wants to eat their finger or the whole hand, etc., About the cereal they start it eating will they turn 4 months old, now I'm starting giving juice and baby food and OH BOY they both seem to like a lot the sweet potatoes baby food...They are 5 months old right now!!!

Melissa - posted on 01/17/2011

when you start introducing other solids like veggies and fruit, it always helped my son.You start with peas and beans, because they both help with pooping, and then move on to others, but leave at least 3 days before introducing another solid. The food that helps a child poop: peas, beans, pears, appricots, peaches, prunes. To help children have less running poop/ diarhhea you use bannanas, rice, apples or toast. Obviously you will not give an infant rice or toast. You can use a little bit of mineral oil up his bottom with a little dropper, don't insert too far up Just enough to get the mineral oil in his bottom. Or baby enima's. My son when he was a baby had problems with constipation and my doctor taught me a lot about it. He ate baby food occasionally up until he was 3 1/2. If he would start getting constipated, I would give him a jar of the foods- mainly the fruits, to help losen him up. It would help within 24 hours of giving it to him. I would choose food over mineral oil/ enimas. However, since you are just introducing food right now, i would wait from 3 days after introducing the cereal and try a touch of juice, not much. However, if your son looks like he's in pain from constipation now, i would try mineral oil or a baby enima

Kori - posted on 01/16/2011

My little one was the same way I added a little prunes to it the next time, but he is eating some baby foods already, sweet potato's and banana so he is a little more used to those kinds of things. But ya i just added a little bit of prune and it helped him then less and less prune so he gets used to just the rice cereal.

Leona - posted on 01/15/2011

I have 41/2 month old twins and after introducing *Milupa* rice cereal with them I had a different reaction with each of them.
The girl seemed to get constipated and very uncomfortable. When she did have a bowel movement it was very "firm". After a few meals of this I switched it up to "wheat" based cereal. This seemed to help her with the constipation, however, it seemed to make the boy very uncomfortable and crampy so I now continue to give him the rice cereal and the girl the wheat based cereal. Both cereal are the "starter Milupa cereals"
I guess every child is different and it is trial and error.
I am happy to say that giving them cereal has helped to increase the hours of sleep at nght! :-)

Kelly - posted on 01/14/2011

Well on the news in the UK they are now saying u shouldnt exclusivly milk feed for 6 months and should wean earlier!!

Caroline - posted on 01/13/2011

I think you need to start with just a tsp and build up to 2 tbs. Their tummies need to get used to it.

Taneka - posted on 01/12/2011

he dont drink to much he's only been drinkin 4ozs today i started 5. before when i'd try it he'd spit up.

Tina - posted on 01/12/2011

We started at 4 1/2 months because she was nursing all the time. She would only eat maybe a teaspoon full, but now that she's 5 1/2 months she eats about 2 tablespoons and is much more interested.

Taneka - posted on 01/12/2011

my son is 5 months old also but his doc wont let him start anything til he's 6 months old. but its seems like everyone in here has already started cereals and what not

Britany - posted on 01/12/2011

Our doc recommends adding a small amount of water to the babies diet after introducing cereal. The cereal will thicken the stool and the water will thin it out. That should prevent constipation.

Kelly - posted on 01/12/2011

Im feeding my daughter cereals now, and she has gone from filling her nappy 6/8 times a day to 1 or 2 times a day at the most. Their lil bodys have to get used to the change!!

Myshell - posted on 01/11/2011

had same problem. its perfectly normal. it takes a cpl days for cereal to work through. baby may become slightly anoyed by this but give it a cpl weeks to see if its the cereal thats really upsetting him. it also takes a bit for their system to get used to it. my son went 5 days without a bm. he recently started on solids (cereal just before 4 mths cause he was breastfeeding the day away). now when he goes a cpl days without bm i just give him carrots and out it comes. one thing you should know is that rice cereal, and apparantly all of the cereals, constipate them. it is because of the high iron content. increase your fiber if breastfeeding. if bottle feeding they are probably used to higher iron content (my last son was bottlefed) anyway, saw your question and needed to respond. i wasnt online when it happened to me and phoned the health line who states 7-10 days without bm is normal!

Tina - posted on 01/11/2011

Rice can constipate, try oatmeal or barley.

Patricia - posted on 01/11/2011

I mix a baby spoon of prunes into my sons cereal. He has a BM every other day and his doctor said that is fine. The prunes sofen things up a bit but because it's just a small amount it's not right away. His dr said that it was fine to do this and that it's not to give him to much prunes so that he doesn't rely on it to go.

Sherry - posted on 01/11/2011

try different kinds of cereal, some seem to do it more then others.

Jennifer - posted on 01/11/2011

I have a 2 year old and a 5 month old. I remember my 2 year old not going poop for 2-3 days since he was breastfed and the doctor said that was normal. My 5 month old is pretty much the same way. We just started rice and it hasn't changed. I think it may just be because he's breastfed and that's mostly water based. Once his body gets used to the cereal he'll probably have more bowel movements.

Michelle - posted on 01/10/2011

my son has a lot of constipation, our ped told us to put juice in with his bottle. for ex: if he normally drinks 6 oz of bottle. make 5 oz with water and formula and then for the last oz add an oz of juice. We have also mixed juice in with the cereal instead of just formula and it has really helped! pear juice is easiest on his stomach so id use that. Oh! and idk what kind of cereal your using but rice cereal can cause constipation so for babies that have problems with that docs say you should use oatmeal cereal instead

Kristen - posted on 01/09/2011

mines doing the same right now... but idk if thats what its about or not