Rice cereal..

msmckenzie7

So my grandma has been telling me since LO was 2 weeks old that I need to start giving her rice cereal at night to make her STTN and help her gain weight. (I haven't done it) I was just talking to her and she told me again. I try to be nice and tell her I am not going to give it to her yet but she keeps on. Do any of you give your LOs this young rice cereal in their milk?

PunkyBooster

No way!

In fact, it can be a choking hazard. Things are so different these days than they were way back when.

I would simply say, "The pediatrician and I have talked about baby's needs." and leave it at that. 

I could not stand this suggestion. I don't know why people push cereal like they do. DS got nothing but BM for 6 months and he was STTN (6 hours) at 3 months and 8 hours at 4.5 months. 

msmckenzie7

PunkyBooster:

No way!

In fact, it can be a choking hazard. Things are so different these days than they were way back when.

I would simply say, "The pediatrician and I have talked about baby's needs." and leave it at that. 

I could not stand this suggestion. I don't know why people push cereal like they do. DS got nothing but BM for 6 months and he was STTN (6 hours) at 3 months and 8 hours at 4.5 months. 

 

Thanks for the reassurance. Good news for me that yours was STTN at 3 months. Shows me hope Its not bad now she wakes up 2 maybe 3 times to eat and I SAH with her so I can catch up on sleep when she naps.

superned

No way!  DD was EBF until six months.  Had she not been able to get all of her nutrition from my BM, I would have supplemented with formula.  PP is right that cereal is a choking hazards for newborns.

Your grandma would hate me - I never gave DD cereal of any kind. 

PunkyBooster

Seriously. Just say, "The pediatrician and I have talked extensively about her nutritional needs and I am going to go with her recommendations."

Nothing else needs to be said. 

 

Lyea1986

My daughter's pedi told us to put the rice cereal in her bottle to help with reflux. It's really helped her a lot.

Kered6799

no intention of giving cereal/oatmeal as of right now. want to start with veggies around 6 months if we can wait that long. haven't had 4 mo appt yet but going to check with dr and see if she is okay with this. DD sleeps through the night (most nights) She is on the smaller side as far as weight but she is gaining consistantly so I think we are okay in holding off.

CindyTJ

This is an old school method that was recently disproved by new research. I read about it in a Baby/Parenting magazine. Cereal (a) does not help babies sleep better and (b) does not help with reflux. It's purely luck if your baby changes after he/she starts on cereal. So tell your grandma that people no longer do that b/c it has been proven to be ineffective. If she can't handle the truth, then you'll just have to tell her that you won't talk to her about it anymore. Good luck!

msmckenzie7

Thanks everyone. I really needed some other opinions on this and I feel the same way each of you do about it. I have tried to tell her all of this but she thinks her way is the right way. Its not an everyday thing its only when I say that I have been taking a nap and she ask why and I tell her that waking up feeding is tiring then she goes on about the cereal.

AimeeL85

No way....no offense to your grandmother, but that is very old school thinking and I don't think any pedi would recommend it now. It's way too young to be given anything at all other than milk, and when you do start cereal, it's best to avoid doing so through a bottle.

That was very common to do when your grandmother had children so I don't blame her for trying to give you this advice, I would just try to explain as nicely as possible that it's been determined that that's not the best thing to do.