For babies on Nutramigen or Alimentum

My babies are on Nutramigen because they had trouble with every other formula I tried (gas, constipation, fussiness). My pedi said we could start introducing rice cereal at 3 months. I gave it to both babies yesterday and they both were fussy and crying by the evening.

For Moms who had babies on either Nutramigen or Alimentum - when did you start rice cereal and how much did you give? Also, what brand works the best or is most easily digested??

Thanks

 

Did you give them rice in the bottle or feed it to them with a spoon? i started mine at 3.5 months. in the bottle. I would give a tablespoon for every 2 oz of formula. Basically a regular formula (the nutramagen scoop is smaller) scoop of rice for 4 oz.

 

Kim,

You'll probably get lots of different opinions, but I see no reason to start rice cereal at three months. All of the major kids organizations recommend waiting until six months. Many babies don't have the digestive enzymes to process solid food until six months or so. If your babies are on Nutramigen, it could be especially different/difficult for them to process rice cereal, as Nutramigen is already partly broken down.

I pumped and fed them exclusively breastmilk until six months, but my girls have been on Nutramigen since then. We had to put rice cereal in bottles for one of them because she was aspirating thin liquids. The other didn't get any rice cereal until she was six months old. My girl who got the rice cereal in her bottle always had more problems with constipation, gas, fussiness, etc. than the one who didn't. Once we took the rice cereal out of her bottle (around five months) all of her "problems" with digestion stopped. As a result, I really truly believe that it's worth waiting until six months.

To answer your last question, we always used Earth's Best organic rice cereal to limit toxin and pesticide exposure. You can find it at health food stores, Target and Babies R Us.

 

I feel the same that 3 months is too early. My boys were on Alimentum and I tried rice cereal a few times at about 4 months or so and that was it, it still took them until they were 6 months to sleep through the night either way.

 

QUOTE
You'll probably get lots of different opinions, but I see no reason to start rice cereal at three months. All of the major kids organizations recommend waiting until six months. Many babies don't have the digestive enzymes to process solid food until six months or so. If your babies are on Nutramigen, it could be especially different/difficult for them to process rice cereal, as Nutramigen is already partly broken down.


Ditto Trish. Also, if your babies already have problems with constipation, rice could make it much worse. Think of the R part of the "BRAT" diet...

Why did your pedi want you to start rice cereal at 3 mo? That seems really strange (unless it's for reflux).

 

My pedi told us to skip rice cereal and try oatmeal cereal instead. We started at 4 months but I would recommend waiting until 6 months. I tried to rush it because Nutramigen is so expensive but now my girls are allergic to wheat, eggs, dairy, beef, squash and bananas. Research shows the longer you wait the less allergies so I wish I had waited.