Pediatrician Said Start Cereal at 2 Mnths.

2 months is WAY too early to be introducing cereal. Infants digestive system don't develop until AT LEAST 6 months many don't develop until even later than that. At 2 months your baby is not getting any benefit from the cereal and it can be damaging to his gut leading to digestive problems later on.

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Your pediatrician is not following current medical recommendations. Starting solids early isn't necessary, interferes with baby's nutrition (their milk gives them everything they need, food has less nutrients and fills them up) and the American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend food at this age. They recommend breastfeeding with no supplemental foods til six months of age. They feel that introducing foods early can also be a contributing factor to allergies. I would be leary of a doctor using outdated information.

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If you can, you may want to continue breast/formula feeding and skip the cereal.

It's well accepted that giving cereal or any solids before 6 months of age can increase the risk of allergies. That's why years ago they changed when cereals and other solid foods were introduced.

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NO WAY!!!!!!!! With all due respect, your pediatrician is an idiot. No solid food for several more months, their little bellies cannot digest any kind of foods yet. Wait till your son is at least 6 months old. The world health organization recommends breast milk being the sole source of nutrition until at least 6 months old.

http://wholesomebabyfood.com/solids.htm

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never heard of this. baby should be able to sustain on only milk-breast or formula as babies have for centuries.i would rethink my pediatrician.

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My ped recommended cereal early too. Everyone has an opinion on this (as you can see from the posts below). You already said you're giving your son some cereal. Has his behavior changed? Does he seem to have an upset stomach? Is he constipated? If he's acting normal, sleeping ok and overall a happy and healthy baby, then what's wrong with givig him the cereal? You're his mom. Follow your instincts. If your gut says it's too early, stop the cereal and wait another month or so. You know what's best for your baby.

is there any specific reason? is your son having any kind of problem or anything? if not, i dont know why your doc would say that. thats very old-school. not that it would necessarily do harm, but new reasearch shows that between 4-6 mos is ideal, closer to 6 mos is better. allergies, and i beleive diabetes are 2 of the reasons. give your son as much breastmilk as you can. plus, the more solids he takes, the less breastmilk he will take, thereby reducing your supply, etc.

I know that the general rule is that solid foods should not be introduced until at least 4 months old. However, I know a few moms who started feeding cereal earlier because their sons were just not getting full on formula alone and would cry until they were sated. Does he cry after you give him a bottle? Is he not sleeping well at night? If so, maybe you can add a little single grain rice into the bottle. I doubt he'll be old enough to eat off a spoon. For some reason, the moms I know all have this issue with their sons, not daughters. Maybe some boys just have huge appetites.

2 months is early. But I have known some to give cereal in the formula when their baby was 2 weeks. If he isn't vomitting he may be ok with it. Most doctors tell you to wait until 6 months. I gave my son cereal at 4 months. All he would do was watch us eat and move his mouth. I assumed he was ready. We stayed with cereal until 5 months then introduced fruits and veggies.

My ped said 4 months and anywhere from 4-6 months is the norm mostky becasue their tongue will thrust the food out any earlier. This is a normal reflexive action that goes away at 4-6 months, which is why cereal is started at this point. Years ago when I was an infant, dr's had infants on cereal after 1 month but much has changed since then. Your son's digestive system may be too immature at this point to handle it. I would get a 2nd opinion.

Your pediatrician is definitely giving you old-school advice, and while your son might be okay with having cereal at 2 months (my understanding is that most baby's digestive systems are not developed enough at 2 months to handle anything other than milk), I would definitely rethink my pediatrician, since ALOT has been learned in the past 20-30 years re. baby/toddler health, and you want to make sure your pediatrician is up to date on the latest information.

Hi M.,
I'm not sure if it's common to give a 2 mos old baby cereals as a separate meal. I know most pediatricians recommend single grain cereals when the baby is at least 4 mos. But I know of cases where one thickens the milk with cereals. One adds a couple of teaspoonfuls in the milk so the baby can fill full longer, this way one doesn't end up over-milking(is this a word??...lol) the baby.
I believe your ped. has a good reason for telling you that.
Good luck.
L..
Helping Moms Work From Home.
http://www.mykidsmyworld.com

Unless your baby is having some sort of medical problem that requires cereal so soon (acid reflux, ect) do not give him cereal. If he is doing well with breastmilk and formula what is the advantage of giving cereal? Actually, one of the reasons who have so many allergies is because we introduce foods too early and the baby's digestive system rejects it. 4 months is the minimum age. Are you putting it in his bottle?

I'm with Diana D on this one. Babies at this stage have developed what they need to break down cereals in their little tummies -- this could lead to other issues. I would suggest waiting until the baby is 6 mos old before feeding him cereal. And quite frankly I probably still wouldn't offer cereal. I'd just go straight for green veggies when the baby shows interest in solid foods.

Hi
They didn't tell me that as early as 2 months but, they did at 4 months. She was also drinking 48oz of formula a day. What a difference cereal made. She was a much happier baby!!!! She must have been hungry all the time.

Dear M.,
The needs of every child are so different, and it is important to listen to their signals. Starting cereal at 2 months is no problem, if that's what he needs, and he does well with it.
I started our son on cereal at about the same time. For him, breastmilk was like drinking water - no satisfaction. I supplemented with formula - still not good enough, and began adding flakes of cereal to the formula at about 5 weeks old. By 2 months, he was eating regular cereal. By 4 or 5 months old, I was introducing him to solid foods. The belief was to introduce one new food every week, which I had done with his older sister. Not so with Mark; he embraced every new taste sensation with gusto. My pediatrician supported my decisions every step of the way, against the popular ideas at the time to wait til 6 months.
Before Mark turned 1, he was eating whatever I served the rest of the family - even pork chops. Growing up, when other kids were ordering off the children's menu, he was ordering duck, filet mignon, and steamed clams.
Mark is now 23, a Lt. in the Army, and when he comes home, he still "eats us out of house and home", devouring every fruit, veggie, protein, and carb there is in the house. I'm just glad that I taught him proper eating habits. He is 6' tall and weighs 145 lbs. - and he is still my "eater".
Your son will be fine. Just listen.......Always.
W.

I've not heard of a pediatrician reccomending it but I can udnerstand why in this case. However, know that I did this on my own with my 1st born and regretted my decision because I later learned that it increases the risk for diabetes. This is already something that runs strong in my family so I wouldn't want to increase my child's likelihood to get it. However, excess weight will also increase chance of diabetes so you have to balance your decision based on your family history and options. I am more concerned about whether or not his cues had been or are being mis-read and he is forming a maladaptive habit of eating for comfort. Is he learning any way to self-soothe? Such as taking a pacifier, his fingers or a blanket in his mouth. If I were you, I would focus on encouraging such things first... you might find that he will be satisfied with that (once he really takes it) for longer periods of time and demand less food.

Whether he ends up reducing his food intake or not, he really should by this age be gearing towards a self-soothing technique (other babies like things like bouncy chairs or vibrating ones or rocking motions from bassinet or certain music, etc.). I am saying this as a mom of a newborn (she's 10 weeks), she is my 2nd, but I am also a mental health therapist and am thereby continualy looking at things from that perspective as well,not just physical as a doctor may. Best wishes and you may contact me if you'd like to correspond further.
-N.

Congratulations on the birth of your son. It is very normal to start cereal early especially with babies who are taking in large amounts of formula. I started all but one of my five kids on cereal at 4 - 6 weeks for the same reason. My second son had medical problems that prevented him from eating solid foods until he was two years old. My first son was on all solid foods at four months. He was a big baby and was always hungry, come to think of it he did everything way ahead of time. He was sitting at three months, crawling at four months, and walking at ten months, let me tell you I had my hands full with him. LOL
Hugs,
T.

my son came home from Korea at 2 months olds.. and he was on fruit, veggies and cereal.. go figure.. He did great.. My dr. told me to take him off all of that.. he was to young. I ignored the dr. since my son was doing great and loved his food. He was never heavy... he was just happy. He loved all cereals, all fruits, and veggies.. I started him on meats at 5 months old.. he hated them. oh well. He is now 13 and only likes meats and potatoes... now veggies and not much fruit... go with how the baby is doing.. is the cereal ok... does the baby sleep better? Go with it.. if the baby does good. It sounds like your baby was drinking a lot.. and needed some food. have fun.. p.s. most babies in Korea.. where my son was adopted from start food much earlier than us. Both my kids ate early.. and both are very thin and very fit. They play numerous sports and are always out running around.. not couch potatoes. If you like your dr. than stay with him or her. don't listen to people that will tell you to FIRE him or her.. that's just crazy. It's your baby.. if he or she is happy... that's what counts..!!!!!!!!! P.S. maybe your dr. is old school.. .. but some things old school work well. My daughter had a very high fever the other day.. 104.7... and I tried a lot of things to get it down.. finally I used an old school thing from my mom... a bath tub filled with water and 1 cup of alchohol... well... it worked.. fever came down within a 1/2 hour.. so old school works and so does new school... go with what works for baby.. every child is different.. if he or she is drinking so much.. supplementing with cereal if a good thing...

Absolutely NOT !!!! cereal should start at 4 months and up. and if you can keep the baby ONLY on breast milk its better.

Yes, I gave my daughter cereal at almost 2 mths old because she was drinking almost 60 oz a day that is alot..so in turn her DR said to start giving her cereal in her bottle 2 times a day, but he also siad that the nipple should not be changed...so you make the consistency very loose. I gave her cereal in the first morning bottle and the last bottle at night and that also changed her sleeping habit, which is always better for the mommy. My daughter pedi was my pedi so he was old school. I rather old school DR then these new ones who say babies should not have water, water cleans the babies tongue from all that formula. Good luck in whatever you do, but go with your heart.

I am very suprissed so early! Can your baby actually swallow the cereal? My pediatrician leans closer to 5-6 months. She says its better to wait until they have the ability to swallow etc. Was your baby starving after 48 oz? Hummm seems too early to me. Also the earlier you start food the earlier the lactobifidus acidofilus (I spelled wrong) that is in his stomach starts to go away...and the whole allergy issue. Because if you start cereal that early you will probably go to solids early.

I have heard of babies starting cereal as early as 6 weeks, but this is very rare. And it's usually just added to the bottle. I beleive the average is 3 to 4 months. Many children have not reached the development stage of being able to push the cereal to the back of the mouth at such an early age.

I have not heard of this, unless you are trying to wean your baby from breastfeeding by introducing solid food. I was instructed that an exclusively breastfed baby does not need anything else except breastmilk until 6 months of age.

I personally wouldn't start cereal so soon, but if your son is not satisfied with the milk formula, then try soy formula. My son drank milk formula by the gallon at that age, so I switched to soy & that really helped keep him full longer, as well as dry! Bottom line, do what works best for you and your baby...

Hi M., I am an older mom and our children back then were all started on cereal by 3 months, some sooner if they were very hungry. Some parents would put cereal in a bottle if the baby was not sleeping a few hours at night. My children are grown now but I never had any trouble. I am sure you will get some other positive answers. My best to you and your baby, Grandma Mary