Has anyone ever added a tsp of rice cereal to formula of a 1 month old?

Question

My pediatrician told me to add 1tsp of rice cereal to each 2oz of formula i feed my 1month old (9lb boy) to get him more full, and possibly sleep longer. Has anyone give rice cereal to a 1 month old? What were your experiences? I would be adding 2-3tsps per feeding, i want to make sure it doesnt case an issue.

Answer 1

What kind of pediatrician is this??? If mine told me this I would be looking for a new doctor. The American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't want babies fed solid food until 4-6 months and then you have to feed it to them from a spoon not a bottle. The only reason a baby should be fed cereal in a bottle would be for acid reflux.

"During the previous generation or two, when bottle-feeding became very popular, rice cereal was often put into the bottle at a very early age. What were the results?

Most children seemed to thrive. A small number of children, though, did not tolerate the addition, because their sucking and swallowing actions were not yet fully coordinated. They inhaled small amounts of the rice cereal into their lungs, which led to pulmonary problems.

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.

By starting with a spoon, resting between bites, and stopping when your child lets you know he’s full, you will be laying an excellent foundation for good eating habits throughout his life.

A major study looking for the causes of obesity found that short-circuiting young children’s self-regulation of how much they eat is a major cause of later obesity.1 Cereal in the bottle does just that. "

"Scientists at the Cleveland Clinic studied the effect of cereal on sleep and found that adding the cereal did nothing at all to speed up the age of sleeping through the night. That first uninterrupted 6-hour stretch of sleep came no earlier in those who took cereal early."

If he is still hungry then you just feed him more milk not cereal! Babies have a tiny tummy and I think its very selfish of parents to put cereal in the bottle to make babies sleep more.

Answer 2

I'm going to agree with optimistic_dr3am3r here, and tell you to get a second opinion.

My son is 5 months old now, he's only been on rice cereal for a month, and even then, he was only started becasue our group of pediatritions suggested it to help with his spitting up.

I especially am concerned about him reccomending that the cereal be taken from the bottle. First off, adding the cereal would make it a little too thick to flow properly through a regular stage 1 nipple, and it would (I think) flow too quickly to use a stage 2 nipple. Your baby could possibly choke on the amount of fluid in his mouth if he couldn't keep up with it (which I think would be more likely if he was falling asleep at bedtime).

Second, (like was already said) it's recommended now that cereal never be fed from a bottle, and never earlier than 4 months, as it can possibly cause problems to immature digestive systems.

If it were me, I definately wouldn't do it unless I talked to someone else first.

Answer 3

Personally, I wouldn't do it just on the advice of the pediatrician because it's a well known fact that a newborn's intestine is not mature enough to handle anything but breastmilk (or formula, if necessary) If I were given this advice, I would contact a pediatric gastroenterologist and get his/her opinion before doing something that could possibly do damage. Trust me on this one, my son lost 95% of his intestine at 2 months of age and I would do anything to get his health back. Don't do anything that you're not sure of because once the harm's done, there's no turning back. Doctors aren't always right - that's a no brainer for me (I'm a nurse) but for the general population, it's hard for them to believe. In fact, doctors are often wrong! You must trust your instincts as your child's mother and if you're unsure of something, seek a second, third, fourth, fifth, whatever it takes, opinion. 98% of the time, YOU'RE going to be right about what's going on with your son. Just the fact that you're thinking that there could be an issue is a red flag to me. Please listen to me - call a pediatric gastroenterologist and just ask what to do. Maybe he/she won't even need you to come in. It's just not worth risking his health ...it really isn't.

Call a pediatric gastroenterologist if you decide not to change pediatricians. I can tell you that the advice that you were given was not good and it can indeed hurt your baby.

Answer 4

My sons' pediatrician just told me to do the same at his 1month check up. He was drinking ALOT of formula, and making himself sick. When I told his doc about it,she said the same thing. He has been 100% happy with it, and he sleeps so much better. The only issue most babies have, is they get a little constipated. And if that happens, call his doc and they'll be able to help. Congrats on the baby!

Answer 5

~~i know of a lot of babies that were given rice cerial in their bottles as early as 1 week old because they were not satisfied with just the milk, and they are all healthy now with no problems... these babies were constantly hungary and crying, and that isn't good for a baby to be hungary all the time. i would start out with twice a day first to see how your baby responds to it, and after a week increase it more little by little till you get to a poiint where the baby seems more satisfied, the reason to take is slow is you don't want to shock the baby's system and have the baby end up constipated.~~

Answer 6

My two year old daughter did not eat enough. So I used to give her two tsp cereal in one bottle of milk, cause she loved her milk. But I will not think of giving it to my new born baby. Babies this age only require milk, either formula or breastmilk. If you want him to be full, try giving him an extra one oz of milk. Wait for the cereal until he is at least 3-4 months or older.

Answer 7

I gave both my babies cereal at about 4-6 weeks. But not in their bottle, I just gave it to them in a spoon (watered down, almost liquid) and then gave them their bottle and put them to bed and it worked great. They both started sleeping through the night at about 2 months. I have a healthy 3 year old boy and a healthy 17 month old girl. Good Luck!!

Answer 8

My son has reflux and I have added rice cereal to his bottles since he was about 1 month old as well...he's perfectly healthy, and it hasn't caused him any other problems. It does help to fill babies up too!! I use the same proportion of cereal to formula as what the Dr. told you to do.

Answer 9

I did this with my kids, and my daughter did it with her baby recently. It works, they get more satisfied,and sleep longer. None of them had any ill effects from the rice cereal.

Answer 10

I would not do this, because I have read that they can't digest anything but breastmilk or formula until they are four months old.

I would not follow this advice at all, and I would change pediatricians. I think that it will cause more spit up and indigestion.