what is the earliest recommended time to feed your infant rice cereal?

Question

some people have told me 1 or 2 months is okay that seems way too early and I thought that could cause early weight gain, what I thought is more like 4 or 5 months old, when did you start?

Answer 1

My pediatrician advised no earlier than 8 weeks but ideally 12 weeks due to swallowing/choking and also supposed to have some link to a higher risk developing diabetes later on in life. I have read many articles on this as well.

Answer 2

It seems like he needs to eat more frequently rather than eating more. Because you mention that if you give him over 5 oz he spits it up and 5oz is a lot for a 2 month old baby's stomach to hold. Why not feed him every 2-3 hours? Have you tried this? It's a little early for rice cereal right now. I would hold off to no earlier than 4 months. I also had a hungry baby that was exclusively breastfed and eventually we found the best routing through trial and error and then I started rice cereal at 4 months. At 5 months it started making her constipated so I switched to oatmeal cereal and now at 7 months she's still very happy with the oatmeal cereal.

Answer 3

The doctors say around 4-6 months. I honestly started feeding my son rice cereal around 2 1/2 months because he seemed to not be getting enough with simply the formula. He also weighed 10 lbs at birth- a shock! lol So everyone kept telling me he was ready and to do it, so I tried it, and he just loved it! I made it really runny at first, and gradually added more cereal. It took a couple of days for him to get it down, but he really did wonderful, so I continued with it.

I'd do what you feel is best... if you have a bigger baby like myself, they might be ready for it. you can always make it really runny,a nd try it... if it doesn't work, wait a while, then try again. My son didn't seem to have any problems by taking the cereal a little early.

Hope this helps!

P.S.- also by having the cereal, he actually slept all night for us after we did try it! I think it filled his tummy-so we'd feed it to him at night... then around 4-5 months gave it to him in the morning and again at night.

Answer 4

The very earliest is 4 months. The only exception is if your baby has acid reflux, then they tell you to do it earlier. Any doctor, feeding specialist, and even the cereal manufactures will tell you that it's 4-6 months for cereal, and it should be fed by a spoon only, not by bottle, again only in cases of acid reflux. You will have many tell you that they put it in a bottle at 2 months old, but this is going against what doctors and specialists in my field suggest.

Answer 5

It depends on the baby. If your infant is thriving on breast milk or formula (I recommend breast milk, it's really the best for the baby and the mother as well) then that should be enough for a while. When the infant seems hungry even after being fed, that's probably when you should start giving him/her rice cereal.

And here's a suggestion: Ask your doctor. If you have a baby (or are pregnant), you ought to be seeing your doctor quite often anyway.

Answer 6

I have a 7 month old and I do everything by the book! lol Everything I read and from what my doctor told me was that you start feeding them cereal at 5 to 6 months. I would start them out with a little bit in their bottle so they get used to the texture, and then once they can sit up you can put them in the highchair and feed them from a spoon. Also I know my son wouldnt take just plain cereal. I had to mix it with some fruit. Although starting them on fruits means it is harder for them to like the vegies. So, I would recommend starting them on the vegies first. Either way my son finally eats both! Good luck to you!

Answer 7

My Doctor told me to start at three months old. Some doctors go by the weight of the baby. My kids were all big (not fat but there dad is over six foot) But they got big fast and formula is just not enough for them. Also depending on how much milk they are eating.

My husband only did what the doctor said I had no say at all, But they are all healthy and not over weight at all. You do have to watch the bowel movements, sometimes it gets to hard. And a little pear juice with water can usually help that.

Answer 8

5 mo (due to digestion) or depending on your babies progress start once a day for a few days then twice a day for another few days then make it three times a day. If on the first try baby is pushing out cereal with tongue then wait for about a week and then try again. I did notice that my pediatrician would ask me if my son was in certain stages at each well visit. Like holding its own head up, supported sitter, independent sitter, crawling, walking...every time he advanced she would recommend new foods, toys, & things for him. Go to the gerber website and click on the products by stage then click on the stage your baby is at now then, click on show products at the bottom of the next page. This is a pretty neat site even if you do not use their products it helps you to recognize what you can start to introduce to your baby.
www.gerber.com

Answer 9

My first pediatrician INSISTED on starting my baby on cereal at her one month visit, never mind that she was gaining weight and nursing exclusively. That advice is so 1970. I opted to ignore this outdated advice & switched doctors. The American Academy of Pediatrics and LaLeche League recommends exclusive breastfeeding whenever possible during the first six months.

Answer 10

A naturopathic physician once told me to never feed children any starches of any kind until he has broken his first tooth. Until the first tooth comes in, the saliva does not contain the proper enzymes to digest starches and that is how we create food allergies in children.

Some children get teeth earlier, some later. So I don't think you can go by age. Go by how he develops.