Should be spoon fed. I practiced breakfast, lunch, dinner with the family. The cereal (at first) is really meant to give the baby practice in swallowing something different and more solid than milk. Milk flows so freely, babies hardly have to swallow intentionally and feeding with a spoon forses the baby to swallow intentionally instead of instinctively.
At first, the solid foods are not really meant as a nutritional source of meal and not to replace a nursing/formula feeding. (That comes later)
My son will be 2 next month and we started cereal at 4 months and jar food at 6 months per the peds doctor. Your daughter may be hungry and needing something more than milk/formula and therefore is not sleeping well. At first you want the cereal pretty thin. You will just need to see what works best. Good luck.
I have two children (ages 3 and almost 1) and started them both at six months. Do not put cereal in the bottle, the idea is to get them used to a new consistency in a new fashion. We used the Gerber rice cereal for my son and he hated it. I switched to jarred oatmeal in about a week. I tasted the rice cereal too and it's no wonder he didn't like it. Based on that learning, I started my daughter on the Gerber single grain oatmeal (also in the box). In both cases, I made the cereal with breast milk but start pretty thin. My daughter liked it so much, we went through four boxes!
At about 10 months, I switched both kids to regular instant oatmeal, Quaker Oats.
Your daughter could be waking due to hunger, teething or just a growth spurt. There's no telling what causes some of the ups and downs of an infant but try to enjoy them because they are over way too soon. Remember those late night feedings are something only you two can share, very special!
Hi Carey,
I started my daughter on rice cereal in the bottle first at around 5 months using the directions on the side of the box for baby's first cereal feeding. She is now six months and we started feeding her by spoon. (she won't even take it in the bottle anymore). Funny about the sleeping...our daughter is going through the same thing. She was sleeping great through the night and now all of a sudden waking up during the night...I think it is teething. We usually see if she can soothe herself back to sleep..we give her 5 minutes to see if she will just fall asleep. Otherwise we give her a bottle and rock her back to sleep. Hope that this helps a little anyways! Good luck!
Hi
My kids were about 10 days old when I started with cereal.
I believe it was oatmeal. Make it very thin, diluted with formula. And always use a spoon. It's hard to remember as my 2 kids are 42 & 37. Of course all things are different now.
Get "Super Baby Food" book by Ruth Yaron. it's our baby/toddler food bible. a lot to take in, but once you get into the swing of things, it makes feeding my infant/and preschoolers so much more efficient and nutritous.
will give you info regarding types of food, how much (serving sizes for different ages), combinations of foods that complement each other, supplemental food (ground seeds, nuts, legumes etc.) it's a must have:) good luck.
My doctor and the WIC nurses all had me start cereal at 4 months. We started with 2 Tbs in the morning with formula/breastmilk mixed in and we spoonfed our little ones. After 2 weeks or so (once they are used to eating it) we went to 2 times a day. My kids prefered theirs mixed with juice though... don't tell anyone LOL. Then at 5 months they were started on fruits and veggies. I have a 4 1/2 year old and a 10 month old and they both went by this schedule (both had different docs as babies).
Your daughter is very hungry!! Since she is going on 6 months, feed her with a spoon. My first started cereal at 1 1/2 months, my 2nd and 3rd both started cereal at 3months and then jar food at 5 1/2 to 6 months old. They all were sleeping threw the night by 6 to 12 weeks.
its probably teeth waking her up. sleep habits will never be "normal" or through the night. just get used to it... having a baby changes your life, and thats not just a during the day sort of thing!
as far as feeding solids, you dont start until baby is ready. this means she has to want the food (not just the spoon, try giving her the spoon, if that satisfies her, its the tool, not the food thats interesting her) she has to be able to hold her head up and sit up on her own (not just sit supported, get to sitting and sit there on her own)
shes probably ready "age wise" but theres no nutritional need for solid foods until after a year, so dont stress about it. you can feed her solids, but you dont have to. the way i think about it is kids eat you out of house and home soon enough, why rush into it when they are babies? ??
i started my son at 5 1/2 months and that was because he was literally grabbing the spoons out of our hands, and eating the food off of it... ! we couldnt keep him away from food any longer. i wanted to wait WAY longer to start solids, but he was ready and MORE than willing LOL. but i still took it slow
no food in baby bottles. they should learn food as food not as drink. usually they wont drink it anyway because they are used to the bottle being formula or milk, and thats it. dont give juice in the bottle either, only formula or breastmilk (if and when you start regular milk, which shouldnt be until after a year old, it should be in a sippy cup, however, soy almond or rice milk is better nutritionally for all humans)
Carey,
I would say now that she is old enough for rice cereal. I actually started both of my girls on cereal when they were 4 months old. I fed it to them from a spoon. I also added a litlle bit to their formula at night before they went to bed. Both of my girls slept threw the night after we started the cereal. When they would wake up it was due to needing their pants changed. But I hope this helps. I would try giving her cereal in the morning, and then baby food at lunch time, then possibly, some fruit with cereal in it at supper time and then a bottle about 1/2 or so before she goes to bed, with formula and a little cereal. But you also want to make sure if you use a bottle, that you make sure the hole in the nipple, to let it go threw but not big enough that she chokes. Hope this helps.
i gave rice cereal to my girl at 6 months....she liked it okay, but not totally into it....definitely a spoon, i've read the bottle thing is discouraged....
night waking....please check out dr. harvey karp's "happiest baby on the block" skip all the reading except for the middle 2 pages that tells you the five S's at a glance...this method of soothing baby worked AWESOME for us...or check out the video from your library and watch it.....it's worth a try for better sleep for mama!
also....just wanted to tell you about something i found that you might find useful at this exciting time of baby eating solids....
it's the kidco foodmill....i wanted my natalie to eat good organic non preservative filled food, but i'm not too gifted in the cooking category...so making baby food was not an option for me...this foodmill can take a pear....peal and all....and make it baby friendly.....it can seriously take the chicken and broccoli that you are eating for dinner and turn it...right there on the spot....into baby food for your toothless tulip!
i think my girl didn't really take to solids at all until at least 9 months, even though i tried at 6....at 12 months she really kicked into gear with it all.....
I know you've gotten lots of responses, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents:)
We started with pretty runny cereal, making it thicker as our baby got used to spoon feeding.
We mixed it with breast milk if I'd pumped extra or formula. He became pretty constipated, so our doctor suggested mixing it with a 1/2 and 1/2 apple juice/water mix. He always eats it well, and is now 10 1/2 mos. The juice really helped with the constipation, though.
Hey Carey,
I know that this post is a little bit later than the other mom's but I thought that I would add a little advice. I see that you got a wide range of advice from a lot of people. I am a mother of five kids and I have a lot of experiences in the difference of each kids needs and problems that they had. I have 3 sons; 12,3,1 and 2 daughters, 9 and 6. I agree with some of the other mom's about not putting it in the bottle. Bottles should only have milk/formula in not food. As for food consistency I always started out my cereal real runny like, almost liquid like and held the bowl close as it will be messy. You want them to start to get used to the taste of something a little different but not at a pace that it turns them off. It is good to mix it in with milk or formula depending on which you are feeding her now so that she is eating something that she is familiar with. She may only eat a little at a time so start out small. Gradually you can let it get a little thicker(slowly, not too fast or she'll push it away) until it is the consistency of rice cereal as you would think oatmeal to look like;but a little smoother looking. I know that a lot of people had said to add fruits and veggies,but you need to wait for that because if you introduce too many things at once she may just reject it all. I always made sure my children had gotten used to the cereal at the consistency that you feel comfortable with and then after a while(some kids may take up to a month or more with this) then add fruit to the cereal but keep putting in the milk/formula. Just like you were giving a little cereal at a time start to put just a little fruit in at a time to get her used to it, like to start out with just put a little in to let her get a taste of it-I find that starting out with the sweeter fruits like bannanas make it easier because the apple and peaches sometimes can be a little tart. Once she has gotten used to it you can gradually increase the amounts you give her. You will eventually come to a point where you don't have to mix it in with cereal and can feed her it solo, but let me warn you she may pull back just like she did when she started out the cereal at first because even though she was eating it in her cereal she may reject it at first straight from the jar because it is a little different apart from the cereal. If it helps you can give her a bit of cereal and then give her a bit of fruit alone so that she can gradually get used to it on its own separate from the cereal. I also wanted to let you know that even if you try this and she doesn't take to it do not worry. Not every child is ready for food in the "time frame" set by doctors and what other people say. Some aren't ready until later and that is fine. My son, Caelib wouldn't eat until he was almost 8 months old. I tried over and over and he just wouldn't have it. I know that a lot of people say that you can give your child food as young as 4 months but I always agreed with what my doctor said to me when I had my oldest;giving babies food too early can cause stomach problems if they aren't ready or their stomachs haven't matured enough to handle it. Some people are ready, but a lot of other's aren't and can have problems later in life if you do it too early. So follow your instincts as you know your daughter better than anyone else.I made it a rule of thumb to start or try to introduce it at six months and let them dictate wheather they are interested or not. My youngest wouldn't have anything to do with it either until he was almost seven months and that is okay. Do not feel that you need to rush your baby because as one of the mom's said they eat us out of house and home soon enough anyways and the feedings at this point are to just get them used to food not for them to rely on this for their nutrition, that is to come from breast milk and/or formula. As a lot of the other mom's stated,she probably is teething or it could be seperation anxiety that is causing your daughter to wake up during the night or maybe she just wanting extra cuddle time with you. I know that you are tired but it won't last forever and this too shall pass and it will be done before you know it and even though you enjoy your sleep you may actually miss those late night cuddling sessions after awhile.;) Sorry this got to be so long. Good luck and enjoy your bundle of joy!
Jessica
thanks to all who took the time to answer. we started rice cereal and things are going well we did it a couple of time in a bottle and now are spoon feeding her. some days she seems to really like it and other not so much so i think she is still getting used to it. she is sleeping a bit better most night. so thats good!! thanks again