Need Help W/ Starting Solids W/ 4Mo-old Who I Think Is Quite Tiny for His Age

The act of having to suck cereal through a bottle leads to chronic ear infections. I would hold off until 6 months and feed with a spoon.

Actually my sister-in-law started my daughter on homemade mashed potatoes without my say so. I was angry as all get out but my sweet baby did start putting on weight. She's been a picky eater all her life but the potatoes saved her. My neighbors use to tease me that I starve her. I didn't find humor in it at all. Anyway, she's fine or 30 years. (still loves her potatoes) Cut the bottle nipple slightly for the food and keep regular nipples for the mommy milk.

There was a similiar post yesterday or the day before, some of their answers may be helpful to you as well. :)

Including cues on when they are really ready for solid foods..

Good Luck,
J. W. MPH

Patience is the best. He will probably wear most of the solid food for a few weeks until he gets the hang of it. If he was hungry for more formula/breastmilk, he'd drink it or complain about it. If he is content, don't worry. He will be fine. Both my girls had a difficult start, and now they never stop eating! Good luck, patience is easier said than done.

We waited until she could sit up on her own, about 6 months of age. Our ped recommends this as they can choke easily prior to this and they also have the ability to turn away when full. Overfeeding can cause issues later with obesity, I've read. Be happy with where he is! Probably an instinct on being a nurse :) you see so many ill people the rest of your days.

You are in a stressful transition of returning to work and being a mom. It sounds like you have been doing everything right so why add one other stressful situation at this time. Since your pediatrican is not concerned maybe wait a month and try ceral again. My son is 5.5 months old and I have not introduced cereal yet. I'm waiting until 6 months and then it will be maybe once every other day until he figures out that he needs to eat it different then when he drinks a bottle. Good luck.

I don't understand this question. If he is still eating normally, (every few hours is normal) doesn't seem to want the cereal, and you have been told he is at a normal weight, why do you want to give him cereal? Introducing cereal is not the best first food and food intros are not encouraged until 6-9 mos when the child is interested in food and able to sit up on their own. Veggies are a much better first food and as long as your child is not hungry what is the rush? Every child grows at his/her own rate and a chart is more harmful then helpful if you use it to find undesirable qualities in baby. I was told the charts are based on formula fed babies which often grow at a different rate than babies eating the best food for them, breastfeed milk it is like compairing the growth of apples and oranges. It is wonderful that you are feeding breastmilk and know that your child is getting all he needs when you do that!

I wouldn't be concerned AT ALL about your son not starting solids yet. You could start anytime between 4-6 months. If your son is 49-50 percentile for weight don't be worried about him being too tiny. My son has always been about 35% for weight and he's fine - it's just his body type.

I didn't start my daughter on solids until 6 months and she took to it like wildfire she was so ready. You'll know when they are ready because they'll show interest in others eating, be able to sit up on their own, etc, etc. Look around Babycenter.com for signs of solid readiness.

Also, everything I remember reading says don't put formula in the bottle. I don't remember why.

I guess I'd err on the side of listening to your doctor - if he says your son's weight is fine, you're OK. Else find a new doctor?

Good luck and go easy on yourself and your son :) You're a great mom.

Cereal has fewer calories than formula so it's not likely to make him gain any weght. It also has almost no nutritional value- the only thing is added iron which will probably just cause constipation. If her is in the 50 percentile and gaining consistently I wouldn't be concerned about his weight. If you want to start solids I would start with something other than rice cereal- it's really only used because it is unlikely to cause allergy problems and fairly easily digested.

My babies were all small..to me. To my doctor.. they were fine and thriving. ( except for my last one with Downs syndrome, but that's another story) The food did seem like it would take osmosis to get into them at first.. but don't worry. My kids are now adults..and nothing wrong with thier sizes or health. My son born at 6 lbs. 2 oz. is now over 6 feet. Each child grows at thier own rate. My now 6 foot son stayed small til about 7th grade.. then shot up like a weed and gained over a foot in hieght that year alone. I had a difficult time keeping him in clothes and shoes that fit. Not to metion keeping enough food in the house. Listen to your doctor. And enjoy your little bundle now.. before he turns into a "dreaded TEENAGER" ( that happens in the blink of a eye you know ;) )

There are feeding bottles designed for cereal if you still think you need them.. but your little one may just be having trouble mastering the new method of eatting food. He may just need more practice. Mom told me the old adage.. "every spoonfull goes in at least 3 times". It did work out that way... For all the kids I've ever fed..and That includes a lot more that just my own.
Good luck and keep the wipies close by

milk or formula are THE MOST calorie-dense foods for your baby. sounds like he's growing just fine. if anything, i would delay solids until 5-6 months. sounds like he's not ready yet.

Just liquify the cereal as much as you can... but when they first start eating they spit a lot out.... it is getting used to the tongue action... If doctor says his size is fine, wouldn't worry too much about bulking him up.... your child is in the 50% and that makes him average -- which is fine. I didn't feed my 3 boys any food until 6 months.. only breastmilk. He will eventually understand how to eat... in the meantime, just add some cereal without concern of how much...good luck!

Everything I have read/heard advises against putting cereal in the bottle for a wide variety of reasons. With my son (who is now 3), I started him on solids with no problem at 4 months. My daughter, however (now 8 months) was not really ready at 4 months, so I waited, she was more ready at 5 months but she was REALLY ready at like 5.5 months. She too did not eat as much formula per feeding as my son, a little like your boy. You might consider taking your time on the solids, my Dr. said some babies don't start until 6-7 months. Good luck to you!

If your child is in the 49-50th percentile than your doing just fine. As my kid's ped used to always say good job mom. As someone said before, as long as they stay on the same curve or around that area they are just fine. My oldest child has always been on a lower curve, but was just fine. then she spurted up in growth and stsyed the same in weight. The doc said as long as both don't drop dramatically (could be malnutrition) than you are doing fine. As far as cereal goes... when I first introduced cereal it was when she could sit in a high chair and it was more like a soup at first (I mixed it with lots of breast milk). Than as she got the idea of eating off a spoon I slowly thickened it. It also helps to mix it with some other kind of baby food or puree to help with the taste. Since you are just starting solids, My ped recommended starting with veggies first since fruits are sweeter, and you want to get them used to eating veggies.
side-note... when you feed keep lots of wipes near by, a wash rag, or get a warm bath ready when you're done... you'll need it!!

i used the avent bottles also, i took a knife and made a slit, not a hole in the nipple. that way it would only open when the baby sucked on it. it worked really well, not sure if they make a special nipple for cereal.

I started putting cereal in my daughters bottle since she was about 1-1/2 months old. She just turned 5 months and I use the Avent bottles also. I use the #4 nipple for the cereal bottle. I also give her cereal with a spoon, but I always add fruit to it. She seems to like it more. Good Luck.

If your baby is at the 50th percentile, then he doesn't need to be gaining more weight. Unless your doctor becomes concerned, I would let him go at his own pace. The worst thing you can do is force feed him and gain too much and set him on the road to obesity. Most doctors and the American Academy of Pediatrics advise against putting rice in the bottle as it can lead to overeating. At 4 months, he is still young for eating. I would give him some rice cereal and see how he does but don't press it. He can do just fine on formula and breast milk for several more months. Letting him mess with the spoon is good for things other than feeding such as motor skills. After he has had rice cereal for a while, he can then get some oatmeal. He may like it better. Good Luck

Hi S.,

I would strongly urge you against putting cereal in your baby's bottle. For one, it is a choking hazard. Also, the primary reason we start our babies on solids is to get them used to the idea of eating. Your baby's primary source of nutrition remains breast milk or formula until the age of 1. Cereal is not meant to replace this in anyway at this point. If you put the cereal in the bottle, you are completely defeating the purpose of feeding him solid food, that is to say he is not learning how to eat it. It is the skill of eating itself that you are after here, not the caloric intake from the cereal.

If you remain concerned about your baby's weight, consult again with your physician. Although I would say that 50th percentile is exactly where you want your baby to be. Good luck!

Hi S.,

You don't say what kind of cereal you've been using. It takes a while for a baby to get used to eating cereal, from a spoon, etc. For the first while you should mix a tablespoon of cereal with several tablespoons milk or formula. If you're using rice cereal, maybe try oatmeal instead. (The rice cereal is pretty gross.) If you've tried oatmeal, maybe try sweet potatoes or pears. I wouldn't advise putting cereal in the bottle.

Best,
R.

You don't need another person to tell you not to worry about the weight gain. My son straddled the 3rd percentile for the first eight months of his life. The doctor always said that the most important thing is that he continued on whatever curve he started on.

It's totally normal how he reacts to cereal. He's so little that he may not have quite lost his etrusian (SP?) reflex. He's only had liquids in his mouth - it takes him a while to figure out how to move the food to the back of his throat and swallow it, but he will get there.

I never thought my son would adapt to solids. He even hated the spoon for a while. Suddenly, when he was about seven months old (we started at six), he started eating everything and never looked back. He's increased his weight to the whopping 10th percentile and claps his feet together with excitedment for things like spinach, asparagus, and avacado.

So, like others, I don't think you need to put cereal in the bottle. The whole point of solids early on is to help them learn how to eat. The bulk of his nutrition and calories will still come from formula/breastmilk for a very long time.

I worried about everything when I went back to work. It's very hard to go from being with them every moment and seeing everything yourself to being away from them, wondering what they are doing the whole day and if they are being cared for properly. It took us a few months to get into a routine, but I don't worry about him all day any more.

I suggest that you be a bit more patient with your child's weight gain. He is in the 50th% range, which is absolutely fine - that's average. He'll steadily gain weight and will "bulk up" in time. I would say wait until the 6 month check and see how he's doing before you act.

But if not, I still suggest that you hold off on solids until he is 6 months old. That is what is suggested from many sources. But if not again, then just stick to the cereal and feed it to him with a spoon. Again, patience is necessary. He'll get it. It just takes time and practice for the child to really take it in.

Don't give him cereal in a bottle. Again, suggested by many circles and pediatricians. Bottles are for liquids and bowls/spoons are for solids.

I am first time mom like you (of a one year and three day year old). If there is anything my son is teaching me, it is patience. Patience with the process of his growth and development. Good luck!

Why do you want to "bulk him up"? I'm sure he is getting enough to eat, and stops when he is full. We shouldn't be teaching our babies to eat everything they possible can take in.

None of my kids ever took more than 6 oz at a time, even when they were a year old. Unless your son has health problems, or barfs up everything he drinks, he is getting enough. Our ped says no solids until 6 months, it's just not necessary.

I use to put a tiny bit of cereal in my daughter's bottle at night (only bottle she got) to get her to sleep at night. She was huge and didn't seem to stay full for very long.

Most doctor's have a fit if you mention cereal in a bottle because of a choking hazzard. In the 70's and 80's everyone fed their babies cereal and baby food out of a bottle feeder. I never heard of anyone choking if you didn't make the nipple hole bigger. You were more or less feeding them soup. They don't sell them anymore at all. Probably because mom's were opening up the nipple hole and trying to feed thick foods through it...thus causing choking.

If your son is in the 50% I really wouldn't worry about it....studies are showing now that they think we develop most of our fat cells as young children. I wouldn't even try to bulk him up. No telling what you might be setting up for his future....just let his body style be what his body style will be.

S.,

He's in the 50th percentile - that's not tiny! Don't worry about him as he's growing just fine. Your pediatrician should be telling you this. I would not put cereal in his bottle, because he can choke on it; our moms and grandmoms used this practice, but we know better today.

I'm the mom of three girls. My first was a hearty 98th percentile baby who is now six and just the perfect size for her height and age. My second, who is two, is our "skinny minnie." At about the age of four months, she fell to the bottom of the charts for weight, because she started noticing the world and would not attend to nursing. She remains the same to this day, and I follow her around with bites of food. While she is petite, she is happy and healthy. My third who is only eleven weeks old is like her older sister a hardy eater. So, I do know how it feels to be worried about a baby's weight.

Good luck and relax!

check the post on this very subject a little further down. There's some good advice there. :)

T.
www.ReadandGrow.com

I have always put cereal in the formual with my two daughters. Avent makes nipples for thicker liquids, which is perfect. My daughter who is 8 months now only drinks 5-6 oz at a time, I add 2 small tablespoons of the Gerber single grain rice cereal (w/ DHA). I had the same concern as you do, my daughter is tiny compared to my first born so I was worried about her growth/weight gain but was told by the doctor that she's just fine.
My doctor also recommended giving her juice for the weight gain, but I think you baby boy is a little too young to start juices yet. I think the recommended age for juice is 6 months. But maybe try some yogurt or mix some rice cereal with formaul in a bowl (kind of a soup thickness) with a banana. I put the banana in a blender and mix the two together. My daughter lowves this! She eats it every morning.

Don't put it in the bottle. He needs to learn how to eat, its all practice a this time. Don't worry about his size, he'll be fine. Every kid is different.
I'm a paramedic and I pumped for both my kids for a year so I know how hard that can be! I doubt that the formula has anything to do with his size, but if you want to get more breast milk in him, I found pumping in the car before I left work worked. I kept magazines in mine and took 15 minutes of quiet time before I went home and added another pump to my shift. You will have spontaneous milk to nurse your baby once he latches on when you get home! Enjoy your little boy, I am the lucky but tired mom of 2 of those!

Breast milk and formula both have many, many more calories than than cereal or fruit or other baby foods. I have fairly serious allergies and my allergist warned me against feeding her foods, particularly grains, before 6 months when the gut is completely sealed. Feeding too early increases a child's chances of having allergies. My mom put cereal in my bottle to get me to sleep through the night at 3 weeks, and now we both wish she hadn't, but she just didn't know. I did not offer my daughter food until she was 6 months old. She was in the 95th %, sitting up, grabbing things, starting to pull up a bit. She wasn't really interested in the food yet and didn't show an interest until she was 7.5-8 months, and then ate with gusto because she was finally ready. Let your baby boy eat when he's ready, which is probably not yet.

"Tiny for his age?" How is the 50th percentile tiny? That means he's bigger than half the kids his age? Please do not rush the solids. The American Academy of Pediatrics advises against solids before 6 months of age. Also, as others have said, he still is getting most of his nutrition through 1 year from breastmilk/formula. As a nurse, I would think the AAP recommendations would be important to you.

If you feel you must feed him cereal, please do not put it in a bottle. It is a choking hazard.

Hi S.,

I was always told not to use the baby cereal in the bottle---can cause choking---how about pureeing some of the foods you love & mixing with cereal--mash a banana, puree some avacado, all these ideas I got from a book called Babies First Meals by Annabel Karmel--try Amazon.com for your cheapest rate----you can flavor the cereal with fruit & see if that helps....let me know if you have any other questions, but my daughter wasnt even in the 10th percentile & she did just fine with these purees---she drank out of a bottle (all expressesd breast milk) due to going back to work immediately 1 week after having her--so I used a breast pump for 15 months. My daughter didnt too much like cereal either. I mixed it with breast milk & then a little banana & off we went with the solids............

if he is spitting it out he may not be ready to start cereal yet. Wait a week and try again. The reflex tongue thing(I am not sure what it is called) might not be ready. Whatever you do don't force the food in his mouth. Also once he has tried bananas you can mix it with the cereal. Most babies like that more than just plain. My doc told me to never put the cereal in the bottle. You end up giving them more than they can handle and the baby doesn't learn to use the spoon. Babies start mastering the spoon anywhere from 4-6months so as long as your doctor is ok with his weight don't push him. You could try to hold him out a little with his bottle to see if he would drink more. My boy was only eating 5oz every three hours at that age and now at 5 months he is up to 6 to 7oz every 3 to 4 hours. I hope this helps and hang in there he will surprise you one day and it the whole jar.

As a nurse you should already be aware of the choking hazard that comes with feeding a baby food in a bottle...not to mention part of developement is learning to eat. 50 percentile is just that 50% he is right in the middle, perfectly average. Giving solids before 6 months puts him at risk for Open Gut which is horrible. Solids aren't needed until one year of age, up till then are meant as a learning process, they cannot learn the skill if you just give it in a bottle to fatten him up...especially since he is average as it is.

Hi,

Avent makes a #3 nipple that has a slit in it vs the tiny holes for bulkier things. It workd really well with Rice cereal. That is how we started introducing our little girl to solid food. We gave her rice cereal in her bottle for a week or so before trying it off the spoon. It worked for her and she loves her baby food now.

hey girl,
your avent bottle should have a croos cut nipple just for cereal. also do oatmeal not rice in the milk, and if you want to spoon feed him this is what always works alittle desert mixed with the oatmeal cereal for babies, they love that sweetness and you;re sneaking in the cereal. try snipping a bigger hole in the nipple if you cant find the cross cut nipple in your package or buy one

I waited til 6mo for my babies...you do what you think is best...your gut will tell ya!

Just to encourage you... You probably don't need to encourage cereal. I don't think it has any more calories or nutrition than formula. If your baby has been primaraly breastfed the charts might not give you an acurate read (they are based more on formula fed infants). At anyrate that percentile means your baby is right in the middle (which is perfect). Especially if he's been there consistently. Unless there is a specific reason to start early, you may want to wait until 6 months.