How does one go about feeding their infant cereal for the first time?

Question

My baby is ready and willing I am just not sure how to feed him cereal and nurse him. Any ideas? He is almost 5 months

Answer 1

First when you mix the cereal you just simply follow the directions on the back or side of the box. It will almost be like you were feeding your child formula or breast milk on a spoon. It will also be nothing like you are thinking I would strip your child down to nothing but a diaper because he will be covered from head to toe. As far as the rest of solids and that stuff goes.... my doctor to me to start out with oatmeal then a few days later try some rice. After the rice he had told me to add fruits then some vegtables, but personally I would add vegtable then a fruit then a vegtable and so on because if you feed him veggies first he will not like fruits when you try them and same with fruits first. Also keep in mind that you can add only one thing to their diet at a time so you can tell if he has an allergic reaction to a certain thing. You also must go through all the size one jars before moving onto the size two jars of baby food. Also meats and juice cant be added until the baby is 6 months old because of an immature digestive system. Good luck.

Answer 2

Feed your baby cereal when he is not starving, so nurse him for a little bit then try the cereal. If he can sit up use a high chair if not I put my son in his bouncy chair. Just make sure he is sitting up. Make the cereal a little runny until he gets the hang of it. Use a baby spoon, and wait until he wants it and has his mouth open. He will probably spit it out or put his fingers in his mouth. That's OK he is just learning. Be patient with him and only give him a few bites the first try. Then continue trying it a little more each day. Begin with plain rice cereal then try oatmeal and barley. When my son was just nursing and eating cereal, I tried to give him cereal 3 times a day. And always wait about a week in between new foods to make sure he doesn't have food allergies to them. Then gradually introduce him to veggies and then fruit. I was told to introduce vegetables first. Because if you introduce fruit first he will like the sweet taste and might not like vegetables at all. My son Loves all his veggies! Good luck and take pictures their reactions are funny!

Answer 3

it is really easy i know it is scary at first an u feel like u may not be doing it right or something but when i started my kids out on cereal i took like 5 to 10 teaspoons of ceral an added water to it or even some times baby milk u dont want it to thick or to watery when u first start them out so that is why i always started out with a little to get it just right an,,an scence u nurse him which i nursed mine so i know where u r coming from the best thing to do is feed him the cereal in between feeding it will be frusterating at first but they will get the hang of it an after about a week it will be great they start sleeping a lot longer through the night. an just slowly increase the ceral every week an u will notice to when u start feeding them cereal an foods they will start to nurse less which is not a bad thing..hope this helped:)

Answer 4

I started with baby cereal AFTER a bottle, but added more formula/breast milk than stated on packet as i felt it was too thick. Use a small baby spoon and give tiny amounts. If the baby gags heaps, try again in couple of weeks. Nurse him just the same. You'll find it easier to feed him in a rocker/baby chair of some sort. Have fun!

Answer 5

When a baby starts to eat cereal they don't really eat a lot of it. When you make it, mix it with expressed breast milk or formula. It needs to be very thin until he learns to push the food to the back of his throat instead of out of his mouth. You start out feeding him about a tablespoon of cereal a day, then gradually work your way up. He should still be getting most all of his nourishment from you. You'll know when to feed him more cereal or start stage 1 foods when he is hungry after he has nursed his normal amounts. My daughter is almost 7 months, and is still only eating cereal once a day. The Dr told me she probably won't really start eating actual "meals" until she is about 9 months, and to look for the cues I described above.

Hope this helps!!

Answer 6

I just started feeding my four month old cereal three days ago. She loves exploring things with her mouth so I let her play with the spoon for a while and I put the rubber into her mouth and let her chew on it to give her the idea. Then I made the cereal exteremely thin with breastmilk and fed it to her. She actually loved it. Of course it was messy but she didn't even really spit it out. (She grabbed my hand and tried to steer the spoon to her mouth herself so it got everywhere) I think the reason she liked it was because there was so much milk as opposed to cereal and she liked chomping down on her new toy.

Answer 7

Most doctors will tell you not to feed your infant too much cereal. They recommend only a teaspoon a day. You don't want to mess up the little ones tummy. Of course nursing is always important....its always the main meal. Talk to your baby's doctor about feeding.

Answer 8

The important thing is to make sure that milk is the main food source for the first year. Always nurse him first, then offer him a little cereal to top him up. Here is a helpful link to get you started. Make sure he has all the signs of being ready.

http://www.2coolbaby.com/Documents/brstsolid.htm

Studies are now showing that it is better to wait until at least 7 months to start solid foods too. My daughter is 6 months, and I've decided to wait another month. Here's the link for that too.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=retrieve&db=pubmed&list_uids=7658275&dopt=Abstract

Answer 9

I just started my six-month old on cereal a couple of weeks ago.
I pumped some breast milk and followed the instructions on the box. In the beginning, I had to add more liquid until she became used to the thicker texture. You can gradually thicken by adding less liquid. If she doesn't like the flavor, you can always add either applesauce or bananas or another fruit.

Answer 10

Start with a baby rice cereal and mix it with pumped breast milk. You can give it to him in a bottle, but I would suggest feeding it to him with a baby spoon. He will probably not know what to so with it at first. He will roll it around on his tongue and spit most of it out. Be patient and he will get the nang of it. He will learn to love to eat his solid foods. This is his very next step in growing up. It's a big deal. Enjoy this special time with your baby!! Start with around two tablespoons of dry cereal, mix it with a ounce or so of breast milk or formula. To make it thicker use less milk, to make it thinner add more milk. Good luck!!