cereals

usernewname

I was hesitant to give ds rice cereal as its empty calories and no nutrition. However he's so interested in food I kinda want to jump on his interest. He's exclusively bf so I'll need to start pumping to add to it as well.

Is there an actual cereal out there - whether rice oatmeal etc that will give him a little nutrition? Cost isn't a factor as its a short time.

We see the doc in 2 weeks so I'm asking then too.

amroke

I don't think that nutrition is really the point of cereal at this age - he's getting all that he needs from the breast milk. It's more about starting to practice eating solids.

usernewname

I guess what I meant was that if the rice cereal for example fills him up then he won't be hungry for bm thus getting No nutrition.

chillypenguin

We waited until 6 months with DD1, but when we started solids we initially gave them after she had her bottl. That way she got her nutrition from the bottle and then just practiced with whatever solids we gave her. We switched it eventually and did solids first when we realized it didn't affect her bottles.

usernewname

@chillypenguin‌ that makes sense. I guess too if I make the cereal with bm then it's really no lost nutrients as he's getting bm too.

gutsysneakers

I read somewhere about a mix of BM and chicken purée as a first instead of oatmeal.

Mimaloo

What about cream of wheat? I eat that for breakfast almost every morning and it has instructions on the side for infants/toddlers.

usernewname

I know a lady who suggests fish egg yolk and semolina all mixed with bm as their first solids. That's a little much at this age.

He's showing the signs. I really want to hold off with solids until the recommended 6 months but if he's interested I might as well.

I hope our doc will give us the green light.

Tonight at the restaurant I was holding him and eating a piece of bread. He kept trying to grab it and his mouth was wide open. I'm clearly torturing this kid as he wants food dammit!

usernewname

Cream of wheat has milk products. Wouldn't that upset his tummy?

bazingaa

Yeah, I don't know. If I took DS showing interest in something and wanting to put it in his mouth as a sign that he wanted to eat it I would need to start feeding him my hair ... And possibly the dog. Poor dog.

SurprisePartySue

Gerber makes a rice cereal that has some nutrients in it. But besides that you have to mix the cereal with BM or formula in order to make it.

kat8805

florassecret said:

I know a lady who suggests fish egg yolk and semolina all mixed with bm as their first solids. That's a little much at this age.

He's showing the signs. I really want to hold off with solids until the recommended 6 months but if he's interested I might as well.

I hope our doc will give us the green light.

***Tonight at the restaurant I was holding him and eating a piece of bread. He kept trying to grab it and his mouth was wide open. I'm clearly torturing this kid as he wants food dammit!***

*** =/= interest in food. They're learning to use their hands right now, so they're grabbing at EVERYTHING. And guess where they put it all? In their mouths. It's a phase they go through, not an actual expression of interest in food. Your 4 month old doesn't know, or care that the thing you are putting to your mouth is food. Even if your ped says "sure, why not", I'd strongly suggest you do some actual research about delaying solids until 6 months.

flockofmoosen3

I forget where i read this, but i think it was on Kelly mom... the cells that line a baby's gut are "open", as in they have gaps between them that allow direct access to the blood stream. These gaps are good for transferring antibodies. The gaps close by 6 months of age. Kellymom says at that point introducing solids is okay because the closed gut cells won't let food contaminants into the bloodstream. If u read it it makes more sense than I can write it here using mobile. However, I couldn't tell if they were referring to solid solids only or if it included cooked purees too.

Also, I agree that a baby's "interest" in food is most likely just wanting to put everything into her mouth. Mine does the same thing at 3 months but we are still waiting until she's 6 months.

Btw, this is jmcdyer. ..changed screen name.

usernewname

kat8805 said:

florassecret said:

I know a lady who suggests fish egg yolk and semolina all mixed with bm as their first solids. That's a little much at this age.

He's showing the signs. I really want to hold off with solids until the recommended 6 months but if he's interested I might as well.

I hope our doc will give us the green light.

***Tonight at the restaurant I was holding him and eating a piece of bread. He kept trying to grab it and his mouth was wide open. I'm clearly torturing this kid as he wants food dammit!***

*** =/= interest in food. They're learning to use their hands right now, so they're grabbing at EVERYTHING. And guess where they put it all? In their mouths. It's a phase they go through, not an actual expression of interest in food. Your 4 month old doesn't know, or care that the thing you are putting to your mouth is food. Even if your ped says "sure, why not", I'd strongly suggest you do some actual research about delaying solids until 6 months.

Very true. Exploration is through their mouths. But some googling stated that was a sign of readiness to eating solids. It's also in my literature for early childhood education.

I'm not looking to give solids yet. Just thinking of cereal for exploration without ruining his appetite essentially. I'm not comfortable giving him solids yet as I don't want to set him up for allergies or digestive issues.

ETA this isn't something I've decided on a whim. I've been researching and thinking about it for a few days now and want to weigh both sides and will get a medical opinion.

pistolpackinmomma

Giving cereals is giving solids. They are the same thing.

usernewname

Hmm. I see my doc in a couple weeks. Maybe if she brings it up we can discuss otherwise I'll leave it for now.

spacepotatoes

usernewname said:

I know a lady who suggests fish egg yolk and semolina all mixed with bm as their first solids. That's a little much at this age. He's showing the signs. I really want to hold off with solids until the recommended 6 months but if he's interested I might as well. I hope our doc will give us the green light. Tonight at the restaurant I was holding him and eating a piece of bread. He kept trying to grab it and his mouth was wide open. I'm clearly torturing this kid as he wants food dammit!

That fish, egg yolk, and semolina mixture sounds nasty! 

There are other physical signs that need to be present, beyond just showing an interest, for baby to be ready for solids. Definitely check with your doc before starting anything and seriously consider holding off until 6 mos.

pistolpackinmomma

I guess I just don't see what the rush is. Spoon feeding a baby is fun for about 5 seconds. Then it gets old.

usernewname

I'm not looking forward to the mess thats for sure. Don't get me wrong, BF is probably tons easier than solids.

Oh and the cloth diaper poop.

Mimaloo

DD is EBF and our pediatrician said no solids until 6 months. We're doing great with BF so I'm in no rush. 

usernewname

comicsans said:

Nice name. Haha Talking to your doc and doing your own research are great ideas. It's become apparent from hearing advice others are getting that pediatrician =\= baby expert. Makes sense I guess since they cover quite the wide range of development. Like a Dr who specializes in say, adolescent health may not be keeping up to date on the latest infant recommendations. Even if you're not interested in BLW, the book gives an interesting history of how we got to solids being pushed at 4 months in western culture. Basically women weren't breastfeeding on demand and they weren't having success bf'ing beyond a couple of months and there weren't good alternatives. For a time cereals were being introduced at 2 and 3 months because it was thought they needed to practice chewing before 6 months when they were actually physiologically ready for solids. None of this answers your question, I just find it interesting how much conventional wisdom changes over time and how we rely on doctors to give us the right answers but how much that information can vary. Also, if you don't jump on any interest you may be seeing now, you're not going to miss a window of opportunity. Pretty sure babies only get more curious and more demanding about fulfilling that curiosity. I need to work on brevity...

I was tired of my flowery name ... haha this is the best I could come up with. I'm super creative. I was actually surprised it was available haha.

I totally get what your saying. I've been researching and some places say 6 months and no earlier, some leave it a little boarder at 4-6. It can make someone's head spin. And when our kids have kids (oh the thought) the norm will be something different. Or could go back and forth.

Even a pedi =/= a baby expert as they give even wrong breastfeeding advice.

I guess you just have to go with your instinct.

My ILs want to feed him potatoes. I have been at least saying no to that.

I think another thing is that DH wants to help out with feeding and take some of the demand off me, so he's eager. But he has yet to realize the mess a baby with cause exploring food, not to mention a change in bowel movements so that will change our cloth diapering routine.

kb2bkk

Funny how different some pedis are.  We held off on solids until 5.5 months with my first, and started with some veggies before rice cereal.  However our Pedi encouraged us to do rice cereal until DD was eating enough food high in iron, and that it isn't empty calories because they are getting the iron ( and I believe one other vitamin).

jenb_99

comicsans said:

Nice name. Haha

Talking to your doc and doing your own research are great ideas. It's become apparent from hearing advice others are getting that pediatrician =\= baby expert. Makes sense I guess since they cover quite the wide range of development. Like a Dr who specializes in say, adolescent health may not be keeping up to date on the latest infant recommendations.

Even if you're not interested in BLW, the book gives an interesting history of how we got to solids being pushed at 4 months in western culture. Basically women weren't breastfeeding on demand and they weren't having success bf'ing beyond a couple of months and there weren't good alternatives. For a time cereals were being introduced at 2 and 3 months because it was thought they needed to practice chewing before 6 months when they were actually physiologically ready for solids.

None of this answers your question, I just find it interesting how much conventional wisdom changes over time and how we rely on doctors to give us the right answers but how much that information can vary.

Also, if you don't jump on any interest you may be seeing now, you're not going to miss a window of opportunity. Pretty sure babies only get more curious and more demanding about fulfilling that curiosity.

I need to work on brevity...

I. Love. This. Response.

THD7580

DS had his 4 month check up today and out pedi said go for cereal starting now. She said he had all the signs and had doubled his birth weight. She said at 5 months we can start incorporating veggies slowly. I've started a couple times here and there a few bites and he swallows more than he spits out.

bridetobe9132013

My DD is 14 weeks and I tried cereal for the first time today... only to see if it will help her reflux at all. My niece had reflux and my sister started her on cereal at 3 months and noticed a huge difference. DD only had about 3 bites because she was so mad. She just wanted her bottle