How should I introduce cereal into my son's diet? He is over 3 months and 15 pounds.?

Question

I wish to feed him with a spoon instead of mixing the cereal with the milk in a bottle.

Answer 1

I am a nutritionist
you cannot start an infant on solid food till they are at least 6 months of age (anyone that tells you differently is endangering your child's health)

The AAP and the US Surgeon General among others recommend that infants be exclusively breastfed until "at least" 6 months, which means no other foods, cereals, juice, water, or formula. Babies younger than 6 months lack the enzymes necessary to digest foods other than breast milk. Feeding solids too early increases risks for obesity, diabetes, and food allergies. In fact, most babies are not ready for solids until after 6 months, some need as much as 8 months.

Solids readiness depends on both the maturity of baby’s digestive tract and baby’s developmental readiness for solids. Although the maturity of baby’s digestive system is not something that we can readily observe, research indicates that 6 months appears to be ideal for avoiding the allergies and other health risks of too-early solids. After this point, different babies are ready for solids at different times -- developmental readiness for solids cannot be determined using a calendar. Most babies are developmentally ready for solids somewhere between 6 and 8 months.

Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:

* Baby can sit up well without support.
* Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
* Baby is ready and willing to chew.
* Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
* Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.

We often state that a sign of solids readiness is when baby exhibits a long-term increased demand to nurse (sometime around 6 months or later) that is unrelated to illness, teething pain, a change in routine or a growth spurt. However, it can be hard to judge whether baby’s increased nursing is related to readiness for solids. Many (if not most) 6-month-old babies are teething, growth spurting and experiencing many developmental changes that can lead to increased nursing – sometimes all at once! Make sure you look at all the signs of solids readiness as a whole, because increased nursing alone is not likely to be an accurate guide to baby’s readiness.

Four- to five-month-old babies are sometimes very eager to participate at mealtime, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are ready to eat solids - more often it's just the normal developmental urge to do what everyone else is doing. Research studies tell us that there are many health advantages to delaying solids for about 6 months for all babies, not just the babies who are not yet interested in mealtime.

common myths:

weight:
The American Academy of Pediatrics/World Health Organization recommendations for starting solids at 6 months or later has no exceptions for babies who weigh more. The research that I've seen on the health benefits of starting solids at 6 months and later holds for all babies, no matter what their weight.

It's the maturity of the digestive tract and baby's developmental readiness that makes the difference, not baby's weight.

sleep:
The popular belief that feeding solids at night will help baby sleep through the night has no basis in fact.

Answer 2

I am a big believer in spoon-feeding cereal and other foods instead of forcing it down through the bottle. When my daughter was about your sons age and was ready for cereal, I mixed the cereal with her formula to make a loose - but not runny consistency and fed it to her with a baby spoon. The first few times are trial and error and he will get the cereal in bits and peices. But after about a week of this, you'll notice how he is really using his tongue and lips to guide the cereal into his system. Also, I started by giving her cereal with her evening feeding and then gradually adding it to two or three mealtimes a day. I followed this as a way to get her eating cereal on the advice of my pediatrician. Good Luck!

Answer 3

You should NOT be putting the cereal in the bottle. It's bad for a number of reasons, ask your doctor.

Now...most babies don't need to eat that early, usually babies start food between 4-6 months, but boys sometimes do (mine did around 3 1/2 ms).

Just mix it up with a little formula or breast milk and serve it up with a spoon. In the beginning, he's going to push a lot out. That's normal. Learning to work his tongue is a learning process so give it a few weeks.

If the issue is getting him to sleep through the night, I have better suggestions, email me.

Answer 4

Try mixing the dry cereal with baby food fruit like pears. Or you can get the mixed cereal/fruit combo baby food from the store. Small tastes at the beginning work best- let him open his mouth for more! You can also mix the cereal with milk to a thicker consistency and feed with a spoon.

Answer 5

start out by giving him very diluted rice cereal from a spoon, it will be messy at first and it will take some time for him to get used to the spoon. start out only giving it to him once a day. at each feeding gradually thicken the cereal. you can either mix the cereal with water or you can also use formula.

Answer 6

I would suggest thinning the cereal out quite a bit with formula or breast milk, you can use applejuice also as it helps aid digestion. Other than that, just start spoon feeding him, you'll both get the hang of it soon.

Answer 7

By starting with the gerber baby soft cereal that comes in a box and is powder and you add mushed fruits/vegetables and some sort of liquid like concentrated milk. Or you can just start with the baby stars that are in different flavors and are easily melted in the mouth--so they dont have to have teeth to eat them. You find them by the baby food in the baby isle.

Answer 8

Introduce the box of baby rice cereal in the bottle with formula or mothers milk first...start off thin then make it thicker while opening the nipple little by little or purchase a nipple with a bigger opening. Then progress to rice with bananas and apples and then go to the oatmeal and others.

Answer 9

MY WIFE AND I MIX OUR SON'S CEREAL WITH A LITTLE FORMULA IN A BOWL AND SPOON FEED IT TO HIM, ALSO WE WILL MIX A COUPLE SCOOPS WITH A JAR OF BABY FOOD HE IS 5 MONTHS OLD, BUT WE HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A MONTH OR SO AND HE DOES JUST FINE AND LOVES IT

Answer 10

he sounds like my son mine was 20lbs when he was 4 month old but its a very good idea to fed him with a spoon because mixing it in a bottle in a chokeing hazard and will also make your baby gain more weight.they say to start feding your baby when they are drinking 32 ounces of formula or breast milk and can sit in a up right position.so what i did was either put him in his high chair and sit him on my lap and mmixed the ceral so it is very soupy like it takes them a while to want to eat with the spoon but they catch on if you keep trying you can also get advice if you call 18004 gerber they have experts to awnser your questions.

Answer 11

just start using the spoon and then use the bottle and then increes the amont of times u use the spoon and then the baby will get used 2 it but if he is that young he shouldnt b eating solid food yet but when he is ready i think the meathod above would work.....