question about rice cereal

so i'm getting bored, basically, and want a new project. within the next few weeks i plan to start rice cereal with the girls. i have NO IDEA what i'm doing. what kind do you all use? how much do i give them? how much milk do i mix into it? when do i give it to them? and when do i incorporate prunes (i know a lot of you are giving prunes to help keep them "regular", and if my girls have my digestive tract, they will definitely need the prunes to help out) ?
they get bottled breast milk throughout the day adn their last feeding of the day is formula. if that means anything. TIA!

 

I was given very detailed info from the pedi when we started solids. We started with a tbsp. of cereal to enough formula/ebm to make it a soupy consistency. After they got used to it, we thickened it so it was like applesauce. We were told to try rice for a week at dinnertime. After that we tried oatmeal for a week at dinnertime. Once we knew they were okay with those, we started with veggies, then fruits. We were told to try each veggie/fruit for 3-5 days in a row. It was the best way to make sure they weren't going to be allergic to any of it.

 

I just used Gerber rice cereal and followed the instructions right on the box for "baby's first feeding". I think it tells you to mix one tbsp of cereal with a few tbsp of ebm/formula. I always used ebm because it made the cereal sweeter for them other wise they weren't to big on it. I always gave mine cereal in the mid morning as to not disturb night sleep (mine were super gassy). After they were on cereal for a couple weeks I gradually started introducing fruits and veggies one at a time every 4-5 days.

 

I used Earth's Best rice cereal to start, because it is whole grain and organic and I felt like that was important for their first solids (although actually, their very first solids were sweet potatoes). Time of day isn't particularly important, except you want to choose a time when they're happy and ready for something new.

Also, it really helps the first several months to feed them within half an hour of 45 minutes of a bottle - or you can give half a bottle and then finish it up right after the solids. There are two reasons to do that - it keeps them from getting too frustrated from hunger and it ensures that the solids aren't cutting into their milk intake. Milk will be the primary source of nutrition for another several months. Solids offer some nutritional benefits - especially iron in iron-fortified cereal - but they'll be mostly practice for all concerned for a while yet. It was really clear that I needed the time to adjust way more than the babies did!

With the prunes, just take it easy. I let them have a whole container because they loved them so much and that afternoon they were awash in poop!

 

thanks! i'm kinda excited to start! (that's how bored i am)

 

I gave rice cereal waited a day and then gave rice cereal with pear puree -- pears work better than prunes for constipation. Smooth sailing here !!

 

QUOTE
I just used Gerber rice cereal and followed the instructions right on the box for "baby's first feeding".


Ditto.

After the first few feedings I also mixed juice with it instead of water or formula.