Cereal in Bottle??? 1St Foods Gerber?

Oatmeal will work from a bottle just fine. Just be certain you are getting plain oatmeal not one with fruit in it. You can open the nipple larger by clipping the opening in the nipple with the tip of a pair of scissors. It's simple enough to do. Or the suggestion of the Avent bottles and nipples is good to know, too.

Yes, the first foods are perfect for your baby (even second foods)...just enough for starting out. You can use them anyway you like. Ordinarily, you'll want to feed three meals a day and a snack between lunch and supper. But that's not set in stone, LOL. So experiment, use each new food three or four days before trying another new one...to watch for allergic reactions. Meats are usually added around 8/9 months and by then you can begin offering some finger foods....graham crackers, cheerios, Gerber snack items.

Just make it an enjoyable time for both of you.

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We put a little cereal in our baby's bottle at about 5 months and she liked it. We used Avent bottles and they make a special nipple for "thicker feeds". It works really well. It has three nozzle options on one nipple so as the bottle contents get thicker, you can adjust. Just make sure that you don't get cereal bunched up at the top of the nipple or it will block it altogether. I don't see any harm in putting a few teaspoons of cereal in the bottle.

I am a 29 yr. old stay at home mom with two very wonderful, lively, creative girls, 7 yrs. and 16 months old and a son on the way, who strongly disagrees with the cereal in a bottle. There is a reason why they don't make nipples for feeding cereal out of a bottle. Not only is it possibly overfeeding the baby, which can lead to health problems, but it is showing your child the wrong way to feed. You should start your baby on the first foods around now if the Doctor says ok. Start with applesauce, than introduce a new food every few days, looking for signs of an allergy. Keep going with the light foods first moving to the oranges, than the greens. Meats should not be given until around 9 months old. That alone will fill baby up. At this age baby should only be getting one cereal feeding and one first foods feeding. You should listen to your Pediatrition. Just because babies like something better is no reason for doing anything..even if it is easier doing it the way they prefer, there are risks you take when you don't follow the advice your Doctor gives. I truely believe baby should always sleep on his back, because of the risk of sids.
I myself prefer Gerber and all my friends used Gerber, so I can't tell you about any others. All that said...all mothers do have different methods and only they know what works best for them, although there are risks not listening to what professionals advise, so you don't have to agree with me, just letting you know what I think:) Being a mother is hard, but it is awesome too.

As a Registered Dietitian, I would STRONGLY advise against putting cereal in a bottle! DO NOT clip the nipple to make the opening larger -- that can lead to choking. The point of cereal is to fed it on a spoon when the baby's tongue thrust reflex has properly developed. Also, the doctor recommends putting babies to sleep on their back for a reason -- to help prevent SIDS. There is an entire campaign called "Baby Back to Sleep" to help prevent SIDS. Experts have strong recommendations for a reason -- not to make mom's lifes more difficult, but to make sure your baby grows up healthy.

Alexandra,
Due to reflux, my ped GI had us doing it at just a little before 4 months. We did 1 TBSP in a 3-4 oz bottle after BF. He'd usually drink like 2. It never helped my son sleep better, honestly.

But, the BEST bottles/nipples to use are the Dr Browns Y-cut nipples, and if you're BF, they make wide ones. Playtex makes them too (Y-cut), but they always clogged for me and they're hard to find-I bought mine online. I had no luck with the Avent ones either (they aren't Y-cut), but Avent ones can be cut with a razor. The ped GI strongly cautioned against this though.

Oh, and once I moved on from rice, I did Oatmeal and Barley in the bottles. It's the same difference I think as far as nutritionally, except the barley has a slightly stronger taste.

Good luck!
R.

Alexandra
I agree with the moms about the feedings but as far as putting your baby on his tummy or back to sleep, it's very important to put baby on his back to sleep. You are trying to avoid SIDS here. When he gets to the point of turning over on his own there is not much you can do about it but it's very important to put him on his back. There are too many studies done on this subject to ignore it. Children are at risk even up to a year old. I am a childcare provider and we have many work shops on this subject. Please look it up on the internet. Research it. PLEASE
Lonie

Like one of the other mothers my daughter has reflux and we have been adding 1 tsp of rice per ounce to her bottle since she was 2 1/2 weeks old. (She is now 8 months) I can tell you know that it never made her sleep longer she didn't sleep through the night until she was six months old, but it does seem to fill her more. That can also be a bad thing, you don't want to do it in every bottle or she will be so full that she doesn't get all of the nutrients that she could be getting from the breast milk if it was milk only. (Because she would be drinking less)

The doctor brown y-cuts are great and have worked fine for me, they are a little hard to use for the 1st 1 or 2 bottles but then they loosen up.

If your baby will spoon feed I would go ahead and feed her the baby food in between bottle, but don't let it substitute the milk. My doctor had us introduce one every two days, and my daughter did fine.

Hope this helps

I learned from experience that oatmeal clogs up in the bottle. Use rice cereal and it works much better. I use Advent bottles and the #3 flow nipple or the variable flow nipple and they both work well for cereal mixed in formula. I'm sure other bottles work fine too. 1st foods are fine. Your son will let you know if he is not ready and you can try again another day.

If you are breastfeeding do not be in any rush to start solids or cereal. The data today says you can wait until 8 to 9 months, 12 months if you want. If you really want to start use Healthy Times Brown Rice Cereal. It is sold at Whole Foods and is healthful.

There is no conclusive evidence that rice in a bottle will make your baby sleep better. I believe that key to better sleep is a good sleep routine.

1st foods are great to start with. Just no rush. Remember you want your milk supply to stay in good shape. No bananas at first they can constipate your child. Corn will do the same. Some moms just do rice cereal in the beginning. They will skip baby food. Wait until closer to 8 to 9 months and start with soft veggies mashed.

Tummy sleeping is great for babies who can roll onto the tummy. It means they are ready. When baby can not roll and is put on their tummy it can be a problem.

What is your zipcode?

Good Luck... Not to scare you but you will always be learning with your first. The second is much easier because you have experience.

I just sent this to someone else asking about first foods a couple days ago... here's a great website that I used when my son was a baby. I just printed out the age appropriate pages and stuck it up in the kitchen. Here's the link: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/solids.htm . Of course, a lot of the site is about making your own baby food and I never really did that.

I do recommend the Dr. Brown's Y nipples, as well. I fed my son his formula with rice cereal added in it all the time. Those doctors are silly about that.

Oh, and I just found this interesting article about SIDS... http://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-sci-si...

Hey Alex! (we still need to get together for our play group!)
1. definitely do rice, much easier to digest
2. The reason "they" say not to feed cereal through a nipple, is so the baby learns to eat off of a spoon, if he is doing well in this area, no need to worry about one feeding through a bottle a day.
3. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not rec solid food before age 6 mos. Our babies are born the same day, and I was going to start inroducing him this month because he is so big....16 lbs! So I am right behind you as far as foods go. It is my understanding that you pick one food at a time and only introduce a new one every 2 wks, this is to see if there are any food allergies. I think you are supposed to start with veggies..
**4 Ppppllleeeeaasse dont put your precious one to sleep on his tummy! His central nervous system is not mature enough yet to protect his airway, and this is hypothesized to be the etiology of SIDS. No amount of sleep in the world is worth waking up to your little one not breathing
Take care!
S.

Hi! i have a 4mo old. We arent doing solids yet, but will start at the end of the month. Rice is recommended because there are very low risks of allergies. You can start veggies, introducing ONE a week. Observe for any alergies. You can just mix the veggies in with the oatmeal. Check out Gerber.com for info and ways to introduce new foods.
We use the playtex nursers too (we exclusivey breast feed, with occassional bottles). The nipples have flow types. I think the playtex only have two- slow and fast but i'm not sure. Hope that helps

I am a new mommy too. Hayden was born June 20. We live in N. Arlington and do not know many people either. Email me anytime!!