Problems with rice cereal?

Question

Just curious...I started my son (exclusively bf) on rice cereal with his doctor's okay. He went from 3-5 bowel movements a day to one every three days. He had terrible gas which woke him up often. I decided to stop the cereal all together and wait for solids until six months when he can eat more of a variety and more fiber rich foods. Is this a common effect of rice cereal on infants?

He was 4 months at last Dr. visit and doctor is the one who suggested starting rice cereal. I had planned to wait, but figured it was okay if doctor suggested it. Stopped after a few weeks.

Answer 1

Actually Rice Cereal can and will cause gas and constipation in some babies. Mine is one. He cannot take anything with Rice Cereal-even if we add juice to this. She recommended (and we breastfeed also) that we use barley or oatmeal. If he continues to do this add in some prunes or another fruit besides bananas as they constipate and cause gas with the oatmeal or barley. They start with Rice as it is one that is less likely to cause allergies.

In older infants who are just beginning solid foods, you may want to avoid baby foods such as rice cereal, applesauce and bananas as these may aggravate constipation!

Barley or oatmeal cereals, prunes, peaches, plums, apricots and most vegetables are preferred.

Juices are helpful, especially apple or prune, but use in moderation, as they are not as nutritious for babies as formula or breastmilk. At 6 months no more than a couple oz each day.

Don't forget to give a new food 3-4 days before introducing a new food just in case they have a sensitivity to that food....if you start mixing foods without trying each one separate you wont know which they are having problems with otherwise.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Yes. There are a lot of different opinions about what is the best first food. Rice cereal is preferred because it is iron fortified and the consistency is variable, but it is binding as hell. Then again, most anything you can feed is probably going to cause bowel changes that result in some difficult nights.

I used baby oatmeal (also iron fortified) mixed with prune puree as a compromise. How old is your son? I've heard that young infants don't even really digest other carbohydrates than lactose -- they don't make the enzymes in sufficient amounts. I believe it does not really matter what you feed, if the diet is still almost all formula/breastmilk anyways. The point is just to get the infant accustomed to the feel of eating solids.

Answer 3

Our doctor recommended waiting till 6 months to start solids, like rice cereal and then to water it down with breastmilk or just plain water.

But my daughter was amazing, she would go almost 2 weeks without a bowel movement. She was happy and never cranky.

Of course the doctor was a bit shocked but after checking her tummy he was satisfied that there was no reason to worry until there were signs of discomfort.

So don't worry too much if there isn't any bowel movement for about a week (that was a time frame my doctor found more acceptable).

Answer 4

Actually it is the change to solids. My baby was breast fed exclusively until almost 6 months and we started rice cereal with breast milk slowly, once every couple days until 6 months. Then we started solids daily. Suddenly he went from 3-5 BM per day to one solid BM a day. (The color and oder changed too.) It's normal and not a bad reaction.
But given your baby's gas pains, I don't blame you for waiting a bit more until restarting. Like I said, we went slow until 6 months also.

Anti gas medications for infants may help if gas persist as a problem. Also, when he was more constipated on some days (you could actually see him straining) I would make a point of nursing him more since breast milk is a laxative.

Anyway, good luck and have fun.

Answer 5

Not in my case... but my son was much older when I introduced rice cereal. I waited until he was almost 7 months to try. (He's 11 months old now and still rarely eats solids... still exclusively breastfed and perfectly healthy) Sounds like he's getting constipated from the iron in the cereal.

Remember that solids during the first year are just for practice. Baby really doesn't need them.

Answer 6

call your dr and see what they think. from his reaction since starting the rice cereal his body is telling you he is not ready for it yet. either dilute it out more if you think he needs it, or wait. but you are best when you do start again, to start with rice cereal. it is usually the easiest to digest and a good telling of if your baby is ready for solids. call your dr and see if there was a specific reason to why they suggested starting rice cereal.

Answer 7

well depends on how much cereal he is eating?he is constipated try the juice mixing with the cereal instead of formula that worked for my son who had bowel problems just needs juice to unplug him thats all. your doing ok dont stop the rice cereal if he likes it as they can have it at 4 months old

Answer 8

how old is your son? I would also wait until 6 months to start solids. the reason most doctors recommend waiting that long is because most babies simply cannot process solids correctly until that age. you son's body may simply not be ready for it. It is also possible that he is allergic to the rice cereal, so you should definitely tell your pediatrician what happened.

Answer 9

Okay, from what I know, bf babies do not need solids as soon as formula-fed ones do. It would be normal for him to pass fewer stools, but NOT once every three days, and the gas shows you he is not digesting this well.

Rice cereal is as far as i know THE easiest thing for infants to digest, so if he couldn't eat this, don't try anything else.

Answer 10

Mine also got a little consitpated when he started to eat the cereals. I just bf him a little more often and when he got used to eating/digesting the cereal it went away.