My son is 3 1/2 months old and our pediatrician advised that we should start him on rice cereal as he has consistently been taking more than 32 oz of formula a day. Her instructions are to mix 1 tbsp cereal with 3 tbs formula and feed by spoon twice a day. Now, I'm assuming she means to give this amount to him twice a day, not split it up. So tonight we started. He did very well! I was surprised that he woke up four hours later and sucked down a 7 oz bottle (for a grand total of 35 oz of formula today).
We have been very diligent about tracking exactly how much formula he's been taking. Now I'm confused how to track how much rice cereal he's taking. Do I track it by keeping tabs on how much dry cereal I add to the several tablespoons of formula, or by the total amount of cereal and formula together? In other words, of the 1 tbsp cereal/3 tbsp formula he at 1.5 tbsp of the mix. So do I write down 1 or 1.5? (And it's ok if you read this, chuckle and think "man, is she anal!")
I would honestly just try to feed him 2x a day - with 1-2 tsp of cereal and mix it with formula or water. Do not worry about EXACTLY how much and don't count the formula towards his total amount he's drinking (I never did). If he's still drinking 35 ounces of formula, I"d say up the amount of cereal. Maybe he's just hungry! I started my son on cereal at 4.5 months because he was hungry all the time! Good luck!
LOL. I had to write down how much my baby ate for the ped. How I did it was just wrote down the time's and amounts she ate.So for instance:
12pm -1 tbsp rice/3 tbsp formula - ate roughly half of mix by spoon
8pm - 2 tbsp rice/6 tbsp formula - ate it all through bottle
After a while I started just to chart the amount of ounces of rice cereal she would eat because I stopped mixing it with formula (this is when she got older and I started her on table foods). Good Luck! =)
Yup, you are a first time mom...
Relax.
Just write down what you mixed and about how much he ate:
1TBSP cereal - ate 3/4
or whatever... it's not a science...
They just want to know if the kid is eating and if he's hungry...
You'll know if he stops eating.. you know if he's not right... relax and enjoy!!
LBC
Yep. You're anal. lol. If you're baby is satisfied, then no worries. Back in my day (2001 lol), I started my dd on rice/breastmilk at 2 months! I fed her until she was happy. With DD #2 , she was strictly b/f until 4 1/2 months and then onto #1 foods and then to table food at 7 months. Don't worry so much. Both of my girls are now 9 and 2 1/2 and perfectly healthy despite what I fed them at 3 months old. :)
Keep being a good mommy. Sounds like you're awesome.
I would write down 1 tbsp cereal/3tbsp formula. That way you can keep tabs on the ratio you are mixing. I was a professional nanny and kept tabs for parents and I would write how much cereal to how much formula. Just an FYI, just because you are now giving your son cereal doesn't mean that he will sleep better, longer or drink less. Some babies never change the amount of formula they take in when they start cereal. Plus, you are really only giving 3 extra Tbsp. of formula. Some babies don't start to change the amount they are eating a lot more. There is nothing wrong with tracking, each of us are different and like to different things.
If your baby is not overweight or underweight, why do you have to take the time to write everything down? Feed your baby until he is happy or until he starts pushing the spoon away or turning his head away from you. Don't worry soo much and spend the time with your son.
Don't worry so much about how much rice cereal you're giving. Until your child is one, breastmilk/formula is the primary source of nutrition. Starting your child on solids is just a way to introduce the food and get them used to it, not replace milk nutritionally or reduce the amount they're drinking. Obviously, follow what your pediatrician says, but just know that they do not recommend putting cereal in a bottle and many doctors are waiting to start children on solids at 6 mos. (particularly with larger children) b/c they're seeing a link to childhood obesity with early introduction to food.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/delay-solids.html
http://www.babiesmalta.com/firstyear/Whywaittointroduceso...
http://www.healthcaresouth.com/pages/askthedoctor/solidsi...
Again, not to contradict what your pediatrician is saying but sometimes it's good to question a little authority :)
I started my daughter on the rice cereal in her bottle at 3 months and always counted that as just formula (and we only did it at night so she'd sleep through the night). Then when I fed her by spoon, I counted it only as cereal (the combined total). I believe that once the milk and rice are mixed it's no longer counted as formula.
Good luck and relax....sounds like you are doing a great job.
