good age for cereal...

danienicole99

Just wondering what a good age for the average baby is to start adding cereal to formula....

Structenggal

we didn't start solids with DS1 until 6 months.  We'll do the same with DS2.

I don't think you are supposed to add cereal to bottles unless your child has reflux and your pedi directs you to do that.

ChelsiAnn13

I believe your not supose to until 4 mo at the earliest unless suggested by their PED and even then you should always use a spoon to feed and not through a bottle.

Bunniehug

Structenggal:

we didn't start solids with DS1 until 6 months.  We'll do the same with DS2.

I don't think you are supposed to add cereal to bottles unless your child has reflux and your pedi directs you to do that.

This exactly. Older generations used to do it too to help their LOs STTN.

RobynK

Adding cereal to formula?  Never unless your doctor told you to for a medical reason.

https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/tipcerealinbottle.htm 

And a specific copy and paste from the link:
It is not a good idea because you may throw the "I'm full" instinct off kilter; more importantly, babies have been known to aspirate cereal when cereal is mixed in a bottle with formula or breast milk. Babies who are younger than 4-6 months old seldom know how to properly swallow anything other than breast milk or formula and gulping or "inhaling" a bottle with cereal in it may have deadly consequences.

fcp1234

AmyG*:

RobynK:

Adding cereal to formula?  Never unless your doctor told you to for a medical reason.

https://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/tipcerealinbottle.htm 

And a specific copy and paste from the link:
It is not a good idea because you may throw the "I'm full" instinct off kilter; more importantly, babies have been known to aspirate cereal when cereal is mixed in a bottle with formula or breast milk. Babies who are younger than 4-6 months old seldom know how to properly swallow anything other than breast milk or formula and gulping or "inhaling" a bottle with cereal in it may have deadly consequences.

It is not a good idea because you may throw the "I'm full" instinct off kilter;

A lot of people don't really understand how that works, so let me explain.

A baby is born with an ability to self regulate their calories to grow at their own potential rate.  Once breastfeeding (the norm for humans thru the eons) is well established, a baby will eat only the amount of calories they need to grow and not gain too much weight.

We may be short circuiting that inborn ability to stop eating after just the right number of calories in a few ways with our babies.  we feed breastmilk or formula that is usually 22 calories per ounce--so baby gets used to knowing they need this much ounces that fills my stomach this much to get the 550 calories I need a day(average baby calorie intake)--broken up into enough small meals to never stretch the stomach out past it's normal capacity(the size of their fist should be the size of their stomach) 

 

then we want baby to sleep longer, or decide to intro cereal, but do so within the bottle of breastmik or formula for ease.  so baby eats the same amount of ounces that they are used to eating, and instead of getting 22 calories x 3 oz = 66 calories, they get 66 calories of formula plus an extra 20 calories of cereal.  They ate too much, but didn't realize it until it was too late.   baby is overeating and begins to be unable to regulate their own calorie intake because of sneaky cereal in the bottle.

 

as adults we do not self regulate our calorie intake very well.  based on the number of adults that are obese, and the rising tide of obesity in the US there is a lot of research on why we are becoming obese.  choice of food is a big one, but so is just not being able to tell when you are full and stop eating in time.

 

Totally agree. Our pediatrician told us to add one tablespoon of cereal in LO's bottle for reflux, and we had to lower the amount of formula, so he doesnt get too many calories. Lo used to eat 5oz and we had to lower it to 3oz and add cereal.

I dont think cereal helps for sleeping longer. LO still sleeps the same at night.  

danienicole99

wow! thanks ladies! FTM here and learning as I go....I would never do anything w/out consulting my pedi...(this is a good example why