5 Months Breastfed Baby, 18 Pounds... Cereals Are Ok?

my daycare kids are all on cereal/foods at 4 months.

my own kids were put on cereal before 4 weeks by their pediatricians. Unheard of in today's world.

Feeding him cereal will not help him sleep longer - but it most likely will cause him gastrointestinal inflammation and upset - which means gas, constipation and stomach pains.

I'd wait to 7 months, when his GI tract is closed and more mature - introducing foreign proteins and bacterias thru solids may cause more harm than good - especially since he's breastfed.

Have either you or your husband considered he may be gaining so well BECAUSE of his steady diet of super nutritional, fat and nutrient rich breastmilk? The human body for the first few years will take breastmilk and metabolize it fully... nothing else in the known world of food can be metabolized as completely as breastmilk can.

They recommend not starting solids until 4-6 months. He is in that range and very healthy! Wowsa! Gooooood mama milk you have there!

Start off with a single grain cereal and mix your breastmilk in it...keep it kind of runny. Maybe give him one serving a day (a tablespoon or two of cereal)....right before bed for a week and then move to two servings a day and add one new yellow food. The first couple of months of the babes being on solids is to teach them to eat off a spoon and for their bodies to get used to the new food.

The idea of adding foods is add one at a time and see if there is a reaction to it within the first 3-4 days and then go to the next new food. A lot of different people have ideas of what the best order is. I've liked yellow foods, then fruits, then veggies (because of the texture), then meats. Some say not to introduce fruit before veggies because it will cause baby to not want the veggies. I don't see that until they are about 18 months or older and really start to have a will of their own! Lol.

Look at www.wholesomebabyfood.com for some great ideas and recipes. It was a great resource for me.

Best of luck to the new school year and having a baby at home. :)

Yep. GIve it a try. Its suggested that babies start other foods around this time.

Go with the baby's cues, not your preferences. His weight has no bearing on his food readiness. :) My 4-month-old is 20 pounds and exclusively breastfed and seems pretty content for now.

I have never gave any of my kids rice cereal, it has the nutritional value of zero, that said it won't harm him. I wouldn't start feeding him food at night, unless your hubby wants to give him a bottle of breastmilk. If it were me I would just continue to give him breastmilk if he seems satisfied. That's why he is nice and chunky! With my kids, my first was huge, he weighed 20lbs at his 4 month check up, I started feeding him baby food at almost 6 months and by 8 months was completely off baby food and just wanted table food. My second didn't really want any food until she was 9 months, and was almost EBF until 1. My third is EBF still. Point is every baby is different and you have to do what you feel is right.

The weight of the baby definitely has nothing to do with if he needs solids or not. Only your babies cues will tell you if he needs more than breastmilk. Is he sitting unassisted? Is he reaching for your food? Does he try to get your food into his mouth? If you answered yes to all of those questions, then he may be ready.

Many people start solids to get the baby to sleep through the night. More often than not, I head people questioning why it didn't work. It is possible than solids could help him sleep, but it is more like to not have an effect or possibly make it worse.

Nutritionally, your baby will get nothing from the cereal. The box may list that some nutrition is in the cereal, but his body is not mature enough to absorb the nutrients in food. Any food for a young baby is just for practice.

Good luck with your decision!

You should, ultimately ask your Pediatrician.
No one will know, your baby's health etc., except for your Pediatrician.

Feeding solids, ALSO has to do with a baby's ability to 'eat' and swallow etc, and if they will even accept, solids.

For example: some babies at this age still have their 'gag reflex.' It is developmental based.
Also, some babies do not yet 'chew' either.
Nor swallow or know how.
Hence, they choke.

There is the biological and motor-skill.... aspects, to 'eating' solids.
Not it all being, congruent or in tandem with each other, and it not only based, on a baby's size/weight etc.

Ask your pediatrician.

For the 1st year of life, keep in mind, that a baby's PRIMARY source of nutrition, is from breastmilk or Formula. NOT solids and not other liquids, and you still must, nurse on-demand 24/7 day and night and especially during growth-spurts.

IF you give solids, instead of nursings, a woman's milk supply can and will decrease.
AND the baby will then WEAN from breast.
Your baby is only 5 months old.
Solids, should NOT comprise, the main intake of a baby for the 1st year.
Breastmilk or Formula, should.
This is also, per our Pediatrician.
My kids as babies, were big babies too, and exclusively breastfed and grew like weeds.
I nursed on-demand, for the 1st year, and did not make, solids the main intake for them.

That is just me.
So, for you, talk to your Pediatrician and tell him/her your situation or questions....
perhaps, your baby can take solids.
BUT it depends on IF your baby, can, and if his gag reflex is present or not....
Some babies, will not take solids yet.
Some will.

Nutritionally... breastmilk and Formula is more nutritionally dense, than solids.
Keep that in mind.

I would NOT give him food at night...that's not something I would venture into doing...he may need more than breast milk - every baby is different...at 5 months he should be sleeping at LEAST 5 hours straight - if not more...maybe my kids were different (I'm not including Nicky because he was difficult!! :) ) any way -

When you eat dinner - fix him a small bowl of oatmeal or rice cereal..if you aren't comfortable doing that - talk to your pediatrician about your concerns and see what they suggest!!

My sons started with cereal at 4 months, but it is a trainer, and most of his nutritional will still come from breast milk or formula. It is ok, however, to start weening his off night feedings, he no longer needs them. He does it now to comfort, for babies no longer need night feedings for growth after the first few weeks of life (per my ped). My boys both slept through the night from 2 months on. Just start by cutting out one feeding a night and teaching him other ways to comfort.

I don't think you ought to give cereal in the middle of the night...that's just a bad habit. As children and adults, we don't (or shouldn't, anyways...not to say I never sneak a snack) get up in the middle of the night to actually eat.

That being said, I started my little one earlier than that on cereals because she was that big and hungry all the time. It didn't sabotage feeding...at 15 months, I'm still nursing.

i wouldnt give him solid food during the night, but during the day if he'll eat it that is okay. you could also try putting 2 or 3 teaspoons of rice cereal in his bedtime bottle. contraray to what people say it does have some nutritional value, it is right there on the box, it DOES help them to sleep through the night, my 8 month old twins are proof, and i really dont think it causes a "choking hazard". this is because the ammount of cereal you would have to put in the bottle to make it think enough to choke on would not come out of the bottle in the first place. I agree with trying to stop the night feedings as long as he is getting enough during the day. my twins started sleeping through the night when they were 3 months old. but ultimately, YOU ARE THE PARENT, and it doesnt matter what any of us on here says, you know what is best for your baby. so you should try what you think is best and go with that. good luck!!

I have a 7.5month old and she is 23lbs. Once baby starts eating cereals, what iron he is getting from your milk will stop being absorbed as well once he starts the cereal. Plus they don't need the cereal to help sleep better. I tried it with my daughter just because everyone was saying well it will help
her sleep better and it just gave her a stomach ache and she would wake about 30minutes into sleep and just cry because it hurt so bad. I stopped after two days. Talk to the doctor and she said no please don't start her on the cereals since her tummy wasn't ready for them. I then started her on veggies at 6 months and she eats those at dinner and she only gets it at dinner since its just for practice and should be getting most caloric intake from breastmilk. I went back to work at 7 weeks PP. And it sucks going to work tired. I work in a hospital and have patient contact everyday where I need to be on my feet and some days are worse then others but its all worth it.
Also just because he is 18lbs doesn't mean is digestive tract is ready for cereal and solids. I feed my nurse my daughter at 0530 she gets a 4oz breastmilk bottle at 0900 and 1230 then I nurse at 4pm and 745pm at bed time. She does nurse off me both sides then takes a 4 oz bottle also. But other than that she just gets 4oz per bottle no more since she does drink it.
So her intake each day if she is nursing 4oz each time is 36oz. She does wake finally only once at night which is about 3am. I wish she would go back to 1am but I'll take it I guess. She gets her veggies at 6pm. So nurse at 4pm eat veggies at 6 and nurse again at 0745 plus a 4 oz bottle.
You might need to try and feed him a little extra is what I'm trying to get down to I guess just not cereal. Try a bottle with some extra milk in it.
Sorry this seems jumbled but I am tired and really need to get to bed:)

Do you mean cereal in the night or at dinner? I would focus on dropping the night feeds now. By 6 months he can sleep through the night.

i wouldnt substitute the bottle with cereal but add the cereal as well as the bottle. i started my daughters on cereal at 3 months and baby food at 4 months like the dr recommended good luck!