Baby cereal question.....?

Question

Im about to start giving my 4 month old cereal..I know how to make it and feed it to him, but how often? Do I feed him eat EVERY time he gets hungry or what?

The baby is a boy..And he eats almost 4 ounces of formula every 2 hours.

Answer 1

You should really wait on solids. Rice cereal is basically baby junk food. Its processed and full of synthetic nutrtients... parents these days have a hard enough time getting thier kids to eat healthy, why start with the bad stuff?

Wait until 6 months, at least, and you can start with soft whole fruits... mushed bananas and avocados... mushed steamed carrots... etc... when they start reaching for food you can give them finger foods... steamed brocoli, green beans... peas... etc...

Please reconsitter starting so early and with cereal! Give your baby the best start possible!!!

Answer 2

Start with once a day, the same time every day and then move to two times after a week or so with no allergic reactions. Then three times a day. Pay close attention to bowel movements and watch for any rashes that appear. Also pay close attention to temperment. You really shouldn't be starting cereal until the baby is 6 months old... but its your baby.

Answer 3

usually you can start by just putting it in a bottle (if formula fed) or in a bowl mixed with your milk or formula (Depending what you are doing)

However you may want to put it off another month or 2. Baby cereal is not being heeded as the best first food for infants anymore. It is full of preservatives which infants cannot filter out of their system as efficiently as adults. 30 years ago most baby food had preservatives in it but it has pretty much all been removed because of health reasons from most forms of baby food (or is couldn't be removed replaced with a natural preservative suchas vitamin c for fruit) but baby cereal hasn't and is loaded with them.

As well the extra iron in baby cereal is fortified with iron, which can be good if your baby is short on iron but if they are getting adequet amounts in their diet then it can cause constipation and also build up in the bodys organs (your body does not expel excess iron.)

Aside from the iron rice cereal is retty much nutritionally deficient. It has no nutritional value and you are really fillign your child up on empty carbs.

If you are wanting to start a first food I would personally wait a month or 2 and start with something like bananas or a very ripe, mashed avacado.

Answer 4

Single-ingredient cereals make a perfect introduction. (Most babies tolerate rice cereal the best.)
Pick a time with few distractions.
Give a little breast milk or formula first, to take the edge off her hunger.
For baby's first cereal feeding, mix 1 tablespoon of single-grain cereal to a smooth texture with about 4 tablespoons of breast milk, formula or water. As he gets older, decrease the amount of liquid for a thicker texture.
Using a spoon or your finger, put the cereal to her lips, not in her mouth, so she can use her sucking skills.
Introduce just one variety 3 to 5 days in a row before starting a new one. This makes it easy to watch for food sensitivities. If you suspect an allergic reaction to a food, stop feeding her that food and contact your pediatrician.

When you first begin to feed him cereal, be sure to pay attention to your baby's cues. If he doesn't seem interested, he may not be ready yet. Don't force him. Just put the cereal away and try again in a few days.

Once your baby gets the hang of it, he will open his mouth wide for the spoon. You may notice him moving the food backward with his tongue, and even putting his hands in his mouth while he eats to help learn to swallow solids. That's fine—he's exploring a whole new world of taste sensations for the first time.

And once he's had enough, your baby will let you know by turning his head away from you or by batting at the spoon with his fist. Need more "how to" info? Click to review the Gerber Feeding Plan.
http://www.gerber.com/phase/feeding?phase=7

Answer 5

No, just start like once a day then increase it after a week or two to twice a day. It also depends on how much your baby eats at a time. Also keep in mind that formula or breastmilk still should be babys primary meal!

Answer 6

Our pediatrician rec commends the cereal (either rice or oatmeal) twice a day. I'd try in the morning and then again before bed.

Answer 7

Baby cereal is junk food, not healthy at all. It is full of processed oils, sugar, and chemicals to improve "mouth feel". Babies just don't need it. And think of what you are teaching them about their future eating habits? Carbs, carbs, and more carbs.

Wouldn't fruits, veggies, and meats (for real digestable iron and zinc) be a much smarter choice?

"The truth is, there is nothing special about these foods that makes them better to start out with. Babies don't actually even need rice cereal."
http://askdrsears.com/faq/ci2.asp

"Even in these baby foods, we see partially hydrogenated fats," Sterken says, holding up a package of infant cereal."
http://www.ctv.ca/generic/WebSpecials/transfat/index_story1.html

" LLL suggests this progression when introducing your baby (6 months or older) to solid foods:

* Ripe banana, avocado, yam, or sweet potato (sweet like breastmilk)
* Meats
* Whole-grain breads and cereals (rather than baby cereals)
[wheat and corn are usually delayed until baby is 9-12 months old]
* Fresh fruits
[citrus fruits are usually delayed until baby is 9-12 months old]
* Vegetables
* Dairy products after 9 months
[cow's milk is usually delayed until baby is 12-18 months old]

Another source (Marnie Ko in A Detailed Guide to Feeding Your Child: Uncovering the Myths of Infant Nutrition) suggests that bananas and meat are both hard to digest, and shouldn't be used as first foods. She recommends rice, potatoes, yams, pear and millet as a baby's first foods. "
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/first-foods.html

'When starting solids, choose a time when baby is content, interested and alert. Begin by offering solids 1-2 times per day and increase to 3-4 times per day. Sit down and eat with your baby.

* Start with small amounts of high iron foods like iron-fortified infant cereal or well-cooked finely minced meat, poultry or fish. Mix with breast milk, formula, or water."
http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthfiles/hfile69c.stm

First Foods: Beyond Rice Cereal
By Robert Barnett

When your baby's ready for her first food, you can make it almost anything — even meat. The standard advice has been to start babies on iron-fortified cereal around 5 or 6 months and wait until 8 to 10 months before introducing meat, but "it should actually be in the mix of the earliest foods," says Nancy Krebs, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver.

Why the shift in recommendations? If you've been breastfeeding your baby exclusively, after about 6 months your milk will begin to be low not only in iron but also in zinc, research shows. Red meat and poultry are great sources of both minerals; beans and tofu are good vegetarian choices. (Any first food should be about the consistency of baby cereal and should have no added salt.)

Formula-fed babies aren't as likely to face a zinc deficiency, but there's no reason to hold back giving them meat. Five-month-olds accept pureed meat just as readily as rice cereal. If you'd still rather start with cereal, look for one that's fortified with both iron and zinc.

Parenting, February 2006
http://www.parenting.com/parenting/baby/article/0,19840,1145323,00.html

Answer 8

it depends on the baby. in my case, my mom brought me home and i cried all of the first day. she took me back to the hospital where the doctor told her i was just hungry. since that first day, she said that i had to have cereal in every bottle or that i would not take one. i was twenty-six pounds at six weeks old. your son might be a savage like me! you just have to find out about his apetite and habits through trial and error. good luck with him.

Answer 9

I started with once a day.

Answer 10

No, hes only 4mths. old. Dont feed him that all the time.