Im a little confused about how introducing cereals works...

Question

olivia is still only 3 months but i would like to know how a babies feeding schedule changes once you start introducing cereals and baby food....when do you give them a bottle and when do you give them cereal/baby food? i meant to bring this up to my PED last time, so any advice you ladies can give would be great to know for the up coming future.....

Answer 1

It all depends on your schedule and your babies schedule. I work during the day, so when I get home (around 330-4pm) right before my sons next bottle I try feeding him cereal/1st foods.  He is 5 m/o right now and that is what my ped is having us do.

Just basically testing the waters.  Once he/she gets older they say to have a small breakfast with a bottle, then the same for around lunch time and dinner time. During this they are still taking the bottle/breast. And gradually over time he/she will be eating more foods and drinking less from the bottle/breast.

Answer 2

It depends. The pediatrician said that I could feed her cereal a half hour to hour before bottle. She said it's more feeding times but that's what she did with her 3 kids. I've done that but I see that having a bottle then cereal right after works well and she says that's fine as well. I do it twice a day. I'm still learning some myself. Good luck.

Answer 3

you can give her cereal in her bottle. or the best is before nap, they are full and will sleep longer. however you should call your dr and leave a message. the dr should be the one to give you the best advise to you. good luck and congrats on your baby girl.  

Answer 4

In all honesty- you don't need to introduce cereal at all.  You can go right to regular foods (no need for baby purees, either- they don't benefit your baby at all).  Cereal is just empty carbs and calories that are "fortified" with vitamins.  Why not start off with foods that naturally have vitamins in them?  Cereal isn't necessarily BAD for baby- they're just not good, know what I mean?  The adult equivalent is white bread.  Not bad for you- but nothing good about it.

When baby is ready (typically around 6 months), start introducing easy-to-grab foods.  Steam some broccoli heads or asparagus spears and let baby gnaw on them.  The choking hazard is much lower when babies have control over what goes in their mouths.  When you take a spoon full of pureed foods and shove it to the back of a baby's mouth, you're not giving your child the choice of what goes in their mouth.  Avocado is another great first food.  (Google "baby led weaning" for more info).

As for when you should offer the food throughout the day- for the first year, always offer breastmilk/formula first.  About an hour or so later, offer solids.  Breastmilk/formula always comes first- solids are just for practice and experimentation and should not be a substitute for breastmilk/formula.

Answer 5

at 4-6 months (depending on the your baby doctors advice), for one or two meals a day you mix 1-2 tablespoons of cereal with some formula so its nice and smooth and not chunky at all. than spoon feed it to your baby. after that you give her the bottle. she may drink less of the bottle since she's a little filled up from the cereal. Throughout the first year, at least, its important that cereal is involved in at least 2 meals throughout the day as its an important source of iron and such. Take your time, don't rush it and most importantly, talk to your babies daughter.

Answer 6

You are going to get a lot of mixed answers on here.  I would suggest talking to your pediatrician and go from there.  

Good Luck!

Answer 7

Obviously you are going to talk to your doc but in the meantime here's what we did...we started cereal when my girl was a little of 5mo.  She ate wonderfully from the get-go so I suppose she was ready.  We started with about a Tablespoon of rice cereal mixed with breastmilk in the morning AFTER she had nursed really well.  I waited about half an hour after nursing her to try it out.  Then we had only rice cereal for awhile, eventually I added pears (a small amount) and then she had pears for about 4 days before I moved on to the next veggi/fruit.  She's now 7 mo. and I am always adding a new food to her repetoire.  As long as you wait to be sure they aren't allergic you can keep trying new stuff.  I nixed the rice cereal because it's kinda constipating but she eats oats/barley and mixed cereal every day. Also has fruits and veggies everyday.  Always offer the breast/bottle first to be sure they are getting the majority of their nutrition from this.  You can keep a diary to keep track of what they are eating and any reactions.  Start small and up the amounts as your baby seems to want more.  There doesn't have to be a set amount now as solid food isn't the main source of nutrition, but follow your baby's cues.  

Check out http://wholesomebabyfood.com

  

Answer 8

it all depends on you. I tried the whole baby cereal thing and my daughter spits it back out at me, same with jarred baby food. at 6 months I started to let her have 'real' food and she loves it! she still nurses just as often. until they are 12 months, food should not be used as a substitute for formula or breastmilk