Should I Start Feeding My 4 Month Old Cereal Just Because She Is 4 Months?

The motion of the tongue for breast feeding is SO different than for eating solids. Most babies who are given solids at a young age will use their tongue like they usually do for the breast and end up pushing the food out of their mouths. You only get to breast feed them so long, and pumping at work can be difficult when the workplace is not supportive. Supplementing with formula till first birthday would be better than jumping into cereal right away.

I think you answered your own question. You don't think she's ready, so she isn't, lol!

Personally, I skipped the cereal all together anyway. It doesn't really have much nutrition so I just went straight to veggies and fruits at about 6 months (a little earlier, but he started grabbing food off of our plates and eating it. Was his way of telling us he was ready).

It's a HUGE myth that cereal will help them sleep through the night so don't let anyone tell you that.

Watch your baby. She'll let you know when she's ready.

Good luck!

it is a good thing to listen to experienced moms, your doctor and check things out on the internet. but only up to a point, and you're there. information can really overwhelm you and cause you to second-guess yourself way more than you should. i'm guessing this is your first child and you're not yet comfortable with your instincts. but it sounds to me as if you are a tuned-in mom who has a really good grasp on your own baby, who will not correspond exactly with charts, statistics and anybody else's kid. quit reading and listening quite so much, and trust your bond with your daughter. there is no pressing reason to feed her anything but breastmilk if she is healthy and thriving and not giving you indications of wanting more. your pediatrician is giving you a gift.....he's telling you that he trusts your instincts and is inviting you to do the same. too many doctors practice by the book and broad guidelines without ever paying attention to the individual child, or listening to the mother and allowing her knowledge of her baby to guide him. trust yourself.
khairete
S.

Nope, she doesn't need cereal right now. In fact, my boys never ate baby cereal. Its just processed junk anyway. wE made all our own babyfood and both started on homemade applesauce at 6mos old.

www.wholesomebabyfood.com is a great site for homemade baby food. 1hour once a month made enough food for our boys for an entire month. :)

My son is 4.5months, and at the last doctor's visit, the pediatrician talked about it and left it up to me. It has sounded throughout our visits with him, that he generally expects feeding would start, but that it's not a big deal if it doesn't. I'm hoping to hold off until he's 6months old, but he's been increasing his feedings and not sleeping through the night, and has reflux, and I wonder if he needs more calories than I'm giving him. I'm kind of playing it by ear. His issues have also made me think about supplementing with formula.

My almost 2-year-old was exclusively breastfed, and I did not feed him anything or give him anything until 6 months of age. It seemed like the right time for him, and it took him about 3-4weeks to really get used to the cereal and be ready to try new things. I nursed him until 9months when he really became distracted, and it got more difficult. He was a great eater and sleeper, and I didn't want to mess with something that was working well.

So, if what's going on for you now is working, keep with it! You're the one doing the feeding, etc! :)

I'm guessing that your answers will be as varied as your search results. I gave my kids cereal at 3-4 months, and they have no problems with ear infections and no allergies. They do both have sensitive skin (really it's just dry, not like an allergy), but we have two dogs and a cat and they don't have any problems with that or living in the country, etc. It really comes down to "what do you want to do?" My daughter did nurse until she was 13-14 months, my son stopped at 5 mo b/c of lactation issues (my milk quit coming in and he wasn't gaining enough weight anyways-in 1 mo, he gained less than 1 oz). They sleep well, have healthy eating habits, etc, so it doesn't seem to have affected them negatively in any way, but I'm not one of those moms who is going to say they're better b/c of us introducing more foods. I did find my kids loved veggies, and actually enjoyed pureed soups, etc, and I loved that b/c they got so many nutrients from them. I learned that when my kids were about 6 mo, I guess, so I tried to do cereals (unsuccessfully) until I started mixing in homemade soups. Good luck with whatever you do.

I solely breastfed my daughter for her first six months, then started her on cereal. I continued breastfeeding until she was 14-15 months. The baby really does get all the nutrition needed through breast milk for the first six months and often doesn't have the enzymes to break down cereal before that age.

You may want to consider another pediatrician if he isn't providing you with advice and guidance, especially if this is your first child. You should feel comfortable asking questions and getting answers. In the end you are the parent and it's your decision, not your mom's, not the women at work, not women on your husband's side. Good luck.

Hi,

I have 3-month- old son and I can say that he is not a good eater either. He also eat not longer than 5 minutes, but he's gaining very well, so I'm not worried. I plan to start supplementing his food when he turns 6 months. I did the same with my daughter. She was on breast-milk until she finished 6 months and then I started giving her cereal and once a while apple, carrots, potato and everything was fine. And my doctor recommended to wait with supplementing until she was 6-month-old. Thus, if your daughter is not hungry and she's gaining well, I would wait at least 1,5 month. And I think, when the baby turns 6-months, it is a good time to start with new food ( not wait until the baby will turn 1). Month by month baby needs more food, but necessarily milk. So good luck and just do what your intuition tells you.

D.

You are the mom not them. If you think she's not ready, then by all means, don't! It's annoying to get pressure from others about things like this and how you should do things. We start solids in our kids at 6 months. Personally I think 4 months is a little early, but everyone has their opinion (obviously!) That's too bad about your workplace giving you problems with pumping. Is there someone you can talk to about that? As for the nursing 5 minutes, babies become very efficient as they get older with nursing. So,if she's gaining well, I wouldn't worry about only nursing 5 min.
Just remember, you're doing a wonderful job mama!

Signs of readiness to eat are.. All of these things will happen around the same time that the gut matures and it ready to digest food. The age is different for all babies, so you need to go by the signs, not by an age chart.

*Sits up unassisted
*Acts interested in eating
*Can chew and swallow small, soft pieces of food
*Lost tongue thrust
*Can pick up large chunks of food and bring it to the mouth

Both of my children have had all of these signs by 5mo. I have never done purees or cereal, I simply start out with tiny pieces of whole foods. My 6mo eats little bites of whatever we're having for dinner (healthy and age appropriate of course). She loves to eat, sits in her high chair and can chew and swallow perfectly. Some babies are ready to eat by 5mo and others really aren't ready for solids until after 12mo. I would go with your gut and not force your baby to eat before SHE is ready. My feeling is that if you force a baby to eat before they're ready that you're much more likely to end up with digestive issues and a kid that's super picky.

Also, solids do NOT make your baby sleep through to night. My first son didn't sleep through the night until 2 and my 6mo still wakes up several times at night. That's totally a myth. :)

If you don't think your daughter is ready, then wait. Starting babies too early can increase allergy risk. I was told babies really only need breastmilk (or formula) for the first year, and baby food is just practice for eating. Most of their caloric intake is from breastmilk. We started our son on baby food at 6 months & my daughter at 5 months. I also exclusively breastfed. As long as your daughter is currently gaining weight fine, then just wait. You should wait for cues that she is interested...like grabbing food from your plate or otherwise showing interest in what's on the dinner table. Good luck.

You dont have to start feeding your daughter cereal just because she is 4 months. If she is not interested in solid food and is getting enough from nursing then I would just keep nursing her. At most I would "try" to feed her just so she could get used to having other textures in her mouth and learning the coordination needed to swallow cereal. Starting on rice cereal wont increase allergy risks, it isn't any different then if you start formula supplementing.

Every baby is different. My son wanted food, would reach for food and try and grab it from our plates when he was 3 months old. He was very happy to start rice cereal at 4 months. My friend's son didn't want anything to do with any solid food until he was almost a year. Now they are both happy healthy toddlers running around. Your daughter will let you know when she is ready for more food and as long as you give it to her you're fine!

I agree, with everyone here. I have a soapbox and it is "Breastmilk and Formula are nutritionally complete". There is no need for other food until your baby is ready to start learning how to chew, well...gum it to death, and then swallow. Stage 1 baby food and cereals are for keeping the baby safe while introducing new textures.

It sounds like you already know the answer! If you don't think your daughter is ready, then she isn't! You just keep doing what you are doing. Your instincts are there, and you just need to trust them. I didn't give my baby anything but breast milk until she was almost 7 months old. She is 9 months old and still breastfeeding great and eating solid foods as well. Also, breastfeeding over a year is just fine! Whatever makes you and your baby happy so keep on going! You're doing great.

The rule of thumb I was told was around 6 months... unless the baby is ready before. The way to tell if your baby is ready is if and only if - they can hold their head up without support, have doubled their birth weight, and show interest in what you are doing when you eat (moving mouth when you choo or opening their mouth when you put a bit in your mouth). I don't remember how old my oldest was, but my 5 yr old was about 8 mo, my 4 yr old was about 7 mo and my 2 yr old was about 3 mo when we started giving them cereal & small amounts of baby food. The reason they all started at different times was they all reached the milemarker (rule of tumb) at different times... my 2 yr old was 8# at birth and 16# by the time he was just over 2 mo old.

Honestly... breastmilk is all they really need for the first year. If you choose not to give anything else, it won't hurt them. But I do use the other stuff as well... but remember, if you do choose to give your baby the cereal or baby food, only give her one new item every 5 days or so. That way you are able to watch for allergies... if she does have a reaction, you will know what she is reacting to if you give her the 5 day window. And when you first start giving cereal, it is almost soup... super runny (I mixed mine w/ breastmilk), but use a spoon to feed her with - I never put cereal in a bottle.

As for supplementing breastmilk w/ formula - I did it with all my kids from birth. You see I have family member who don't believe in breastfeeding, so if they are around I respect them & give a bottle of formula. My work never really gave me a hassle about pumping (well except my boss - she didn't believe in nursing), but I had to do it in the lady's restroom & would store the milk in the employee freezer. No one ever said anything as long as my work load got done... with the expetion of my boss's personal input about breastfeeding being a waste of time & that I just plain out had to many kids. There are laws that protect you as a nursing mom - that let you pump at work without any issues. As for your mom, I hope she will be understanding to your situation & know she will love you for doing all that you can for your baby.

You have already given your baby the best start you can, and have shown her so much love... just keep up what you are doing. Remember when it come to your little one "mother (you) knows what is best". Take care & congratz on you baby.

My son's dr told me that I would know when he was ready for solids. At the time I didn't understand, but then there came a point when breastfeeding wasn't enough for him anymore and he started showing interest in what I was eating. He started eating solids right before he turned 6 months. I also had a bunch of people telling me to start feeding him solids at 4 months and my dr discouraged that saying that it is not recommended due to allergies and you also don't want to encourage them too early to not eat breastmilk since it's better for them and they get all they need from that. I say do what you feel is right for your baby, you're going to get LOTS of advice and it's not always good advice from family and friends.

I nursed both of my boys for two and a half years each, but I didn't start them on solids until they were ready (which was about 8-9mo for both of them, they were walking before taking solids! lol!) My best advice is to do only what your daughter and you are ready for. Four months sounds awfully young to me to be starting solids, but every mom is different. There are signs that you can look for to see if your daughter is ready for solids. Can she sit up unaided? Can she hold her head steady? Is she dexterous enough to at least experiment with spoons and bowls? Does she seem hungry even after nursing? On the other hand, do you see signs that she's perfectly content with her current diet?

If you do feel like trying it, don't be disappointed if she's not into it. Simply put it aside for another month then give it another try. She'll let you know when she's ready.

I wouldn't force solids on her before she's ready or interested in them. To me, that seems like a good way to set up bad eating habits and dinner time power struggles. I think your instincts seem right on the matter. As always, do what YOU feel is best for your own child and let other people's unsolicited advice slide off your back.

I would also suggest putting some information together about the benefits of breastfeeding and presenting them to your boss, with the comment that you're sure your boss wouldn't ask your daughter to give breastfeeding up because of a very little, temporary inconvenience. I also know that there are federal laws protecting the rights of breastfeeding mothers, but I'm not sure if there are any that apply to the workplace, you might think of asking the La Leche League about it. It could give you some peace of mind about work.

Hope this helps.

Our pediatrician made sure we fed our baby cereal everyday because it is a good source of iron. However, our daughter wasn't ready at 4 months -- by 5 months, she was looking interested in us eating and so that's when we started. There are 2 different professional recommendations 4-6 months both with good reasons, and nobody knows the "best" answer, so parents have to know their reasons and decide what is best for each kid. (And, try not to let your mom guilt you too much; you are obviously a conscientious parent and making good choices for your baby.)

As far as pumping goes, I know pumping can be hard at work. It will get easier when she isn't drinking as much per day, so hang in there, BUT don't stress if it becomes too much for you. You can supplement with 1-2 bottle of formula a day and still use breastmilk for all the rest to still retain the health benefits of breastfeeding.

You have already gotten some good answers - you will receive a lot of well meaning advice as a new parent and should feel free to ignore most of it. What worked for their kids must not be true for yours and since YOU are the mom of your child - trust your instinct.

My two cents is NO. Many other moms have mentioned that an age is not a good reason to feed solid food to your child. Usual age to start food is 6 mths. That is avg. As a student and practitioner of nutrition for many yrs. and a mom of a thriving 14 yr. old. Here are my thoughts. Starting cereal tends to set children up for constipation at a later age. Grains are more complex to digest than veggies or fruit. It is advisable to start with veggies or fruit first, then go to grains. Also, only if your child is interested. A good measure is if your child begins to grab food from your plate and put it in their own mouth.
Starting with veggies is preferable.
Hope this helps.
L. M

If your doctor is brushing off your questions and concerns, I would find another doctor for her. If she isn't nursing well, I would try her on a small amount of formula; my son refused to nurse and when I pumped, he refused to drink the breast milk, but the formula went down without a hitch. If she does well with formula, then you could put a small amount of rice cereal in the formula to thicken it. Good luck!

Hi,
I have 2 strictly bottle fed kids - they are now teenagers - both are bright, healthy, and well adjusted. My kids both ate cereal very early - My oldest at 5 weeks and my youngest at 2 weeks. My oldest was prone to ear infections - my youngest never had one.
You are the mom. You need to go with your gut. Momma's instinct is usually right... If you want to supplement, do it. If you want to feed cereal, do it. If you want to go to bottles 100% do it. It's your baby... You know your baby best.
YMMV
LBC

As L. as your daughter is gaining weight and developing fine with just breastmilk, there is no need to introduce anything else. Pediatricians now recommend holding off on introducing cereals and foods until the child is 6 months old. You should wait until she shows signs of being developmentally ready for solids - able to hold her head up without support for extended periods of time; able to sit upright with little to no assistance; shows interest in foods (intensely studying you when you eat, mimicking you eating). Also, another rule of thumb is that they have doubled their birth weight.

My son was 6 months old when we started introducing foods. We tried 1 food per week. By 10 months old he was eating whatever we ate and was doing great with it.

As for your pumping at work issues, you are federally protected to have the right to pump. There are laws stating that you should have a private place to pump without interruption (and I think there's something saying that it should be a place other than a bathroom).

You absolutely DO NOT need to feed 4 month old cereal.

I think it is a personal decision.

I have decided to put off solids because I have a milk supply that drops at the drop of a hat. At 7 months, my baby is healthy, happy and exclusively breastfed. Of course he grabs for food in our hands, but he also grabs for anything in my hands - so I don't use that as a fool proof indicator. When he displays curiousity over what I'm eating (a pear for instance), I will simply let him suck on it or cut up a few pieces and put it in his mesh feeder.

It really is only our culture that pushes solids so early - many others don't. I personally think that our ways of doing things can sometimes interrupt what nature intended.

Well, to answer your first question, 'Should I start feeding my baby cereal just because she is four months', my answer is no. It is my opinion, and my experience, that at four months their bowels are not developed enough yet to start them on solid foods. The American Academy of Pediatrics also agrees with this, and recommends no solid foods be introduced to babies before 6 months of age. I started my first child on cereal when he turned 6 months, since that was the recommendation. With my second, I had more confidence to follow my own mothering instincts, and didn't introduce food until he really seemed interested on his own, so he didn't have any cereal until he was 7 or 8 months. And even then, he mostly was fed by breast milk, the cereal was just supplemental. I now have two boys who are very healthy, good body weights, and rarely get sick. My oldest didn't get his first ear infection until he was 4 years old. He is now 8 and has had 2 ear infections in his entire life so far. My youngest, who is 3, has never had one. As a matter of fact, my youngest has never had any type of illness that required any type of oral medication, with the exception of when he had thrush when he was less than a year old. But that is pretty common with breastfed babies. So, my best advice is to follow your own instincts, and pay no mind to others advice. You know your baby best of all.

My son was 7 months before I started giving him cereal. He was fine with breastmilk and didn't seem overly hungry, he just ate when he needed to. Around 7 months was when he seemed to be hungry 5 minutes after he nursed well. He would be screaming cause he was so hungry. Once he started cereal he was fine but still only ate what he needed and I never pushed. I still breastfed though up until 1 year as that was still probably his main source of food. Just don't let anyone let you feel guilty. Every kid is different. I've had some friends have to start cereal at 3 months cause the kids just were always hungry. You know your child better than anyone else.

Unsolicited advice was one of the most annoying parts of my son's first few months of life. Everyone's an 'expert' when it comes to babies - especially cereal feeding, for some reason. Every time I saw certain people, they would harass me about 'Why aren't you feeding him cereal yet?'. I started cereal at about 6 months, but just for fun or practice - not nutrition. I say follow your instincts and don't let people's well-meaning but possibly incorrect advice alter what you believe to be the best parenting style for your situation. There is no wrong choice, really. If something works for you, do it. I have read that four months is pretty early to be starting solids, though, and there is really no medical need for the baby to eat any solids until they are a year old - so, I think it's fine to supplement with formula at 6 months. By the way, pumping at work is hard, and I commend you for that - you sound like a GREAT mom who is doing the best for your baby, and you shouldn't feel guilty about supplementing with formula at 6 months. I think that's pretty wrong of your mom to guilt-trip you - it doesn't sound like she had to go to work, so she didn't have to pump, so she doesn't understand! I'm sorry you're getting such conflicting and emotion-laden advice, but your answer lies somewhere between these two extremes I think, and I also think whatever choice you make will be the right one.
Lots of love,
A.

I second LC D's comment about lots of advice here, but I also think it's funny that so far, everyone else is saying the same thing - you should follow your instincts. My second baby just turned 6 months, and we have just started experimenting with cereal. He's not too impressed, but he's a good nurser, and is gaining weight well, so I am not worrying. According to this pediatrician (who started telling me that I should be trying him on cereal at 4 months, btw) the only reason to start so early is because there are studies that show babies who wait to start have texture issues with real food. So it takes a little longer to get them used to eating. I did see a little of this, but it lasted about a week... I also wouldn't worry about how much breast milk she's getting if she's gaining weight. It feels like my little guy can't possibly be getting enough, but at 6 months he's 28 inches and 18 pounds, so there is evidence that he's getting plenty:) Good luck, and don't let anyone make you feel guilty about following your instincts!

I'm afraid you'll get lots of conflicting advice here, too. But there's no reason to start your breastfeeding four month old on cereal. With both of my children, I began dabbling with cereal and mashed foods around 6 months, but relied on breastfeeding for their nutrition. Neither were very interested until around 8 months, and both were still nursing but eating a variety of foods (mostly homemade baby foods) by 9 months.

Work with your company so that you can pump as much as you need to. My company was accepting, although I was relegated to an unused office with a frosted glass door. That was 15 years ago and I made it work. Most companies now have actual policies about pumping and most states have laws protecting breastfeeding mothers in the workplace. Talk to your HR person.