Cereal in Bottle

[China]

Hi,

I'm getting different advice and would like to hear your opinions. My grandparents, aunts, and friends are telling me to put rice cereal in my son's bottle it will not only help him sleep through the night, but it will make him gain weight. I am going to start my son on rice cereal at four months, but I've read many books and spoke to my pediatrician who advised me not to introduce rice cereal before four months and certainly do not put it in his bottle. Has anyone heard of this before?

[Iyabo]

I've heard as well that it will help him "sleep through the night". The earliest I have heard from a health professional's standpoint is to wait until he's at least 5 months, then start him on cereal. Like you, from family members, they say about 3-4 months. I read somewhere that introducing anything other than milk (I assume cereal falls under an "anything") before 6 months can cause food allergies. Don't ya just love being a new mom with all the advice from everywhere? I am going to try to hold out until at least 5 months before giving him cereal.

[Olena]

Hi China. I have a 3 month old son and have also had family members tell me to put rice cereal in my son's bottle to help him sleep at night. Well I tried it and unfortunately it did not work for my son. He still woke up every 3 hours to eat. I do give him cereal in the bottle every now and then if he seems like he is hungrier then normal but haven't noticed in changes in his sleep pattern because of it. Did you end up trying the rice cereal in the bottle?

[Nappykat]

Do not worry about his gaining weight. That is what he suppose to do, and that is no indication at this very age that he will be obese or overweight. Babies are suppose to gain weight.

But introducing cereal before a certain age can produce gastric upset and possibly cause colick, gas, and constipation - meaning it could keep him up at night and crying instead of soothing him. Their stomachs has to adjust to the different consistency and make-up and all. When you introduce cereal, introduce it at the time you can feed it too him in a bowl and with a spoon - at or around 4-6 months of age. You may wanna sweeten it with a little baby juice or yogurt because baby is not good when it's not sweet - and milk (whether breast or formula) is very sweet. Bottle should be for milk only. I wouldn't even introduce juice in bottle - in a cup and fed out of a cup.

[Tracy]

I agree with Nappykat, I never did it. Once you decide to give him the cereal, feed it to him with a spoon. Give him just a little to see how he'll adjust to it. But I wouldn't recommend putting it in his bottle.

[Denise]

The pediatrician advice is good. I heard the same thing and I did not introduce rice cereal until after the 4 months mark due to the baby's digestion system. Some babies are able to digest food properly until around 4 months because they are use to the mother's body breaking down the nutrients. Imagine that your baby was in your stomach for 9 months and very used to your body breaking down the nutrients. Now it takes time for your child to do it on his/her own. As far as the cereal not being put in the bottle, well I am guilty. I did do it a few times and found that it did help my baby sleep well through the night. But my sister did the same things and her baby developed stomach cramps and constipation. So every situation is different.

[DivasMaMa]

I started giving my daughter rice in her bottle at 2 months old. shes been sleeping through the night since she was 2.5 months. however i was only giving her alittle bitabout a tbl spoon. my pediatrician actually told me to do it, it helped my daughter keep her food down (because she used to throw up a lot even after 2 and 3 burps) it helped my daughter but every baby is different. if you do decide to start your baby on rice then i rrecommend you start on the Single Grain Rice (regular) see how your baby takes to it and then you could start getting the flavored ones. the only caution that i can think of is to watch them closely cause when you start something new on your baby it can cause them to go to the bathroom a little bit more so keep some nose plugs handy.