Rice cereal... When??

Blake30 · June 2013

My baby is 3 months on Saturday. A lot of people are telling me to feed him a few sprinkles of rice cereal starters and formula milk not breast feeding on a teaspoon at night to make him feel fuller and he will sleep better.

STM's When did you feed your baby cereal for the first time?!?

Mrs.adambabycakes · June 2013

Don't listen to them. They are dumb. Are you breastfeeding? Keep BFing. Your LO is to young for solids, they don't need them.

Blake30 · June 2013

I'm not breast feeding.

MrsWindyCity · June 2013

For us - never. There is no nutritional value in rice cereal. But even so, 4 months is the MINIMUM for introducing solids. The recs now are 6 months, which we did with DS1 and will do with DS2.

smrunnels · June 2013

I would wait until at LEAST 4 months and try to wait until 6 months. All the rice cereal does is make them fuller longer so they sleep longer at night. Plus, feeding your baby solids too soon can cause obesity later in life. Not sure why but that's what the doctor told me!!

emmy236 · June 2013

Our pedi said hold off until they are at least 4 months unless they have acid reflux and then used to help keep milk down. But I know my mother in law has told me that she gave it to DH at 8 weeks because he was just always hungry and it was the only thing that helped. I would hold off if there isn't a reason other than wanting them to sleep longer. If they aren't satisfied with normal feedings or showing reflux issues than I'd ask your doc.

Angela814 · June 2013

Never.

Well, we did rice cereal and purees with DD1 briefly.

Then I found out about BLW, so we skipped rice cereal and all purees all together with DD2. We'll do the same with DD3.

We don't start solids until 6 months.

Unknown · June 2013

This content has been removed.

pinottoparenthood · June 2013

No, no, and just... No. Continue to breastfeed. Breast milk is the only thing that your baby needs until 6 months plus and is the perfect food for him. I personally don't plan to give my baby white rice cereal at all, but regardless, none before six months.

OhSewCrafty · June 2013

It is a complete myth that cereal helps babies sleep longer. Otherwise all babies would immediately start STTN when they started solid foods and that is totally not the case. Rice cereal has little to no nutritional value and little babies don't have the digestive ability to process it until around 6 months. No reason to give it early.

PrimRoseMama · June 2013

Don't! Its a very real choking/inhalation hazard for baby.

"It is not a good idea because you may throw the "I'm full" instinct off kilter; more importantly, babies

have been known to aspirate cereal when cereal is mixed in a bottle with formula or breast milk. Babies who are younger than 4-6 months old seldom know how to properly swallow anything other than breast milk or formula and gulping or "inhaling" a bottle with cereal in it may have deadly consequences."

Please read through the medical advice and studies regarding adding cereal to baby's bottle:

Infant sleep and bedtime cereal - Macknin ML, Medendorp SV, Maier MC. Department of Pediatrics, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, OH 44195-5045.

We studied whether feeding infants rice cereal before bedtime promotes their sleeping through the night. One hundred six infants were randomly assigned to begin bedtime cereal feeding (1tablespoon per ounce in a bottle) at 5 weeks or at 4 months of age. Caretakers recorded the infant's sleep from age 4 to 21 weeks for one 24-hour period per week. Sleeping through the night was defined as sleeping at least 8 consecutive hours, with the majority of time being between the hours of midnight and 6 AM. The results were also reviewed changing the requirement from 8 hours to 6 hours.

There was no statistically significant trend or a consistent tendency of one group to have a higher proportion of sleepers than the other. Therefore, feeding infants rice cereal in the bottle before bedtime does not appear to make much difference in their sleeping through the night.NIH Medical Library - Study on Infant Sleep & Bedtime Cereal

Should I put cereal in the bottle to help my baby sleep through the night?

Cereal does not usually need to be put in your baby's bottle unless your baby's doctor specifically suggests it. Despite popular belief, adding cereal or other solid foods to your baby's diet will not help your baby sleep through the night. Your baby may have a hard time learning to eat from a spoon, if she gets used to taking solid foods in a bottle. Giving cereal before 4 to 6 months may also increase the risk of food allergies. Harvard Medical School - 2 MonthOld Baby Care

Q: Will cereal in the bottle before bed help my baby sleep through the night? Does feeding before bed help a baby sleep through the night?

A: No to both questions.

First: No, it is usually a bad idea to put cereal in the bottle before bed. This may lad to children waking up at night with gas and stools. It may also lead to a baby learning to become dependant on having a "full belly" to fall asleep. Also, cereal is only "empty calories" for babies under 4 to 6 months old, with little nutritional value except in older babies.

Second, feeding before bed usually does not help a child sleep though the night (at least, in most babies over two or three months old.) Feeding to sleep can lead to dentition, so called bottle caries. Maybe sometimes feeding before bed helps a baby under two or three months old sleep through the night, but it often leads to problems as listed above. For older babies it rarely helps them sleep through the night, and often leads to dependence on feeding before bed that can lead to tooth decay, obesity, and sleep problems that begin at nine to twelve months of life. In short, when kids get in the habit of feeding to sleep, it's very hard to break them of that habit. Also, feeding with a bottle in bed can lead to recurrent ear infections. Pine Street Pediatrics - FormulaFAQ.htm

Does adding cereal to a baby?s formula help them sleep through the night?

I do not recommend adding cereal to the formula. Sleeping though the night is not just a matter of filling up. Little stomachs can only hold so much. Adding cereal to formula makes each feeding less nutritious in terms of calcium, other minerals, fats, and protein. Feed your formula-fed infant all the formula she needs to satisfy her. She will sleep through the night when she is ready. (About half the bottle-fed infants are sleeping through the night at 8 weeks; half are not. Breast-fed infants normally wake for middle-of-the-night feedings for quite a while longer.) Your New Baby & Sleep; MSNBC

Cereal in the Bottle may lead to overeating

"I?m much more concerned about a subtler issue. Babies are born with a wonderful mechanism for knowing how much food they need. During the early months, they take their cues from the volume of what they drink. Adding cereal derails this mechanism. It forces them to take in deceptively large amounts of calories. It teaches them to overeat." Dr. Greene on Cereal in the Bottle for Sleep

Resources & Learning More about Adding Cereal to Baby's Bottle

Pine Street Pediatrics - FormulaFAQ.htm

Harvard Medical School - 2 Month Old Baby Care

NIH Medical Library - Study on Infant Sleep & Bedtime Cereal

Your New Baby & Sleep; MSNBC

Dr. Greene on Cereal in the Bottle for Sleep

Remember, always consult with your pediatrician regarding introducing solid foods to your baby and specifically discuss any foods that may pose allergy risks for your baby.

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information:
verify here.

Rice cereal will not make your baby sleep longer. That is incredibly outdated information and it is hard on their stomach. You will most likely be up with them as they have horrible intestinal discomfort.

MYTH No. 1: Feeding your baby more milk at night or putting cereal in her bottle will help her sleep longer.

TRUTH: In studies, babies fed rice cereal in their bottle slept no better or longer than those who didn't, reports pediatrician William Sears, MD, author of The Baby Sleep Book: The Complete Guide to a Good Night's Rest for the Whole Family (Little Brown, 2005). In fact, a common cause of night waking is indigestion. "If you put babies to bed with a too-full tummy, they're going to feel bloated and gassy and sleep poorly," Dr. Sears says.

BETTER BET: Try adding extra feedings during the late afternoon and early evening. Your goal is still to feed "on cue," but more nourishment during the day can gently encourage better sleep at night.

From AAP:
"discuss with Parents of formula-fed infants

Feeding practices

?

holding their infant close when feeding, in a semi-upright

position.

? Feeding their infant when he is hungry, typically every 3

to 4 hours (6?8 times in 24 hours) until complementary

foods are added.

? Preparing and offering more formula as their infant?s

appetite increases.

? offering their infant water on hot days between feedings

(infants don?t usually need water).

? Checking for causes if their infant is crying more than

usual or seems hungry all the time (uncomfortable feeding position, formula prepared incorrectly, bottle nipple

too firm or hole too big, unheeded hunger cues, distracting

feeding environment).

? Not enlarging the hole in the bottle nipple to make infant

formula come out faster.

? seeking consultation with a health professional if their

infant is not feeding enough.

Food safety

? Preparing formula as instructed, and following sanitary

procedures (washing hands before preparing formula;

cleaning area where formula is prepared; cleaning and

disinfecting reusable bottles, caps, and nipples before

each use; washing and drying top of formula container

before opening).

? Not adding cereal or other foods to infant formula.

? Discarding infant formula left in the bottle when their

infant has finished eating; not reusing a bottle that has

been started.

? Covering and refrigerating open containers of ready-tofeed or concentrated formula.

? storing powdered formula at room temperature.

mrsannie · June 2013

Bliss+Berry:
MrsWindyCity:
For us - never. There is no nutritional value in rice cereal. But even so, 4 months is the MINIMUM for introducing solids. The recs now are 6 months, which we did with DS1 and will do with DS2.
This.
We are starting with avocado, but not until at least 6 months.

All of this.

Mrs.adambabycakes · June 2013

Blake30:
I'm not breast feeding.

Ok. Your OP was a little confusing. Just keep doing what you're doing.

rlyttle · June 2013

We started at 3 months. I was EBF and DS was eating ever hour. My mother fed us cereal at 1 month!! We are all very smart, heathy people. DS is every happy, healthy kid. I think every kid is different so not every baby needs to wait till 6 months old.

Mrs.adambabycakes · June 2013

rlyttle:
We started at 3 months. I was EBF and DS was eating ever hour. My mother fed us cereal at 1 month!! We are all very smart, heathy people. DS is every happy, healthy kid. I think every kid is different so not every baby needs to wait till 6 months old.

Oh, so it's okay then.

Eleventy11 · June 2013

AmyG*:
Mrs.adambabycakes:
rlyttle:
We started at 3 months. I was EBF and DS was eating ever hour. My mother fed us cereal at 1 month!! We are all very smart, heathy people. DS is every happy, healthy kid. I think every kid is different so not every baby needs to wait till 6 months old. 
Oh, so it's okay then. 
When you know better, you can do better.

I love this statement. I'm so tired of the when we were babies argument. We are so much better educated about everything now.

OP, there is no need for cereals. We never gave them to my DD and don't plan to give them to this LO.

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Rice cereal... When??

Re: Rice cereal... When??

Please read through the medical advice and studies regarding adding cereal to baby's bottle:

Should I put cereal in the bottle to help my baby sleep through the night?

Q: Will cereal in the bottle before bed help my baby sleep through the night? Does feeding before bed help a baby sleep through the night?

Does adding cereal to a baby?s formula help them sleep through the night?

Cereal in the Bottle may lead to overeating

MYTH No. 1: Feeding your baby more milk at night or putting cereal in her bottle will help her sleep longer.

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