Question for parents?

Question

At what age did you start giving your baby cereal? My son is 3.5 mnths old and he sleeps pretty well at night, so I don't see the need to give him cereal in his bottle yet. But everyone seems to think that he should be sleeping ALL night and that I should put cereal in his bottle at before he goes to bed. Isn't it healthy for a 3.5mnth old to wake up once during the night to eat? ( He is also already pretty chubby, won't cereal make him gain more weight?)

Answer 1

My first boy he didnt do right because he had food sensory..so it took us a while to get him past it..

my 2nd boy he at it but i cant remember when we started it but i used to get a feeder and mix water sometimes formula instead, ceral, and a baby food and make it very thin to start them out

my girl doesnt like ceral and it seems like she is going straight to table food..she has baby food to but she is moving quite fast

I found this
If you're talking about oatmeal and mushy stuff like that, then 4 months is safe.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060819150706AAlLcfB

Or wic can tell you
http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/aboutwic/

You need to watch your baby because the baby may not be ready for this and might get a tummy ache if your baby does i would slow down on the food and also you can use gripe water you can get at a herbal store
http://www.babys-bliss.com/gripe-water/gripe-water.html

It helps with them alot it was a life saver for me..

Answer 2

You are absolutely right. There is no need for a 3 1/2 month old to have cereal, unless his pediatrition reccomends it. The guidelines now say to start cereal no earlier than 4 months, and to never give cereal through a bottle.

That is much different than it used to be, where mothers were sometimes sent home from the hospital with cereal to mix into the formula, but studies have been done that show that newborn's stomachs are not very well able to process things thicker than breastmilk or formula.

Also, many babies aren't sleeping through the night at 3 1/2 months, or even at 6 months, and some still wake up at 10 months. Everybaby will develop their own routine, and it sounds like your baby his set just the way he likes it for now.

My son was started on rice cereal at 4 months, at the reccomendation of his pediatriction to help with excessive spit-up, since I didn't intend to start it until 5 or even 6 months.

It took a few weeks, trying it once a day, for him to get used to the whole spoon thing, but once he got it, he really took off with it. I tried a few vegetable baby foods at 5 months, and he loved those, too. Now he's 7 months, and he eats everything except for the meats, but I intend to start them in a few weeks.

Your baby will let you know when he's ready for it, and when people try to tell you otherwise, just let them know that your pediatriction has talked about it with you, and that you intend to follow his instructions.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I starting my son on infant cereal at 4 months old. He did fine starting at that age. If your son isn't sleeping through the night yet, don't worry about it. Every child is different. My son slept through the night at 4 days (yes, days) old, but my nephew didn't sleep entirely through the night until he was almost a year. There is a huge range of normal when it comes to sleeping.

I do not suggest putting cereal in a bottle, for a couple of reasons. First off, an infant may choke. Also, the nipple of the bottle tends to get clogged. When your child is ready to start infant cereal, use a bowl and spoon, and make sure the spoon is designed for infants. A regular spoon won't work. When you start feeding your son infant cereal is really up to you and your son, after talking to your doctor. Sometimes four months works, for other babies, it's six months.

Don't listen to what 'everyone' says. Talk to your doctor, and if he's not concerned that your son isn't sleeping through the night, then you shouldn't be either.

Answer 4

People handle this kind of stuff differently, but I've never really heard of people putting cereal in the bottle at night. Usually, if a baby has a whole bottle before he goes to sleep there's a good chance he'll sleep through the night. One thing that helps is holding him really comfy and cozy and warm for a while before putting him in. Its like giving them a drug! (Not that you aren't doing that, but thought I'd mention it.)

Some people start giving the baby a little baby rice cereal after the first month, but if I remember correctly my babies were more in the area of three months. (I had a premie and a projectile-vomiter, so you can't go by me on that one.) Even with that, though, I only gave them a tiny bit.

Babies usually sleep through the night by 3.5 months old, but if he doesn't he doesn't. I'm wondering, though, if maybe he needs to be a little warmer. Being slightly cold wakes them up too.

I'm wondering if you give him cereal before he sleeps if it may actually upset his digestive system. (I don't know the answer to that, but its something to consider.)

Chances are he'll stay asleep all night in another couple of weeks.

I think you should ask a pediatrician about this, of course, but if it were me I wouldn't do the cereal in the bottle thing - then again, maybe there's nothing wrong with it if it works. I just always kind of figured the cereal in the morning from a little dish and with using a baby spoon helped the baby to get used to eating (same for when they have the baby food for lunch or dinner). I know they get some nutrition out of those meals, but I always kind of counted on the formula for making sure they got enough nutrition.

Something else (if you haven't tried this) is trying to stretch out a little, and move up, the feeding schedule from (if this is what you have) the 10, 2 and 6 schedule to one that would move the last bottle later to increase the chances he'd stop waking up for a 2 a.m. feeding (if that's what he's doing).

Answer 5

First, it sounds like you are okay with him getting up once per night. If this is true, then shake your head and smile when someone offers advice, but go on back to doing things by instinct. As for cereal, yes he will gain weight. His activity level at 3.5 months is not enough to burn through all of the calories that formula/milk AND cereal provide. There is no need to start your baby on cereal in a bottle. When you and he are ready to start sampling solid foods, use a spoon not a bottle and make sure that it is very loose and wet. There is no real reason to start him before six months - at all! I wasted a lot of emotions and effort sorting through all of the good advice that new mothers get. Enjoy your baby and listen to your instincts. As long as he is gaining weight appropriately, and everyone is rested and happy, you're good!

Answer 6

I don't think cereal in a bottle is suggested at bedtime. At breakfast, or during the day when he is up is better. Why? Because first of all he may choke during the night if the cereal thickens. Secondly, He's lying down and taking food, which may cause choking. Thirdly, I think babies need to have a small amount of food every 4-7 hours, and this includes during the night, when they are hungry. The cereal may be too heavy on his stomach at night and cause cramping and actually prevent a good night's sleep. As far as age goes, he is ready for cereal if milk alone doesn't satisfy him and he appears to still be hungry. He will let you know.

Answer 7

NEVER EVER put cereal in a bottle. Your baby does NOT need anything but either breast or formula until he is 6!! SIX!!! months old and then from 6-12 months 75% of their calories come from breast or formula still.
Any thing other than breast or formula have a displacement rather than an additive effect because they displace the fat and calories that the baby needs from milk. DO NOT DO IT!!
Look on the site www.2coolbaby.com (starting solids)
My daughter is adament that she will not start her son on solids until he is 6 months old. And I totally agree with her. He is 5 months and 1 week today, so only 3 weeks to go. The time will soon come when your baby will be on solids. No rush right now. Good Luck!!

Answer 8

I'm an odd ball here. I started giving mine cereal by the 2nd week. I have 5 children and none of them are / were chubby. I didn't give them that much. I gave them formula during the day. At night, right before bedtime, I would give them a bath, give them a cereal bottle with a small water bottle to help wash it down and they were down for the count by 9pm. They slept until 7am the following day. I loved it. Especially since I had twins.

Answer 9

All my children stopped wanting that night time feed by around 6 weeks, but all babies are different and if you are happy and your baby is happy and healthy, then why change things.

Can I just mention one thing though. Don't put cereal in the bottle. It can cause all sorts of problems because the cereal is too thick to pass though the tiny hole in the teat. Start to get him used to taking small amounts off a spoon.

He will loose all that chubbiness when he becomes mobile. Don't worry about little things like that. You will know when your child is ready for more that milk.

Answer 10

Check with your doctor as to when to start him on cereal. Your doctor is the best way to know.

No cereal in bottle. He needs to associate cereal with eating. If you put it in his bottle, he's just going to gain weight without knowing what he's doing. Cereal in a bowl/cup/container will help him learn how to chew and swallow, as well as eventually self-feeding.

Every baby is different. Our son slept all night at 3 months. Some babies take much longer.

Answer 11

First of all, you shouldn't put cereal in his bottle at all! You are absolutely right, it is normal for infants at the age of 3-4 months to still wake up during the night to eat. When you do start feeding babies infant cereal (oatmeal,rice, barley or mixed) you can feed him by spoon. When he is 5-6 months old is around the time to start solids! Not 3 months. Don't let anyone pressure you into feeding him cereal or anything else because his system has not developed properly to digest anything other than breast milk, or formula. Please ask your child's pediatrician when he would suggest starting solids, but for the most part, most infants start at 5 or 6 months. God Bless!