BF Mamas who've started cereal...

cachoque

I'm among the many here whose supply has been dipping and I usually make just enough to cover daycare feedings so I want to avoid waste as much as possible. My pedi gave us green light for LO to start cereal so we tried it today (we're 5 months). I mixed in 1.5oz of BM and since LO is really just practicing, we stopped after a few bites.

Can I put the remaining cereal back in the fridge & use it for another session later? How long does it last?

I'm really not liking the thought of wasting even 1oz given the challenges I'm facing already!

What do you ladies do/think?

dvmmomma

I would treat it like milk leftover from a bottle. Technically you're *supposed* to toss it right away. I would keep mine refrigerated for a max of an hour before tossing. You introduced bacteria from LOs mouth (from the spoon) so I wouldn't let it sit long. But that's just me.

mindfulmama14

I am having this same situation. I felt like I was wasting my BM when we tossed what LO didn't finish. So next attempt I made cereal with formula. Also the cereal we are trying says you can mix with water. That could be an option as well while LO starts getting used to it.
This is slightly of subject but how are your LO digesting cereal? I'm not sure if it's a coincidence but LO became really gassy days after. Hopefully it's not linked. My first child loved rice cereal and we never had issues there

ungraceful13

I have been just making it with water as to not waste my breast milk.

jules1614

Since LO is still practicing I only use like 1/2 oz BM or less. He is showing no interest in eating it though so we do waste some and I hate that.

becominggold

I have been making it with BM, but I have been off work the last two weeks so I have had the extra because I always pump after my first am feed. I may have to switch to water this week.

wandsandwine

I use water for the exact same reason, my supply has dipped so much even using an ounce would be toouch to spare. LO has had peas now too so I was thinking of mixing in a touch of those for flavor and texture

Cat&S

How do you reheat it if you use BM and refrigerate?

cachoque

I was planning to keep it in a spare Medela bottle & use the bottle warmer - like we do with any pumped BM. It might require an extra minute but the steam seems to be the best way to reheat anything for LO.

rstarrlemaitre

Mrsthompsontobe said:

I use water for the exact same reason, my supply has dipped so much even using an ounce would be toouch to spare. LO has had peas now too so I was thinking of mixing in a touch of those for flavor and texture

This is me. I use water - so far in peas, rice cereal, and avocado.

Peggarbe

We make our own rice cereal and portion it out - it's good for 2-3 days in the fridge or 2 months in the freezer. I would assume the same would go for commercial rice cereal; you could make a batch with about 3-5 servings and separate them out for less waste

MandMLeona

This is going to be true of everything you feed LO...always put SMALL amounts in a separate container to feed.  If they finish it, get a clean spoon and portion out a little more.  Once the saliva has gotten into it, it will start breaking it down.  I had no idea with my first.  I threw out so much baby food because it went watery by the next feeding.

kareik01

If DD didn't eat it all, I got rid of it. It was tough because I too only make enough to send to daycare and then feed at home. But when we would get ready for cereal I would pump just enough to mix with the cereal and stop.

We've started veggies and I now know that we won't be continuing with cereal. I thought she was doing great eating her cereal, but now that she's actually eating something she likes it has made a huge difference. I would struggle to get DD to eat a normal serving of cereal, but now with veggies I get her mostly full on BM and then do half a container of veggie, and she's usually begging for more veggie! I've still limited her to the half container since we just started last week until her body gets more used to it. To see her scarf the veggies down with hardly any spit back out is wonderful compared to the cereal.

cachoque

Thanks so much - this is very helpful! I will definitely start the practice of portioning with new spoons to help avoid waste!

SoSayWeAll

I haven't started anything yet, but I have an idea for when I do. DS wakes just once between 3-5 AM and my boobs are super engorged then and he only needs to eat on one side. What I may do is hand pump an oz or two from the other side and use it for cereal. It will be mostly foremilk but I think that should be fine. Not sure if this would work for you but I thought I would share my plan.

jenniferurs

I wasn't doing cereal for this very reason, but LO doesn't seem to be taking too well to the squash or sweet potatoes my pedi recommended. May have to go the water route with the cereal and see how that goes. 

karacc18

how much cereal are you giving? We started a few weeks ago at 4 months and the pedi said 1 tablespoon. He eats it all pretty quickly and still takes a 6 oz bottle of BM at the same time, so i am wondering if we should be giving him more cereal and if it will keep him fuller to sleep longer?