rice cereal babys bottle!?

Question

So i know all about solids and when to introduce them and everything. I have read all these articles about babies not sleeping longer if they have cereal in their bottles at night. So why have i met so many people that say this helped their baby sleep? Tell me if you did it and at what age and what difference did it make?

my baby sleeps fine, so i'm not planning on it. i dont' think theres anything wrong with it, it's up to the parents, I just would like to see how many of you tried this with success :)

Answer 1

I never did it with 3 kids. I tend to follow the doctor's advice. I hate old wives tales - they just bug me. Some kids sleep, some don't. I don't like the idea of increasing the fat cells at such a young age.

Answer 2

I have twin boys, and they NEVER slept more than two hours at a time for the first 7 months of their lives! I tried to give them cereal a few times from about a month old to 4 months. It did not make them sleep, it made them hystercial and cranky. I think it gave them bad gas(probably exactly what the doctors are warning against). So I when I started them on solids I had to feed baby food not cereal. They had acid reflux very bad as well til they were 13 months old. The cereal did not help that either. If they ate 6 oz of formula or food they puked up 3! Every child is different, my sister has two that slept thru the night from two weeks old! Lucky her...

Answer 3

Don't put the cereal in the bottle. Is has been shown to increase the risk of childhood and even adult diabetes. The reason people think it helps babies sleep is because it gets babies tummies fuller, so the are less likely to wake up due to hunger. If your baby is drinking more than 2 oz per pound he weighs, you may want to start to feed him a couple bites of very liquidy cereal from the spoon with his morning or evening bottle, when ever he is most hungry. It will help him in his quest toward solids, and also ease the high cost of formula for you. My son has just turned 6 months, and started doing this when he was around 3 months (per Dr suggestion). He now eats any of the 1st foods, and we are started on 2nds. Good luck with your little one!

Answer 4

I have never done it. Out pediatrician told us specifically not to. She said there is a very high risk of choking when a parent adds cereal to a bottle.

I really think the cereal before bed thing depends on the child. With our 6 month old daughter, the only times she wakes in the middle of the night is if her diaper gets too full, not because she's hungry. We change her and put her back to sleep. That's our experience.

Answer 5

Well, I helped my sis raise her twin babies, and we put the cereal in their bottles and it seemed to help them sleep better and for longer spans of time.. You know not getting up every 4-6 hours.
We began feeding them cereal at about 4 months after being advised so by the pediatrician.

I guess every child is different, so you can't really base your child's behavior on someone elses experience.

It never hurts to try new things, and just see if it works for your baby. You never know it may or it may not, but it's worth a try!

Answer 6

the deal about the cereal in the baby's bottle drives me nuts!

I don't know if it helps babies sleep better.

I do know that before 6 months old babies can not digest the cereal properly, and it sits in their stomach, making them feel full, but it also may be causing them to lack essential nutrients that only a feeding can bring.

Answer 7

My son hated his bottle. He was born premature and hated the bottle. When he was about 3 months we started spoon feeding him cereal. As he got older we started to thicken the cereal and use less formula mixed with it. My son was a good sleeper ever since we bought him home and I didn't see much difference in his sleeping pattern. We started it because he was so unhappy with his bottle.

Answer 8

My girl has always slept through the night, but just recently started to wake famished, not to mention I couldn't get anything done because she was constantly wanting to eat. The doc said i could try rice, and it worked, she's back to sleeping through the night again. I only feed her a little, watered down and from a spoon, once a day. 3.5 months old.

Answer 9

I started oatmeal cereal in a bottle at 3 months because it was recommended by her dr. for acid reflux. Honestly , I didn't see any change at all in her sleeping pattern.

Answer 10

I started giving my son cereal at the age of 2weeks. My son's Dr told me to even spoon feed it to him. Also it is a myth babys do not sleep longer if they have cereal.