Rice Cereal

Hello to all twin moms,

This is my first post even though my boy/girl twins are little over 4 months. I was born in Europe and baby feeding is a little bit different overthere , so I am confused and would love to hear your advices and experience. I now live in California happily married for almost 11 years with a great guy I met in Germany 19 years ago.

So we had our 4 month check-up and I asked their doctor about introducing rice cereal into their diets. I red that babies can start rice cereal @4 month, some say @6 months. When I asked what amount I have to start with, he said 2 tbls. per day.That sound awfully a lot? Also he said not to add cereal into formula, just mixit with the few drops of formula and feed them with spoon? Cereal box says for teh firts feeding mix cereal into formula.
So at this point I just don't know what is the best way to start rice cereal.

Should I wait until they are 6 months old?
How do you prepare formula with rice in it?
What consictency does the first feeding should be?
How do you increase amount of cereal over days, weeks?

I hope to hear some great advices from great moms!
Thanks,
Abi

 

I think you can start trying rice cereal at 4 months but just don't have too high of expectations, they are still getting their nutrients from their formula or BM, so if they don't take to the cereal right now that is okay. I started trying to give my girls cereal at 4 months but they really weren't interested until closer to 6 months. The way I did it was I just put a little bit of cereal in a bowl and then I added formula to it until it was the consistency I wanted - at and first you want it really runny. The first time I gavbe it to my girls is way too oatmeal-like and they both gagged! They've never had anything solids so you want it to be very liquidy. I would just make a little and see if they are interested and if they are you can give them more, I never measured out the cereal, I would just mix it with 2 ounces of formula to consistency. Does that make sense?

 

My boys are only 2 months old but we had to start them on it already per the doctor. What we do is use the scoop from the formula and add one and a half scoops to their bottles. You can start that way and then try them on it with a spoon. Your babies will be able to let you know when they are ready. If they take it with out having all of it spit right back out then they are ready. You will want it to stay pretty thin but you do want it to be thicker then what they have in their bottle. You will also no how to increase by just watching how often your babies will want to eat and if they are draining the bottle. Say you are feeding them every 4 hours with 1 scoop and they start wanting to eat every 2 to 3 hours I would up the rice by half a scoop. You will need to adjust the amount of water/formula as you add the rice. You want to make sure that is never to thick. The best advice I can give it to always just take the signs from your babies. They will let you know what you are doing is right or not.

 

I can see why you're confused. I think your dr means not to add the rice cereal into the bottle of formula You should definitely add the formula to the cereal, but with the purpose of feeding it with a spoon, not in the bottle. This is what gives it a smooth consistency.

There are different ideas about when to start cereal. Some say 4 months, some say 6 months. We went with 5 months, just because it was in the middle!

For the first day, we mixed about 4 tablespoons of formula with one spoon of cereal, to keep the consistency runny. Over the course of a week, we used slightly less formula each time, so the cereal was a little thicker.

It doesn't really matter how much your babies eat at this stage, as it really is all just practice. When my babies started, a tablespoon each was their limit. Now that they're a little older, they normally do around 3 tablespoons each.

Hope this helps!

 

QUOTE(beendbee @ Dec 1 2008, 03:58 PM) [snapback]1092023[/snapback]
Should I wait until they are 6 months old?
How do you prepare formula with rice in it?
What consictency does the first feeding should be?
How do you increase amount of cereal over days, weeks?

I hope to hear some great advices from great moms!
Thanks,
Abi


:wavey: Abi and nice to see ya posting!!

1- I dont see any issue with trying now, but just be prepared that they will just spit it out and you will have to keep offering it or take a break for a couple of weeks and then try again.
2/3- Put a bit of the cereal in a bowl and then add a bit of formula to make it a very soupy consistency.
4- Wait until they get proficient at it before you start to increase their intake.

GL!

 

hi there! i started RC with my babies at 5 months and introduced it slowly and they weren't into it. I just started fruits and veggies and they love it so I'm reintroducing RC mixed with fruits/veggies. If you got the goahead from your pedi to try it, then why not? They might take to it right away or it might take awhile...no pressure though!

 

I'm one of the people who think it's better to wait until 6 months. There are several reasons - their stomach/intestines are not always mature before that, some babies can't even hold their head well at 4 months, so it's not very safe for them to eat solids anyway, there is more risk of allergies if you start solids too early etc. The AAP recommends to wait until 6 months at least now. Now, you'll find a lot of people who don't agree, so I would do your own research until you're comfortable with your decision.

I'd give it with a spoon. You can make it very runny, or apple-sauce consistency (that's how we started). Then just increase the amount gradually when they're willing to eat more, but if they stop drinking their formula as well, reduce it. Formula should still be their main source of nutrition. One thing about rice cereal though, mine get very constipated with it, so we switched to oatmeal after a week. DS hated plain formula anyway, and only started eating well at 7 months.

 

Ditto Fran. I went with the AAP recommendation and started at 6 mo. Before that, they don't even have the enzymes to digest it anyway, so why bother with all the hassle? (And believe me, it is a HUGE hassle!) It does icnrease the risk of allergies too.

As to how much and how to feed - I'd mix some up with formula in a bowl (not a bottle), pretty runny, and just see how they like it. Like Fran said, if they love it, you can do more, as long as it doesn't cut into their formula intake - that's where their nutrition is coming from. Speaking of which, make sure to offer solids about 30-60 min AFTER a bottle, so it won't cut into their appetite for the good stuff. And as long as they're getting enough formula, just follow their cues as to how much and how often to do solids. Some babies will want nothing to do with it until even 9 mo, others will happily chow down 3x/day at 7 mo.

 

QUOTE(fuchsiagroan @ Dec 1 2008, 11:39 AM) [snapback]1092362[/snapback]
Ditto Fran. I went with the AAP recommendation and started at 6 mo. Before that, they don't even have the enzymes to digest it anyway, so why bother with all the hassle? (And believe me, it is a HUGE hassle!)


this is why i'm hoping my doc will let me wait till they're 7 months before i try! (my girls were 6 weeks early so that'll be closer to 6 months adjusted for them)

to OP - thanks for posting this. i'm nervous about starting solids, even though it's a couple of months away & love reading all of the hints & tips i can find.

 

My pediatrician had us start rice cereal at 4 months. We started off slowly with it, they would get 2 tbsp with formula (or use EBM as well)...they may not take to it at first. I would make the cereal a runny consistency at first. We would increase by it a tbsp over a couple of days as they start eating more of it. Waiting to 6 months is decision that is up to you, you have to do what feels right to you. Good luck! Congrats on your babies and welcome to TS!

 

QUOTE(miss_bossy18 @ Dec 1 2008, 02:50 PM) [snapback]1092380[/snapback]
this is why i'm hoping my doc will let me wait till they're 7 months before i try! (my girls were 6 weeks early so that'll be closer to 6 months adjusted for them)


Even if he tells you to start earlier, you don't really have to. You know your kids best. My pediatrician only mentioned at their 4 (and a half) months appointment that we could try to give cereal to DS at night if we wanted. We just didn't. He never even asked again at their 6 months appointment, I just said we hadn't started solids yet and he said it would be a good time to start, and I said it's what I was planning to do. That's about the extend of our conversation regarding solids, lol. I did like that he never mentioned solids at 4 months for DD though, considering she's always been smaller and really needs the extra calories of formula.

 

My ped said I could start at 4 months, 5, or 6 months. I decided to start at almost 5 months. We did rice cereal, and it was nowhere near 2 tablespoons per baby!! Sofia hated it, Maya liked it. We only did it for a few days. It was really just for practice. At 6 months they got the hang of eating.

It really is up to you. Many like to wait until 6 months when the risk of allergy goes down. Plus, I think babies are more ready at 6 months. Just remember at this stage it is for practice only.

 

Thank you everyone for clearing up my confusion. I did try today to give them some cereal but they both were spitting it out. I tasted myself and it is tastless.Poor babies have to eat this stuff. So I am not sure if this is because it's something new for them ,or because they did not like it. I might try tomorrow and...
... I might just wait until 6 months.

 

QUOTE
I did try today to give them some cereal but they both were spitting it out.


That's the tongue-thrust reflex, and it's a sign they're not ready. If nobody's having fun, why not wait?