Starting Cereal

I'm wondering about starting cereal... my girls have their 4 month check-up this week, so I'll definitely be asking their doctor several questions but also want to know what other moms have done/are doing.

When did you start cereal with your babies? (certain age or adjusted age/ or certain weight)
How often do babies eat cereal a day? What time of day?
How much do they eat?
What really is the cereal? (I really don't know! I'm picturing an oatmeal type food)

I guess I need to start some reading/research...

Thanks for sharing your stories!

 

we didn't start solids until our girls were 6.5 months old (6 months is recommended in Canada but we went on a vacation right around the time the girls were 6 months, so we just waited till we got back home). most people will recommend that you start solids with rice cereal (it's basically just rice flakes that you mix with BM, formula, or water & you can make it super runny or quite thick depending on your babies' ages/tastes) because it's least likely to cause any sort of allergic reaction. it can, however, be very constipating for some babies, so sometimes you can just skip to trying fruits/veggies/proteins (although, the younger the baby the more slowly you should go as their immature digestive tracts can sometimes have trouble digesting anything other than BM/formula).

a couple of signs to watch for to see if your LOs are ready for solids are that they have good head control, they no longer have the tongue-thrust reflex (this is where babies will use their tongue to push anything out of their mouth that is thicker than a liquid), and they're interested in the food your eating.

check out www.wholesomebabyfood.com - it's mostly for making your own baby food but they have LOTS of good general info about what to feed your baby when. GL!

 

When did you start cereal with your babies? (certain age or adjusted age/ or certain weight)---we started with their actual age of 4 months
How often do babies eat cereal a day? What time of day? We only feed them once a day between their afternoon and bedtime bottle
How much do they eat? Mine will now down a jar/container of veggies by themselves after only a couple weeks!! They really enjoy it
What really is the cereal? (I really don't know! I'm picturing an oatmeal type food)---we started with the rice cereal we mix in their bottles but it was too much on their bellies so we still thicken their formula with it for spit up but we went right to veggies to help get their poopies going

Good Luck and have fun!!! Just remember, its mostly practice in the beginning...they won't really eat a lot of it, milk is still their primary source of nutrition!

 

we started around 6 months actual, which was 4.5 months adjusted. we were going to wait until they were closer to 6 months adjusted but our pedi told us to go ahead and start trying it. we went really slowly and if they weren't interested we didn't push it. it took a couple of weeks of trying for them to finally accept the idea of a spoon in their mouths. we only started doing solids every day 2 weeks ago, at 7 months actual age.

we started with rice cereal but neither one of them liked it. we moved to oatmeal and they enjoyed it much more. we started with a tablespoon of cereal with 3 tablespoons of formula so that it was a really thin consistency.

there isn't a really good argument for starting with cereal, but that's where most people start. we moved on to sweet potatoes pretty quickly and these days we do all fruits and vegetables.

oh, and how much they eat. they polish off an ounce pretty easily, but they're not quite up to doing 2 ounces. i make our babyfood and freeze them in 1 ounce cubes so i don't know how that translates to jars.

 

We started rice cereal at 5 months, and switched to oatmeal at about 5.5 months. Then at 6 months we started to cycle throught he fruits and veggies (and chicken a week or 2 before they turned 7 months). When we started, they would eat the cereal after their first bottle (30-45minutes after). We did one meal a day until 6.5 or 7 months I think. Then we added an afternoon meal in, and I will be adding a 3rd meal in the next few weeks. I also make my own baby food so its hard to say how much they eat at a time...GL!

 

When did you start cereal with your babies? 4 months and 1 week actual age

How often do babies eat cereal a day? What time of day? Cereal once a day. Started with rice in the afternoon. Quickly moved to oatmeal. After 2 weeks we went to veggies and fruit. Now we do cereal in the morning and a fruit or veggie in the evening (they're 5 months today). We've had the flu though so we've just been doing BM and formula for a few days.

How much do they eat? I usually mix 2-3 teaspoons of dry cereal with formula (enough to make it runny) for each of them. They split a jar of fruits/vegggies

I love the solids but I also think it's fun to see them getting messy trying new things. It definitely takes awhile for them to really get the hang of it. After I explained to DH right now it's just practice and we need to make it an enjoyable experience he loosened up and is having more fun with it.

 

When did you start cereal with your babies? (certain age or adjusted age/ or certain weight) We started around 3 months but they were taking almost 40 oz of formula and we made the cereal real soupie

How often do babies eat cereal a day? What time of day? We started at night time and slowly work to twice a day.

How much do they eat? I think we started with a teaspoon and slowly increased

What really is the cereal? (I really don't know! I'm picturing an oatmeal type food) We started with rice because the others can upset tummy and make them a little constipated

My doctor said it was fine as long as they didn't decrease there formula any some was ok but not alot

 

We're starting at 6 months, because studies show increased incidence of diabetes, obesity and food allergies in people who started solids at less than 6 months of age (I assume that would be adjusted age). Some pediatricians are still saying 4 months but many recommend 6. Since we have a family history of diabetes and food allergies, we are definitely not starting till at least 6 months and our pedi agreed with that.