I just recently started giving my son cereal. He's not quite 4 months yet, he has about a week till then but we've been putting a couple of baby spoonfuls of cereal in his bottle. Just to make it semi thicker. He spits up a lot so we thought that might help with that. I've tried feeding him by spoon but it just sits at the front of his mouth. I kinda put it in there and then chase it down with the bottle after every bite. It works. It's just very messy. Any other suggestions?
Note: I'm not giving him the cereal to stop the spitting up I just thought it would help. I'm giving him the cereal so he gets used to the taste. He's showing interest in wanting to eat and not just drink from a bottle.
He's 11 months now. He stopped spitting up awhile ago and he enjoys eating his baby food and whatever else we feed him.
I started my son even younger that you. What I did was make the cereal very thin and then made it thicker each time he got it down really quick. I would also try a little bit of banana mixed in with it. Good luck
Hi A.,
Congrats on your new little one, aren't they so precious!
I'm wondering if his spitting up is the only reason you're giving him cereal? Many babies just spit up a lot for no apparent reason. If he's growing and thriving and happy, there is nothing to be concerned about, and no matter what you do, he will probably keep spitting up til his little system is more mature.
I know you want to do the best thing for him! Have you read the most recent findings on babies' nutritional needs? Even though formula will never equal breastmilk, they are finding that because of the advances they've made in the nutritional quality of most formulas, even formula-fed babies these days don't need to be supplemented with anything until at least 8 or 9 months, and that it is even preferrable to wait, to decrease the risk of developing food intolerances and allergies.
Some babies, of course, won't wait that long; they love food, and insist on being fed "real" grown-up food. When they do, they are ready for it, but we still need to avoid foods such as eggs, nuts, and the like until at least after 1 year.
Just "food" for thought, hope it helps!
Happy mommy-ing!
J.
It honestly sounds to me like he just isn't ready. He's not even 4 months yet! When he is ready for solids, he will be able to take the food & swallow. Of course you will still have messes to clean, but not because the food sits in the front of his mouth. I would wait a month, even 2, then try again.
I just started my son on cereal and 3 1/2 months because our doctor thinks he's ready. He already eats at least 36 oz a day and is in the 75% for his age. I was suprised at how well he did. Already knew how to keep it in his mouth and everything.
I would suggest trying a different formula. My doctor has us on Good Start because the Similac was too hard on him and it works great. Also I would wait on the cereal until he is more physically ready to eat it.
Hang in there and remember to enjoy each stage of his development because he will grow up too fast.
What I was told is that babies have a reflex when they are that little to kind of stick their tongue back out. Until he loses that reflex it will almost always come back out. It just takes time, one day he will just start swallowing it. Just keep spoon feeding him everyday until he gets it. I wouldn't chase with a bottle, that may divert his attention from trying to swallow on his own. Good Luck!
If you are giving him cereal BECAUSE he is spitting up, back up... you need to see if maybe he is allergic to the type of formula you are feeding him! I receintly had this problem with our new grandson and the Dr. changed his formula to a lactose free one and he is doing much better.
As for age and being ready for cereal every baby is different I went to Gerber.com and did some research on this because my daughter-in-laws parents were freeking that I was giving the baby cereal at night at two months, but Gerber says if they drink 32 oz of formula in a 24 hour period they are ready to start in small quantities. Swallowing is a learned skill, so be patient, I did the same thing chase the cereal with the bottle it was only a week or two before he was obvously "wanting" the cereal and swallowing like normal!
Bill Cosby Quote....(one of my favorites)
"Babies get all the cereal and orange baby food all over there face because that is how they get their nutrition! They absorbe it through their skin!"
Hi A.-
Try making the cereal thinner-add more formula to it. and smaller spoon fulls until your baby knows what to do with it. They are sloppy because they don't know what to do yet.He'll catch on fast!
H.
he sounds normal, it may not have anything to do with reflex.
Children are always messy. Very messy. Even when they are 10-13 -18.
Enjoy the mess.
This all sounds a little rediculous to me....feeding babies food at so young. Infants do not have the enzymes in their bodies to digest food until their tongue thrust reflex goes away and they swallow instead of spitting. 6-9 months. why is everybody in such a hurry to start their kids on food????????
Don't listen to baby food companies...they want to sell their products more than they care about your kid's health.
im not sure exactly what to say, but maybe you should try a different formula to see if it helps with the throwing up. i started my son on cereal a week after he turned 4 months ONLY at the advice of my doctor(i wanted to wait till he was 5 months) but my son was ready for it. he had the whole "chewing" aspect of it down right away!!!
good luck!
R. b
Hello
My son is the exact same way. He spits up constantly but the cereal never helped in the bottle. He dosen''t get the concept of eating it with a spoon yet but I keep trying. My doctor just told me last week that we could go straight to the baby food and forget the cereal if he just dosen't like it. My advice is don't push the cereal because my experience is it dosen't help. Hopefully they will get the hang of it soon :)
You could try giving it to him with fruit, like the gerber bananas. Other than that, just keep trying; he will get it soon enough.
It sounds like your baby still has the tongue-thrust reflex which is a protective reflex against choking on solids given too early. It's a good sign that he's not ready to start solids. When he's developmentally ready to eat solids, they will go down without a bottle chaser. There's no need to rush feeding solids and so many benefits to waiting. Enjoy the relative ease of bottlefeeding now, because once he starts solids in earnest, it's a whole new ball game!
My baby was a spitter upper, too, but he gradually outgrew it as he got older and started sitting up more and his digestive system got more mature. Lots of burping seemed to help in the meantime.
