Is it really ok to put rice cereal in a babies formula/breastmilk?

Question

My son is going to be 4 weeks. I'm breastfeeding and give formula once a day. He's a huge baby...already past 11 lbs. He eats constantly! All the doctors say not to put anything in the formula/breastmilk, but a lot of people tell me it makes them sleep longer. Is it ok or not ok to put cereal in? How does it effect them growth wise? Is it ok for them to sleep longer, when the doctors tell me to wake him every three-four hours for feedings? Thanks for all the input. As you can probably tell I'm a new mother :)

Answer 1

that is the way things used to be done but tradtion is not allways right (ie putting babies on their stomachs to sleep we now know that a lot of babies died that way SIDS). He is to young and don't ever put it in the bottle.

Answer 2

DO NOT give a 4 week old cereal. He shouldn't start solids until closer to 6 months of age, per the AAP. Starting too early can put him at risk for allergies, diabetes and obesity. Cereal helping a baby sleep is an old wive's tale. Babies systems are not ready to digest solid foods this early.

For the first 6 weeks, it really does feel like they nurse constantly. They have a lot of growth spurts close together in that time. (10 days to 2 weeks, 3 weeks and 6 weeks are common times.) Once you get past 6 weeks, you may find that he does space things out a bit more. It's TOTALLY NORMAL for a baby this age to be nursing every 2 hours around the clock, if not more frequently for some babies.

Answer 3

No. My girls were both big babies. 11 lbs, 12 oz and 10 lbs, 11 oz at birth. They were given nothing but breastmilk until 4 and 5.5 months respectively. That's when each of them was ready to try solid foods.

Their digestive system is very immature at this age. The easiest thing to digest for them is breastmilk. Formula is the second easiest. The reason they sleep longer with rice cereal is their little body just shuts down so all their energy can go to breaking down food.

The link below discusses the myth of solids helping babies sleep longer.

(edited to add - I never woke up my babies to feed them every 4 hours or so. Worst advice ever. Feed on demand, especially if you are breastfeeding. Also, you *can* give formula and breastmilk.)

Answer 4

Listen to the doctors! Shame on anyone who puts cereal into a baby's bottle - they can choke! Just because our mothers or aunts/uncles, or random people that want to give you advice did it with their kids, does not make it okay. Four week old babies will eat constantly anyway. That's what they do. Especially breastfed babies. Every two hours or so until the second month most of the time. Once they are 3 months some babies can go 3-4 hours. Welcome to motherhood. Don't try to feed your baby things he is not ready to digest just so you can sleep better at night. Nothing is easy the first few months, but you are best off listening to the baby's doctor.

Answer 5

I did put a little bit in but I don’t think it is good because the baby can get dehydrated and the rice can block the formula from coming out of the nipple as fast.
Ummm also it is reccommended not to do it until at least 5 months.
If anything I would feed them from a spoon rice cereal mixed with formula if the baby is old enough, so the cereal doesnt block the nipple.

Answer 6

No, you should not put cereal in his bottle. It can cause problems not only now but in the long run as well. Problems that it can cause now include choking and food allergies. Problems that can show up later in life include asthma, obesity, diabetes, and GI tract issues. Also it is a myth that babies will sleep longer having had cereal in their bottles. It has been disproven by medical studies.

Also, about needing more to eat-- breastmilk is more calorie dense than cereal. It doesn't make a lot of sense to give them something with fewer calories when they're hungry, does it?

Answer 7

I see people people mputting rice cereal in small babies' bottle all the time and it infuriates me when they say that it's so the baby won't eat as much. for the most part, babies need the calories and the nutrition from the formula/breastmilk every couple of hours. a baby can grow as much as an inch in a month, but they aren't going to if they spend all that time digesting rice cereal. not to mention that rice cereals are iron fortified. and so are formulas. a lot of iron=constipation. constipation=painful bowle movememts. painful bowel movements=crying. and at four weeks your baby is just too young. he needs to be on straight fluids only. that means no rice cereal in his bottles. and at four weeks he will likely be going through a growth spurt which means he needs more food. as far as sleeping...i think it's more a matter of dehydration than feeding at this point, and at 11 pounds he is big, but then, was he big at birth? is his length percantage withing five points of his weight? what about his head circumfrence? all those things have to be taken into account with children. if you heard my children's weights, you would think they are over weight, but in addition to their height and their head, their weight is perfect. a longer baby should weigh a bit more, a shorter baby less.

as far as when you should feed him rice cereal, i didn't get the okay to do it until my son was three months old. and you hould never put it into a bottle. sometimes it can be too thick for the child to suckle out.

Answer 8

I had a HUGE baby too... he was 3 weeks early and over 9 pounds... so we had special concerns too. If you trust that you have a good doctor, you should listen to him/her. Your doctor probably says no bc cereal has more calories and causes babies to gain more weight... your child does not need cereal from a nutritional standpoint, but it does help them sleep more throughtout the night bc they are full and don't need to wake up to eat. This is the hardest part about being a parent- following your heart and what you think is best for your child, or listening to the experts... In the end, its up to you... but weigh your options well. Is your child's waking up in the middle of the night THAT awful that you can't wait another month or so? Good luck!

Answer 9

His weight should tell you he is already taking in a LOT of calories. At four weeks he probably shouldn't be taking in more than 3 to 4 ounces every 4 hours. If you aren't VERY careful you will end up with a toddler that you can't lift.

I'm not saying this to be critical. As a new mother my daughter got up to a chunky weight by eight months. The good thing is once they get active they burn off the extra weight. Although all of their fat cells are created in the very beginning of life.

Generally cereals and fruits then veggies start at 3 to 6 months, depending on your Pediatrician. Best Wishes.

Answer 10

My doctor was against this. She said it can upset the stomach if the child is not ready, and it can also increase the child's appetite. As far as waking your child up every three hours, it depends on you. I always fed my child on demand, even though my doctor wanted me to put her on a schedule. I just didn't believe in waking a child to eat when she obviously needed her sleep. My child just naturally started falling into a schedule and started sleeping through the night. I think it depends on what your comfortable with, because the only reason the doctor gave for this was to make feedings predictable, so I can get things done. This was never a problem for me. Just follow your own instinct.

Answer 11

As it was said, listen to your doctor. My daughter didn't get rice cereal in her bottles until she was 4 months old. Your baby will tell you when they're ready for it. She was at 6 ounces and it wasn't satisfying her, but she was on an eating schedule, so I knew she didn't need to eat every other hour. I tried the rice cereal and it helped. I can't say that I noticed she slept longer.