When did you start feeding your baby rice cereal?

Question

My son is 5 weeks old today and I'll be going back to work soon and it would be nice to get a little more sleep, just wondering if it was safe to put it in his bottle yet?

Anyone have any suggestions?

Answer 1

When do you put it in the bottle? NEVER. Its a choking hazard. It is also tricking them to eating more, therefore becomeing (possibly) overweight.

My baby is 8 months and had a few bites of it here and there, but she doesnt like it so i didnt force it.

check out this article

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids...

Answer 2

I started my daughter on cereal at 3 weeks old because formula wasn't enough for her. She would stay up 8 hours at a time and hardly ever sleep at all because she was always still hungry! She is a very happy 2 year old today. She is far from over weight too. Wal-mart sells infant feeders that might help you with the nipples clogging they are by nuby. Don't expect him to sleep all night though.

Answer 3

I waited until 6 months but I know I was on the later end. I think your son is still a little young. I think 4-6 months is what is reccomended. But my mother in law started her babies when they were still newborns and none of them died. So I would ask your doctor and follow your instincts.  

Answer 4

No.  Not yet.  He is too young!!!! I started my son at 3 months and some people think that is too young as well.  But he is 17lbs already.  Big boy.

Answer 5

Your baby is too young... remember with rice cereal there is more iron and can cause major constipation. Your little guy isn't ready for BM's like that. Also, if you start foods too early, you can increase the risk of allergies, diabetes, and childhood obesity.

If you want to get more sleep, you need to get a routine. Let him have two solid naps during the day, and keep him up from 5pm until 8. He will probably sleep until 3, take a bottle and sleep until 7. This is probably what is best for your son.

More foods with come in time... most say between 4-6 months. I would lean toward the 6 month marker.

Talk to your doctor. They will help with this kind of stuff! Good luck!!

Answer 6

No i would not suggest putting it in the bottle it is a old wise tale that they sleep longer really honestly its a mind thing i never thought it made any of my kids sleep more if they did it probably wasn't for long and if you put it in the bottleyou'lll either have to cut a hole in it or purchase faster flow nipples you really don'tt want to do that you might choke your baby  

Answer 7

It can actually make your baby fussy with tummy aches. I tried it at 3 1/2 months for two days just once one day and twice another day. He didn't sleep very much he would just cry and cry it seemed like he became colicky once again. I stopped giving it to him and now his back to sleeping and waking up once during the night and napping lots during the day. Im going to wait until around 5 months he's going to be 4 months in 3 days.

Answer 8

Rice cereal being put in a bottle is not recommended any more. Doctors have found that babies fed rice cereal in their bottles are likely to be overweight and it doesn't help them sleep any better (although some moms swear it does). Good luck!

Answer 9

5 weeks is insanely young to give any kind of solid food and as other replies have said putting rice cereal in a bottle is a choking hazard. Their little gut is not ready for anything but milk (ideally breastmilk) at that age and studies have linked early introduction of solids to gut and bowel disorders in later life like Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Crohns disease. It is hard at this stage with the lack of sleep but it does get better and you just have to ride it out and put your babies needs before your own really.

My son has never had rice cereal as it is a nutritionally pointless "filler" food, i waited until he was 6 months old (he was exclusively breastfed till then) and then I introduced finger foods (Baby Led Weaning) although these days he does have the occcasional jar.

Answer 10

We had to switch our daughter to Enfamil AR Lipil for reflux, it's thicker because it has rice startch added to it. It helped with her reflux and I also noticed she was sleeping better and going a little longer between bottles during the day. I think that would be safer than putting cereal in the bottle. Ask her pediatrician if it's okay to give it to her at bedtime. Good luck!

Answer 11

My doctor said 4 months NOT in the bottle from the spoon - but my mom started giving it to me in the bottle at 2 weeks.  (I was eating every hour or so).  We were lucky she did because the soy formula she had me on turned out to give kids brain damage (this was in the 70's) and if I hadn't had the rice I would have had problems too.

However, you shouldn't count on it helping him sleep more - it mostly just runs through their digestive tract at that age and doesn't help them with sleeping much because their stomachs aren't ready for it.

Answer 12

I asked the same type of question, DONT put it in the bottle, it will be too hard for them to suck out and cause an ear infection. Also rice can cause them to be up more during the night because it can cause tummy aches. I would wait until at least 6 months old its what I am doing, and plus giving them rice cereal doesnt really mean he will sleep more. I understand how you feel this is my second week back to work its hard, I suggest red bull lol! What I do, and my daughter wakes up once to get feed before I wake up to go to work, (I feed her at 930 and wakes up at 3, then again at 7) is I feed her less during the day and more at night. 6ozs at bedtime but only 5 during the day.  

Answer 13

That's way too young.  And it would be nice for more sleep, but that 's how it is with a newborn.  5 weeks is still really young.  Usually doctors will recommend cereal around 4-6 months.  My kids never really took to the cereal, so they never ate too much of it.  I always had to mix it with some fruit baby food or something.  

Answer 14

well my daughter is 6 months old and i just started putting in in hers and i only mix in a little bit so it don't get thick and its still watery