1. Which did you pick and why? My pedi mentioned doing a mix of both. Anyone do this?
2. How many times a day do you attempt to introduce/give it?
3. If your LO takes to it, how much do you offer? A couple of spoon fills?
4. Any problems pooping after ingesting? Told it can cause constipation.
My LO is 4 months today. I was going to hold off on introducing rice cereal or the baby oatmeal but pedi highly suggested it and DH really wants to start it.
Re: If you've introduced rice cereal or oatmeal...
We first gave Lucy cereal at 4.5 months
I bought a box of each and let my husband choose which one to give her...he just basically grabbed a box, so no thought process...we didn't feel like it really mattered which
We have done it for the past week or so in the evenings...just before her nighttime nursing and going to bed...she's not been sleeping well (waking up several times - doesn't need to eat, just wants her pacifier back or to be rocked back to sleep) and we thought it might help. I was reluctant, too, but thought it might help her sleep better (haven't noticed a difference yet...)
We mix a tablespoon of cereal and 3 tablespoons of breast milk and start feeding her. The first night it was only a few spoonsful but has increased each night...I just let her be the judge. She seems to really like it but when she starts turning her head and/or fussing, I know she's finished.
Good luck!
1. I just got regular rice cereal because I was at the store picking up formula and it was right in front of me, so I just grabbed it. We might switch things up when it's time to buy more cereal, but it's working fine for now.
2. we just started this week, and are offering it once a day, usually an hour or so before bed. We will increase the amount he's offered and the frequency as he gets used to eating.
3. dr told us 1Tbsp of cereal mixed with 4Tbsp breast milk/formula. I offer until he refuses to eat anymore. After three days, he's not even CLOSE to finishing the whole thing. Our pedi wants us to (incrimentally) increase his feeds until he's taking 6Tbsp/day of cereal. I won't be increasing the feeds until he's finishing all of the 1Tbsp. Also, I nurse him before he gets the cereal.
4. So far no problems. He's been regular the past few days - better than when we first started formula.
We started solids quite early (3mos) because he was ready. I intended to wait much longer, but we got the ok from the pedi and decided to try... there's no harm in giving it a shot and seeing if LO likes it. If LO pushes all of the food out, or gags, (s)he may not be ready, and you can try again in another couple weeks (or keep trying, if you're set on it.)
We were given rice cereal from a friend who didn't use it, so we started with that. Our pedi said not to measure or to worry too much about specifics. Start with a spoonful (adult spoon/ tbsp) and play around with the consistency mixed with BM or formula until you find the texture LO likes. (We did about the consistency of pancake batter or a milkshake) After LO gets the hang of the spoon, you can start giving more than a tbsp. He also recommended giving it after a bottle/ BF. If he's too hungry, he may get frustrated. For us, he took to "eating" right away. We started doing 2 scoops (formula scooper- maybe a tbsp?) once a day. I grabbed some oatmeal cereal and we tried that after a few days of the rice. P seemed to like it better, so we did oatmeal for about 2 wks. He did start pooping less, but still every day. At that point, I got some stage 1 banana and mixed it with the oatmeal. This remains his favorite!
Since then (he's about 5 mos now) we've introduced some other fruits and veggies and sometimes mix with cereal depending on how much he likes it. We always have "food" after his breakfast bottle (8am-ish) and then again in the afternoon. We'll probably start to work in 3 solids meals a day to get him on our schedule, so we eat dinner together.
good luck!
We started trying with rice because supposedly it is easiest on the tummy. LO hated it. She would cringe when she saw the spoon and gag when it touched her mouth. So I tried again a week later, same thing. Thought maybe it was the rice, so I tried oats, and same thing. She just wasn't ready. I tried again yesterday, and suddenly she seemed ready to try it. In the end, she even grabbed the spoon as it got close to her mouth and pushed it up to her mouth, smiling.
We will be sticking to rice until she is 6 months, I think, before introducing anything else.
I stopped when she seemed to lose interest. She turned her head away and stopped watching the spoon. She had maybe a tablespoon.
No noticeable issues with pooping.
We started Lydia on rice cereal at 3.5 months. At first we mixed formula in with a couple of tablespoons of rice cereal. Now, we mix 1/2 of a container 1st foods fruit/veggie with about 4-5 tablespoons of rice cereal mixed with water. She eats it all. We alternate fruits and veggies every other day. We feed her at about 7:30, and she has been STTN since we started feeding her a little later in the night. HTH!
ETA: We have no pooping problems at all. But, I have heard when you use just rice cereal, that's when the pooping problems come in. That's why we started with fruits and veggies mixed in with the cereal - to keep the poopy going ok!