Also do you think if the baby is larger, do they need it sooner? My daughter's baby is already 14 lbs. and 24 inches at 2 months. He is not overweight, just a big baby. He is in the 90% on the growth chart. He does not sleep well at night. Do you think a little cereal at night would help?
2006-12-14 09:34:34 · 26 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Newborn & Baby
According to Dr. sears It is best to wait as long as possible before you start giving a baby cereal to give their digestive systems time to develop and be ready for it. We started at about 4.5 months and she did ok, but then after reading Dr. Sears with our second child, who was also above the 90th percentile and seemingly always nursing, we waited until seven months to start adding in some cereal. If I remember correctly, according to Dr. Sears you could breast feed exclusively for up 9 months before supplementing with cereal.
Another thing we noticed was that our kids sensitive skin seemed to have more rashes after adding cereal. The doctor diagnosed it as eczema. We went to an herb specialist and they had us give milk thistle to our kids. Within a few months the rashes all cleared up and both kids are still rash free.
I would recommend that you don't give cereal to your baby until he is at least 5 months as it will be difficult for him to digest.
You can find many excellent books on child rearing by Dr Sears and his wife Martha. He is great and has a great deal of experience not only as a pediatrician, but also as a father of several kids.
2006-12-14 10:07:50 · answer #1 · answered by bogey 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I went through the same thing. My daughter at 1 month was drinking close to 50 oz of formula a day! Babies that age should drink no more than 30 - 40 oz a day. She was barely going 2 hours between bottles and wouldn't last through the night. I didn't mind giving her a bottle at night but it soon became 4 bottles in one night. She was 95% on height and weight, so she wasn't fat either. My pediatrition recomended putting a tablespoon full of rice cereal in her bottles with the formula. Worked like a charm! She slept the whole night (9 hours) and had a bottle every 4 hours like clockwork. The only thing is, we had to open the nipple hole slightly so the rice would go through. So go ahead and add some to his bottle. He's still to young to try a spoon. Just make sure you get the plain rice ceral and not the kind with fruit in it.
PS - My daughter started on baby food and apple juice at 2 months. She's now a very happy, healthy 5 month old.
2006-12-14 11:36:50 · answer #2 · answered by arfiegel 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
My daughter's pediatrician said not to until 4 months. She too was a big baby. She didn't sleep any better even when she was on cereal. The problem with giving cereal or whatever baby food to a baby before it is cleared through the pediatrician is that if the baby's intestines aren't developed enough and you start feeding the baby something theintestines aren't ready for you can do serious damange. I'm sure that you mean well, but please take if from a woman who was once a first time mom. Please do not urge your daughter to go against the pediatrician's advice. That is so stressful on a new mom. You can offer your adviced based on your experience and leave it at that. I know you raised your family your way and they turned out fine. But this is her family and she wants to do what is best. When the pediatrician tells you one thing and your family is shoving their feelings/beliefs down your throat and your baby is constantly crying, how do you think that makes her feel? Be ther for her, support her in her decisions. Respect her choices. Please.
2006-12-14 09:51:21 · answer #3 · answered by Goddess 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Both of mine started cereal at 4 months old, on a doctor's go ahead. They were both also in the 90% range - big babies. Most doctors say no cereal until 4 months because they cannot digest it properly yet.
If he's on formula, consider a different brand or the next stage - formulas come in stages now as well.
As for sleeping - sleep patterns can change weekly for babies that age - even daily.
2006-12-14 09:39:29 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I had to start giving my son infant cereal when he was about 1 1/2 -2months old. He was 100% on his growth chart. He is a big boy. Just to give you an idea- right now he just turned 4 and is almost 50pds and the average size of a 6 year old!!! All the boys in my family are like that, getting to an average height of over 6ft. by 14yrs old. My son's doctor didn't like the idea, but he just wouldn't sleep when he was an infant he always seemed hungry. My son is not fat either, he is really tall, and you can actually see his ribs when he reaches up!!! Don't give him allot, just enough to thicken his milk so that he will be more full and sleep better.
2006-12-14 10:15:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I would have her ask her pediatrician about a little cereal. For a big baby I would think you could start food a little sooner.
My own kids were not large babies and all started cereal at different times, based on what they needed. Baby #1 started cereal at 6wks, baby #2 was 3 months and baby #3 started at 2 months, had trouble with it, we pulled it and restarted at 4 months.
I think average is 3 months.
2006-12-14 09:43:37 · answer #6 · answered by tessasmomy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
go ahead and give him cereal, and don't worry about how big the baby is. the size of a baby is not corelated with being overweight later on in life and infants can't be overweight, according to doctors that i have talked to. my son was in the 75-90% range until he was 1 when he reached the 50% range.
2006-12-14 10:30:09 · answer #7 · answered by barbe 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At 2 mounths I asked the same question to my doctor
he said its not done that early anymore because it can cause
food allurgies later in life or something to that effect.
The sollution was just to give more formulae
it worked fine enough. I would defenatly get a doctors opinion
on this one before I did anything.
4 mounths was when I started all my kids
all of them hated the stuff and gave me the "Why would you do that to me " look.Same with every other baby I have known
mashed apple always worked alot better.
2006-12-14 10:19:16 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
At 2 months is when my mother suggested it. And babys do sleep better with a full tummy. Cereal is thicker than the formula or breastmilk that they eat.
DO NOT PUT THE CEREAL IN THE BOTTLE, MY PEDIATRICIAN SAID THAT THEY CAN CHOKE FROM THAT!!
2006-12-14 09:44:15 · answer #9 · answered by JennDawg 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, the cereal at night will help. My son started on it by the time he was 6 weeks old as he would not sleep for more than two hours at a time.
2006-12-14 09:38:25 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋