Just Beginning Infant on Rice cereal--HELP--how Much?

I usually start by giving the rice cereal in the morning for about a week or two (or once they have the hang of it) and then I start a dinner feeding. Stick with a couple of tablespoons that are pretty watery and gradually thicken up the cereal each day to a normal thickness. Your little one will let you know when she has had enough, don't worry that you have to feed her the entire serving, every feeding will be different. I usually stick with the just the rice cereal for about a month and then I start to introduce veggies first, I have started with sweet potatoes with my three little ones and all have loved them. I give my son cereal and fruit/veggie at the same time, but I don't mix the two together unless he is very fussy. I Introduce one new food every 3-5 days. After two months I start to give them just a fruit or veggie for lunch along.

My kids have all been breastfed, so I am not sure about how much formula to give. I would say let your baby let you know how much she needs. My girls nursed the same amount and my son varies everyday, but he still nurses about 5 times in 24 hours. I do try to give him a bottle while he eats, but he thinks the bottle is a toy.

I hope that helps a little. Enjoy the mess!

I would check in with your pediatrician. Mine told me to start with 3 tablespoons of rice cereal mixed with either breast milk or formula but not with water. Oatmeal is also a good next item. My pediatrician and several american academy of pediatrics books that I have suggested giving some milk, then feeding cereal and then topping off with milk again, as baby will ususally stop drinking when full. So I nurse, feed, then nurse again. or now that she is a bit more used to feeding, I feed and then nurse.

All the books seem to say roughly the same thing - try one item for a few days before introducing a new food. Also, do not home prepare carrots, beets, spinach and a few other veggies as babies are very sensitive to nitrates and they may be present in our area but the baby food companies test for them.

if you are a first time mom, i would check out the academy's website at www.aap.org and also buy one of their great books on caring for your baby. Also, for other items, a great website for consumer product safety is www.kidsindanger.org

Milk/formula should be their primary food up to 12 months, so don't replace any of the milk just yet. For just starting it once or twice a day sounds great. And, you don't necessarily have to start with cereal...it really has no nutritional value it is just easier because you can vary the thickness. Sounds like she is doing great!

Well I'm sure other moms are going to have ideas of what works best for them...but here is mine. I like to try getting them on a schedule as soon as I can. So I would give her the cereal at breakfast time, then as another meal, lunch or dinner. Eventually making it for all three meals. She should be getting hungrier, so if she is taking all the bottles as before, then I would give them to her. If not, then I would just cut out some of the bottles, or just give her as much as she will take. Once she is doing fine with the cereal, introduce the jar food, starting with veggies, then fruit. I would give her these early in the day for the first few tries until she has tried them all, so you can watch for any reactions. I would give some veggies for lunch, eventually adding fruits as a 'dessert', then you can always give fruit with her breakfast, or mix them together (the cereal and fruit). You will have to experiment with what works for you and the baby, what she wants, etc. But that is just how I would go about it! Good luck!

The cereal is to teach your child to learn to eat. It does not contain enough calories to consider it a replacement to her bottle. She should be getting cereal twice a day and then you should soon start adding a fruit or veg. But once you do add a fruit or veg. you have to do that for three days before adding a new one. You need to make sure she is not taking to it. I hope this helps.
M.

With the blessing of our pediatrician, we started rice cereal at breakfast only for a week straight (this was at 4 months an he has done great!). At week two, we added it at dinner time. Our baby only really wanted about 1 tablespoon when we first started. We, too, also had it really watery in the beginning but our baby hated it that way so we just made it thicker. We are now on stage 3 foods with chunks and thicker textures and so far so good!

Tricia has posted a great template of how to introduce cereal and veggies, very similar to what our pediatrician recommended. Our baby has only not liked two foods - oatmeal and ham.

I think a lot of it is trial and error as to what your baby likes. Beginning solids is more about learning how to eat off of a spoon, make mashing/chewing motions (I'm going to guess at 8 months she may have a tooth by now), and getting acquainted to various textures and flavors.

we went thru 1 grain a week until we were thru all the grains always stick with one new food a week to check for allergies, i mixed with breastmilk watch for contipation don't make it too thick

if you want more of a variety of veggies you can buy fresh or frozen veggies (never canned) and cook them and stick them in the blender i put them in ice cube trays to freeze then put them in a ziplock labeled with date and name then defrosted as needed