First Foods

M. my daughter did the same thing and i put a little bit of cereal in her formula and got a nipple that would allow it through and she drank it right down are they breast or bottle fed? If bottle feeding give my idea a try.

What are you mixing it with? I mix mine with jars of baby food fruit or use the liquid fruit juice that is found with the baby food.

I also have twins my are 19 years old. I think they are doing thid cause eating is new to them. Just put a tiny bit on the spoon ans slowly add more as the get use to eating.

Char

I think they are giving you a sign that they are not ready for solids yet. 4 months is pretty early. The APA even suggests waiting until 6 months. I know you may hear lots of stories about solids making them sleep longer, but this is not always the case. I think your little angels just need a little more time with just breastmilk (or formula).

My daughter would spit all of her rice cereal out. It was a huge battle. Our doc suggested trying oatmeal and she LOVED it. You may give that a try if nothing else is working...

Most people mix baby cereal with breast milk or baby formula....but I mixed mine with baby juice. The white grape juice seemed to work the best, and is easy on the tummy. My pediatrition suggested it, since I was breastfeeding and didn't do very good at expressing.

The other suggestion about switching to the oatmeal is a good one, too, or the mixed grains one. Rice cereal is very boring. :)
S.

M. -

I, too, am a first time mother to twin boys! :-) Mine are 5 months old. I'm not sure if your twins were born early, but ours were 2 months. Our doctor suggested we not even start trying solids until they hit the 6 month mark. It sounds like your little ladies might not be quite ready. If you ever want to talk about being mother to newborn twins, feel free to email me: ____@____.com

I have a 6 month old daughter and we just started her on rice cereal this past weekend. We are also having problems! She hates it, acts like we're poisoning her or something. You might want to wait and try it again in a week or so, I've heard it can take a few tries. Our pedi said to just keep trying. 4 months is still on the young side, so you have plenty of time. They just might not be ready yet. I'd stick with rice cereal for now since it's the easiest on their little tummies. I mix it with breast milk since that's all she's ever had, I didn't want to introduce 2 new things at once (e.g. formula or juice). You also might want to let them play with it. As messy as it sounds, it might get them more interested, let them experience it with all their senses! :)

Hi M.,
It's totally normal for them to spit the food out and not get much down. Learning to eat is quite the process.
I also have a 4 month old (we have not started solids yet) and I asked the doctor about food introduction and the information he gave me was very interesting. The doctor suggested not starting my son on cereal as a first food because of the complexity of grains. They are not easily digested by our babies little digestive systems. He suggested starting with simple veggies like peas and carrots. I'm sure cereal won't hurt them but if you start to notice stomach upset or constipation you might consider another food first. The doctor suggested that grains of any sort not be introduced until 12 to 18mo. I have all the info he gave me on email if you would like it just send me a personal message with your email address and I'll send it to you. Sorry, I know this doesn't really answer your questions but I thought it was good information when I received it.

M.-
I have a 5 month old and we have been working for about a month on eating cereal. Just within the last two weeks he has really started to swallow the food (rather than spit out). Just be patient they we get the hang of it shortly, be sure to feed them 1-2 times everyday so they can continue to learn and work on it!
Good Luck!

Hey M.,

Congratulations on your twin girls! Don't stress out too much that they are having trouble eating the cereal right now. It will take some time for them to learn the process -- remember eating from a spoon is a new skill for them to learn. :) I remember when I started feeding my babies on cereal - it took them a couple of weeks to master this new skill.

To help them take the cereal better, some people may suggest that you mix some fruit with it to help the taste, but in my opinion & based on my research, it's best to wait until they are closer to 6 months to introduce fruits & veggies. Their digestive system is still too immature -- there are lots of opinions on this subject. Basically the cereal is just to help them learn to eat from a spoon so they will be ready for solid food around 6 months.

My 7-month old, who has been totally breastfed, started on cereal & homemade baby food at the same time (when she was 6 months old -- she only had breastmilk for the first 6 months)

You are the mom so you decide what's best for your little ones.

Good luck! :) Have a great day!! :)

Hi M.,

Here are a few tips (I have 4 kids and a home child care provider). Just keep trying the cereal once in the morning and once in the evening. It might take a few weeks but they will get the hang of it. In my opinion you are right on track for starting cereal. They are not to young they just don't know how to eat from a spoon and the only way they learn is if you keep trying. You could also try oatmeal as it is the next one on the list to try, keep them on the oatmeal for a couple of weeks and then move on to mixed and barley. Once you've tried all the cereals move on to the veggie's try all those and then move onto fruits. Once your on fruits and veggie's for a month move onto 2nd foods, keep moving them up in the stages of baby food. Also when you do feed them cereal make sure it's at a time when you know they will be hungry and then when you are feeding them let them suck it off the spoon this will help them alot and within a week or two they will have it down pat. Your doing great just keep going they'll get the hang of it trust me.

It took us until about 5-6 months to really get the cereal thing down. Just make it really runny (almost water like) and eventually they'll get used to it. Just keep trying and they'll get it down!!

Because they haven't developed the mechanism to use their tongues to swallow. That means it's too early for food. You could add some cereal in a bottle but there's really no need to rush them into solid foods.

M.,

I think Jennifer A raises a good point. If your little ones were premature, it may be a little early to start them on solids and would be a great question for your doctor's nurse. They may just need reminding that you delivered early (if you did). If after you have talked to the doc/nurse and get the go ahead then I also agree with cutting it with whatever you have been feeding them to date (either formula or breast milk). Don't introduce fruits and other stuff--the idea is to try things SLOWLY on a baby. Also, rice is the easiest to digest and I assume since your doc has given you the all clear on cereals, you or your husband do not have a history of food allergies. If you need solid info always refer to the AAP website. It is difficult to navigate through, but is the best reference point for issues on nutrition for children that is based in scientific fact. I found one link http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstrac...
that supports fortified rice cereal introduction for the decreased chance of anemia.

Regardless, be sure to make the consistency pretty soupy out of the gate. Monitor their intake and feed by breast/formula afterward to make up for any deficiency in their intake. You are really just training their little mouths and digestive tract right now, not focusing on nutrients. Also, think about the tongue thrusting and head start you are getting on verbal maturity.

Cheers to you and congrats on your twins. You've gotta be strong to keep up with two the same age.