How soon can you feed a baby cereal?

Question

My three week old seems to always want to feed. It doesn't matter if he eats 4 to 6 ounces, when he is finished he can eat again an hour later. I don't think he is getting full enough from the formula. He never takes more than 6 ouces so giving him more formula at his feeding doesn't help. I thought that if I mixed if with a little cereal maybe he would feel full and not want to take a bottle so often. Giving him so much formula if giving him gas so bad that he cries for hours until we can get rid of it.

Answer 1

Trust me, the rice cereal will not help fill the baby up. A baby's digestive system cannot handle solid foods including cereal until they are at least 4-6 months old. Giving rice cereal to a 3 week old is going to cause some bad tummy issues (gas) and make everyone unhappy.

Answer 2

oh please dont give you baby cereal at 3 weeks, the thing is at 3 weeks your baby doesn't have a strong enough digestive system to cope with anything thicker that milk, if you give cereal it can cause many problems, mainly kidney problems.

i gave my son cereal from 3 months but then the age went up to 4 months and now it isnt recommened until 6 months.

to be honest i think 6 months is a bit old, 4 months should be just fine to give 1 lot a day (from a spoon only)! have you tried giving "hungry baby formular" my son was very greedy and wasn't satisfied until i swapped to hungry baby milk.

also your baby might not be hungry all the time, it might just want attention, walking around or have wind! it is common to think that the baby only cries for food but could be something else.

i really wouldn't recommend giving cereal. my mother-in-law suggested i did when my son was 4 weeks as she said "i gave my kids it from a week old and their just fine" but remember, they have put the age up for a reason, obviously with the new technology they have these days they have found that babies can't cope with cereal that young!

good luck with the baby and congratulations!

Answer 3

Giving babies cereal to keep them fuller longer is a myth. Why do you think your son is still hungry, especially if he won't take more formula? Don't stuff the baby!! Talk to your pediatrician, you are about 5 months early if you feed him cereal, you'll cause so many problems like allergies, diabetes, and childhood/adult obesity if you start cereal too early, and by that I mean you can cause these problems if you start at four months, much less three weeks. Your son needs comfort or relief from something else, it's not hunger. Talk to your doctor.

Answer 4

if he is not ready to take the cereal from a spoon please don't give it to him in a bottle. it is a choking risk. and no study has ever found its effective in making them go longer between feeds or sleep through the night. what your newborn is doing is not abnormal at all. gas is actually a normal side effect of formula so is constipation. but nix the cereal, putting it in the bottle is bad, unless ordered by the doc(sometimes its used for reflux in babies) but should never be done with out the docs ok. its lazy to put it in the bottle vs giving it off a spoon. it can lead to choking and an increase in GI distress. he sounds like a normal newborn though. it will get better.

Answer 5

i began out w/ rice yet in basic terms used it for 3-4 feedings. it could reason some severe constipation! We then went to a single grain oatmeal (b/c i replaced into below the impact that it is greater easy to digest) and a few weeks after that went directly to the completed grain oatmeal (that's fit). i might wait a on an identical time as longer if I have been you and if he/she is waiting at 4 months of age, commence then. If no longer, try back at 5-6 months. He/she ought to teach signs and indicators of readiness and be a minimum of four months previous (you do no longer elect to commence faster b/c that's difficult on their tummy in case you do).

Answer 6

You may have to make the nipple hole bigger. You might start off with maybe a teaspoon and see how that goes. No more than a tablespoon, however, for that age.

I would just point out that virtually everybody in the US over the age of 25 had cereal from birth in their bottle. Only a few babies had problems. In fact, they have found that delayed feeding of cereal (after 6 months) actually increases the allergy reactions to it (which seems weird to me). You don't need a scientific study--many grandmas will tell you that yes, indeed, a little cereal helps them feel full. I will concede the formula isn't the same as whole milk.

Answer 7

the dr recommend that i shouldnt give my son cereal until 4 months old b/c it is hard on their stomachs and can give them gas.. have you tried to change formulas? if he is on reg formula try the soy.... or give him gas drops w/ each feeding.. i know its rough its just trial and error. i breastfed my son for 6 months.. when we changed to formula for 3 days straight all he did was cry.. i had to change to the soy and he has been a totally different baby ever since..
also... you will hear alot of people say different times to give a baby cereal... like i said my dr said to wait until 4 months.. my mom said i was on it at 2 months.. my nephew was on it at 3 weeks... if you wanna try a small amount first and see how he does.. (like a tablespoon) in his bottle....

good luck hope that helps

Answer 8

I used to give both my kids a pinch of cereal in there bottles to keep them full longer at about 3 months