Are they ready for rice cereal or just having a growth spurt?

I understand that the recommended time is anytime after 4 mos and I wanted to hold off until 6 mos to play it safe. However, I am now considering introducing the rice cereal and wanted to get your thoughts.

A little background...My boys just turned 4 mos. One weighs 13 lbs and the other 14.5 lbs, they were born basically full-term. My smaller son has been sleeping 8pm - 8am, his bigger brother sleeps 8pm - 5am and then goes back to sleep after he eats. The last few days, not every single day, but at least every other day for the past week they have both been waking up in the middle of the night. (I also noticed that this began the same day they had their 4 mos shots, and they have also been teething). They can also easily gulp down a 7 oz bottle. My smaller son can eat as much as 10 or 11 ozs at some evening feedings.

I'm wondering...are they having a growth spurt or maybe they are teething, in that case should I hold off? Or, does it sound like they are needing more calories?

Anyone have a similar experience and what did you do?

P.S. I just wanted to add that I don't mind waking up at all. It's more of making sure that they are getting what they need. Also, I'm concerned that if I start using cereal they won't be getting as much as the nutrition and vitamins from the formula.
Thank you!

 

I understand that the recommended time is anytime after 4 mos and I wanted to hold off until 6 mos to play it safe. However, I am now considering introducing the rice cereal and wanted to get your thoughts.

A little background...My boys just turned 4 mos. One weighs 13 lbs and the other 14.5 lbs, they were born basically full-term. My smaller son has been sleeping 8pm - 8am, his bigger brother sleeps 8pm - 5am and then goes back to sleep after he eats. The last few days, not every single day, but at least every other day for the past week they have both been waking up in the middle of the night. (I also noticed that this began the same day they had their 4 mos shots, and they have also been teething). They can also easily gulp down a 7 oz bottle. My smaller son can eat as much as 10 or 11 ozs at some evening feedings.

I'm wondering...are they having a growth spurt or maybe they are teething, in that case should I hold off? Or, does it sound like they are needing more calories?

Anyone have a similar experience and what did you do?

P.S. I just wanted to add that I don't mind waking up at all. It's more of making sure that they are getting what they need. Also, I'm concerned that if I start using cereal they won't be getting as much as the nutrition and vitamins from the formula.
Thank you!

 

If they are eating that much in a feeding consistently, it sounds to me like they are ready for solids. We started cereal at 3.5 months and stage 1 food at 4 months due to the amount ours were eating (over 40oz a day for weeks). They took to it immediately. The 6 months is a guideline - it does not apply to all babies... yours may be ready sooner.

 

Babies really aren't ready for solids (developmentally internally) until 6 months of age. Contrary to other generations and such, giving solids earlier will not make the baby sleep more. It may actually disrupt sleep because of the change in digestion. I would chalk this up to teething, and learning new things. I wouldn't give solids before 6 months. JMHO.

 

I couldn't wait to get the go-ahead to start cereal from our pedi at 4 months because the boys were so hungry all of the time! I would feed them breakfast and then not 2 hours later they'd want another bottle. Mine also ate lots at bedtime...sometimes up to 12-14 oz. I started cereal a week after their 4 month check-up and that seemed to help. At first they won't really know what to do but they will soon figure it out. GL!!

 

I am having the same concerns. Kaylee my bigger one will eat and eat and eat at night-time. I am afraid she is going to explode sometimes. Anyway, I breastfed both of them, but at night I having been giving them a bottle of formula and Kaylee will sleep from about 8:30-9:00 to 7:00 in the morning my little one will sleep from 10-5, but just recently started this. I started giving thme cereal this week just once a day and only about a teaspoon or so. I dont' know if it is helping yet and I don't even know if I should be giving the doc said to wait until 6 months becasue of allergies but she just seems so hungry.

 

quote:
If they are eating that much in a feeding consistently, it sounds to me like they are ready for solids.

I agree, go for it!

 

It sounds to me like they are ready.My ped started the boys and Anna at 4 months.Anna I started a little sooner.I started her sooner because she was bigger than the boys and was drinking 9+ oz every 4 hours.hth.

Danielle

 

Do you know what total qty of milk they eat in a day? I bf, but pump for one son. He ate 32oz on average at that age. he is now eating about 36oz per day, so at 5.5 mo I added solids. He's interested in our food which is a BIG indicator of a baby's readiness. he tongue thrusts, though and doesn't really like baby food. especially rice cereal -- who could blame him, it tastes like cardboard.

I'd assume this is a growth spurt and hold off feeding solids for a bit. feeding solids adds a whole new complexity to my day and I'd rather push it later than start early.

My guess is that you're experiencing a growth spurt. My boys ate pretty frequently until 5 months when they finally pushed to every 3-4 hours and can go longer at night. My kiddos have never had formula, tho, so I don't know if that makes a difference.

Cheers,

Teri D

 

They were drinking four 7 oz bottles a day, and a 6 oz bottle for the baby who woke up in the middle of the night. So that's about 28 - 34 oz per day.

This week, however, they have been drinking five 7 oz bottles during the day, plus waking up for another 7 oz during the night. A total of about 42 oz per day.

Yes, it seems like it may be a growth spurt, now that I write this out.

I will see how the next few weeks go (how long does a growth spurt last?) and try to wait a little longer before I start the cereal. One of my sons had some problems with constipation as well as digesting his food, and I worry that he's not ready for solids just quite yet and that he may really need those nutrients from the milk.

The only bad thing about this really is that I'm losing sleep!! Hopefully they won't get too much into the habit of waking up like this and will want to start sleeping again.

Thanks for everyone's input. Helped me a lot!

 

I am also curious how much they eat through the day. Around that age, my boys were becomming snackers during the day because I was feeding them every 3 hours and looking back i should have done every 4 hours. SInce they ate a little during the day, they were able to drink a lot at night which also became a problem. Once i went to 4 hours during the day, they consistently drank 6-8 oz at each feeding. THen, when they woke to eat at night because they were still hungry i gave them cereal. For me this was all at 5 months. I wanted to wait until 6 months but they were just ready sooner. I think i couold have started cereal even a few weeks sooner.

 

Seamus - they eat about every four hours at 8am, noon, 4pm, and 7ish which can sometimes be as late as 8. But your point does make me think about how I need to be sure I'm giving them enough during the day.

Oh it's so hard to know, but I guess since I'm the only one suffering and as long as they get their milk, we can keep doing this for a little while longer and see what happens.

 

i never saw your second post (maybe because it was at 4 am!!!

You may already know this but if your son is often constipated, then when you do begin cereal, I would do oalmeal instead of rice. Rice does not help with consipation. My boys really like oatmeal.

One mroe thing, I also had my mind set on not giving the solids before 6 months. But I am so glad I did at 5 months. They were just ready! My little guys would have been really hungry during that 5th month if I waited!!!

 

my advice would be to start them on it. If they are waking up in the middle of the night the bottle alone just isn't cutting it. I would give them the rice in a bottle before bed to tide them over. In a 8 oz. bottle I give them 2 big teaspoons and it has always worked for me. After about a week of the cereal I would think you would be okay to start them on the baby food. I gave my twins rice at 5 months and at 5 1/2 I started yellow/orange baby veggies.

 

mine were constipated also. I have been seeping fennel seeds and it works great because it is a natural laxative. we have been giving them cereal around 6 at night and it seems to be helping. When do I start increasing the times and amount. We are doing about a teaspoon of cereal.