Rice/Oatmeal Cereal

Karee - posted on 04/15/2010

My daughter's doctor put her on cereal a few weeks ago. He told me that food's aren't introduced at a certain age they are supposed to be introduced when your child is ready for them, like it they can sit with just a little bit of help, hold their own heads up, and no longer have the reflex to spit food out right away. My daughter has been eating oatmeal since she was exactly 3 months old, she loves it :)

Brittany - posted on 04/15/2010

my lil man is was on 2 teaspoons of baby cerial from 10 weeks as he was wanting a bottle every 2 hours it wasn't filling him enough. but i think that may have just been cause of his dark Maori blood he has in him from his father.. as his father was on it at 6 weeks

Tracy - posted on 04/12/2010

I have not yet introduced my daughter to cereal yet because the doctors and nutritionists do not recommend it until they are atlease 4 to 6 months old. However, my oldest daughter was introduced to rice cereal around 4 months and I never put it in the bottle because it could be a choking hazard also I imagine it would clog the nipple holes. My oldest daughter was a little on the chunky side before she started crawling at about 5 months but now she is right on track with her growth if not a little on the petite side. I would suggest not introducing cereal until about 4 months at the earliest and make it watery and use a spoon to teach them that milk comes from the bottle, and solids are spoon fed. Also if you give your baby diluted juice you might want to give that in a sippy cup so they know what to expect with each method of feeding.

Jennifer - posted on 04/12/2010

I have my put cereal in my 3 month old bottle (Dr. recommended due to reflux) she gets a tsp per oz (at 4oz) I am able to give her up to 1 tbsp per oz but I'd rather feed her from spoon at that rate. My other 2 children I started on cereal early due to formula not satisfing enough.....all were well over 9lbs at birth and did well with cereal (spoon feed not in bottle) and none of them are over weight...,.,.all depends on child and who your Dr. is. i think some of the heaviness is lack of activty and more tv time and game time instead. My 5 yr old wants a DSi because a bunch of her friends already have them...

Michelle - posted on 04/11/2010

my litle guy is 13 weeks and i have been feeding him with the spoon since mid march. i started giving it to him in his bottle a month before that. his weight is perfect ... he's not fat by any means!!! he gets it 3 times a day 2 spoon fed and one bottle. i also use the plain rice and introduce a fruit. he loves it and is growing perfectly!!!

Melissa - posted on 04/11/2010

My doctor told me a little in the bottle was OK to deal with her spit up but i am highly against anything but formula in a bottle so I never did it. I did give her a little on a spoon a few times but she hated it so I am waiting until she is 4-5 months. I have a great book called "super baby food" that explains all of the ins and outs of baby food.

Jennifer - posted on 04/11/2010

I always started my kids on cereal at 4 months. I have a 3 month old now, (my 4th). Our doc told me that I should wait til 6 months because the babies are less likely to have an allergy.

Skylar - posted on 04/11/2010

i started my son on rice cereal after his one month check-up. the doc told me to feed him 1tbsp once a day by spoon to help satisfy him, then around 2 months he said to feed him 1tbsp twice a day, now at three months he's eating 2tbsp twice a day, he has not had any problems with it, he even trys to grab the spoon and "feed" himself.
the doc told me as long as he was fed by spoon and not with a bottle i could start him on cereal that early. my son has been sleeping better and going longer between feedings since i have introduced cereal.
but i would just go with what the doc tells you.

Sharon - posted on 04/10/2010

I started my oldest (now 2 years) on cereal at 2 months. How ever I did spoon feed him. He was born on his due date and weighted only 7 pounds at 2 months he had duobled he weight and if I tried to supplement formula he was seriuosly eating 8oz per hour, I won't try to decribe the breastfeeding. But things were not working. I know it was early but he was even trying to grab for foods. I finally gave up. I couldn't take the feeding anymore, that many feeding is not better for them in anyway. The first night I gave him maybe one spoon of rice he never had eating issues again. We feed him every evening until he started needing more. My son wasn't fat he was a fast grower, However one thing I have learned Babies should never have any solids unless they are double thier birth weight, at least six months, or a doctor recomends it.

Brittney - posted on 04/10/2010

I think all doctors tell you to wait! My son did not get full on just formula so I started giving him oatmeal in his bottles so he would eat less and be full longer. Yes it does help them get full! And stay that way a little longer (nights are always a good time for a cereal bottle). You just do have to watch how much you give them bc it can constipate them very badly. Introduce it slowly if you want to try it with you baby. That is my suggestion.

Liza Jee - posted on 04/09/2010

hi sara its me liza jee fr malaysia , act thers no prob to fed our baby in 2 3 mnth cos my baby i start fed her cereal mix wt veg , she likes it d way she finish d fud ......

Michael - posted on 04/09/2010

to those who said "the milk wasn't heavy enough" did you happen to think, maybe they weren't eating enough in a sitting? for instance my kiddos are voracious eaters. they suck it down in 5-10 minutes then don't eat again for a 3-4 hours. but i have friends who's kids don't eat much in a sitting, or more of just "snack", then are hungry again soon after.
if you're breastfeeding - i would consult a lactation consultant.

for a dr to suggest it is wrong. and not just because *i* think so. but because of what organizations as american association of pediatrics recommends. 4-6 months. no earlier.
and yes putting it in a bottle leads to overeating.

Joanne - posted on 04/09/2010

its not good to give ur baby food in a bottle it can cause long term problems, if your going to give you baby solid feed them it by hand doing in a bottle is also really lazy. my daughter is 3 month and i have started giving her a little bit baby rice every night, she is not fat at all and she loves it also sleeps alot better at night x x

Lucy - posted on 04/09/2010

my little girl is 13 weeks on monday and i started her on cereal a week ago, i did 3 days on baby rice, then 3 days on fruit porrage and today starting 3 days on apple and banana porrage, 20 yrs or so ago they used to state from 3 months so iv stuck to that i personally find shes alot happier for it, just as long as your baby can hold their head up to eat and is showing signs of wanting to be weaned but dont just give your daughter it to try to get her to go longer between feeds if she is showing no signs or she may not be ready :)

if youd like her to go longer at night, try a formula feed last feed of the night if breastfeeding

if bottlefeeding try moving her up to stagr 2 milk, i found that helped for a couple of weeks then i started 2 teaspoons of baby rice, go with your motherly instinct, you know when your babyt is ready hun x

Brittany - posted on 04/08/2010

we had to start giving our son cereal bottles at 2mths cuz we kept uping his formula and it only made him spit up more so now we give him 1-2 cereal bottles a day and he doesnt spit up as much but he gets full..

Chelle - posted on 04/08/2010

My doctor didnt say but I took advice from my mother who said back in the olden days that people used to feed the babies real food. I add a tsp. of ceral to khemanis bottles at nite to help him sleep the milk just want cutting it alone

Jessica - posted on 04/08/2010

My Dr. suggested to put it (rice cereal) in my baby's bottle. I guess all Dr.'s are different. My LO is 3 months.

Kristy - posted on 04/07/2010

i started my daugter at 6 weeks as she was born 8lb 11 and 53cms long which is quite long yet she was 10 days late and she seems to have some massive growing spurts i give her one scoop in her formula every nite and i can get her to sleep right through till 7am which is a big help and she isnt fat just very long

Elissa - posted on 04/06/2010

if your dr. said not to, don't do it. I did some research on this with my first because she spit up a lot, and giving your baby cereal before four months can increase their chances of developing diabetes. I understand some babies need it to help keep their food down because of reflux, but that is usually monitored by your dr. and only very small amounts, and it's purpose is to thicken the formula to help hold it down. You can also get formula with rice starch in it that is thicker.

Fabienne - posted on 04/06/2010

I started my son on the cereal in the bottle when he was only 2 months old. I realized that breast milk and formula just wasn't "heavy"enough for him anymore because he was drinking about 4oz every 45min. But now, with the cereal, he'll have about 4oz of formula or 5oz of pumped breast milk every two hours

Victoria - posted on 04/06/2010

I started my first child on cereal when he was 4 months and it was to early. I have since learned that the grains (cereal) are very hard for babies to digest so we will starting this baby on fruits and veggies at six months and not start cereal until she 7-8 months.

Lisa - posted on 04/06/2010

I started giving my daughter who is 3 months just a pinch of cereal in her formula and she loves it say as long as you're not giving them too much you should be fine

Jody - posted on 04/06/2010

Hello with my first I did not give cereal til 4 months but my 2nd is 9 weeks and has reflux so my pediatrician has me given her 1 tsp per bottle every feeding and she is weighing in at 9lb 3oz my first daughter at her 2 month checkup weighed 10lbs 14oz and was on no cereal so the whole fat thing is crap but if your not told otherwise wait til 4 months :)

Erin - posted on 04/05/2010

i was told to wait until my baby was 6 months old unless she showed signs of needing or wanting food, but not to give it before 4 months. i was also told to use a spoon and not put it in a bottle. my friends mum use to put cereal in bottles for her kids and she said it made them sleep longer. i didnt relise people still did it as its not something i have heard of anyone doing these days. i started my oldest at 4 months but she wasnt ready so i stoped until she was about 5 1/2 months and started again she took to it very well. for my second i am going to hold out as long as i can, although he is showing a very big intreast in eating already.

Emily - posted on 04/04/2010

My doc said the same thing, but i've given my 2 1/2 month old rice cereal when he has had diahrrea and started gettin a rash. It helped make his poop harder so that way every time he passed gas he wouldn't poop as well. Once the rash went away "2 days" i stopped the cereal. He did fine with it.

Crystal Lynn - posted on 04/02/2010

my babys doctor said that putting cerel in the bottle only makes them gain more weight not make them less hungry. my friend does this with her kids and they are all fat if you ask me; so i dont know what good it would do if it wont make them stop eating as much? i was told to wait untill 4 months to intoduce it on the spoon