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Parenting after a Loss
Please share your rice cereal knowledge
Because DS is so big, the pedi recommended we put 1 teaspoon of rice cereal in his bottle twice a day in an attempt to get him to eat less formula since he thinks 6-8oz every three hours is too much food.
I'm going to try it, but I'm quite nervous since this means he is starting solids two months early. ?Do you think my pedi's logic is sound? Will rice cereal help fill him up so he'll want a bit less formula or will it only make the weight gain worse? I don't know if he is truly overweight because he's very tall as well...I jut want to do what is best for him.
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Re: Please share your rice cereal knowledge
I wouldn't, but that's just me. But I have heard of people doing this. Personally, I think it's overboard at 2 months. DD is BF'd, but she at regularly 2-3 hours (except at night) until almost 6 months when we started solids. She's a big girl as well (I'm not sure where I have her stats, but I'm sure it was right around the same as your DS) and always has been.
Do not think that your DS is overweight. There is nothing wrong with chunky babies...and really, I'd say for his height, he's just fine. It's all a matter of proportions. DD was (is) always in the 95% for growth, but the pedi always says that she's proportionate & not overweight.
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I was not going to respond to your earlier post but since you are asking...
I do disagree with the rice cereal in the bottle to help him get fuller.
Rice cereal is really empty calories plus vitamins - since he's on Formula already, he really doesn't need the extra vitamins.
His digestive system really isn't ready for solid foods, even if it is just rice cereal.
The World Health Organization and the AAP now recommend waiting until babies are 6 months old.
I'm not sure what other advice I'd suggest as an alternative, but maybe he's just a big boy??? eating every 3-4 hours is fairly normal I think - Avery still eats every 3 hours and she's 7 months old.
i agree with Sarah...
(and BTW - I eat every 2-3 hours, too!)
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Nothing wrong with a chunky baby! My pedi loves the size of my DD and says not to worry at this young age about being overweight. The doctor strongly discouraged me from giving her rice cereal/solids before 6 months. I did start at 5.5 months because I just knew it was time. He's too young of it in my opinion.
I have a friend with a small baby that has bad reflux and her pedi had her add rice cereal at a 2 or 3 months to help fatten her up and it did. So I'm not sure I understand your pedi's point of view.
I completely agree. DD ate every 2 hours until she started eating a lot more solids - so that was probably until around 9 months.
Completely agree with this.
Honey, he's NOT overweight. Leo is about 26.75 in and 17lb, so 15lb is nothing! I don't think age is so much a factor as height, ya know? He sounds like just a big guy.
As for the rice- I wouldn't worry about starting "solids' early b/c it's not really the same thing- a lot of people use rice-thickened feeds for reflux. We started this at 3 months, and had no problems. Now, I don't know if it made him any less hungry, but hey, it doesn't hurt to try!
If you are concerned about the amount he's eating, I'd try the rice and see if it allows you to cut back on formula a bit. But still, formula should be the main source of nutrition- rice is just empty calories. If he seems content on the formula and it's not costing you a small fortune, LOL, then I don't think you need to feel obligated to try rice if you are nervous about it. But I also don't think it will hurt him. In our generation, many of us were started on solids very early, esp. rice in bottles. And we all turned out fine!
Definitely not trying to start drama, but there is recent research now that shows that starting solids too early CAN hurt a baby and lead to many adult health issues (diabetes, obesity, gastro issues, allergies, etc). Their digestive systems have not matured enough for solids. (Especially at 2 months old) And I know that rice cereal is given to babies with reflux but its usually NOT for the 'calories' - it is to thicken the formula so they are not as apt to spit it up the needed formula, but that is NOT the norm, and the benefits of having a baby that isn't spitting up all of its nutrients outweighs the potential harm later on in life.
Yes, many of us had solids early and turned out fine but it's because science didn't know any better.
absolutely! And I'd get a new ped b/c I'd be concerned with one that was giving me this advice, advising to deliberately try to get a 2 month old to take less nutrients? I don't know your baby's weight but did your ped tell you there is no correlation to an infant's weight and w/r they will be obese later in life? My nephew who was off the chart for weight at 9 mos is a skinny 10 year old now. He was the michelin man.
Sheesh! If it isn't a ped telling moms to feed cereal for babies to sleep through the night, its one that tells them to feed them cereal so they'll drink less.
Babies are supposed to gain weight, babies are supposed to be fat and chubby and have rolls esp. in the early months! Why isn't he concerned with the fact that at 2 mos your baby's gut is still not fully developed and you could be exposing him to increase in allergies and other digestive issues?
Go with your instinct. Sorry for the rant, but ugh seeing these comments by peds makes me wonder whether they even bother to read their own practice's recommendations!
Go Steelers!
Sorry, Sarah, but I don't agree with you on this. First of all, I know full well about why they put babies on cereal for reflux; my child has suffered a great deal from stomach issues since day one and I of all people are well-versed in the ins and outs of treatment protocols.
Secondly, I am in the midst of researching a book idea and have been talking at length with a few statisticians and researchers who have really opened my eyes about a lot of these "studies". Don't take what the AAP and WHO says as God, okay? These organizations are just as vulnerable to politics, chicken-little tactics and bad science as any others. The "facts" are often open to interpretation. I think the proverbial sh!t is going to hit the fan about much of the parenting advice we've been given. Antectdotal though it may be, I knew NO ONE- not one single person- in my age group with food allergies or obesity. Maybe I just lived in a very healthy area, I don't know... but I do know that many of us were fed rice cereal at or before 2 months.
To give you an analogy- I know you are very pro-BF, right? Well, did you know that La Leche League was formed as a backlash to "science" extolling the virtues of formula? In those days, women were told that breastfeeding wasn't healthy. That was the "new science" that told them that what their mothers did wasn't the best choice. Now the pendulum has obviously swung the other way.
I'm also not trying to "stir up drama" but I see you mentioning things like this a lot, and I just think it's a bit unfair to knock other people's parenting decisions. And you have to realize that not everyone buys into the propoganda of the medical community, which has steered us wrong throughout the generations. We all do what we think is best for our kids, you know?
Sue - I don't take what the WHO and AAP say as God, I just was using that as a guideline, since I think those are the two most 'popular' organizations.
I have never put down one's decision on how to parent. I don't care if you FF or BF, as long as one FEEDS their child.
But - I still disagree with OP's pediatrician's advice.
4 months and cereal? That's Fine. I know that waiting 6+ months is a fairly new phenomena but at 2 months old, other than needing it for REFLUX, I can't find ANY place that condones this. If you can send me articles that do, then I would be very interested in reading about it.
I went back and did some extra perusing of the internet and I found unanimous positions (including medical journals, and research studies) that feeding cereal before 4 months is not recommended EXCEPT for cases of GERD/Reflux.
There are several links between eczema and early solids - however I firmly believe this is also genetic. The links to diabetes, obesity and food allergies are still unproven -- its probably all the other crap we give our kids while they watch 14 hours of television that leads to that, right?
And - feeding cereal in a bottle MAY affect a baby's natural "i'm full" button and could end up over feeding him.
Anyways - I appreciate your different opinion - it does put me in check as far as not falling victim to the "just because ____ said so, I believe it".
BUT - in this case, the case of a dr wanting the OP to give her 2 month old son rice cereal, I do believe this is not good advice. I think the baby is just a very healthy eater
(wow - who would have thought this would turn into such a great debate!?)