Rice Cereal with Infant Formula

It's not a personal choice. The AAP advises strongly that no solid food should be offered until the baby is SIX MONTHS OLD. Their stomachs are not ready. If the baby is sleeping, it is probable that he would be sleeping anyway, or that his poor stomach is trying to digest what it isn't ready for.

Beyond that, rice cereal in the bottle (along with being an old wives' thing) is a serious choking hazard, and the AAP advises strongly against it.

I had the same problem with my son and my pedi. took one look at tired me and another at my tired son and said ABSOLUTELY try the cereal whatever works, you both need sleep. Needless to say it didn't work and would always get stuck in the bottle nipple which made him cry when he ate. Ughhh!

I added rice cereal to my son's bedtime bottle when he was about 9 weeks. He would be exhausted but kept waking up every few hours because he was so hungry. My pediatrician told me that it was safe to add about a teaspoon per 4 ounces of milk/formula and to only do it at night until he was starting onto solid foods. Best of luck! I hope you and your little one start getting some sleep. :)

I would follow the advice of your pedi. He has a medical degree & his job is to know things like this. I don't always agree with my pedi but it's not on things like development of my childs body. The reason you should NOT give your child rice cereal before 4 months is because their little GI tracts are not developed enough. My daughter is significantly under weight (now 6 months old) and the doctor still recommended we wait for her body to develop enough. She started cereal at 4 months & is packing on the pounds. For your sleep issues try reading The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. Hope you find something that will work for you.

I thought I was going to lose my mind due to lack of sleep when my son was a newborn, so my friend suggested the rice cereal thing. I tried it twice, and both times my son was super-constipated for a week! So, he was fussier, and he still wasn't sleeping. (Note: I talked to a gastroenterologist before I tried it, and he was okay with testing for my son's reaction to it only because of my son's severe reflux.) It turned out that, although he was a HUGE eater (somewhat due to the reflux), he had a very sensitive digestive system until he was about eight months old, and his body just wasn't ready for it. It most likely won't cause harm to your baby, but it might not help either. So, as long as you fully consider what might happen and are prepared to deal with positive and negative consequences, then do what you think is best.

I am of the opinion that a baby on a good routine will sleep through the night when he/she is ready provided that all of his/her needs are met. If you are breastfeeding exclusively, then I would consider supplementing with some formula. If your baby seems to be waking up at the same times every night, then it might just be out of habit rather than hunger, so that is something to consider. My son began to sleep through the night at 10 weeks without the rice cereal, and he would sleep from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. without waking; he was on a strictly liquid diet, so it can be done.

Either way, it will all be fine, and you will sleep again. Good luck with this decision; everything will be just fine.

First-you never, ever, never put cereal in a bottle unless it's prescribed by the pediatrician to treat severe reflux. It promotes over-eating and thus begin unhealthy eating habits. This is an extremely outdated practice that is not beneficial to baby.

It's not men making up the guideline to wait 6 months. It has to do with the fact that babies have an open gut. Meaning they have an immature gut system that "studies have shown that an immature gut may allow whole proteins, microbes, pathogens and possibly bits of foods to pass into the bloodstream. It is quite possible that this is a causative factor in developing food allergies and "colic"." (taken from wholesomebabyfood.com)

Here is the complete article. Very eye opening as to why it's important to wait to introduce solids.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/early-solid-food-feeding...

Solids never made a difference with my kids as to sleep (and I never started prior to 6 months).

Sure the baby may be sleeping. It might be related to the fact that he was ready at that time to sleep for longer periods. My daughter slept 5-6 hours at 7 weeks. Or it could be he is sleeping because his little system has been bogged down with cereal that he doesn't need and can't process. This deprives him of the nourishment that he needs. Not an idea I relish for my kids.

I breastfed both my kids exclusively. One nursed till 16 months and the other to 20 months. One didn't sleep thru the night until he was 7 months old. The other was over a year before she consistently slept thru the night.

Getting up to feed our children is part of what we sign on for as mothers. They are tiny and depend on us so heavily for such a short period of time that they deserve to be given the best by us as moms. I don't mean to sound harsh but I've been there done that. My son was a preemie with special needs and I was there for him round the clock until he was 7 months old.

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Trust your gut...but only if you've been through 4 years of undergrad, 3 years of medical school, and then a few more years of specialty training as a pediatrician.

There is a reason why pediatricians do not recommend feeding solids until 4 or 6 months. Quite simply, the digestive system is not ready for it. You may wind up causing more problems, allergies, etc. Is it worth it to you?

And by the way, sleeping through the night is a neurological development and not a 'full belly'. Be patient - your child will get there soon. Furthermore, rice cereal should not be added to a bottle due to potential choking issues (although there are rare exceptions where a pediatrician may recommend this...and only in severe cases).

Listen to your child's pediatrician - she has years of experience with lots of patients, whereas your friend (and other people on this board) have likely had zero medical training and experience with only a few infants.

I honestly think that this is personal choice. Yes, pediatricians are trained professionals, but they can't and don't know everything! They don't always know what each individual patient may need or require. They know how to diagnose and treat illnesses and assess growth and development. Why would we expect for them to also be able to tell us exactly what our child needs to eat and when?!
I have 2 healthy boys, healthy eaters, and great sleepers from age 8 weeks old, and I always provided for them in the way that I thought was best. We always consulted the doctors on major decisions but God entrusted me with their care and upbringing and I have to believe that I'm capable of the task. So, do what you feel would be best for you and for him and then don't worry about it!!!

We added rice cereal to my son's nightime bottle at around 2 1/2 months per doctor's orders. My son had acid reflux that would cause him to literally scream his head off after eating. We added 1 tablespoon for 5 ounces. We used a toothpick to widen the nipple opening. I'm not sure if it really helped him sleep through the night, but it did help his acid reflux by keeping the food down. So he was able to go to sleep faster. You really have to follow your gut on this. I was dead set against adding solids before the 4 months, but it did help my son out. By the way...he is not fat and has awesome eating habits. He's in the 95th plus percentile for height and in the 70th percentile for weight, wearing 18/24 month clothing. Good luck.

How old is your baby? 2 months old? If your baby is waking every 45 minutes-2 hours at 2 months old, he/she is hungry! Are you formula and breast feeding or only formula? Talk to your doctor about how many ounces you should be giving the baby, per feeding. I wouldn't add rice cereal, unless the doctor gives you his blessing because right now, the baby needs all of the milk from formula or breast milk. Rice cereal is not going to fulfill the baby's nutritional needs at this stage.

Babies are not supposed to sleep through the night until around 6 months old, so I wouldn't expect it until later on in his/her development. If you are sleep deprived, which I am sure you are, ask for help from those around you. See if your husband can get up for a few nights or see if a family member can come and help you. There are also "night nannies" that you can hire on a short-term basis to help you get through this tough time.

Good luck to you.

Every single mom on here who does everything by the book is going to tell you to listen to your doctor about adding the cereal in with the bottle and list their reasonings "why". It is YOUR decision not anyone elses but I propose this question to you....if that is what the doctors suggested to mothers in the past and now many mothers themselves STILL do it does it really truly hurt the child? Hmm...I don't know but I can only tell you my experience in which I had twin babies that were waking up and no husband to help out so I had to do what worked for ME and MY household. I didn't see the doctors offering to come over and help with night duty either so I made a decision and I gave them cereal before 4 months -oohhh! Shame on me!!!! My kids hit ALL developmental stages sooner or on the mark they are now 7 years old and have been on honor roll ALL of this year. My doctor told me exactly the same thing and you know what for the most part I do listen to her but there are just some areas I don't agree with and I will adjust according to what fits best for us. I would test it little by little to ensure your little one CAN handle it and increase it little by little as well. You don't always have to follow the rules my dear-its your child and you are its mother and sometimes "Mom knows best" if your little one is only two months and your first its still kind of new but believe me when I say the both of you are going to know each other like the back of your hand. I'm not trying to encourage you one way or the other its your choice what to do but I'm just letting you in on MY own personal experience. Oh and my mother also gave me cereal as well as my sister and we are still healthy and alive. My aunts did so with my cousins as well and they are still healthy and alive as well.

In a moment of sleep-deprived desperation added rice to my twins' bottles at around 2 months old, against my doctor's orders. She told us nothing but milk/formula til 4 months. I didn't see that it helped very much anyway, so I quit. They grew out of the eating-throughout-the-night thing around 3 1/2 months right about when I thought I would totally lose my mind.

Funny, I get so tired about hearing about Pediatricians' saying oh no don't do this, don't do that. You know what is best for your little one so go with the flow. I'm not saying that this is going to absolutely be the cure that you won't get up during the night but you will most likely be able to sleep somewhat longer. I would put a tbls. of rice cereal in a small bowl and mix it up with formula/breast milk. Make sure it is quite soupy. Give it to baby about an hour or half hour prior to bedtime. I would think that maybe about 2 to 4 babyspoon full for the first time as you will also be giving a bottle. Put it in his/her mouth and then a little drink, repeat this for maybe 3 babyspoon fulls. Watch your little ones' bowl movements as sometimes at first they may get constipated. Have baby taking about 3-4 ounces of water throughout the day as well as it will assist with the bowel movements. The same applies to babyfoods at first and all that. My grandaughter was on rice cereal at 6wks. as she was a fussy baby and my daughter was nursing. My own children I started them at 5-6wks. giving them pablum. Like my Pediatrician at that time said, only you know what baby needs and if they are still hungry. Obviously your little one is if waking that often.
Take care and good luck. As time goes on you can thicken the rice cereal after about 3-4wks.

Honey doctors don't know EVERYTHING. My mother gave me the tip (she had nine). I started it at four weeks and both baby and I were able to sleep through the night. By FOUR months they were eating cereal & bananas from the spoon. My four adults are now 40-33. They were NEVER sick as children and are still mentally & physically healthy. BTW all four of them are also slim to medium build. (No obesity.)

I have a 7 yr old and a 22mo old, BOTH of them received rice cereal in their bottles at 6 weeks old. BOTH of them slept through the night at 6-8 weeks old. And BOTH of them are some of the healthiest kids in their classes. Neither have any issues with obesity or allergies.

The only time I would advise against this is if there is a family history of food allergies.

As for HOW to do it: make sure you use a good nipple. I preferred the "cross cut" for our platex bottles or you can use the tip of a sharp knife to expand the hole on a regular nipple and use that each night. Make sure it's not too big or the flow will be too quick.

My daughter is 2 yrs old and is a healthy little girl! I started giving her a little cereal in her formula bottle 2 times a day at about 3 months. She loved it, it satisfied her alot more than just having formula. She started eating baby food brfore she was 5 months old. My pediatrician said it is a personal choice. Every child is different, so they should all be treated differently! What worked for one mother may not work with another. Good luck, hope it works out!!

Go for it! I did it with both of my sons and they're healthy and happy and have been great sleepers since I started it. It won't hurt her at this age. My pediatrician info from when I was a baby 40 years ago advised giving me tomato juice, orange juice and straight rice cereal as young as 2 weeks! I don't advocate that, but from personal experience a little rice cereal in the bottle will restore some sanity to your life!

My pedi told me to never do this. I think it adds too many calories to the bottle and at that age they are still getting most of the needs from milk.

I'm sorry the constant waking and eating are not what you expected -- your baby wasn't meant for food yet but people do "cheat," even if it's not healthy in the long run. Baby spent the first 9 months with constant holding/attention and food-on-demand as needed for a very active metabolism. Baby is set to double size in one year! That's hard work!!

Here's a GREAT link to a new study on food and formula versus breastfeeding. Be patient and good luck!

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/05/breastfeeding.costs/...