My little girl is 11 weeks old and was born at 7 lobs 1 oz. She now weighs 13 lbs!! She is always wanting to eat more and more than what I give her and I have heard that once a baby doubles their birth weight they can begin drinking formula mixed with rice cereal… Im afraid to try it because I dont want her to choke-will she??
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15 responses so far ↓
1 Obber // Oct 21, 2008
“I have heard that once a baby doubles their birth weight they can begin drinking formula mixed with rice cereal…”
Given that no reputable source advises this, I have to wonder where you heard it…?
2 Jennifer K // Oct 21, 2008
No… never give your child cereal mixed into their bottle. It can cause choking. Babies aren’t supposed to get cereal until 4 months of age. If you feel she isn’t getting enough, talk to the pediatrician, but never just give your child something first.
3 kiddo235 // Oct 21, 2008
As long as you don’t make it too thick. I put about a teaspoon of cereal per 6 oz bottle for both my daughter and son.
4 Pippin // Oct 21, 2008
You are right to be ‘afraid to try it.’ Putting rice cereal in a baby’s bottle (unless the baby has reflux and the cereal is necessary to ‘hold the milk down’) is very dangerous, and NEVER recommended. Baby can choke, or it can cause her to take too many calories, or it can trigger long term allergies or digestive issues.
At 11 weeks, all she needs, and all she should have is milk. If she’s breastfed, nurse more often. If she’s bottle-fed, offer more formula in her bottles and/or offer bottles more often.
Doubling her birthweight is NOT a sign that she needs solids. It’s a sign that she’s getting plenty of milk, and growing and thriving on it!
6 months is the usual time to begin solids, and 4 months the earliest to even think about it. When you do begin, they are fed with a spoon, from a bowl, NEVER from a bottle.
5 kat // Oct 21, 2008
A baby should never drink cereal, it is a chocking hazard. Wait until she is older and always feed her cereal with a spoon. An 11 week old babies digestive system isn’t ready for solids yet. Most pediatricians will say wait until they are 6 months old. If she is formula fed you might start at 4 months, but don’t rush it. If you start her on solids too soon, she will be more prone to food allergies and to obesity.
6 NickName // Oct 21, 2008
I would call the nurse at the pediatrician's office to find out what is best for your baby. I used to call my baby's doctor's office a lot for information when I had questions. They were always helpful.
Also, I never heard of giving rice cereal after the baby doubles birth weight . . . . I didn't give my son any baby foods, rice cereal included, until he was 5 months old. That's what his doctor told me to do.
7 Jess:Alyssa Ann due in 2 weeks. // Oct 21, 2008
I wouldn’t do it. The reason you aren’t suppose to give babies that young cereal is that there tummies can’t handle that yet. It is also a choking hazard..I would just talk to your doctor about any alternatives.
Congrats!!! and nice to see you!
glad you and baby are doing well!
8 orgrat // Oct 21, 2008
She won’t choke. You just add one teaspoon of cereal to 4ozs. of milk. If she takes more than that you can add another teaspoon. Just keep it runny enough to come through the nipple hole on the bottle. As long as it is thin enough to do that she won’t choke on it. All the babies in our family in the last year have started cereal and done fine. Make sure that she still has good bowel movements. If not you might not want to go with cereal yet.
9 Jrs mommy // Oct 21, 2008
Well i can say the rice cereal was a life saver for me. My baby is now 3 mths old and he cried all the time now granted he has been sleeping through the night just about since we brought him home but during the day was a nightmare. So i started mixing 1 tablespoon of cereal with his bottle(6oz) a few times a day and man did that help. he’s a much happier baby now, hope it works for ur daughter.oh yea and i use the #2 nipples with the Y cut in them so i don’t have to cut one and it works great.
10 shadowtalker1 // Oct 21, 2008
Talk to her pediatrician, but it’s fine to mix rice cereal in formula. They won’t choke, but you probably will need to move up to a larger nipple size.
And ignore any “chicken little” people who just absolutely freak out about feeding babies cereal before a certain timeframe. Your baby will tell you what s/he likes and what’s working.
11 dani // Oct 21, 2008
My mother in law told me that she fed all her children rice cereal at 2 weeks old. Thats not recommended now, but it is possible. My doctor told me that since my daughters appetite is near-insatiable we can discuss rice cereal at 4 months old. im sure its dfferent for every situation, you can ask your doctor and see what they say, but most likely they will tell you no. I doubt she will choke tho- it basically just makes the formula a little thicker but not solid
12 puresugar078 // Oct 21, 2008
children's hospital had me put cereal in my sons bottle starting at 6 weeks for reflux. Its VERY common for Dr's to this as long as you dont make it too thick she should be ok i used 2 tbs for 6oz bottle. I would only put it in his night time bottlee though. its too much to use at every feeding. Avent make a special nipple for thicker liquids i think its a #3
13 Dennie // Oct 21, 2008
I added cereal to my son’s diet at 8 or 9 weeks. He was hungry after he ate so I figured he needed a more substantial diet. He did great. He is 29 now and has 3 children of his own, so I guess he survived.
14 firebugs sweetheart // Oct 21, 2008
I gave my son rice cereal in his bottle from the time he was 4 weeks old. In a 4 oz bottle, I would put about a teaspoon and I would only give it to him in his bottle before bed. Amazingly, at 4 weeks…. he started sleeping through the night. If your baby isn’t getting enough and you are scared to feed her cereal in her bottle, as your pediatrician. They will tell you what you should do but I don’t think it is going to hurt her. Do what you feel is right as a mom.
15 mystic_eye_cda // Oct 21, 2008
http://www.drgreene.com/21_861.html
During the previous generation or two, when bottle-feeding became very popular, rice cereal was often put into the bottle at a very early age. What were the results?
Most children seemed to thrive. A small number of children, though, did not tolerate the addition, because their sucking and swallowing actions were not yet fully coordinated. They inhaled small amounts of the rice cereal into their lungs, which led to pulmonary problems.
I’m much more concerned about a subtler issue. Babies are born with a wonderful mechanism for knowing how much food they need. During the early months, they take their cues from the volume of what they drink. Adding cereal derails this mechanism. It forces them to take in deceptively large amounts of calories. It teaches them to overeat.
By starting with a spoon, resting between bites, and stopping when your child lets you know he’s full, you will be laying an excellent foundation for good eating habits throughout his life.
A major study looking for the causes of obesity found that short-circuiting young children’s self-regulation of how much they eat is a major cause of later obesity.1 Cereal in the bottle does just that.
Babies that are fed this way may appear to be unaffected – but those few weeks of added convenience may result in a lifetime of struggles with weight. This common practice may have contributed to our being the most obese generation in history.
And it doesn’t even work. Scientists at the Cleveland Clinic studied the effect of cereal on sleep and found that adding the cereal did nothing at all to speed up the age of sleeping through the night. That first uninterrupted 6-hour stretch of sleep came no earlier in those who took cereal early.2
People swear otherwise. I suspect the reason is that kids do fall asleep a bit more quickly, and some babies may even go a bit longer between feedings. There is no scientific evidence, though, to support the claim that cereal in the bottle will help an infant increase total sleep or decrease crying.3
Drawing on the wisdom of experience and the latest scientific knowledge, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against adding cereal to the bottle. It may be tempting after your 16th straight sleep-deprived night to cut a bigger hole in the feeding nipple to add rice cereal. But it won’t offer lasting help, and it may be giving your baby a lasting gift that both of you will regret.
http://www.drgreene.com/21_861.html
During the previous generation or two, when bottle-feeding became very popular, rice cereal was often put into the bottle at a very early age. What were the results?
Most children seemed to thrive. A small number of children, though, did not tolerate the addition, because their sucking and swallowing actions were not yet fully coordinated. They inhaled small amounts of the rice cereal into their lungs, which led to pulmonary problems.
I’m much more concerned about a subtler issue. Babies are born with a wonderful mechanism for knowing how much food they need. During the early months, they take their cues from the volume of what they drink. Adding cereal derails this mechanism. It forces them to take in deceptively large amounts of calories. It teaches them to overeat.
By starting with a spoon, resting between bites, and stopping when your child lets you know he’s full, you will be laying an excellent foundation for good eating habits throughout his life.
A major study looking for the causes of obesity found that short-circuiting young children’s self-regulation of how much they eat is a major cause of later obesity.1 Cereal in the bottle does just that.
Babies that are fed this way may appear to be unaffected – but those few weeks of added convenience may result in a lifetime of struggles with weight. This common practice may have contributed to our being the most obese generation in history.
And it doesn’t even work. Scientists at the Cleveland Clinic studied the effect of cereal on sleep and found that adding the cereal did nothing at all to speed up the age of sleeping through the night. That first uninterrupted 6-hour stretch of sleep came no earlier in those who took cereal early.2
People swear otherwise. I suspect the reason is that kids do fall asleep a bit more quickly, and some babies may even go a bit longer between feedings. There is no scientific evidence, though, to support the claim that cereal in the bottle will help an infant increase total sleep or decrease crying.3
Drawing on the wisdom of experience and the latest scientific knowledge, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against adding cereal to the bottle. It may be tempting after your 16th straight sleep-deprived night to cut a bigger hole in the feeding nipple to add rice cereal. But it won’t offer lasting help, and it may be giving your baby a lasting gift that both of you will regret.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids...
The following organizations recommend that all babies be exclusively breastfed (no cereal, juice or any other foods) for the first 6 months of life (not the first 4-6 months):
* World Health Organization
* UNICEF
* US Department of Health & Human Services
* American Academy of Pediatrics
* American Academy of Family Physicians
* American Dietetic Association
* Australian National Health and Medical Research Council
* Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
* Health Canada
Why Delay Solids?
http://kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/del...
http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/fit18.asp
No, you should wait until he is six months old, unless he is not gaining weight and your doctor advises you to start earlier. This subject keeps coming up, and the answer is still the same: the current recommendations (I didn’t make these up) are to wait until six months before starting solids. Starting foods too early can result in digestive or allergy problems later in life. We have learned that the old guidelines of 4 months are just too soon, and I am willing to bet that in ten years we will be recommending later than 6 months. But for now, the six month guideline seems reasonable. Click here, or here, to read previous FAQ's on starting solids or learn more by reading our Starting Solid Foods article.
WHY WAIT? 6 REASONS
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t032000...
http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintro...
It appears that a baby's general development keeps pace with the development of his ability to manage food in his mouth, and to digest it. A baby who is struggling to get food into his mouth is probably not quite ready to eat it.
Pureed baby food is 'unnatural'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/676279...
She said children should be fed only with breast or formula milk for six months, then weaned onto solids to improve control over how much they ate.
This could prevent babies becoming picky about food.
[...]
Solids best
After six months, Mrs Rapley said babies were capable of taking food into their mouths and chewing it.
Therefore, feeding them pureed food at this time could delay the development of chewing skills.
Instead, she said, they should be given milk and solid pieces of food which they could chew.
Mrs Rapley argued that babies fed pureed food had little control over how much food they ate, thus rendering them vulnerable to constipation, and running a risk that they would react by becoming fussy eaters later in life.
She blamed the food industry for convincing parents that they should give children pureed food.
She said: "Sound scientific research and government advice now agree that there is no longer any window of a baby's development in which they need something more than milk and less than solids."
http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintro...
The babies who participated in the research were allowed to begin at four months. But they were not able to feed themselves before six months. Some of the younger babies picked food up and took it to their mouths; some even chewed it, but none swallowed it. Their own development decided for them when the time was right. Part of the reason for this study was to show (based on a theory of self-feeding) that babies are not ready for solid food before six months. It seems that we have spent all these years working out that six months is the right age and babies have known it all along!
It seems reasonable to predict that if parents choose to provide babies with the opportunity to pick up and eat solid food from birth they will still not be able to do it until around six months. The principle is the same as putting a newborn baby on the floor to play: he is being provided with the opportunity to walk but will not do so until about one year – because his own development stops him. But: everything depends on the baby being in control. Food must not be put into his mouth for him. Since it is very tempting to do this, it is probably safer to recommend that babies should not be given the opportunity to eat solid food before six months.
http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintro...
Many parents worry about babies choking. However, there is good reason to believe that babies are at less risk of choking if they are in control of what goes into their mouth than if they are spoon fed. This is because babies are not capable of intentionally moving food to the back of their throats until after they have learnt to chew. And they do not develop the ability to chew until after they have developed the ability to reach out and grab things. Thus, a very young baby cannot easily put himself at risk because he cannot get the food into his mouth in the first place. On the other hand, the action used to suck food off a spoon tends to take the food straight to the back of the mouth, causing the baby to gag. This means that spoon feeding has its own potential to lead to chokin