Advice on starting rice cereal

Heather - posted on 08/11/2009

I just tried bananas today and my little man acted like I put a lemon in his mouth....funny to see yet I felt really bad ;-( Did any of you have this experience with the first "food" after rice cereal? I also tried a little carrots and this created an even worse expression.

Jacy - posted on 08/11/2009

My son was born March 25th. At our last checkup, our ped. said I can start giving him fruits and veggies (rice cereal was a go at 3-4months). I have mostly given my son cereal in his bottle with breast milk and every now and then I would do cereal with a spoon. I decided last night I would be better about spoon feeding. My son ate like a pro last night with a spoon! I couldn't believe it. So, that was with rice cereal and I'd like to move onto fresh fruits and veggies for more variety. I definitely continue to breastfeed as usual though, even after solid food meals to make sure he's full because it's impossible to tell, at least for me!

Sarah - posted on 08/05/2009

My daughter was born March 18th, we just started to give her some rice cereal and she is liking it, I love her faces she makes, we are starting her with 1 teaspoon of the cereal mixed in with her formula and we give it to her with her last feeding, I just take 1 teaspoon of cereal and mix with like 3 teaspoons of her formula from her bottle and then when she eats her cereal she takes the rest of her bottle. I cant wait to introduce more foods to her!!

Mariana - posted on 07/26/2009

Hey there everyone!!! I've been reading your posts and they've been very helpfull!!! My son was born on March 12th and he eats a lot!!! 8oz every 3 hours and some of the bottles had 2 measures of cereal... so the md said we should start feeding him with fruits (apple and pears) so he could feel much more satisfied and sleep longer BUT now he's been waking up at 5am instead 8am like he used to do before this new regime. It's been a week since we started on fruits and he refuses to open his mouth but I manage to feed him 4 to 6 baby spoons... so, how long will this "battle" continue??? Any tips on this??? He loves the formula with friut but no longer with cereal...

Jessica - posted on 07/26/2009

I recently started my son on cereal....he was born March 7, I feel like he can either take it or leave it. He does a good job at eating it( I think) So I am doing it every other night so he can get used to it. He is breastfed so I am not too sure how much he eats but other than that hes nursing about every 3 hours during the day and sleeps about 11 to 13 hrs at night. So we did not do the cereal because we were trying to fill him up, were just trying to get him used to a spoon.

Katherine - posted on 07/26/2009

I love this group!! Everyone is so nice and it's so helpful. It's weird to think so many babies born in March this year!

Jennifer - posted on 07/25/2009

My son was born March 16th. He just went for his 4 month appt and the doctor said to wait another month to feed him. I started to give him a little rice cereal in the evenings. He's interested in watching me eat, so he really seemed ready. Of course, breastmilk is his main source of nutrition, but giving him the cereal is practicing getting him used to the spoon.

Katherine - posted on 07/25/2009

oh I just started mine, she was born March 16th. just mix a tablespoon of cereal with some diluted juice and give it to her with a spoon. Her Dr said it would take a few days for her to learn how to swallow it without pushing it out with her tongue. Alyce did a pretty good job AND she slept longer!!!!

Erin - posted on 07/23/2009

my daughter is 4months and 3 weeks old. When she went for her 2 month check up her doc said no foods till 6 months but we will talk at her four month check up. At her four month check up he said she could have rice cereal. Her doctor said to start her out with rice cereal then after a week I could mix apple sauce then after a few days bannanas then move into the yellow foods and so on. I tried cereal and she just acted like she didnt want it...she wasnt ready. Tonite I started cereal again and she loves is. My neighbor told me to put it on my finger and then she will get the hang of it and she sure did. Im just not sure how many times a day to feed her cereal...maybe breakfast, lunch and dinner and a bottle in between?? I guess

Crystal - posted on 07/13/2009

Gavin will be 4 months on sunday and we've been giving him rice cereal once a day for about a week now. the first day he didn't know what to think of it. i mixed it with formula so he'd like it more but i think the spoon threw him off.he was more excited about it the second day when i mixed in some applesauce for a little more sweetness. now he's a pro, he gets angry that it takes me so long to get the spoon to his mouth and he just sucks it right in. The one thing i've noticed is that when i spoon feed him i need to start before he realizes he's hungry, or he won't have the patience for it. and i always give him a bottle after he's done to make sure he's full.

Heather - posted on 07/12/2009

The reason they dont want u to use a botle is that they dont learn how to eat using a spoon. Sometimes all they do is get food all over themselves but u need to just keep trying every day....it may take a while. After baby gets irritated and u remove her fromthe highchair if she is still hungry finish her off with a bottle. My son ate a whole bowl of rice cereal the third day...he loved it and took really well to the spoon. Unfortunatly rice cereal can make them constapated......like it did to my son. After three days of horribly stinky farts and doing everything i could do to try to help him out when he finally became unconstapated i decided to not use rice and switch to oatmeal. its been a few days and so far so good. Its not about them actually getting food at first...its about them LEARNING

Lauren - posted on 07/10/2009

Hi! My daughter was born on March 12th, funny that Im reading this post, we just tried rice for the first time tonight. My little girl is getting 6 oz every 2 1/2-3 hours. the md says not to feed her any cereal until 6 months because of possible allergies...with that in mind,

the experience that Natasha described is exactly what happened, the liquid/rice ratio was way off, I used a little less liquid then suggested. My baby is on formula, I used that instead of water since she's already used to that taste. I was having more fun then her. She wasn't quite sure what to do, it kept comming right back out of her mouth. With my husband,myself, and my son cheering her on she got a little overwhelmed and started getting upset so I stopped.Ill just keep trying once a day everyday until she gets the hang of it.

Yea, they say not to put the rice in the bottle. Chocking hazard perhaps? I say it's just not as much fun as spoon feeding,lol. But ask some grandmas and they'll tell you they popped that bottle w/cereal in their babies mouth like the day they were born,lol.





now that I wrote this, I see your post was on June 24 which means your girl is probably a pro by now!

Natasha - posted on 06/24/2009

Hi there,

My son is 3mths 3wks and i started him on rice cereal aprox 4-5wks ago. when i started i gave him 1 teaspoon of cereal but he hated the taste so i mashed some banana and mixed it together and he loved it after a wk or so i started steming and pureeing other fruit like apple and pear ect and mixed that together!!! Ussually on the rice cereal box it'll have instructions on how much to give them mine had 1tbs to 2tbs of water or milk for 4mnth olds but it seemed to much so i halved the amount... The first time you give it to her she'll probably spit it back out because they have to get used to the tongue motion of pushing the food back and swallowing it took my son about a week to pick this up just keep persisting... My son is now have bottle and rice cereal for brekky, bottle and pureed vegies for lunch, bottle for arvo tea and bottle and pureed vegies for dinner!!! He loves it!!! when you do start... make sure you give your little girl her bottle before any food as milk at this stage is still the most important source of nutrients!!! Hope this helps good luck!!!