Rice Cereal for 1 1/2 Month Old

To the other mom and any others worried about cereal....we can't believe everything we read. SHEEESH. Kids have been eating rice cereal in their bottles for decades with no problems. My grandson is 6 weeks and we are giving him the cereal because he is otherwise hungry all day long and he has acid reflux already. He would throw up every few minutes all day if he didn't have the rice in his bottles. Even still, we are going through a ton of food and he's simply growing really fast.

Now for the cereal. We are using Dr Browns, stage 2 nipples. With most rice cereals a hand blender needs to be used. But, there is a rice cereal that we buy at Save-a-lot in these nice containers with great containers and the cereal is so finely chopped in advance that the cereal needs only shaken good.

We had to do this with our daughter at 2 months. A size 2 nipple and a born-free bottle is what we used (since the rice thickens the formula)...she still uses the same size nipple at 10 months, the size 3 is too fast for her (too bad, I bought a dozen of them).
Here's my "trick" with rice cereal. Don't add until you're about to warm it up...it'll stick inside a cold bottle and get stuck in the nipple...
Our daughter had it because of acid reflux. We still do it...works great!

Can I ask why your ped. is requesting cereal in bottle? Is it a weight issue? Everything I have read has said there is an increased risk of diabetes and allergies if solids are given before 6 months?

I am not going to question all the cereal but just wanted to let you know that I also know 2 people who took their infants to the chiropractor. Not just any chiropractor b/c I think they are a little scary. Anyway, both of these babies had severe reflux. After only a few visits to the chiro, the symptoms completely resolved! Good luck!

I too had to give my daughter rice cereal in her bottle starting at 6 weeks since she was spitting up so much. I used the Dr. Browns bottles and they worked wonderfully. Hope that helps and good luck!

We did this too. We just enlarged the hole n our Advent nipples to gt the formula through. If you are going out and need t to be a little neater, you might consider buying some Similac RS. It may be more expensive, but it has the rice already mixed in.

http://similac.com/baby-formula/similac-sensitive-reduce-...

Enfamil makes it too:
http://tinyurl.com/yanjmba

Hello E.~ The only bottles i have ever used are Playtex drop in bottles. I had to use them because both of my daughters seem to choke on any other bottle because the flow was too fast. I have had to give my 5 month old cereal in some of her bottles for awhile because her acid reflux is so bad and Playtex makes a "variable flow" nipple that is for when you put cereal in a baby's bottle. I think it actually says "cereal" on the nipple package when you buy it. I know you don't want to have to buy more bottles-it gets expensive and annoying for sure- but i have always had great luck with these bottles and the flow seemed to be great with the special nipple. I never could slit a hole in my regular nipples like some people suggested because the hole always ended being way to big and then it would drown my kids. But that's all i can suggest-and i agree with what someone else said- sometimes tip the bottle upside down and squeeze the nipple to make sure there is some coming out- i really like the Playtex bottles but sometimes you just have to find what works for you- trial and error! Good luck!

Rather than buying new bottles buy new nipples. It's a lot cheaper. I tried a bunch of different bottles to begin with, but liked playtex drop-ins the best. As my daughter got older, I just bought new nipples. I don't know about all bottles, but with the playtex they have slow flow, medium flow and fast flow. If the brand you're using doesn't offer that you can alwys make the hole of the nipple larger yourself with a pair of scissors. At the Baby Depot at Burlington Coat Factory, they have cereal bottles (or did 2 days ago). Good luck.

Good Morning E., If you baby is taking 2-4 oz at a time just use the one teasp. you really do not want to thicken it up. All they are wanting is a little nutruits in the formula or milk. You still want it to flow like just milk or formula. As he gets up to 4-6 ozs got to teasp and a half only. One way to check is to turn the bottle upside down and squeeze the nipple to see if it still squirts and flows out ok.

God Bless always
K. Nana of 5

If you have a Walgreen's near you they carry cereal bottle (sold in the same area where all baby items are sold) that are made special for that. Work great and are in expensive

I'm surprised they have you adding that much cerceal. We added 1tsp/2oz. My guess is they're having you do this because of reflux issues, you have to thicken the solution so the babies don't have as much reflux. You might want to try slightly less 1tsp/2oz formula and then I used the advent bottles and just took a pair of scissors to the nipple to make it just slightly larger, that worked like a charm. Good luck to both!!

My babies are almost six but we went through the same thing. We used Avent bottles and loved them. Think variable flow is only nipple you can use with rice. Why does he need the rice? Assume he has reflux or something? Are you open to the chiropractic world? I have been taking my boys to a wellness chiropractor and our lives are so much better. Maybe your baby needs an adjustment? They are very gentle - just use their pinky to do this. I have a great spinal chart I can email you if you get me your email address. Every set of nerves between each vertebrae have different functions. Amazing stuff!

I can tell you that I have 3 older children ( all girls--ages 21, 17, and 16), and I have always been told NEVER feed a baby cereal in a bottle!

For when you do start giving cereal (usually between 4 months & 6 months in age), always do so with a spoon and don't start giving a child cereal too soon, or it can cause allergies, etc.

I would be seeking a secondary opinion from another doctor personally...