Feeding cereal for first time...

[nicknack]

Hi--
Brooks will be 20 weeks on Tuesday and I'm thinking about starting him on rice cereal in a few weeks. Are there guidelines somewhere online that show how much I should feed him at first? He is a formula-fed baby, does that make a difference? Do I mix the cereal with formula?
Also wondering if there's a certain feeding where you should start the cereal. Brooks currently eats at 6/9/12/3/6/8:15 or so. I plan to talk to his ped about all of this, but wanted to get some info from you guys too. She suggested waiting until the 6 month mark and I'll probably hold out until close to then, but he's STARING at every little thing we eat and trying to grab it...I feel so bad!
Thanks!
Nicole

[murpheyblue]

I don't think it matters what time of day you decide to try feeding. I read that BF moms might want to try in the afternoon/evening because milk supplies are lower then so that's what we did. You just mix the cereal with BM or formula (I think you can even use water). We started out with the cereal really soupy, not much thicker than formula/milk and then got increasingly thicker as she figured out how to eat off the spoon.

Have fun!!

Ali
Mom to Megan 9-28-03

[malie]

Depending on how awake he is you might consider the noon or three spot only because if your child has a reaction to food say 4 hours later if you pick a later time period he may already be down for the night and it's a little harder to deal with. That's really the only reason I've ever seen for picking a lunch time as the time to introduce new foods

[papal]

Here is a good website:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/first-foods.html
And another link:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html#earlyreadiness

They suggest starting with fruits not cereal. But if you are starting with cereal then yes, you can mix with formula/water.

[nitaghei]

You may also want to check if your baby has lost the tongue thrust reflex, before you begin solid food. Just staring and grabbing at your food isn't always an indication that your baby is ready for solid food. Your ped is right - there's no reason to start solid food too soon.

Having said that, DS started with rice cereal just shy of 6 months - maybe 10 days earlier, because he exhibited all the signs of being ready. I started with very thin cereal - a teaspoon of cereal plus 2 or 3 tablespoons of EBM - you can use formula. I made it progressively thicker over a period of a month or so, and then moved on to fruit and veggies that were textured. This way, I never did pureed veggies - we went straight to fork-mashed.

Just let him eat as much as he wants. He'll probably only want a couple of spoonfuls at first. Also, some babies have a hard time digesting cereal. Avocado, banana or sweet potato are other good first foods (pureed, and thinned out with formula or water).

Morning or early afternoon are recommended times to start - that way you have time to spot problems (allergies, tummy-ache) before night-fall. We started with dinner because DS is in day-care, and that was the only meal we were at home, and we were lucky that we had no problem with either rice cereal or oatmeal.

I really liked Ellyn Satter's "Child of Mine" as a book about the attitude and philosophy about feeding, and I'm glad I read it before starting solid food.

HTH

Nita
mom to Neel, January 2003
dog mom to a cocker and a PWD

[nicknack]

Thanks for the responses everyone! I don't want to start him too early and will most likely wait until close to 6 months, but it's hard!!!
Nita--How can I tell about the tongue thrust reflex? Is there a way I can test to see?

[kjack145]

We just started Tess (4.5 mo.) on cereal this week. Actually, my husband started her on it while I was at work one day, but that's another story...

Our doc gave us a sheet from Gerber on how to start the process. Our doc suggested rice first for a week, then on to barley or oatmeal; again, a week with each at a time. After that, we can mix them together if we want.

We just followed the directions on the box and we mixed it with her formula. Eventually, you make the cereal thicker as baby gets used to it.

It only took Tess 1-2 feedings to get the hang of it. We (OK, hubby) chose the afternoon feeding.

Our doc didn't want us to start juices yet and told us to introduce fruit last since "that's the good stuff."

[lrucci]

You have gotten some good responses so far. I just wanted to add that you might want to try cereal for the first time when he is awake and happy. This way, he may not resist as much. Even though they act interested in our food, for some babies it's a different story when that spoon goes in the mouth. Since you are FF, you don't have to worry about the time of the day when your milk supply is low, so morning may work for you. As was mentioned, you do want to do it earlier in the day, so you can keep your eye out for any allergic reaction he may have. Good luck!


Lisa
Mom to Kyleigh Elizabeth 7/19/03

[signsing]

Another good website:
www.wholesomebabyfood.com
Also here are the guidelines for when to start solids:
According to the Breastfeeding Answer Book (1997), the indications for starting solids are:

the ability to sit up
a fading of the tongue-thrusting reflex so that the baby does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue
readiness to chew
the ability to pick up food and put it in his mouth
an increased demand to nurse(or take a bottle) that is unrelated to illness, teething pain, or a change in routine
(This information was taken verbatim from the book.)



HTH
Betsey
Buddy's Mamma 6-10-2003

[Eloise36]

You have gotten great advice on starting solid foods. Just wanted to add that my pediatrician recommended the following program for DS: 3-5 days of rice cereal and formula (progressively thicker until the consistency of applesauce), 3-5 days of rice cereal mixed with formula and grape juice (fruit juice helps with iron absorption), then green vegetables, orange or yellow vegetables and fruits. It is also good to introduce a new food every 3 to 5 days to make sure there are no food allergies.

[goosey77]

hey nicknack (this is WC screetch!)- about the tongue thrust test.... my ped sad to put a little dot of the cereal on his tongue... if the tongue comes out clean, he's ready, but if it comes back out with the cereal still there then he's not ready.
:)

[nicknack]

Thanks again everyone, this is some great information! Quick question--when the peds. say 6 months, do they mean that in terms of months or weeks? Know what I mean? Because Brooks will be 24 weeks in 4 weeks but won't be 6 months until May 18th...not that big a difference, but I'm just wondering..

Screetch--Hey! You found me! Haha. I have to run to Target today so maybe I'll pick up a box of cereal.

[Eloise36]

My ped said 5 to 6 months is fine. We started James on solids at 5 months based on month, not weeks, but mainly went by how ready he was based on his interest in food, sitting up, loss of tongue thrust reflex, etc. I think anytime after 5 months in terms of weeks should be fine for starting solids. Good luck and have fun :)