Rice cereal?

Tshae2432 · December 2013

At what age were you told u cld add a little to his bottle? My LO will be 3 months the end of this week and the dr said we cld put a lil in his bottle at night to help with reflux and help him sleep longer???

TamaraE30 · December 2013

My pediatrician wants us to wait until 4 months.

redfallon · December 2013

Never, unless for reflux, then listen to your pedi's advice.

Tshae2432 · December 2013

Yes Let me be more clear. He said would help with reflux and let him sleep longer because the reflux wldnt bother him and wake him up.

ssublett09 · December 2013

I want t start doing this but I'm nervous to. My LO has reflux very bad and is on Prevacid and Zantac with no relief.... Is it really supposed to help with reflux?

KaramelSutra · December 2013

It helps with reflux because it sits denser at the bottom of the stomach. They make formulas for reflux which have rice powder in them. But if you mix one and let it sit it literally almost resembles cement. I wouldn't want that sitting in my belly.

katdesear · December 2013

Do not add to LOs diet without first checking with your pediatrician.

llybeck · December 2013

We tried rice cereal from early on at pedi's recommendation for reflux. We were also on Zantac. I would say ours was a classic case of shoving meds on a kid who didn't need it. Both things made her miserable, she was constantly constipated because of the cereal and screamed bloody murder every time she had to take the medicine and it never seemed to make a difference. We stopped the meds but she would projectile vomit her whole bottle if we didn't use rice cereal.

Finally we found a product called Gelmix and it's been great. No more rice cereal and no more constipation! She pooped normally for the first time within hours of her first bottle with Gelmix. She still spits up, some kids are just spitty, but she is at least keeping some down and is growing fine and not in discomfort anymore, the cereal was clearly too hard on her stomach.

It's pretty expensive and I can only order it directly online but I would encourage you to look into Gelmix if you are doing this because of reflux. Our DD is like a different baby, so much happier because she's obviously not in pain like she was.

happybride 276 · December 2013

My son has silent reflux and I refuse to add cereal to his bottle. I won't be feeding him rice cereal at all though. I have found other ways to treat his reflux.

JocelynB0911 · December 2013

We use Enfamil ar for ds3's reflux. I mix 1-2oz of the formula to 1-2 oz of my breast milk. We were told to stop the meds for reflux and he gained almost 3lbs in a month which is amazing. He went from vomiting up every feed to a little spit up a few times a day.

nbartlett47 · December 2013

jdoud77 said:
Rice cereal in the bottle may allow babies to feel fuller longer but it gives zero nutrition, which they need. If they are eating so much and every hour is because they are growing and they need it. Giving them rice in place of the nutrients they need doesn't help anything except maybe convenience the parents.

This. If one more relative suggests giving my 2 month old rice with his breastmilk "because he's not getting full enough" I might go crazy.

kimberlymacrae · December 2013

I totally understand what the PPs are saying about if your LO needs to eat every hour then feed them every hour. But I just want to throw this out there for the lurkers. Our pedi said the exact words "If nothing seems to satisfy them, then add a little cereal to help keep them fuller". No, I am not going to go find a new pedi because of this one suggestion, however what I do want to say (that I think both sides will agree to) is listen to your gut. My gut says... if he is hungry then keep feeding him. My gut also says that because we use this special organic formula that he keep throwing up the forumla (at least 1/3 of the bottle) because it is too thin. I tried a little cereal in the bottle (like serious 1/4 of a reccommended first serving) and noticed that my LO keeps down the WHOLE bottle now... and he is still eating every hour. So to me... it is a win win.

I just wanted to say that Pedi's give all sorts of advice, so does this board, but nothing replaces a momma's gut feeling.

Now blending up a 4 oz. steak and potatos to keep your LO full is a bit much

SweetPeaK26 · December 2013

With dd1 the pedi had us start at 2 months (for hunger issues not reflux). We did rice two times, then switched to oatmeal.. It was much easier on her tummy. With dd2, we never even attempted rice. Just started with oatmeal at 4 months.

This time they didn't say anything about starting at 2 months, so we won't. Dd3 is EBF, and doesn't seem to have a hunger need for it. Dd1 was formula and was needing entirely too much formula in one day to be satisfied.

janelleashu · December 2013

kimberlymacrae said:
I totally understand what the PPs are saying about if your LO needs to eat every hour then feed them every hour. But I just want to throw this out there for the lurkers. Our pedi said the exact words "If nothing seems to satisfy them, then add a little cereal to help keep them fuller". No, I am not going to go find a new pedi because of this one suggestion, however what I do want to say (that I think both sides will agree to) is listen to your gut. My gut says... if he is hungry then keep feeding him. My gut also says that because we use this special organic formula that he keep throwing up the forumla (at least 1/3 of the bottle) because it is too thin. I tried a little cereal in the bottle (like serious 1/4 of a reccommended first serving) and noticed that my LO keeps down the WHOLE bottle now... and he is still eating every hour. So to me... it is a win win.

I just wanted to say that Pedi's give all sorts of advice, so does this board, but nothing replaces a momma's gut feeling.

Now blending up a 4 oz. steak and potatos to keep your LO full is a bit much

I agree with you a 100% and I hope the rice cereal topic continues to be talked about in a normal way like this on this board. I was on the 3-6 month board and the discussion on this topic was too preachy and inflammatory for my tastes.

Also, I believe the recommendation is steak an sweet potatoes.

kimberlymacrae · December 2013

Well my LO is WAY TOO YOUNG for sweet potatos... only baby red potatos for this LO.

Mommy's know when they are doing something to help their baby (i.e. adding a smidge of cereal to help reflux or tummy issues) versus adding cereal to help them out (i.e. longer time between feedings, etc.). As long as you are doing what is best for your baby then to each their own.

Serious question, what is the difference between rice cereal and oatmeal? I bought both an noticed the oatmeal was for when the baby was older. However if it is easier on their tummies like the PP said I might try a little oatmeal instead. Rice cereal doesn't upset LO's tummy now...

sugarellie · December 2013

kimberlymacrae said:

Well my LO is WAY TOO YOUNG for sweet potatos... only baby red potatos for this LO.

Mommy's know when they are doing something to help their baby (i.e. adding a smidge of cereal to help reflux or tummy issues) versus adding cereal to help them out (i.e. longer time between feedings, etc.). As long as you are doing what is best for your baby then to each their own.

Serious question, what is the difference between rice cereal and oatmeal? I bought both an noticed the oatmeal was for when the baby was older. However if it is easier on their tummies like the PP said I might try a little oatmeal instead. Rice cereal doesn't upset LO's tummy now...

I think oatmeal is a more complex grain for LO's to digest, rice is a simple single grain so its easier as a first food to digest..

sugarellie · December 2013

We started giving LO cereal in his bottles at the recommendation of our Pedi for his reflux and it has helped a lot I think. We don't do it at every bottle though, just from about 4pm-6am.. and then during the day he just gets breast milk.. He gave us specific instructions though on how much per oz of breastmilk to put in the bottle..

313Meg · December 2013

llybeck said:
We tried rice cereal from early on at pedi's recommendation for reflux. We were also on Zantac. I would say ours was a classic case of shoving meds on a kid who didn't need it. Both things made her miserable, she was constantly constipated because of the cereal and screamed bloody murder every time she had to take the medicine and it never seemed to make a difference. We stopped the meds but she would projectile vomit her whole bottle if we didn't use rice cereal.

Finally we found a product called Gelmix and it's been great. No more rice cereal and no more constipation! She pooped normally for the first time within hours of her first bottle with Gelmix. She still spits up, some kids are just spitty, but she is at least keeping some down and is growing fine and not in discomfort anymore, the cereal was clearly too hard on her stomach.

It's pretty expensive and I can only order it directly online but I would encourage you to look into Gelmix if you are doing this because of reflux. Our DD is like a different baby, so much happier because she's obviously not in pain like she was.

Ditto. Gi doc said to add some to formula for thickened feedings... He was so miserable! Even more so than the reflux irritability! To me, not worth it. We did just a couple days, his gut was messed up for 2 weeks!

It never sat well with me anyways. You should never do it to help them sleep. There is no nutritional benefit and in fact there's studies that it can be far more harmful than helpful!

Skalbrecht · December 2013

@kimberlymacrae- I would guess its because less people are allergic to rice. Often times oats are processed in a wheat allergen containing facility and thus have to have a gluten allergen labeled....just a quick guess from someone who works in the food industry, but not on baby food!

magdalina.h · December 2013

Since it's recommended from your pedi for reflux it's okay.

Want a personalized experience?

Rice cereal?

Re: Rice cereal?

Jamie

Choose Another Board

Search Boards