IS IT OK TO GIVE MY DAUGHTER A SPOONFUL OF BABY RICE AT BED TIME AT ONLY 9 WEEKS?

Question

IS IT OK TO GIVE MY DAUGHTER A SPOONFUL OF BABY RICE AT BED TIME AT ONLY 9 WEEKS?

Answer 1

Nat i really wouldn't advice it, she won't need it yet wait until she is 4 months then start introducing it  

Answer 2

no not really, giving foods to early can cause all sorts of damage such as crones disease which if you didn't know is a really bad digestive disorder, solids can cause all sorts of other illnesses too, and besides which she doesn't need it.

Answer 3

No, at 9 weeks a baby is too young to digest any form of solid food properly. If you think that giving her baby rice will make her sleep longer than you are mistaken. Her sleeping habits will probably stay the same or even get worse as she may get an upset stomach.

The very earliest a baby may be introduced solids is 4 months and UK government guidelines recommend not weaning a baby until the age of 6 months.

Answer 4

No, babies do not need anything other than breastmilk or formula until 6 months. Please don't give your baby rice cereal.

Answer 5

you do what you think is right...all my 4 children were hungry babys so i started giving them baby rice at 6 weeks...health proffesionals work from a statistics thing they dont know ur baby ...YOU DO !!! the other alternative is to give the baby a bottle of the next milk up just before bed which will help her settle as its thicker and fills them up quicker...do it i did and there nothing wrong with any of mine...xx

Answer 6

Personally, I wouldn't.

Babies that young are not ready to cope with solids, their little tummies are not mature enough.

Either breast milk or formula should be their only diet.

Answer 7

Rice cereal can cause constipation. These days they say that babies digestive systems are not ready for solids – but when I was a baby my mum started me on solids at 8 weeks! Go figure!!!  I would offer your daughter some more milk be4 giving rice cereal.

Answer 8

No it isn't.

There are good reasons why you shouldn't wean babies before 4 months - their kidneys can't always cope with food this early.  It used to be done years ago, but that's why when you look at very old baby photos, babies have puffy eyes.

I wouldn't give it at bedtime either - she might vomit and choke.

Answer 9

Yes. its what my generation did if the child needed it. Too many rules these days, babies are not all the same. There are a whole generation of 30 somethings out there who never came to any harm. Too many experts these days. Go by what you believe is right.  

Answer 10

I wouldn't think so as she should only be drinking milk till at least 4/5 months. Her chewing and swallowing skills probably won't be developed enough to take food.  

Answer 11

No, she has no need for anything other than breast milk (or formula), exclusively at this age and for a few more months too. Studies advise against it.

Answer 12

No!!! Cereal isn't magic and won't make a baby sleep. At 9 weeks, a baby needs to be fed during the night and beastmilk/formula is the only suitable food.

Answer 13

I don't think her tummy is mature enough yet to digest it properly.  That's why they say to wait until 5 or 6 months before giving solids

Answer 14

Look i wouldnt do it either...i have 3 bubs....If they are not settling its probably something else at 9 weeks like wind....

Answer 15

no its not as this could make her sick  

Answer 16

Well, most Drs advise on waiting till the child is 4 months old before spoon feeding her cereal.  However, I know at 2 weeks old, most women in my family put a scoop of rice cereal in their night bottles to help them sleep longer.

Answer 17

Will giving formula or solids at night help baby to sleep better?

The idea that solids will help your baby sleep is an old wives' tale that has been disproven by medical studies. Feeding your baby solids or formula in an attempt to make baby sleep longer is not a good idea for several reasons:

There's no evidence that it will help. Some babies will sleep worse, due to reactions to the formula or solids (tummy ache, etc. are not uncommon), particularly if baby is younger than around 6 months. Two studies have indicated that adding solids to the diet does not cause babies to sleep longer. These studies found no difference in the sleep patterns of babies who received solids before bedtime when compared to babies who were not given solid

A little more about feeding baby cereal from a bottle...

Doctors and other experts recommend that you never give baby cereal in a bottle unless recommended by baby's doctor for a specific medical condition. Here are some of their reasons:

    * It is a choking hazard.

    * The cereal takes away from the amount of milk in the bottle (adds carbohydrates and dilutes the nutrient density), and baby may not get adequate milk volume for proper growth and development.

    * Baby is being given a higher concentration of calories without being able to regulate her own intake. This can lead to weight problems in the future.

If baby’s doctor suggests thickened feedings for reflux, consider asking about alternatives, as many doctors question this practice and it has the potential to cause more harm than good.

Answer 18

yes. i started putting cereal in my baby's bottle at 3 weeks bc he was still hungry after his bottle.. you are talking about the rice cereal right.. i asked my doctor and he said that it was perfectly fine if he didn't seem content and full after his feeding.. so i would say go ahead and give her some cereal.. I'm sure she will enjoy

Answer 19

Nope!  Nothing but breast milk or formula until at least 6 months.  Any earlier and you're upping her risk of diabetes, obesity and food allergies!  Infants' digestive tracts aren't fully developed until 6+ months.  WAIT.

Answer 20

It should be fine. We started giving my daughter it at 4 weeks for her acid reflex and the doctor had no problem putting her on it. He did say it will make her gain weight most likely (which it didn't she is still under weight right now). If your too worried ask the babies doctor but really i don't believe there is any harm as long as she isn't allergic to it. Good luck hope you can get her to sleep!

also my mother in law told us when she had her kids doctors started babies on rice cereal by 2 months and never had any problems with them what so ever.

Answer 21

i say YES!

just make sure the cereal is diluted down real good.  My son started on solids real early (im talking 3months), and no hes not obese or anything. Hes perfectly healthy.

but its up too you! good luck! :)  

Answer 22

wen my daughter was 6 weeks i started cerial in her bottles b.c she has acid reflux... if u do do it please be sure the cerial is waterry u dont want her to choke..... everyone does things different if u choose to give her one spoon b4 bed there is no harm as long as the bab y is over 2 months u will b fine.. best wishes hun!!  

Answer 23

but why would you want to? complete breastfeeding should be continued for 6months, and for 2 years, after 6 months you can introduce, its completely uneceray to feed her baby rice.

Answer 24

No.

Answer 25

I'd give her a bit of milk before bed time at 9 weeks, i don't think her stomach would be prepared for food (even baby rice) yet.

People normally wait until 4 months before giving a child baby rice.

Answer 26

I would and I did. I have 5 kids and 3 of them really needed something extra. I woulnt give them any more than 1 or 2 spoonfulls though and make sure the consistency is right! I have always asked the medical professionals advice about this and have always recieved mixed opinions.I also feel it depends on the baby as all mine were between 8 1/2 to 10 1/2 pounds in weight and I feel needed a bit extra and I breastfed them all to start with. If any of them had been premature then definately no!!You could try swapping babymilks too if you are not breastfeeding or even introducing the odd formula milk bottle if you are! Good luck x

Answer 27

"another myth...

Rice cereal makes babies sleep

This one hurts. I know sleep deprivation and the desire to get a good night's sleep very well. But this one just isn't true.

Sleep patterns are developmental phenomenon, they don't have much to do with hunger patterns. Kids wake up hungry, but they don't wake up because they are hungry.

Cereals started as an important part of a child's diet back when the infant formula companies couldn't get an absorbable form of iron into the formula.  They then fortified rice cereal with iron and introduced the rice cereal early into the diet as a way to make sure the kids got the iron.  Chances are pretty good that the eventual increase in sleeping at night that happens around six to eight weeks of age coincided with the introduction of the cereal, but not because of it.

Now, all the infant formulas are fortified with iron and of course, breastmilk has an abundant and easily absorbable supply of iron in it, so we really don't need an extra source.  If you take away the iron in the cereals, it's just starch.

And if you buy this idea that rice cereal "sits" in the stomach, then we have to talk about that too.  Nothing "sits" in the stomach (even when kids eat pennies and stuff, that stuff passes).  It's a metabolically active organ always working to digest its contents.

And at least one study has recently showed that early introduction of rice cereal (prior to 4 months of age) is a risk factor for the development of diabetes.

Different types of food take longer to digest.  Starch, which is what rice cereal is, is really easily digested.  Starches are used as quick sources of energy.  If we stayed asleep for however long our bellies are full (which I don't believe either or we would never sleep for 6-8 hours a night) then starch would be a poor choice.  We would need to load our kids up with a Big Mac or something to get them to sleep longer since fat is the slowest food type to be digested.

That's a long explanation to say that I don't really think the cereals are necessary-- they aren't a good source of nutrition and they don't make kids sleep and may, with the new info on the link to diabetes, be actually be harmful.   The AAP says 6 months without solids...we are learning that the rush to solids foods is NOT a good idea."

http://www.drjen4kids.com/myths/mythrice...