Breastfeeding and Cereal?!

Hi F.,

I was wondering if there is any chance that your son may have an ear infection? My son started doing the same thing at about that age even though I wasn't giving him cereal. I was completely baffled until I found out that was the problem. It hurt for him to swallow. It may not be that but it's worth looking into.

A.

The same thing happend to me when I started my daughter on cereal. She just wasn't as interested in breast feeding. She really wanted to explore the tastes and textures of the cereal.

I understand your not wanting to stop breast feeding. It always made me feel like I was serving the ultimate purpose of being a woman! I miss it!!

My advice is to just give him cereal once a day. Your milk is still the most important source of nourishment for him! Good luck!!

F.-
I don't think it has much to do with the cereal, although I strongly agree that 4 months is too young to introduce food. The current AAP recommendation is 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding. I think you should call your local La Leche Leaugue for possible reasons he is refusing to nurse. You did mention he uses a bottle that could be the reason he is refusing. I did not know much about breastfeeding so I gave my daughter bottles from birth that were nothing like the breast. First you are supposed to wait 1-2 weeks before introducing a bottle and second it needs to be a nipple that is similar to your own (shape and is harder to suck). Otherwise some babies will favor the bottle because they do not have to work. There are some nipples I have seen in magazines that adjust the flow to how hard the baby is sucking more like the breast instead of it all just flowing out. My daughter refused to nurse for 2 months and I pumped during that time and tried many different things. Finally I just had to get rid of the bottle and pacifier and a couple of hours later she latched on and would not take anything else. She actually was around the same age as your baby when she started to refuse nursing. Don't give up breastfeeding without a good fight, it's an amazing thing that I would have regreted if I had given up.
Brekka

I think cereal at 4 months is a little young but differs with all babies. The first thing I think of is a nursing strike. We went through one at that age and my daughter did the same thing. Don't give up on breastfeeding though-you will get over it. Make sure he is good and hungry when you feed him. Make sure you are in a quiet room with no distractions. Don't force him on the breast but don't give in and give him a bottle either-that will just enforce that he will get other food if he refuses the breast. I took a "nursing vacation" when we had problems-basically took 3 days off work before the weekend-and by Friday she was happily breastfeeding again-with no crying or whinning at all. Keep at it! It's the best thing possible for him!

Hi Felica,

In my opinion, four months is really early to start with cereal. I have been told by pediatricians that until about 6 months, babies systems are not set up to take any nutrition from anything other than breastmilk/formula. The reason Dr.s tell us to begin feeding babies cereal/fruits/vegs sooner is that many times parents WANT to feed their child, or they think it will help with sleeping longer through the night.

The question I have always asked of my Dr's is this: When your child was this age, did you do what it is you are advising me to do with my child to yours? Most of the time, the answer was no (amazingly enough!) They many times will just give you the answer they think you want. Is it going to hurt your baby to give him cereal now? No. Will he benefit from it nutritionally? Again, no.

None of my four kids had anything other than breastmilk/formula until they were past 6 months and never had any problems nutritionally. If I were you, I would stop the cereal, go back to strictly breastmilk so that your baby doesn't self wean at four months. Good luck and let us know how things are going.