Baby Cereal and Bottles...

Hi K.,

My son had a reflux problem so we had to put cereal in his bottles to. So we cut a criss cross on the nipple. They now make them like that. But you may want to cut your own so you can make the flow better. Hope it works. We also had to have him sit up for 45 mintues after each feeding. Good luck.

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There are nipples specifically for doing what you are doing. I think they're called feeder nipples. I don't remember where we got ours (our son is 7 now). We may have had them handed down to us.

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I use Dr. Brown's bottles witha stage 3 nipple that works great. With a 6 oz bottle of formula its usually around 2 tsps and less the smaller the bottle is, or maybe your baby isn't ready.

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a lot of times the nipples on the bottles are way tooo small for cereal. either buy ones that are "X" cut ones or what i used and LOVED with my son is a feeder system. they come in a two pack. a 4 oz and a 2 oz one. you can feed her even baby food thru this! you can find this at meijers and walmart, not sure about target never looked their. its made by sassy. oh and babies r us. i will post the link of what it looks like for you. it says 6 months and up but i used it on my son when he was 4 months. good luck

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2793324

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Hi, not sure if you know it or not but there is a bottle specifically made to feed cereal and baby food. I bought mine at Walmart but I know most stores carry them or you can get them online too. However my 2 year old took these bottles with no problem however my 1 year old wanted nothing to do with them or the baby food gig, I ended up having to feed her what I ate (blended of course).

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Hi K.,

I use Avent bottles/nipples and they actually make a nipple for thicker liquids. It has 3 lines on the nipple that you line up with babys nose depending on how thick the liquid is. That is what I used and still do for my son. I am not sure if the other brands make something similar???

H.

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We use Avent bottles with my daughter. When we started putting cereal in her formula, we switched to a variable flow nipple that works for three different flows. There are three different notches on the nipple and whatever flow you wish your child to receive you align that notch with their nose. I love them! It kept us from having to buy the next two stages of nipples as she got older! I don't know if they would work with your bottle brand, but your brand may offer something similar. Good luck.

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I am not sure if they sell nipples that will work for that (since my "baby" is 23 lol) But I put cereal in her bottles and all we did was cut the nipple open a bit larger to allow it to flow out. As we added more cereal we would open the nipple more. Just make sure to keep those nipples seperate so you don't accidently put it them on a milk only bottle.
V.

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We had to add rice cereal for spitting issues, and I remember a period of messy feedings before Mason got the hang of a faster/thicker flow. I used to stick a safety pin down thru one hole and then up thru another and just make a tiny slit between the two holes...like hand stitching, but then pulling the pin up to break the silicone in between. Does that make any sense? LOL
~L.

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Hi K.! It's been awhile but if I'm remembering correctly, I just Stretched the hole out a little with a fork or something. I can't remember what I used but I think if you can stretch it a little or make a little cut in the top with scissors that might help until you find something better.

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Hi Kristen -

By no means telling you what to do, just advice one Mommy to another...

The Academy of Pediatrics strongly cautions parents against putting anything other than breastmilk or formula into a bottle. They recommend spoon feeding ONLY once you start solids. Clearly every family is different and every child has different needs, but the risk of aspirating the cereal mix into his/her lungs is very serious and very real and could cause long-term damage.

Our pediatrician made different recommendations for our middle children and they are only 19 months apart! Medical opinions change as new studies and research become available and sometimes it's a good idea to get a second opinion, even when it comes to feeding.

Our kids had VERY big appetites and we worked our way through cereal and baby food pretty early. Your daughter will let you know what works, what doesn't and when she is full. The little baby spoons are easy to use and a little practice makes the mess pretty minimal. Good luck and all the best...

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Hi K., my name is A. and I have a 2 1/2 old son but when he was little and I was trying to introduce the cereal I found myself in the same boat. The nipples were either too small or too big. I had even try to alter the nipples and that was worthless. What I tried and it worked was to just use real oatmeal since technically that is what that cereal is and water it somewhat down and try feeding your precious pumpkin with a spoon. I know that it seems early to attempt that but it did work for me and my son preferred the real oatmeal rather than the cereal for "babies"

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Have you tried heating the nipples then opening the holes in the nipple a little bit by inserting a toothpick to the size you need? It worked for me on all three of my boys....

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I have children 17, 17, 14 and 3. I have put cereal in all of their bottles, as my mother and grandmother before me has done. There are bottles out there that are made for that or you can enlarge the hole yourself by cutting it into a plus sign.

I was in the store one day and was reading this bottle of organic baby food - it was a smoothie - some mix of fruit, veggies and cereal. And it was in a bottle you could put your own nipple on. Kinda organic on the go type thing.

I just don't see why some moms get so bent out of shape about it. It's not like seeing a pacifier in a 4 year old's mouth or anything. Go with your gut.

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My daughter had severe reflux at 7 weeks and had to have a large amount of cereal added to each of her bottles. We tried opening the holes and different stage nipples, before we found the Advent variable flow nipples. Life saver! Worth every single penny.

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K.;
My husband has always cut the nipples at the tip just alittle bit and then they seem to be fine. We did this with the slow flow ones and it does work. You may have to replace them in a couple of months because the continuous washing opens the nipples even more eventually. Good luck!!

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HI K.!

Our babies must have been born around the same time! My pediatrician, who is well respected in the area, told me that my son was ready to start solid foods last week at his four month check up. (My son is 17lbs. 4ozs. and 27" long! He is super long and thin!) You are the only person who knows your baby and not every child is created the same, especially when it comes to eating.

The best bottles that I have had luck w/ are the Born Free bottles using a medium flow nipple; the Born Free nipples are BPA free, so you don't have to worry about your baby chewing on the nipple and getting toxins in her mouth. They also have a "Y" cut that we use for bedtime, when my son has a bigger feeding. I also use the Medela bottles with the medium flow nipple as well. The Medela's are a little bit cheaper, so maybe if you start with that, it might help.

Good Luck!

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I know a lot of people say not to put cereal in bottles but I did it. My daughter is 4 months old and we started putting cereal in her bottle at 4 weeks old. It helped her a lot with sleeping better. We still only put it in her bottle right before she goes to sleep. I use the same bottles and nipples as you but my daughter can use the #2 nipple (medium flow). The fast flow is too fast. But I did use a safety pin and put a couple of little "cuts" in the nipple holes of her slow flow nipples. It seemed to work just fine. And feel free to give cereal in bottles. I've started last week with trying to feed it to her on a spoon and she's slowly getting the hang of it. Good luck.

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Howdy,
Had the same problem, we just put a needle to the slower one until we got the flow to how we wanted it. It worked especially well when the formula/cereal got thicker and thicker and soon we were just slicing it a bit.

good luck!
M.

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I just wanted to share with you that when my kids 10, 8, and 3 were ready for cereal at 4 mos. I would either sit them in their high chair that laid back a bit to support them or I would hold them on my lap and just feed it to them out of a bowl with a spoon. I made it very watery at first so they could get the hang of it and gradually made it thicker. This is their transition. We started off with 1 tbs. and they got the hang of it in a few days they are still getting what they need from formula but they also need that little bit more so if she doesn't eat it all right away don't worry she will in a few days. Just be ready to push it back in with the spoon when she spits it out!

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We put cereal in our baby girls bottle as well. We just made a hole a bit bigger ourselves. I know that's a big "no, no", but it worked for us and I'll do it in a heartbeat again when we have baby number two :)
We also use Dr. Brown bottles and it seems that their nipple selection is better they have stage 1, 2, 3, and 4. So when we started putting cereal in her bottle stage 2 worked for us.

Hope this helped!
J.

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Dear girl ,don't feel guilty about giving her cereal in a bottle!Once a day,given usually at bedtime is a great idea for a restless baby & the bonus is you can keep your sanity & you get more sleep .too!I see it as win/win.
My daughter was using a razor blade to adjust the size of the opening in the nipple.when my children were babies I used safety pin or needle.

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I also put cereal in my children's bottles. I made the hole bigger by putting a very tiny X. If it wasn't big enough, then obviously I just made it a tad larger. Just remember to mark which nipples you change so you don't accidentally put the plain milk in the "cereal" bottle. I did this with my two children and my mother did it with me and one of my older sisters. My sister was a month late and the hospital actually started putting the cereal in the bottle.

Anyway, just wanted to let you know I did the same thing.

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ah you poor thing.... if you ask an question on the internet you will get a bunch of opinions lol - I dont think there is a right or wrong answer each child has its own needs. there will always be an opinion for or against but as the mom its your choice!!

anyway they make specific cross cut nipples for cereal and if you cant find them you can use a knife to create an opening large enough. watch the nipples for signs of wear and replace as needed.

my son now does not and has not had cereal in his bottle it wasnt needed. my first daughter however (as per our pediatrician) needed it and it was a godsend.... it stopped projectile vomiting and produced weight gain. Please always go with your gut feeling - you as mommy will know best what works!

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Dr. Brown's makes Y cut nipples that are especially made for cereal, but it comes out kind of fast.

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