Too Early for Cereal? - Owensville,MO

My daughter was extrememely constipated on rice cereal, so know that you might be introducing more problems than you are fixing. There are lots of people who say you shouldn't start kids on grains until later than the usual 4 to 6 months because their tummies aren't equipped to handle it yet...they recommend starting with fruits and veggies, which I know is no help to you. There is a question about whether starting solids too soon causes food allergies, but now they are questioning whether waiting too long makes it worse....no one really knows........

It's not a good idea to start cereal so young. Babies - human and animal- were meant to start their lives consuming only milk (or formula). His tummy is not ready to process "food".

Wow I am surprised at all the moms saying no. I started my son on a tsp of rice cereal per 4 oz of formula at 4 weeks old. He had acid reflux and thickening up the formula a little helped a lot. I never had any issues with it giving him an upset tummy--but he did puke non-stop anyway so I probably wouldn't have known! He puked LESS with it added though. ?? Good luck!

My son too is on nutramigen works great but doesnt keep them full long I would agree way to early to start on cereal.My son was 4 months when I started feeding him a little rice cereal at that point we were at 6-8 oz every 2-3 hours...I say just keep giving him the bottle...good luck

all babies are different. My first born was not getting full on formula alone and I gave him cereal at about 10 weeks. He slept great and actually had less spitting up and stomach issues. He had no problems digesting it at all. I think it can't hurt to try it and if it doesn't help then wait a few weeks and try it again.

You know what's best for your baby. If you feel he needs more, by all means add a little "rice" cereal to his bottle. Make sure the hole in the nipple is big enough. Don't make it too thick. My first daughter was very colicy. At seven weeks she was taking a lilttle cereal in her bottles and it made all the difference in the world. Good luck.

If his stomach is so sensitive then no you do not need to start cereal. He will end up with a major stomach ache and you will be back to square one. Babies are supposed to feed every 3-4 hours. Maybe you should ask the doctor about it, as if it is okay to start feeding him more formula in one sitting. It seems like he is overeating at this point. I would get it checked out.

No!!!No!!!No!!!No!!!No!!!No!!!No!!!No!!! 10 weeks is waaaaaaaaayyyyy to young for any type of solid foods!
call your doctor and a nurse ask what things you can do. They probably will tell you keep feeding him when he's hungry.
My son was just like that. It turns out that he was just destined to be big boy. His dad's family he the boy's are huge!! And I have huge boys on my side too.

DON'T DO IT! Unless a pediatrician or gastroentorologist advises you to put cereal in the bottle, don't do it! I imagine your son is on nutramigen because of some allergy or other GI issue, and you definitely don't want to introduce anything else to upset his system if that's the case.

Adding cereal to the bottle can be dangerous, and deadly if its aspirated into his lungs. Also, starting solids too early makes him more prone to having food allergies/sensitivities when he's older. The push now is to wait until 6 months before introducing solids (and that includes cereals).

I would ask the pediatrician their thoughts because 5+ oz seems like a lot to me at that age. The eating every 2-3 hrs is very normal. If he's just eaten and you think its too soon to feed him again try distracting him - take him for walks, read books, etc. Trust me, if he's really hungry, he'll let you know.

No, it's too early to add cereal to the bottle. You really shouldn't add it to a bottle anyway. Your baby is too young to be getting solids. But if you haven't talked to his doctor about it then I would do that to see what the doctor says.

That is way to young! I know this girl who won't believe the doc and just started her baby on solids and she is 4 weeks old! I mean seriously neither of my babies started till 6 months bc I heard it can cause asma (sp?) and digestive problems! Also you never want to put it in the bottle its a choking hazard! Talk to your pedi he will tell you what is best!

I don't use Nutramigen, But I use Similac Neosure (which is a preterm infant formula that has a high content of everything you can think of. My son was born nearly 2 month premature.) They actually started putting cereal into his bottles at the NICU once they took out the feeding tube and it was no longer needed. I have continued to put cereal in his bottle under advice from the NICU and his doctor, because of severe GERD.
Sense Nurtramigen is a hypoallergenic formula if your son has allergies I would say no. But if he is just on it for the colic I would say call his doctors office and ask the nurse or the doctor about putting cereal into his bottle.
Of course depending on the cereal you use (I use Gerber mixed grain cereal...I have heard rice isn't that great.) It will put extra calories and vitamins and minerals into his diet. Which is good for an under weight baby but not so much for a normal or over weight baby.
If you do decide to start putting cereal in his bottles you'll have to buy a faster flow nipple for the bottles and if he isn't really good at eating from the slower flow I wouldn't suggest doing it either. You'll have to be careful with how much cereal you put in the bottle because it expands (at least the stuff I use does) so if you use to much the bottle has to be remade. Sense my son is also still eating 6-7 times a day at 6 oz each time I don't even put a whole teaspoon it. It's like half of that. Or maybe a bit more then half. Good luck I hope this helped. =)

If you think you should then do it. It's not going to hurt him and his tummy is just not big enough to hold more than what you are already feeding. Beware of all the people who take the rice cereal issue so seriously! My ped told me mothers have been feeding their babies as long as we've been around and you need to trust your instinct. I don't know you or your son well enough to decide, but if you think he needs more calories then give it a try.

with colic already being a stomach issue I would not push the cereal as it will probably make things worse. I had a daughter with colic and she had it for 5 1/2 months and nothing seemed to work but didn't even consider starting cereal until at least 4 months.

Are you sure he is hungry? his fussing could be from the colic issues and yes they will take more food as it is soothing until it hits their little tummy a while later then fussing starts again. I would try to wait at least 3 hours before feeding again. You need to find out from your pediatrician how many ounces he should be eating at this age and add up what you are actually feeding him and see if he is eating more or less. If he is sleeping through the night then he will eat more during the day but just make sure he is getting enough and if it's excessively over then ask your dr what you should do. You may be surprised that he may be eating what he needs especially if he sleeps 12 hours in a 24 hour period.

If your son has been put on Nutramigen, then I'm guessing there are some digestive/nutritional issues that have been troubling him. Why would you want to mess around with that?

The AAP recommends starting solids no earlier than 4 months and some doctors will recommend 6 months. Consult your child's pediatrician with the feeding concerns, but don't put cereal in the bottle (it won't make your baby sleep longer; sleep is a neurological development and not a feeding issue).

No, don't put cereal in his bottle. He is just getting older and wants stays awake longer, but doesn't really know what to do with himself. Try talking to him, singing, going for walks, anything to keep his attention and distract him for wanting to eat. It all he knows, eating and sleeping.

Its not a good idea because he is 10 weeks old. I know it is recommended in cases of severe reflux, but his little system just isn't equipped to deal with it. The very earliest guideline you see these days is 4 months.

He may be having a growth spurt. Common around 8 weeks, but it isn't the same schedule for every baby. Give him more formula, an ounce at a time and see if it doesn't make a difference.

Eating every 2-3 hours isn't all that uncommon during a growth spurt. Nutramigen has simple proteins that (they claim) are more easily digestible than run of the mill formulas.