Rice Cereal - Houston,TX

We started our son on cereal at about 3.5 months. He was 8+ pounds at birth and was a big boy by this time and breastfed only. He seemed hungry, so we started with a tablespoon once a day a few weeks early. He did GREAT...as many said, it didn't help him sleep, but he digested it fine. We didn't plan to do this, he just seemed ready, so we went for it. We did wait to introduce fruits / veggies until 5-6 months, so we didn't speed anything else up. At our 4 month check up we confessed and the pedi was fine with what we did.

You know your baby - Good luck!!

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C., since you don't mention specifics in your post, it is really hard to answer your question. What specifically makes you disagree with your pediatrician and "think" your baby is ready for rice cereal now? At 3 months, your baby's intestines are still maturing. His intestines act as a filtering system for his body and help to screen out potentially harmful substances and letting in healthy nutrients. Between 0 and 4 months, this filtering system is still immature. Between four and seven months your baby's intestinal lining goes through a developmental growth spurt where the intestinal lining becomes more selective about what to let through. During this time, the maturing intestines secrete a protective protein that coats the intestines and prevents the passage of harmful allergens. In the early months, infants don't produce enough of this protective protein and it is much easier for potentially-allergenic food molecules to enter your baby's system. Once food molecules are in the blood, the immune system may produce antibodies to that food, creating a food allergy . By six to seven months of age the intestines are more mature and able to filter out more of the offending allergens. This is why it's particularly important to delay solids - to allow your baby's body time to develop the way nature intended. Other factors to consider: has your baby lost his tongue thrust reflex (helps to prevent an infant from choking)? Do you have reason to believe your baby's swallowing mechanism is more fully developed than other infants his age? Can your baby sit up by himself? Unless you have some substantial reason to introduce cereal, you would be wise to follow your pediatrician's advice and wait until your baby's body is ready for rice cereal.

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I would strongly recommend waiting for the 4 month mark. Children that start food too soon often end up with allergies down the road.

L.

I would wait, preferably until 5 or 6 months. There's no evidence that filling them up with food helps them sleep better, and their systems are really not ready for food that early.

If he is indicating that he his hungrier than just nursing/formula will do, then I would go ahead and give him a very thin mixture of it once or twice a day. You don't want it to reduce the amount he nurses or takes from a bottle.

My Pediatrician has recommended that I wait till my son is about 6-9 months. He said that because he is breastfed that "food" is really not needed right now. As many of the moms said below they are really Not ready for it so soon. My daughter was about 6 months before I gave her rice cereal, and she is 2 now.. I plan on doing the same for my son maybe 6/7 months or so.

I just had my 4th child in May. Why are you wanting to give your son cereal? If you think it will help with sleep, It won't!!! Sleeping has to do with setting the babies clock. "Best Babie on the Block" is an awsome book to help you do that. It's all about scheduling, feeding sleeptime, wake time. So So worth the effort. I know my Mom was pushing giving the cereal. My pediatrician also said wait 6 months and I did. My other children I started at 4 months. Yes a babies digestive system is so immature and sensitive. Introducing food even rice cereal to early can cause the development of FOOD ALLERGIES!!! Something I promise you dont want to introduce into your family. My 3 year old has food allergies.... I only nursed my son till 6 months and he would sleep through the night around 2 months. Good luck.

I would never suggest going against what your Pedi. reccommends, but I started my 3 month old daughter on rice cereal after she started having severe diarrhea. I would give her rice cereal with water only(no formula at this point because she also had a fever) to stiffen up her stool and it worked wonderfully. Once I started using the cereal it was hard to stop because she didn't seem to get full from just the formula anymore. She turns 1 on 2/8 and we still use formula with rice or oatmeal and have graduated to solid table food. She also has a mouth full of teeth so she is well on her way. Just start with 1 formula scoop of cereal if you decide to try it. Sounds like this is your 1st baby so it is great to be well informed and ask plenty of questions. Hope this helps.

No you should listen to your pediatrician. Their digestive systems aren't mature enough to handle it yet.

I tried at 3 months becuase I felt like he wasn't getting enuf food. Over the next couple days I felt like he was fussy and imagined he was having digestive problems. At our 4 month checkup my pedi said to go ahead and start with rice cereal but to give one spoon a day and work up to giving him more. So, now we are giving him cereal twice a day and he is 4 months and a week old. He is doing fine - no problems.
If you feel like hes ready then try. But don't give him much and watch for his signs. That's my opinion at least :-)

Your pediatrician has had several years of training in both medicine and specializing in the health of infants and children. Now, I don't make this next comment to be crass or rude at all but what medical, physiological or nutritional training have you had that leads you to this decision?

The AAP recommends waiting until 4-6 months, mostly because the infant's digestive system is still developing. If you still think your child needs rice cereal, a better option would be to seek a second opinion. Also, your infant should be able to hold up the head/sit up supported and have lost the tongue-thrust reflex.

With my infant (8 weeks) I'll be waiting until 4 months or until the pediatrician recommends it. To me, the risk is certainly not worth it.

I would wait - the American Academy of Pediatrics doesn't recommend solids until age 4-6 months. Their stomachs really aren't developed enough yet to handle much more than breastmilk/formula.

Here's the link to their position:
http://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/f...

What is he doing to make you think he's ready for the cereal already?

Yes by all means give him the cereal. They get so hungry and cereal really helps.

Everyone has their ways and some think it is horrible to do so but it isn't. I gave my babies oatmeal or rice cereal in their bottles when they were about a month old. Just maybe a teaspoon with all that formula as it wasn't thick at all. It helped them sleep because some babies just need more than just breast milk or formula. At 3 months I let mine eat the cereal thicker plus I would let them eat mashed potatoes even. They were fine and are grown with children of their own. My mother did it with me as well. You need to be careful that it is not to thick they can't eat it or drink it and watch them. Every doctor is different also. Some will flat tell you no and others will tell you there is nothing wrong with it. Good Luck. Forgot to mention. Don't give them barley cereal as they can develop allergies. Just rice or oatmeal.

Babies are ready at different tomes, but 3 months is awful young. Their digestive systems aren't ready for food and they could experience pain, also those started early on food are more prone to allergies, and breastfed babies can actually develop iron deficiency problems if cereals are introduced to soon as it can interfere with the absorption of iron from breast milk. Good signs to know when your baby is ready for solids is found at www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids-when.html

It's not a matter of what *we* think or when *our* kids started cereal or even when *your other* kids started to eat cereal. It's all a matter of **YOUR CHILD'S DIGESTIVE SYSTEM'S DEVELOPMENT*. If your pediatrician, who has all the medical information available to him (or her) and in THEIR PROFESSIONAL OPINION they feel like you need to wait, why would you question it? Unless you, too, have a medical degree with a concentration in newborn development.

I am an old fashioned Mom..I gave both of my girls rice cereal when they were 2 months old and it was a blessing..I trulu believe it is what helped them to sleep all night. It was their first bottle in the morning and their last bottle at night...Do what you feel is right. Every child is different.