Son Who Loves to Eat

I know where you are coming from. I wanted to wait as long as possible to put my girl on solids. She has shown all the signs of being ready but I still resisted until she started waking up more frequently at night. My M. said that's the sign. So today I actually gave her her first tasting of brown rice cereal.

If he "loves to eat" it's probably bc he is ready for solids and needs more than the formula/breastmilk is giving him anymore.

The signs of being ready are: has doubled birth weight, its AT LEAST 4 mo old, can hold head up w/ no problems, can sit up with assistance and is eyeing your plate. Also, they say 6 mo bc of a special reflex babies have until around that time that makes them push things out of their mouths with their tongue to prevent choking. The first few times you feed your little guy he might do this but he'll catch on after a while and manage to get some of it into his tummy!

I am hoping to keep her on rice and breast milk ONLY for as LONG as possible to prevent allergies to foods from early exposure and just to keep MY life simpler!
I do know babies who are 5 mo, though and already on cereal and pureed veggies. I would NOT do the cereal in the bottle, they say it's a choking hazard. Just make it really thin (slightly thicker than milk) to start and spoon feed it to him.

Also, try to make sure his first non-cereal food is a veggie so he doesn't develop a major taste for sweets but instead enjoys a variety of foods. Have fun and enjoy those first MESSY feedings--and don't forget the bib! :D

my 5 month old is currently eating 1/4 cup rice cereal with breastmilk once a day - by spoon - usually in the evening with us at a family dinner. she also usually has about one ice cube size worth of veggies. (i steam them, puree them & freeze them in an ice cube tray). once she finishes an entire tray - we move on to a different veggie. (so that i can watch for allergies). she only has breastmilk during the day. she is not over or underweight, she is just tall & big for her age - she wears 9 month old clothes. (her daddy is very tall!) hope this helps! fyi - cereal in a bottle is messy & hard for them to suck out. (cloggs nipples)

Is your son on any solid food yet? I have a 3 month old and plan to start solid ceral at 4 months on the advice of my doctor and I usually start veggies at 5 months and fruit at 6 months. check with your doc, I have two very big boys and they were the same way always hungry. good luck momkat32

My kids' doctors also advise against putting cereal in bottles. I can't remember the exact age, but it was somewhere between 5-6 months old that I started feeding my kids cereal mixed with the Stage 1 baby foods. You could try putting a few tablespoons of baby food in a bowl, add a tablespoon or two of dry cereal and mix it together with formula or breastmilk. That's the way I introduced the fruits and vegetables with both of my kids & it worked well. I started doing it once a day, then over the next few weeks got up to 3 cereal feedings per day. Good luck!

My son was a very fat baby. I just let him eat as much as he wanted although I didn't give him solids until about 6mo. He ate a lot. He doesn't eat like that anymore. He is a big boy, not fat, just big and sturdy. He eats a lot when he going through a growth spirt, but I think every child is different. Trust your instinct and do what you think is right for your child.

I started my son on rice at about 5 months because he was always hungry. He was almost 10 lbs. when he was born. I just mixed some breast milk in the rice - so it was a thicker liquidy consistency. At first the texture was strange to him but got used to it quickly. Usually I fed him this before he went to sleep and he slept through the night beautifully. My dr. suggested it and my husband gave him this feeding which made him feel more involved and important when it came to my son's nutrition. (Freed me up a bit too...WIN - WIN!) Good luck!

My first born (now 9)also was a big boy. I did try the cereal in the bottle but it only helped for a little while. Have you tried actually feeding him rice cereal a couple of times a day before he has a bottle (or is he still at the spitting it out stage). My pediatrician had me start my son on vegetables about this age just because of him being hungry all the time. Hope this helps!

He is a baby! Unless you are constantly feeding him through breastfeeding, rice in the bottle is fine. My son (15)and daughter (14) are tall, thin and extremely active in sports; football and hockey and volleyball and gymnastics.I put the rice cereal in their bottles when they were about the same age and they survived just fine.

I would recommend waiting to give him solids until he is 6 or 7 months. (That's the time Pediatricians and the World Health Organization recommends, too.) He might be nursing a lot right now because he is going through a growth spurt. Breastmilk is the healthiest food he can consume. It provides a perfect balance of fats and protein for his growing body and immunity from getting serious illnesses. The consistancy even changes as your child grows each month to fit his special requirements. Even when babies start to eat solids, at first it is for fun - not nutritional value. A great website about starting solids is:
www.askdrsears.com.
Good luck. My son was a huge baby, too! He got to 20lbs at 6 months off 100% breastmilk if that tells you how often he was nursing. It gave me lots of time to nurse & read books, watch movies and catch up on emails. I even ate (carefully of course) while nursing :)
Once you start solids there will be bibs and dirty dishes to deal with, so enjoy this time now!