Feed cereal before or after?

Question

I am starting my 4+ month old on rice cereal. Am I supposed to feed the cereal before or after a nursing session? Should it be the same sequence once we move to veggies/fruit?

Answer 1

You should always nurse before feeding solids. The solids are just for practice right now and the nursing should still make up the majority of what the baby eats.

Answer 2

You should give solid food after nursing.

But, If i were you, i would do a little more research before starting solids so early.

Esspecially with a breastfed baby, there are really no benefits to giving the infant solid food before they can feed themself.

Theres a pretty long list of cons though. First thing is anemia. Breastmilk only has a very small amount of iron, yet breastfed babies absorb alot of it. After you introduce any other type of food, they way they absorb iron changes, and if they havent had enough time to build up a good store of iron, they may become anemic.

Second thing is allergies. Before infants are ready for solid food (it's different for every baby, but most are ready by about 6 months) they have what is called an "open gut". Thier body absorbs nutrients directly from thier stomach. When you give them food that they arent ready for, it can cause food allergies because of this "open gut".

Last thing is cereal in general. Its not reccomended by anyone to give any fruits or veggies before 6 months, yet cereal has been thought to be okay.. but is it really?

Up until now, your babe has received the most natural stuff on earth, the perfect nutrition. Cereal is just about as far from natural as you can get. Its highly processed (think about rice, now look at what comes out of the cereal box.) They basically take out the nutrients that come naturally in the rice and add back 4 of questionable bioavailability.
On top of all that, infants don't produce much of the enzyme, amylase, that is needed to digest grains... so they really can't digest it anyway.

So... after my long rant there, let me ask... what is your goal by starting solids?

ETA, for the person below me, as she doesn't accept email:
Babies WILL eat when they are ready. Its not something you have to teach them, they will eventually do it on thier own.
I read other moms talk about how long it took to "teach" thier infant to eat off a spoon, and i think its rather funny.
When the child is really ready for solid food (almost always after 6 months) there should be no teaching involved. They should be eager about it, if not feeding themself.

Oh, and the recommended time to start from the AAP is after 6 months. Get your information straight.

Answer 3

Feed the cereal before you nurse. It is best for the baby to be hungry when trying new foods. The same thing will apply to veggies/fruit and meats. Make sure to offer meat then veggies then fruit. Fruit is the most liked and if your baby does as my three does, it will love fruit and not eat the meat. If your a vegetarian, skip the meat but make sure the veggies are offered first. It doesn't take long to develop a sweet tooth. You will notice a decline in the amount your baby nurses once you offer food.

Answer 4

I would first consult your doctor, but I have a 5 1/2 month old that I started on rice cereal about a month ago. My doctor told me to start with the cereal first, then wash it down with milk. However, my son would sometimes protest as I tried to feed him and would have to give him the milk first and then finish with the cereal. Now that we are in a routine, he will eat the cereal (now veggies too) before he has his milk. You have to work around what your baby wants. Your baby will let you know what they want.

Answer 5

Good question. I would say to do your regular morning breastfeeding, then wait about an hour, and try the rice cereal. My daughter was 4 months old when she started daycare, and I think they started trying to give her the rice cereal around mid-morning. Then, I would try it again in the evening. My daughter is 20 months old and eats regular food, but is still breastfed. Feeding her regular food doesn't seem to stop the desire to nurse. I think she nurses mostly for comfort.

Answer 6

I'm not a professional but I would say after the nursing session. If you try to get your 4+ month old to eat cereal when hungry your chances of success aren't very good. Remember a little one doesn't know how to move that cereal into it's mouth and down it's throat. If he/she is hungry the frustration level will be too much to handle and you have a fit waiting to happen.

Answer 7

Our pediatrician said before, but we found that if we fed her the cereal, then she wasn't interested in nursing afterwards.

What we ended up doing was giving her the foods in between nursings. She is 13 months, and still pretty much is that way. We are doing away with bottles, but we don't ever mix the food time with bottle time... we are starting to substitute bottles with food though...

Hope this helps

Answer 8

I'd nurse first, then feed the cereal/fruits/veggies. There is more nutrition in breast milk than anything else.

Answer 9

I recommend and it worked for me great, mixing brestmilk with the cerel instead of water or juice. When starting out with cerel feeding, they are not as important to the health of the baby is, as the brestmilk. So maybe try a few small spoonfuls before brestfeeding in the morning. This always worked great for me.

Answer 10

That lady above me is crazy! She asked what is your goal in starting solids? Hello! Babies need to start sometime! This is the recommended age to start. My son gets really cranky if I try to feed him with the spoon if he is hungry so i do it after he has eaten.