When to Give Rice Cereal & How to Work It in with Breastfeeding

I waited until 6 months because that is the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendation. Then I started feeding her once a day while adding new foods each week, gradually moving to twicwe a day by about 7 months and 3 times a day by about 8 months. I kept breastfeeding until one year. Good luck!

I started giving my son stage 1 baby food at 4 months. We had already tried very watery cereal and he did not like it. I don't get this (what I call hogwash) of not feeding any "solids" to a child until they are 6 months. As long as they are still taking the same amount of breast milk or formula, then go for it. Some kids simply need to eat more than others.

Some say that starting solids too early leads to food allergies. My son can eat anything. I think that if they are going to have allergies, they are going to have them. Part of getting over something you are allergic to, is by building up an immunity to it. Now we did hold off giving him peanut butter and seafood until he was 2.

How long has she been waking? It is possible that it could be a growth spurt--which is common at this age. If you are nursing on demand, these little hiccups often resolve themselves in 1-2 weeks. Every child is different, as you well know, but changing sleep patterns are quite common. If only I could track of my daughter's ever changing "schedule"

If you want to continue breastfeeding as long as possible, make sure you are adding the rice cereal AFTER you nurse. Using breastmilk to thin it out will help alleviate any possible digestive problems. Also, use a spoon not a syringe or bottle feeder (which can lead to overfeeding).

Personally, unless you have good reason to believe you have a problem with your supply, I do believe that it is too early. The guidelines that I found (and were seconded by my pediatrician):
Baby can sit up well without support.

Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.

Baby is ready and willing to chew.

Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.

Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.

While 6-month exclusive breastfeeding/formula is no longer a recommendation made only by radical fringe groups, exclusive bf just felt right to me. Good luck on making an informed choice for yourself.

Yes, it is too early. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the World Health Organization (and others!) say you should exclusively breastfeed for 6 months before introducing solids. You can make enough milk for her if you feed her on demand. It is considered a myth that giving solids now will make her sleep through the night, though lots of moms will tell you that it did help their little ones.

It is very normal for breastfed babies to need to eat through the night at this age. It's actually NOT that typical for them to sleep through the night. At 4 months old they are starting to notice the world around them, and get more distracted when they eat (have you noticed this? LOL). They tend to take in less during the day, and have to make up for it at night. It's VERY normal. Plus, you may just now be experiencing the "3 month" growth spurt.

All in all, I would say do not give her cereal. It's not very nutritious and your baby is much better off just on your breastmilk. You can make enough as long as you feed her when she asks to be fed. It's the law of supply and demand, she is now demanding more which means you need to supply more. Your body will understand to make more if you put her to the breast more often.

I exclusively breastfed (and by that I mean breastmilk only, no solids whatsoever) my first for 7 months, the second for 8 months. My son was 20 lbs at 6 months old, but I knew my breastmilk was perfect for him. My daughter was more petite, but still very healthy and had a consistent growth curve. My baby is now 6 months old, still just breastmilk, and he's 19 lbs (he was a little smaller than big brother at birth), completely sustained on breastmilk. This isn't necessarily because I've got super milk (though, really....don't we all?! I think it is miraculous that our bodies feed our babies!). I think it's because I've always fed the babies on demand.

It's also very important to remember the guidelines for when baby is ready. I see people who put their babies in reclining high chairs in order to feed their babies who can't sit up yet - this is too early. Developmental signs of readiness are:
Baby can sit up well without support.
Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
Baby is ready and willing to chew.
Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.

All of these should be in place before considering solids. This is a great place to read about starting solids when breastfeeding: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html

Parents can make the choice, but I think people are too eager to give solids. It's not recommended by the major health organizations, yet pediatricians and mothers all seem to think it's okay at 4 months. Your baby most likely is NOT ready.

***ETA I've read other posts and everyone has a right to their opinion. However, delaying solids until 6 months is definitely NOT hogwash: it is what is recommended by ALL the mahor health organizations of the world. How is that hogwash? It's not just about allergies: it's also about whether or not baby's digestive system is mature and the real experts in this area (and by that I do NOT mean Gerber industries, nor pediatricians) agree that babies do not have a mature enough digestive system until then.

Is she at all interested in food? With out this interest you are going to get frustrated.

When I started my boys on cereal, I mixed it with breast milk. In fact, they only got the cereal mixed with breast milk. I never used anything else until I introduced fruits and veggies and I still used BM.

I would pick a mid day meal. That way she is not starving. I made mine a little thicker then recommended. They seemed to prefer it that way. Sit her in her bouncy seat and give it a try. Have an extra spoon handy as they LOVE to grab the spoon from you when you put something in their mouths.

Don't be surprised if there is more on her bib than there s in her mouth. She has some things to work out.

Good Luck and try not to get frustrated!

I started giving rice cereal to my breastfed baby at 4 months. Feed the baby your breastmilk because that is still the most important thing. Then 30 mins later give the cereal. Just a little and I found that she liked it better mixed with a little apple juice. Start with a tablespoon of cereal and mix with apple juice to where it is not so thick. You don't want it really thick at first. My Ped. said it was ok to use apple juice. Good Luck. It's difficult at first, but they get the hang of it.

I'm about to start rice cereal with my son as well, he's 15 1/2 weeks now. During the day breastfeeding seems to be enough but the last couple of night he seems to be waking up more. Before he would usually sleep through the night or at the most wake up once depending on how much he slept during the day. The last 2 nights even though he went to bed later he still woke up twice. I have decided that this coming week to start with cereal about 3 to 4 hours before he goes to bed and then breast feeding right before I put him down. It's been a while since my older son went through this stage but if I remember correctly that's how I started with him.

Hi T.
Bless you.
If you pump- save some for cereal. at 4 months she is ready for a small "spoon" feeding- I would start with Rice and see how she tolerates it- about two tablespoons at first mixed with your milk kinda loose- then every day or so thicken it up until it is like a paste texture- I would give it to her at her nite time feeding say around 7 or so - then after about two weeks of nite time feedings I would give it to her twice a day- once in the am and then around dinner time- before her last feeding at nite time. It should take a while to go thru all the cerels- rice, barley, oats and then mixed cereal- to see that all agree with her. then I would slowly add the fruits.
After you introduce the fruits- you can mix the cereal with the fruits instead of your milk-
good luck and blessings

I totally agree with Laurie A.

I know you may receive several responses telling you this is too early to do this, but it is the same age when i started all three of my kids on this...

Most importantly do what YOU feel is right for your daughter.. Good Luck... ;-)

Remember newborns, babies and toddlers go through growth spurts where they may eat more than normal, sleep more than normal and wake up to eat more than normal. So this could be just a phase/growth spurt.

Although 4 mos is not too young to start solids it really is up to whether baby is ready for solids. She may not be ready and may spit it out instead of eating it. You can try feeding her some cereal mixed with breastmilk at night. It's possible that a fuller belly will help her sleep longer, but it's not a guarantee.

Since you are breast feeding it is not necessary to feed her solids. My pediatrician did not recommend solids before 6 mos, but some babies need more food and are ready sooner.

I would not recommend putting cereal in a regular bottle, but they do make feeder bottles that you can put cereal mixed with breastmilk in (as well as baby food). They are specially made to prevent too much air and they have a slightly larger nipple, just be careful too much to fast can choke her.

It won't hurt to try it 1 meal a day, also check with your pediatrician to see what they recommend. Just make sure you are not replacing too much breast milk with food because all the nutrients they need are in your milk!

Don't give her anything other than breast milk until shes at least 6 months old. If you are producing enough, and it is working for you both well (no pain, no infections, let down works fine) then your body will be producing exactly what she needs. Her digestive system is not mature enough yet to cope with solids, World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breast feeding where possible for first 6 months, continuing as supplementary to increasing amounts of solids until 2 years old.

She may be going through a growth spurt. I remember when my son did that it seemed he constantly fed, and I felt completely exhausted!

While they say you can start rice cereal at 4 months, most likely that is NOT the reason your child is waking at night. If you don't consider that she is now getting old enough to be more aware of her surroundings and that she's old enough to learn how to start going to sleep on her own and getting herself back to sleep on her own, then you might be setting yourself up with more problems. As long as she is growing at a decent rate, you can most likely figure that she is still getting what she needs from you. I highly recommend reading Baby 411 (http://www.windsorpeak.com/baby411/) written by an Austin pediatrician. It really helped give me some ground rules to follow with my daughter when we transitioned her from basinette to crib at 3 months, weaned her from her pacifier, and got her to learn how to put her self back to sleep. She has had no sleep problems and I attribute it to this book.
As far as starting rice cereal, I nursed my daughter until she was 15 months and started her on rice cereal at 6 months. I just fit it in between her nursing sessions around lunch time. This was AFTER I had seen her signs of readiness to start solids.
Good Luck!

You can mix the rice cereal with your breast milk and feed it to her. Make it pretty soupy in the beginning. She also will not need much in the beginning.

Yes, 4 months is when you start giving rice cereal. I would give it to her in the morning for breakfast in case she has gas or anything, don't want to rock the boat on her sleep. If she does ok with it then you can switch it to dinner time. Hope that helps. Dr. Told me the rice cereal helps fill them up but mainly it is so that they can get more iron that they not be getting from me since she is getting bigger and I breastfeed.

i think the 3-5 hours is a sweet deal. we adjusted our sons room for better sleep by getting a noise maker, black out shades, and very dim light that is enough for me to walk in there and check on him, also make sure it is not to hot/cold in her room. these things might help you get a better night sleep. i would not feed her rice till she is five or six months old. my husband tried and tried to feed our son cereral and it only upset him and made going to bed much harder. if you tried the sleep arrangement ( hopefully she is sleeping in her own room so dads snoring isnt disturbing her). ask your pedi if you can... our son has allergies and its a pain sometimes. but if she needs it then she does. i say count your blessings on the 3-5 hours of sleep and know that she will give you longer breaks and then go back and forth till about a year. hang in there momma.

Your body adjusts to what your baby needs-more fat etc.. When you start feeding your baby foods around 6 months use your meal times...she will adjust to your schedule. That way you won't have weird times if you are out and about or if you go out to dinner. I waited for my son till he was 6 months..he was sooo chunky just from breastfeeding! (and he slept through 6-7 hours)

Good job!

Hi T.! I have a 6.5 month old little boy and just went through what you are experiencing. I did a lot of research and spoke to a few pediatricians. The American Academy of Pediatrics changed their guidelines to say that you shouldn't start food until 6months of age. There is research to support that a baby's digestive system is not mature enough for food yet and there may be a risk of allergies in the future. My son also started waking up in the middle of the night, after being a fantastic sleeper from day one (I had to wake him to eat during his first 2 weeks home!). Rice cereal will not guarentee sleeping through the night and actually it didn't help when we started feeding my son at 6mos. There are a bunch of reasons why they wake up. If you think it is food, you can try nursing her more often during the day. Does she wake up at the same time every night? I found that my son did that when he was cutting teeth (his first tooth was at 4 mo). Then he started sleeping again. Now he wakes up and I am not sure if it is because he "crawls" himself into the corner of the crib or because he just cut another tooth.

I would really try to hold off on the rice cereal.

As for a feeding schedule, she should be getting 90% of her nutrients from breastmilk right now and the rice cereal is only getting her to practice eating, not be nourished. I always nurse before "meals." I would start with giving him cereal at night because that is when your supply is the lowest. I have worked in giving him a little cereal in the AM after he nurses, gets out of his pjs and before his morning nap. Then I do cereal and a veggie at night and nurse him again before bed. Babies don't understand "meals" yet so just work it in when it works for you.

Feel free to message me if you want to discuss ;)

Have a wonderful weekend!