Rice Cereal - Brighton,CO

You didn't say how long you have tried rice cereal. It could be this is new and weird to him, therefore it wouldn't matter what you fed him. Or maybe he doesn't like the taste of the formula or the taste of rice cereal. You can move on to another food. Remember this is all new to him. Expect some strange faces. They say it often takes 10 times of introducing a new food to a child before he/she will accept it. I found that to be a useful piece of information to keep in my head.

None of my boys liked rice cereal. I don't blame them, its gross! Its not a requirement. Just go straight to stage 1 baby food. If he isn't ready for solids at all yet, then wait another month and try again.

Both of my kids hated rice cereal! We would mix it with applesauce or add cinnamon, and then he was more okay with it. When we switched to oatmeal (after only one box of rice cereal), he gobbled it right up! We found that he liked oatmeal, mixed grain, or anything mixed with fruit purees (applesauce, bananas, etc). We would also mix in peas, carrots, or anything else we happened to have on hand. Those helped, too.

Good luck!

I think he might not be ready. I started mine at six months and just went really slowly. He did great! So if he is pushing it out with his tongue he may actually not be quite ready to deal with it yet. If it were me I would try again in a month or so:)

My son didn't like the rice cereal either. We switched to the oatmeal, and we haven't looked back. Maybe that will go over better. If not, wait a week or longer and then try again. This is such a new skill for your little guy, but I promise you that he will figure it all out. :)

My son screamed with rice cereal - HATED it. I tried for a couple weeks, then asked the ped. She said to go to the veggies.

When they are first learning textures everything is weird to them (the face), and they have a reflex that their tongue pushes things out of their mouths. That usually decreases around 6 months. From what you describe, I would try it for a few more weeks to see if he gets the hang of it.

Plain and simple--if a baby is spitting out food it means his system isn't ready yet. It's actually a reflex. When the reflex goes away then you can try again. Until then you'll just have to keep nursing. I can feel for you--my oldest breast fed every two hours until he was 11 months old! But your baby will be healthier if you follow his lead versus trying to make him do it your way.
J.

Rice cereal is nasty. Have you smelled it? Unless you have a huge history of food allergies, try something else. Baby food oatmeal is way better than rice cereal. Or mix the rice cereal with some apple sauce. My boys' favorite was warm baby oatmeal with applesauce and a dash of cinnamon. Or baby peaches instead of the oatmeal. I even tasted it! The first tastes like apple crisp and the second like peach cobbler. Mmmm!

Or try plain old' applesauce or another baby food.

The reflex that makes babies spit things out is almost always gone by 4 months, and doesn't explain the "making a face" so I seriously doubt that's what it is. Sure, now they say to wait until 6 months, but my pediatrician asked me what I do, instead of telling me what to do, because frankly, my kids can't handle waiting until 6 months. They're ravenous and are eating every 1 hour at 3 1/2 months. Do what you know is right for your baby. And trying to teach him how to eat solids doesn't have to be about getting more food down him. It can be just teaching him to eat. So even if he doesn't get a significant amount of solids until he's 6 months old, you can still start practicing with him.

Besides, they used to start babies on solids at 3 months. Then it was 4 months when I had my first two kids (they're 6 and 4, so it wasn't that long ago) and they said NOT to wait until 6 months or later because "studies showed" that kids who waited that long often refused to begin solids and had a significantly lower food palette (read: picky eaters.) But apparently that's all out the window just between my two youngest kids (ages 4 and 9 months) because everything's changed. Now it's 6 months? If the experts don't really know, then what does it really matter if you start at 5 months instead of 6? I'm not saying that we should ignore professional advice, but COME ON. Conflicting studies are published every single day. Go with your Mother's Intuition. That's what three kids have taught me.

Try some of the other single grain cereals. Both my kids prefered barly cereal. As long as it is single grain you are OK.

I had the same issue. I would mix it in with fruit like applesauce or a fruit baby food.

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I had the same issue. I would mix it in with fruit like applesauce or a fruit baby food.

I would suggest to stop now and try again when he is 6 month old.

we started with just straight veggies mixed with rice cereal. or you could try using baby juice as the liquid your mixing it with. it does taste horrible (i dont feed our DD anything unless we've tried it first) rice cereal plain isn't necessary so see what else you could try. my daughter nursed every 2-3 hrs until we started her on solids too, at 6mo. now she is 7mo 1wk and has cereal (with baby juice) for lunch and a veggie for dinner. mostly only nursing before naps/bedtime but sometimes 2-3 other times during the day.

Wait a month and try again. His nursing every 2.5hrs is normal, don't worry about it, just nurse on demand, especially if you can't pump at all.

Also, rice cereal is awful, mixed with formula its even more blah. It has zero nutrionional content, so start with something better for him, like mashed avocado, mashed banana, etc. He will like it. www.wholesomebabyfood.com on info on making your own baby food.

Oh yea, it's super gross. I would make sure that you get enough in him to make sure he doesn't have any allergies to it (which is unlikely, but still) and then move on to oatmeal like the others have suggested.

Until then you can try just using water to mix it, maybe it's the taste of the formula he doesn't like? Does he get formula other times or only with the cereal? If that is the only time you give him formula, I would use water...if he drinks formula other times of day, then it's probably just that he doesn't like the rice! ;)

Oh and beware that rice cereal can really constipate him too...don't worry, but it is likely to happen. If it does, mix in some prunes to it...they are very sweet so he'll likely be happy about that!

All three of my babies didn't like the rice cereal. Who could blame them, have you tasted the stuff? Needless to say, at 4 months I started introducing solids. I think I started with the rice cereal for a week then I introduced bananas and mixed it with the rice cereal. They all liked it then. I proceeded to add one new food every week or two (started with all the fruits, then each of the veggies, then meats (they never liked the meat either)). I am sure if your little guy doesn't like the rice cereal, he will after you start to add different flavors to it.

Good luck!

Is that the only time you use formula? If so, rice cereal might not be the culprit...my co-worker uses white grape juice(recommended by her pediatrician) to mix with the cereal to make it into an apple sauce consistency and it has worked out well for them.
Does he eat anything else other than breast milk? It is possible that he might not be ready yet for cereal. My nephew did not like his cereal or anything other than breastmilk at 5.5 months but now at 6.5 months he is more open to trying new things. A month does make a big difference~
Also, have you tried oatmeal cereal? Some kids just don't like rice cereal...
Good Luck~