Hello, moms! I have a 5 1/2 month old daughter and I introduced rice cereal to her at 4 months and to this date she still shows no interest. First, most of the time she refuses to open her mouth to take it and when she does she spits it back out. I have tried different consistencies, runny, semi-runny, thick...all to no avail. What should I do to get her to move to solids?? She also wakes up many, many times thru the night (I am nursing) and I want to wean her so I can have a dream (ie. rem) for a change! Should I just move on to a veggie?? When can I give her the melt in your mouth snackie things (can't remember what they are called) or the gerber teething cookies?? I called my pediatrician today and was told "the doctor will address this during her 6 mo. check up on the 20th"!! I don't want to wait that long. Figured I can move on to the experts here at MamaSource!
Thanks in advance!
D.
Have you tasted the cereal? It's SO gross! LOL! I don't see any reason why you couldn't try another type of cereal, or even baby food. Take it and rub it on her lips. She should lick her lips and taste it, then she might be inclined to try a bite. I would start with the sweeter vegetables like sweet potatoes or carrots. I'm sure your doctor will tell you pretty much the same thing at her checkup.
What are you mixing it with? I would mix my son's with juice. He loved it. He was the same way about it when we first started to give it to him. Also, maybe try a different grain, there is oatmeal or barley flakes too, that your little one may like better. The rice cereal mixed with juice isn't too bad, reminds me of cold cream of wheat.
Make sure you have y-cut ipples for the bottles (or just take a knife and put a small slit in the nipple, but that can be kind of tricky), and put a some cereal in her formula. We would trade off between Rice cereal and the "mixed" grain cereal.
You can also mix the cereal in with the fruits/veggies when that time comes.
We've noticed with our 2 girls (5 and 2) that sometimes it's just a matter of getting used to the taste of something.
Good luck!
Sounds like she isn't ready. Two things need to happen: she needs to be able to sit up on her own and she needs to have lost the 'tongue-thrust' reflex. If she has done both of those, then perhaps you just need to keep offering it to her.
One division of the AAP recommends starting solids between 4 and 6 months, yet another division recommends waiting until 6 months. Maybe she just isn't ready?
Actually, I read on-line that when an infant is ready to go to the rice cereal, they won't have the "tongue reflex" anymore. Meaning if something gets into their mouth, they spit it right out. I think I read it on www.askdrsears.com. If I were you, I would wait for her to actually accept the food and stick w/rice or oat cereal for a while. Could be that her bowls aren't quite developed yet and that is why she still has that reflex. Wait until she is 6 months old and try again. As far as the nursing during the night, if you are sure that she is nursing for comfort, then check out some books about getting your baby to sleep through, like the one from Dr. Weissmuth (forget the title). If you think she is hungry though, you may want to try to give her some formula or maybe pump and feed her with the bottle (she won't have to suck as hard on the bottle and may get more into her tummy). According to my ped, it is a myth that a baby will sleep through the night when getting rice cereal in the evening... I don't know. I always nursed my son during the night until he was 11 months old. I did though, wean him from the midnight feeding and just held him and rocked him until he started to sleep through that feeding. (He figured out that he isn't getting any and stopped waking up for the midnight feeding... Good luck to you.
I fed my little girl rice cereal at 14 weeks and started baby food about 18 weeks. She did just fine with both. They say if they don't open their mouth or spit the food back out then they are not ready yet for cereal or baby food. My baby is 5 1/2 months old now and she still wakes up many times during the night and she eats baby food and nurses. So the baby food is no guarantee that your baby will start sleeping through the night. A lot of people say not to start solids until 6 months. Don't start the melt away food too soon or she may choke on it. Most babies don't sleep through the night yet at 5 or 6 months. Try swadling her, that might help her sleep longer. Good luck to you!
