Rice cereal coming soon
My twins will be 4 months old in a few days. I'd like to try rice cereal sometime in the next few weeks. We've done nothing but milk up to now. So...I'd like to know all about your experiences w/ introductions to foods and how it went. What worked for you and what didn't? How did you start? At this point I'm thinking I'll start w/ a tiny amount of rice cereal... isn't it one teaspoon of rice cereal to 4 teaspoons of formula to start with? Is there any reason to start w/ putting it in the bottle vs. spoon feeding them? Do you just do this once a day to start and then increase to several times a day? I really have no idea. I guess you can just judge based on how they respond.
I'll see how rice cereal goes and once they have that down... I'll move on to vegetables and then fruits. Supposedly you want to start w/ vegetables b/c babies already favor sweet tastes and it will be harder to get them to eat vegetables if they eat fruits first. I hear you should only do one type of food for 3-5 days before moving onto another to make sure there are no allergies. I also read that it's best to introduce the new food in the morning or at lunch so that you can look for an allergic reaction all day before they go to sleep at night.
I don't know how I'll feed them..meaning where. I guess I could put them in their highchairs but they aren't sitting up on their own yet so that may not work. I have bouncy seats that might work. Should I spend the money and buy bumbo seats? This is when I'll be extra grateful for having dogs...to eat all of the dropped food.
So...did you experience an increase in how long your baby slept at night after introducing foods? I was told by my doctor that babies do not sleep longer w/ the introduction of rice cereal but I know several Moms that would swear that there children did.
Labels: 3-6 months
posted by Keeping The Faith @ 10:38 AM
17 comments
17 Comments:
Hi,
We tried rice cereal around 3 mos but they didn't like it (still had that tongue reflex where they'd automatically push spoon out with tongue) so we tried again about 6 weeks later. They still never really took to it so after a few frustrating weeks I went right for the fruits (I know I did it backwards but they still ate their veggies fine!). When we did try cereal and they did eat a tiny bit, it was only with breastmilk, formula cereal they hated. I just never could get the consistency right, it always seemed way to liquidy. When they were older they ate oatmeal cereal mixed with fruit. I read that a good way to introduce new fruits and veggies is to mix it into their cereal. I think you are supposed to wait a few days to see if htey are allergic between new foods. Good luck! We didn't have a good cereal experience but they loved the baby food! Oh, we fed in their bouncy seats until they were old enough for their highchairs. I think by the time they really started baby foods, they were sleeping mostly through the night anyway. I have friends that said cereal didn't seem to have an affect on their sleeping habits.
Good luck and take lots of pictures!!
We started rice cereal in their bottles pretty early...around 2.5 months or so. Just a teeny bit but they loved it. Now, they have 3 oz. of oatmeal cereal mixed with 8 oz. of formula every night for their last bottle. I'm not sure if it helped with sleep or not...around 3 months we stopped feeding them after the last feed of the night so if they woke, they were just soothed until they went back to sleep and not fed until the first morning feed.
We just started trying the thick cereal. Landry does okay but Chayse hates it. We put them in a Bumbo seat to feed them but will soon break out the highchairs. We haven't yet introduced veggies but plan to in a week or so. Our Pediatrician said to start with orange veggies first.
Hope it goes well!!!
We didn't start with rice cereal until my twins were 6 months old (per our pediatrician's instructions). My son was all gung-ho on the rice cereal. My daughter hated it - she would just spit it out. When we introduced their next solid food a short time later (it was a veggie), my daughter was loving the solid food as was my son. We think she just liked the flavor.
We fed them in their high chairs and they weren't quite perfect with their sitting - my son still isn't. A bouncy seat, I would think, would work fine - though if there is a way to lift up the back, that might be good. We've put the back up against our couch to lift the bouncy seat up. I just think it would make the food go down easier - but that's my only reasoning behind that.
I don't think they slept any longer than they already had when we gave them their first solids.
I think we just gave them a little bit the first day and increased it each day. I can't remember how much though. We were told not to put the cereal with their formula (can't remember why). We've been giving them veggies up until now, but soon, we'll start to give them fruits. We're taking it a bit slow - giving them something new each week.
We started with rice cereal at 4 months. There are directions on the box, but I think you are right, first feeding is 1 tbsp of cereal to 4 tbsp of breast milk or formula. We did cereal for a whole month before introducing the baby foods. The kids didn't know what to make of it for the first week or so, but eventually got the hang of it.
My son was majorly constipated, so we quickly switched from rice cereal to oatmeal. The rice is really binding.
Anyway, we introduced fruits and veggies together. A fruit one day, then 3-4 days later, a veggie. They never had any issue. They liked everything.
We were told not to ever put the rice cereal in a bottle. That babies need to learn the difference between drinking versus eating. So we always did it with a spoon and bowl.
We fed them in their high chairs. Ours has a pretty good recline, so when they weren't sitting up great, we just reclined the chair more, but the bouncy seats would work fine as well.
As for the bumbos, I love them now. But at 4 months, the kids HATED them. It really wasn't until more like 7 months that they would sit in them and enjoy them. See if you can find some discounted or on craiglist or something for cheaper.
And I can't help with the sleep. Mine were sleeping through at 3.5 months so the introduction of the food didn't really change their sleeping habits.
Good luck! And take LOTS of pics for us (and for you!)
I am on the same page as you. We gave Jake his first rice cereal 4T breastmilk to 1T cereal and let him make a mess. He did okay with it that first time and we quickly got thicker with it. My doctor said as soon as he tolerates cereal as thick as baby food give him veggies and just like you said morning to lunch and wait at least 3 days before giving another one and then go to fruit after we worked our way through the veggies.
So far not so good. He would not take veggies at all. I tried with green beans for two days in a row and then I waited a few days and tried carrots two days in a row and he doesn't want them at all. He is hit and miss on the cereal too. One day you can't give him enough of it and the next day you can hardly get three bites in him. I decided to just keep up with the cereal for a couple more weeks and then give the veggies another try.
Our doctor does not want us giving cereal in the bottle. She said the whole point to eating cereal is to get used to eating. That cereal is the best way for them to figure out what to do with their tongues and how to move food in their mouths. It takes a lot of playing with it to get the consistency right and it softens up as you are feeding them.
Our highchair tips back a little bit and works great - about the same angle as the bouncy seat. I think Jake's favorite part of eating his his bib!
I agree with Seattlegal - you should only give solid food after 6 months. And then you should rather do fruit and veggies and not rice cereal. You start with veggies like pumpkin,carrots and spinach and fruit like cooked apple and pear. This is according to the newest World Health Orginization guidelines. You steam the food and refine it to a pulpy texture with a food processor - the stick types work really well. This programme is based on the age at which enzimes to digest food is developed. Rice cereal can not be digested, even at 6 months and that is one of the reasons why babies get constipated. You need to watch for the following to know baby is ready for solids: Can sit on his/her own. Shows interest in Mommy or Dady's food. Has started teething. You will see that they then take to solids with the greatest of ease. Giving them solids earlier will not make them sleep longer - try going back to feeding more often (every 3 hours in daytime) to encourage healthy sleeping habits. (I suggest reading" On Becoming Baby Wise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep " by Gary Ezzo for good sleeping habits - available on Amazon.com) I followed this pattern with my daughter ans she slept through at 12 weeks. My twin boys started sleeping through at 10 and 11 weeks respectively with the bigger one first. On breastmilk only - 6 feeds every 3 hours daily. Please try this as you give your child the gift of eliminating most food alergies and ensuring healthy eating habits from and early age.
I remember my sister swearing by the introduction of cereal to my nieces' formula. It DID help them to sleep longer. She loved it.
XOXO
Hi I serched high and low and I found your blog I hope that is okay....Oh it is me April .Your friends all have great advice.I have a Bumbo chair you can borrow if you would like to give it a try.I am home all day but I have no phone today but you can e mail me cstarcmt@aol.com put your name in the subject so I will open it.I am glad j is back.
Hi, delurking to add my weight to some of the other comments :-)
I agree with what seattlegal a kietiecat have said. I also didn't start my twins on solids until about 6 months. They will let you know when they are ready for the experience, usually by showing interest in what you are eating. They also need to lose the 'extrusion reflex', which is the pushing things out of their mouths with their toungues thingy. they also need to be able to hold their heads steady and sit well when supported, they need to be able to do his so they can swallow efficiently. They also should be able to make chewing motions as in moving the food to the back of their throats and swallowing.
As to what to put them in. I used highchairs, with a couple of folded towels to stabilize them, at first. However, at 6 months they were pretty stable, though my son was a little more wobbly than his sister.
Don't put cereal in their bottles, as they need to learn that solid food is somethng that you eat from a spoon while sitting up. :-)
I started off with cereal that had been made fairly liquid. I fed it after their morning bottle for a few days and then added it after the lunchtime bottle. After that, I slowly introduced them to different foods at about 4 day intervals. IIRC, I started off with carrots, squash, apple puree, mashed bananas, peaches and then moved on to green beans and so on. Once you're sure that they are not reacting to the food, you can start combining them. I don't think I started giving them meat until they were about a year old. But I did sometimes mix a little of the gravy from a roast dinner, into their veges.
Hope this helps!! :-)
I started feeding my boys around 4-5 months. I was so excited to being moving forward with something new and the hope of more sleep. But oh what a mess! I fed them in there bouncy seats and they had their own spoon/bowl. I eventually moved to one spoon and one bowl. It took a long while till they had the tongue thing down. I also suggest looking into the oat cereal before rice. Some moms say it is less likely to constipate the babies. Good Luck!
I also recommend looking into books by Annabell Karmel. She has several good beginning baby food books.
bouncy seats, swings, and bumbo seats all worked better than high chairs for me.
hi i'm sam and i found your blog by chance.
as a european i have to congratulate on how healthy and skinny you looked during your pregnancy!
i keep a preggie-blog as a part of my blog. if you have time go and check it out!
bye!!!
There is nothing wrong with starting solids at 4 months; first single grain rice cereal, then strained or pureed veggies, then fruits, then by 6 or so months you can try strained or pureed meats (lamb then poultry then beef). if baby tolerates the rice cereal you can also try oatmeal and eventually mixed grain cereal. every child is different and the specifics of solids are dependent more on developmental milestones rather than age. Gerber has a good easy to follow plan of Firsts, Seconds, Graduates, etc., again based on development. Our doctor also praised this food plan and he's the Chief of Pediatrics.
Our son is 6.5 months old...typical menu is ~4tbl mixed grain cereal mixed w/formula and fed w/spoon in am, plus 8oz formula. lunch is same except oatmeal, not cereal. 3rd meal is a Gerber's 2nd (veggie, fruit or meat) plus 8oz formula. meal before bed is just like the first meal. We initially fed him in a semi-reclined position on a pillow w/ 1tbl cereal mixed with formula [more runny vs. thick]. Now he's in his highchair (which incidentally reclines a bit).We lucked out on the sleep thing in general. He's slept near 12/night since week 7 or 8.
Again, it's a personal choice with the food thing. good luck
I was also told not to put solids/rice/cereals in the bottles, as babies need to keep eating and drinking seperate. Our midwives advised us not to head for solids unless:
1) Baby appears to not be full enough
2) Baby can control their head/neck unaided
3) the tongue reflex is ready for it.
I was also told that solids don't necessarily help them sleep through the night.
Thanks for the comment on my blog! We just started rice cereal this week, it's so much fun. The first time I just mixed a little bit with some formula so that it was really runny, they weren't so sure about it. We did it after their morning nap, but you can pick any time of day that is convenient. After the 2nd day they were a bit constipated so I started mixing the cereal with apple juice instead of formula, oh they really liked that!! After one week, I mix 3 tablespoons of cereal with enough juice to make it the consistency of cream of wheat and they finish it all. I would say that my son eats about 2/3 of it, my daughter about 1/3. We are considering adding in sweet potatoes this week, oh what fun!! Oh yeah, we feed them in their bouncy seats right now, we plan on getting the high chairs out soon.
wow, 4mo already??? time is flying.
The APA recommends holding off to 6mo for introducing solids these days. Most babies aren't ready to take food on a spoon much before that anyway.
We skipped rice with Tristan b/c it has very little nutritional value and even less taste. LOL We just started with sweet potatoes (he loves them) and eventually did do some oatmeal for the texture variety and the vitamins.
We didn't start solids until 6 months, per our pediatrician. AAP recommendation is to wait until 6 months because before then babies don't have all the digestive enzymes and there's no benefit to starting solids sooner. There's no evidence to support the notion that solid foods help babies sleep and in fact can have the opposite effect because solid food is harder to digest and can cause stomach problems.
We started with bananas then alternated adding a new fruit or veggie every 3-4 days. I make all of the baby's food, someone gave me this book and it's been awesome:
http://www.amazon.com/Mommy-Made-Daddy-Too-Revised/dp/0553380907
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