Rice Cereal

As far as I have ever heard, you aren't supposed to put cereal in bottles ever... Unless you are directed by a doctor. So I never have. My daughter started eating cereal from a spoon at about 4 months... and now she is SO over! She's all about feeding herself, so it didn't last as long as I had hoped.

Hi T.,
My 3 month old daughter was born with GERD(Gastro-Esophohgeal Reflux Disorder)She could not keep anything down even though we were feeding her a thicker formula.So,shes been eating a tablespoon per ounce of rice cereal in every bottle almost since day one.The Dr. recommended it and I was a little nervous at first but it works perfectly.I also add one dosage of gas drops to the bottle everyonce in a while.She has no problems and only spits up when she over eats.Hope this helps you!!

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N.

T.,

I have been taking care of my godson since the day he was born...he is now 5 months old. He has been on rice cereal in his formula bottles since he was 1 month old. The doctor told us to give him 2 tablespoons in a 4 ounce bottle every 3 hours. NO SOONER AND NO LATEr! Every bottle was to be made that way because he was not getting filled up just from the formula alone. The doctor said that this was fine because it was not to much or to little. they said that his weight is perfect and that he couldn't be any healthier! I hope that this information has help. Happy Holidays!!!

i have a baby girl she will be four months on friday. she has been on rice ceral since she was 2 weeks old and she gets it in every bottle. this was recommended by her doctor, granted she does suffer for acid reflux but it helps it did not give her any major weigh gain and she sleeps completely through the night. my sister has a 6 month old daughter she too started rice cereal farely early (she doesnt suffer from acid reflux)it does no harm to give it to your baby every feeding and you can increase it to 1tsp per every ounce it what our doctors recommend

Hi T. I have been putting cereal in my daughters bottle since she was 6 weeks old per dr. she has gerd. she is almost 4 months now and takes 5 ounces. What I do is use 2 1/2 scoops of formula and 3 scoops cereal. I use the Avent bottles which they sell variable flow nipples. 1 line for less thick 2 lines for thicker and 3 lines for the thickest. You just line up those lines with her nose to adjust the flow. It is great you dont have to mutilate nipples anymore. It helps abunch. I dont know why your daughter is taking cereal but for my girl she takes prevacid for her reflux and if I dont add cereal to her bottle she spitts up alot. I have just started giving her cereal by spoon and she loves it, but I still have to mix it. I guess she just cant handle thin liquids. Anyway sorry for taking so much time I hope I could help. If I can help you anymore let me know. And congrats on your little angel.

I STARTED GIVING MY SON CEREAL IN HIS BOTTLE AT 4 WKS OLD. I USED THE POWDER FORMULA AND I USED THE SCOOP FROM THAT TO MEASURE THE CEREAL. I CAN'T REMEMBER IF I GAVE HIM CEREAL ONLY AT NIGHT OR DURING THE DAY ALSO. I WOULD GIVE HER MAYBE TWO BOTTLES WITH CEREAL DURING THE DAY AND AT NIGHT. BUT EVERY DOCTOR IS GOING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING DIFFERENT. IT'S ALL UP TO THE BABY. HOW SHE TOLERATES THE CEREAL, IF SHE SLEEPS MORE WITH THE CEREAL, IF SHE HAS A HARD TIME GOING POOPOO WITH THE CEREAL. THE ONLY THING THEY SAY IS NOT TO GIVE IT TO THEM UNTIL ABOUT 3-4 MONTHS BECAUSE IT'S HARD FOR THEIR BODIES TO DIGEST. MY SON DID FINE WITH IT. HE'S NOW ALMOST 4 AND HE WEIGHS 50 LBS, HE'S WEARING SIZE 5-6T IN CLOTHES AND HE'S ALMOST 4 FT TALL, I THINK. I KNOW HE COMES ALMOST TO MY BREASTS AND I'M 5'7".

I WISH YOU THE BEST OF LUCK.

M.

10 weeks? That seems young... I didn't start putting cereal in my daughter's bottle until she was about 5 months (when she started eating real food.) I waited that long because the cereal doesn't really go thru the nipple of the bottle when the hole is that small (for a 10wk old- you know, the different sized nipples for older babies.)If your doc says it's ok then do what he/she says. When I started giving my daughter cereal though, it was in every bottle.

She is on formula only? If so, I'd say you can add a tsp or half a tsp. to the mid-morning bottle, but you don't want to overdo the rice cereal because it will constipate her and will really fatten her up. If you child drinks only formula, you can help constipation with a little bit of water. Remember that her digestive system is still developing and you need to take it easy on what you put in there, but a little rice during the day won't do any harm except possibly constipation.

with my son I put a tablespoon per ounce, but that was because he had reflux really bad. don't remember how old he was when I started doing that...think it was 3 or 4 months though...dr orders.

T.,
My daughter's pediatrician advised us to only give rice cereal from a spoon. He specifically told us not to put it in her bottle, this may confuse her with food and drink. Anyhow she is 4 months now, and we are feeding her one-two times a day rice cereal. The doctor told us not to rush feeding her solids, formula will suffice normally for at least 5mos. All children are different, so if you trust your Pedi, just take their advice. Good luck.

I never did put cereal in my son's bottle. I was also told tha there wasn't any point in doing it. I started feeding him rice cereal in from a spoon when he was 4 months old. At that age they are still gettin g all of their nutrients and calories from their formula/breastmilk so if they don't eat the cereal it isn't a big deal. If your daughter is still hungry during the day try making her bottles larger. At 10 weeks my son was eating 4-5 ounces every 3 hours. Then at night we gave him a 6 ounce bottle to "top him off" before bed. When we started cereal we gave him about 1/8 cup prepared from a spoon with his dinnertime bottle and then he had a larger bottle right before he went to bed. He usually ate all his cereal, but if he didn't want it I didn't push it. Then at 5 or 6 months when we started veggies I moved his cereal feeding to the morning. Hope that helps!

I started feeding my children cereal with their formula when they were around 8 weeks old. I would not give them any more during the day until she made at least 6 months, I would be too afraid of her gaining too much weight. I always put an ounce more of formula than they actually ate so that I knew they were getting enough food.

I gave my son ceral at night too when he was 2 1/2 weeks too. His nurse practioner said, at 3 weeks, I could give him 1 tsp with every ounce of formula with every feeding. He was much happier. Now if I can get him to sleep a little better at night, things would be perfect. Hope this helps.
Mother of now a 4 month old.

I have 14 month old twins and both had reflux since birth. The doctor had me give them enfimil formula that already had rice cereal mixed in for one of the kids. the other also had colic so he was on a different formula so the doctor had me add it in. The rice cereal made the formula thicker so it would stay down better. I was told to add it to every bottle, you may want to check with your pediatrician but mine had me add some to every bottle. The only downfall is that the extra iron can make them constipated.
I saw one woman say that it would confuse the child between food and drink but that is not true. All it does is thicken the formula a little, its not like you are putting corn flakes in there. Mine were also premie so the weight gain was a positive for us. The only real concern is the constipation factor.

My daughter had a reflux problem when she was first born so the doctor told us to add a scoop of rice cereal to her bottles to settle her tummy. I did it for a few weeks when she was first born, but I stopped because I didn't feel comfortable doing it. At 3 months I started to put it into her night bottles only. At four months I started her on baby food. Sometimes even with eating it doesnt fill her up. For Example, Last night I fed her baby food for dinner and gave her a normal bottle and she woke up 2 times in the middle of the night to drink 4oz of rice bottles! I'd rather feed her little amounts at a time to be safe. I don't want her to throw up in her sleep.

Actually, the newest news about grains and babies is that you should wait at least until the baby is 4 to 6 mths old. Their little digestive systems can't handle having foods like that at that age. Starting grains too early can make them have intestinal/gut problems.

Unless they have reflux, and you were directed to do so by a doctor, you are NEVER supposed to put cereal in an infant's bottle. PLEASE read this - this is only one of many articles on it. http://www.drgreene.com/21_861.html

Also, solids should not be started until at least 4-6 months, or later.

I was giving my daughter 2 tbsp. of rice cereal in her bottle every time since she was two weeks old because she was always hungry. It helped her alot.

A.

Good news for you T.!

You can give them rice cereal any time of day. I started both my girls on a bowl of rice cereal for breakfast at 6 months. I breastfed both of them til they were 9 months. The rice cereal is a good way to fill them up in the morning and it is good for them. My only warning is that when you put cereal into formula, it can constipate, so be careful of that. Hope this was helpful to you.
G.

T.,
My son was 10 pounds 9 oz when born and was hungry from day one. I never seemed to get enough breast milk so I had to supplement with bottles and then go bottles only at 6 weeks and even then he was a bottomless pit. I started him on cereal at 8 weeks because it was the only thing that would satisfy him for any length of time.
Now, some say add cereal to their bottles, others say not to. I understand them saying not to feed it to them in their bottle because they can overeat quickly and will cause them to have more reflux and gain weight quickly.
BUT, I feel that you have to feed a baby when their hungry, not by schedule because we're supposed to eat when our bodies say we're hungry right?
My mother told me to feed my son the cereal in little bitty bites by spoon.
I ended up making his bottles a little shy of what he would have normally eaten and mixed the a little formula with a couple of teaspoons of the cereal and fed that to him by babyspoon with itty bitty bits so that he could get it down. His sucking made it go down pretty well and washed that down with some of the bottle. He slept better and was less cranky. I did this no matter what feeding it was. Not just at night.
There are some that say that constipation is a concern, but my doctor said I could use a tsp of caro syrup in his formula to soften his stools. It worked for us.
I hope that my experience helps you.
Besides, you're on the right track by trying everything. Keep up the good work. You'll find the right combination for your daughter and you'll both be happier.

I have a ten week old baby girl. I have been adding rice cereal to her bottle since she is two weeks old. I put it in every bottle. I put one teaspoon per ounce of milk. I also did it with my first daughter. We did it for reflux, but also hoping that it would fill her up so she wouldn't eat so often. If you have any questions please feel free to email me.
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J.