Cereal in the Bottle at Night?

wow, you're certainly getting a variety of opinions - some are actually frightening!

your daughter is behaving exactly like a newborn should - babies wake up at night, some of them quite frequently. there are very few medical reasons to add anything into your child's bottle other than formula or breastmilk & doing so can be dangerous. a newborn's gut is simply not mature enough to handle anything other than breastmilk or formula (nevermind the potential choking hazards), so adding anything (i would think especially to a preemie's bottle) could do more harm than good. solids of any kind (including cereals) aren't recommended before 4-6 months at the absolute earliest.

you'll always find a mom who'll say "i did such & so & my kids are fine" which is probably true, but it doesn't mean it's okay for your kid. talk with your ped before you make a final decision. and for the love of god, don't put potatoes or anything else in the bottle before you do.

i'll probably get flamed for this, but you've gotten some seriously wacko advice... be cautious & talk with your doc.

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"Cereal in the bottle" is an outdated parenting practice. Women were at one time told to do this by their baby's doctors, without any evidence of benefit. Now, we have evidence that it's harmful- it increases the baby's chances of developing a food allergy and asthma. And speaking from the experience of having a baby with food allergies, it's not fun (I also started the same child on solid food at 4 months, signs of food allergies started around 8 months). Also, putting cereal in the bottle is considered a "dangerous" practice by many pediatricians because it could lead to choking- your baby is expecting liquid, not a semi-solid.

As far as infant sleep goes, some take their babies to bed with them. Far from being a harmful practice, this helps infants (especially premature infants) grow faster, regulate their breathing and heart rate.

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I agree with Jaime, some of the advice you've gotten is downright scary. Your baby is a PREEMIE, a NEWBORN PREEMIE. Her tummy is tiny, and if you start force feeding her rice cereal, it will overstuff her! Yes, feeding a newborn rice cereal through a bottle is force feeding. Not only is she a preemie, but any newborn cannot handle rice cereal, or any solids other than breastmilk, at this age.

Please, do NOT give her solids, especially in her bottle. Try nursing her more often during the day, like ever y1 1/2 to 2 hours, then cluster feeding her before bed. Nurse at 6pm, 6:30pm, 7pm, then bath, then nurse at 8pm to sleep.

But seriously putting cereal in her bottle when she is a preemie newborn, no.

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First of all, I think your baby might have her days/nights a bit mixed up...that can be fixed. CALL THE DOCTOR FOR ADVICE ASAP. I second Jaime's advice. It's WAY too early to feed your child cereal or anything other than breastmilk or formula! It sucks that you have to go back to work so soon and that Nebraska doesn't have better options for mom (you take off 12 weeks in California, at least 6 of which are paid time off)! Anyway, I haven't read anyone else's advice, but PLEASE don't give your child any food before 4 months old...even that's a bit early...unless your doctor has specific medical reasons for doing so. And by the way, I don't think cereal in the bottle helped my child sleep anymore than he was before I gave it to him.

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I would start working on a better daytime routine(not schedule, you have to be flexible). This will help her out at night. She's making up for the lack of daytime feedings during the night. It would seem that 3-4 hours is good, but if she needs to eat every hour and a half at night, it clearly isn't working for her (or you!). Don't put the cereal in the bottle, it causes problems on many levels, as previously posted.

I would start by getting a daytime routine that feeds her every 2.5-3 hours. Don't let her nap through feedings and make up for it later, she needs the consistent intake of calories and nutrients. You should start to see her go longer at nightime since she's had more during the day. Also keep in mind babies are hungrier when they have growth spurts, so this may cause some nightime wakings if she's having one of those. Good Luck, I'd be glad to answer any more questions for ya! Oh and congrats on your little one!!

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Hello, Congratulations! I have 3 boys all preemies, 13 wks, 11 wks, and 6 weeks premature. I think she may just have her days and nights mixed up. I always followed what the doctors said for their feeding schedules because they were so small and so very early. I would try to help her change her schedule, ask your pediatrician for some ideas, but I wouldn't give her cereal in her bottle, I never did that, cereal is something they should eat, not drink. Good Luck :}

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I would have to say that I was shocked at some of the advise you have recieved. I personally belive that a premature baby such as your child should not have anything put into there bottle, they are to underdeveloped to take on rice in there bottle. Your daughter sounds like she has her days and nights mixed up, like another posting said. I belive that if you adjusted her daytime schedule a little and woke her up every 2-3 hours and not allowed her to sleep threw those feedings, that your night time problems would adjust and she would be able to sleep a little longer. Unfortunately we live in a society that thinks and belives that there should be a remedy for everything including sleeping. We believe that if the baby doesnt sleep as long as we want them to that we should be putting stuff in there bottle to keep them sleeping longer. I think that people use the ceral/ rice in the bottle at night at any age are lazy and are only using it as a sleep aid. There is formula Enfamil with A.R, the AR stands for added rice, it allows the formula to stick to the lining of the stomach longer. I had to use this for my daughter as she had Acid Reflux till she was three years old. It did help, however I cant say weather or not you can use it on a Preemie. When you are dealing with a premature baby, I would think that it is always best to contact her nurse or her dr. and ask them. They are the only ones that are going to know what exactly you can give a child that has not fully developed yet. I think asking and using mamasource is good, in this case I think that you must contact your doctor!! Best of luck!!
Always remember what works for one persons child may not work for yours!!!

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