Cereal in Bottles

We did this for both of my daughters, and it worked out GREAT! We always did cut the nipple a bit bigger to get the flow just right. If I have another child, I will do this again.

Wow, you really did get attacked here didn't you. Man, it's your baby, do what you want. I did cereal in the bottle with both of my kids due to reflux, and I totally know what you are going through with the nipples. I also tried to cut one...huge mistake! I never used Dr. Brown, but I used the Playtex. It really just depends on how thick you are going to make the bottle. My kids both started off with a stage 2 nipple when they were bitty, bitty babies. Then when they got a little older and I had to increase the cereal, around 3 months or so, I put them up to a stage 3. Then eventually they did get to stage 4. So if I were you, I would just buy some of each stage. Even if you don't use them right away you will. It also depends on how hard your baby sucks the bottle. My first child was a shark and so I used the smaller stage so she didn't get too much in one suck. My second child was the opposite so I had to use the stage 3 much earlier so he didn't have to work too hard to get it and then loose interest. Good luck with it. Hope this helps.

I just have to wonder if you know there are medical reasons and facts for not putting cereal in an infants bottle why would you do it anyway? If you are putting it in the bottle the child is clearly not ready for solids or you would be offering it via spoon. And talking about cutting the hole to make it bigger!? Seriously!? Wow!

Adding cereal to a bottle promotes over-eating by by-passing baby's natural and wonderful ability to self-regulate the amount of food they need and is a chocking hazard. It should only be done under a physician's supervision for severe reflux.

http://www.drgreene.com/qa/baby-bottles-and-cereal

Here is some information about why it is best to delay solids till baby is at least 6 months old. Babies have an open gut which means whatever they ingest can get right into their blood stream:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/early-solid-food-feeding...

Dr Brown Bottles actually have a "cereal" nipple. You probably have to order it online becasue it is not that popular. I used it for my son with the Dr. Brown's bottles and it worked perfect. (It is called a Y cut)

The higher numbered nipples in every bottle brand have the largest holes, so when you put the cereal in, you need to get the #3 nipples.

I dont know much about the dr. browns bottles. I use the playtex ones and what im doing now is using the fast flow nipple and making the hole just a tad bigger with a toothpick. It comes out just right for my daughter. She has no problems with it. I just ignore people when they you shouldnt put cereal in the bottle. Sometimes there is a reason like reflux where the cereal helps. We did it with my son and he loved it! He is not over weight and never had issues with it. My daughter is almost 3 months and i dont put it in all the time but do once in a while. She has reflux and last night ended up spitting most of her medicine out so she was very fussy and uncomfortable. Finally after 2 hours of crying i gave her a bottle with a little oatmeal in it and she calmed down and fell asleep for 5 hours. It helped settle her. Everyone has thier own opinion, and our pediatrician is actually ok with it. I say as long as the baby can handle it there is nothing wrong with it. I hope you find a nipple that works for your baby.

Funny how you intentionally put that you know people say don't give babies cereal and your going to do it anyway yet people still feel the need to put their two cents in! It's your baby do what you want! Anyways my daughter was on cereal pretty early (due to reflux) and we used the drop ins and I loved them. We tried Dr. Browns (before we started cereal) and it was too many parts to clean. Playtex has a nipple for cereal. It's a x shape so it allows thicker fluids to make it through. You'll find that some of the cereal will sometimes get stuck inside the bottle and would be a pain to clean. That's another reason I like the drop in's. You don't have to worry about that. I don't know if you have a babies r us or target near you but that's where I would get the nipples from. There is Buy Buy baby by the Galleria (if your ever in that area) they have them too. I don't know what level they are but on the package it says for cereal. I bet you can find them online too. I hope it works out!

I would think it would get clogged in the Dr. Brown bottles. I don't have experience with this bottle and cereal though.
Playtex drop-ins I would think would work.
just a question though..If you know you aren't suppose to put cereal in your child's bottle then why are you doing it?
Of course all ped's are different and yours might support it. But if you are doing it to help your baby sleep through the night you are wasting your time. If your baby is 3 months or younger then you could be doing more damage than you think. Just FYI....I would talk to the doc first. JMHO

Here's a tip that I learned from a friend that's a pediatric nurse.
Put the cereal in a little baggie, and grind it up between your finger tips to make it really fine. Then, you shouldn't have an issue with clogging up the nipples.

And to anyone that gives you a hard time about digestive systems, blah blah blah...this friend works at one of the top pediatric hospitals in the country, in the neo-natal unit. They FREQUENTLY give babies (particularly those with reflux) cereal in their formula to calm their little bellies. She said they do it for babies as little as 2 days old. It's perfectly fine, and no, you're not going to hurt your LO - they would know.

I did this with DS and will do it again with DD.

I second the Playtex Dropins for adding cereal to the bottle. They make a specific nipple just for it, plus it's easier to clean. I was one of those first time mom's that "had" to follow APA rules bc that's what you're supposed to do. But when my son was born with acid reflux and nothing helped him, our dr. finally recommended adding cereal to his bottle. I was desperate and I did not want to see my son in pain anymore. And guess what? He was a different kid when he was able to eat without pain. He is a healthy 2 year old now and not overweight. I say you do what you think is right for your child. Sorry for the others' attacks and good luck.

Better brush up on the heimlich for infants.