How long did you do only rice cereal?

momofmanyinthemitten · April 2011

DH seems to think it is normal to give LO only rice cereal from 4-6 mos, along with BFing. How long did you wait to add more types of food after giving rice cereal for the first time?

HML5382 · April 2011

I used oatmeal cereal, but same idea... my pediatrician recommended using the cereal until she knew how to eat, which took about 4 weeks. Then we started adding one veggie or fruit at a time for 4 days each. Dr said they don't really need food till 6 months when their iron stores and all begin to drop, but it's a good idea to teach them how to eat before then. Most bfing books I've read stress holding off introducing solids till 6 months but it hasn't interfered with my supply or the amount of milk she gets so I'm not worried about it. I do make sure to always nurse her before offering solids though.

Draba123 · April 2011

We only waited a week. My DS's pedi recommended starting with the cereal really liquidy and once you can thicken it and your LO is eating it well and eating a pretty good quantity (he said two tablespoons at a sitting) then he's ready to try veggies/fruits.

cittycat · April 2011

I'm roughly following my pedi's plan (she wanted me to do more solids by now, but I'm afraid LO will start to wean if I do as much as she suggested!). I'm doing 4 days of each cereal (rice, barley and oatmeal) one time a day. Then mixing them together, plus one more meal of a veggie or fruit by the week she hits 6 months).

detokiet · April 2011

Not as long as I had originally planned. Your pedi should be able to provide some insight. I was going to do a full box of rice cereal, but he was getting bored, so I intro'd some veggies. He wouldn't eat plain cereal after that. I had to mix fruit or veggies in with it. We started at 4 months.