How Can I Get My 4 Month Old to Eat Cereal?

I agree with some of the other moms that she might not be ready...we also waited until 6 months. Another thought is that she might be too hungry. Have you tried giving her the bottle, or half the bottle, first? I watched a little boy who used to scream for his bottle when I offered him cereal, so I finally tried the bottle first, then the cereal. When he wasn't so hungry he was much more willing to try something new.

I had a similar problem with my son when I started him on cereal at 4 months. I tried thinning it out, thickening it up, sweetening it with a little juice -- everything, but nothing worked. I ended up holding off for a couple of weeks and then reintroducing it. He then started eating it with no problem. Maybe you can wait a week or two and try again. Good luck!

Hi C.,

My 4th child was like this, she would not eat cereal for nothing so I added 1st food fruits to it and we slowly went from there but at the same time I added in vegetables.

Here is a couple of things to consider
1) not every child can survive on having a liquid diet, think to your self how content and full would you be if all you drank was formula all the time. It doesn't work for everybody or every baby.

2) when you are thinking about giving her fruits and veggies do any of your other kids have allergies to any foods ?

3) And do you or your spouse have any allergies that you know of ?

If the last 2 are no's then I would say go for it or try giving her oatmeal or mixed cereal. Also if you are feeding her from a spoon this may be why she is used to the idea that her food comes out when she sucks on it and this has a little more effort to it.

My 2 youngest daughters are 3 1/2 and 14 months. The older one was on cereal at 2 months old, she was eating 8 ounce bottles every 3 hours and weighed 16 pounds. The younger one was eating 8 ounce bottles at 3 1/2 months old every 4 hours. If I would of kept feeding them formula like that they would've been overweight and my peditrician said the samething. My 2 girls now weigh 32 pounds for the older one and 20 1/2 pounds for the younger one, they are far from over weight and eat very healthy, they both love all their vegetables and fruits and eat well balanced meals all the time. So I say go with what works and I know I hear all the samethings also but my youngest daughter was eating table foods at 8 months and onto milk at 10 months.

Oh and the other thing is I have no allergies, my husband on the other hand has Asthma, alergic to dust, pet dander, leaves, pollen, mold and all the other ones when spring comes along with eggs, oranges and apples. I can also only use ALL free and clear detergent, Downy fabric softner with no additives, Oxi clean to make sure we get all the dirt out of our clothes. And with all these things my husband has none of my 4 kids have allergies or are allergic to anything.

Hi...
I have always heard you should start w/rice b/c it is the easiest for them to digest as they get used to solid foods. I would maybe wait a little...until she can sit up well and hold her head up strongly. Maybe she doesn't like the feeling of the cereal in her mouth. It probably goes to the back of her throat if she isn't holding her head up well yet and scares her a little.
When I did start feeding cereal to my kids, I added fruit ...just a couple of baby spoonfuls...to the rice to make it taste better. They gobbled it up. I also made it fairly thin for a while at first to get them used to the whole idea...about the consistency of a shake, where is flows out of the spoon pretty good. BUT you have to remember to only add one kind of fruit at a time. Pick one fruit(bananas) and stick w/that for a couple of wks before you move on to a new fruit. I am sure you know that part..since you have 3 kids :) Best of luck!!!

You should try to make sure the cereal is runny enough for her. She's not use to having textured food so start off quite liquidy. You can also try mixing in a dab of a stage 1 fruit. My kids both preferred the oatmeal over rice.

put it in a cereal bottle or in a regular bottle just cut a little hole in the top. It should be really runny at first.

Based on everything I have read and what our pedi told us, babies do not really "need" to eat anything other than formula or breastmilk until they are 6 months old or older. Try again in a couple of weeks and she may have a renewed interest. If you really want her to eat solids, you could try oatmeal or start her on a fruit, like bananas or a veggie, like carrots. Those also make good foods. But I really don't think you should worry too much, I tend to think "babies know best" when it comes to eating. She will let you know when she is ready.

We had this problem, and our pediatrician told us that cereal is not magic and to try other baby food (ie fruits and veggies. Who's ever heard of a pear allergy?)
Or maybe at 4 months she's just not ready. We have three boys, and boy three wasn't ready until about five months.

From her reaction I would think that she is just not ready for cereal. Every child is going to be a little different and achieve milestones (like eating cereal or potty training) on their own time. When I had my child my doc. said to not worry about giving her cereal until she was at least 6 months unless she came to the point where she was still hungry within 2 hours of a bottle feeding. Also when I first started her on the cereal I would cook rice, then "bake" it on a cookie sheet then grind it up. Then I made the hole in the nipple of the bottle a little bigger and put milk with the rice mixed in it in the bottle. Over time I made this mixture thicker until finally we were able to give her the cereal in a bowl and not a bottle. I hope this helps.

I agree with Ann--she may just not be ready. Try again in a couple of months, and then when you make it, try making it with fruit juice instead of formula--it makes it taste better. Good luck!

I have a four month old as well, I have been adding a 1/4 of a tsp of sugar to get her to eat her cereal... I realize that is probably not a good long term answer, but for now, it has gotten her to open her mouth up and say awwww!! Hopefully once we get into the habit of how to eat, I will just slowly add less and less until she doesn't need it anymore.

Even 4-month-olds know what they like. If she's protesting, she doesn't want it. I'd try again in a few months for fear she will come to dislike mealtime and the screaming.

I would guess that your baby is refusing it because she isn't ready. Most pediatricians and books I've encountered don't encourage solids until 6 months. My first baby refused cereal at 6 months because he simply detested rice cereal...maybe it's just a taste factor or perhaps she just isn't up for chewing yet.

What about mixing a tiny bit in with her bottle and just using a Y-cut nipple?

Don't. She's obviously not ready to eat food yet, C.. It will not do her any harm to start eating food until she is six months or older.

Babies that age do not need any solids. My oldest didn't get interested in food until closer to a year.

First foods do not need to be (and in my opinion, should NOT be) cereals. Baby cereals in particular are just empty calories. They don't have much nutritional value.

I love this article on child-led solids:
http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/vast_voeds...

That outlines the approach we are using currently, and I LOVE it! My second baby's first foods were carrot sticks and apple slices. Besides being healthier, I think that it has contributed to her being more self-sufficient in feeding. Rather than me spooning things into her mouth, she loves to pick up food and feed herself.

I would just wait and try when she is older. She may not be ready. Many babies don't eat solids until 6 months.

We tried when my boy was exactly 4 months and he didn't do to well with it. I tried maybe 3 or 4 times in a week and it didn't go well. So now it has been a couple of weeks since I last tried and I think we will try again this weekend. I think this time I may start off with it pretty thinned out and then gradually thickent it up as we go.

Oh and I had 2 other kids that took to eating cereal at 4 months right away also.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting until at least 6 months. I wouldn't try too hard at four. I also agree with some of the other comments, why rice? There are so many better whole foods out there. Your kid knows what she needs.

K.