Rice Cereal

O.k. So I have a question for you ladies.  At what age did you start to give your little one a little rice cereal?  I know what the books say, and I know what my doc has said...but I am wondering what you actually did.  People seem to have some pretty serious thoughts on the matter and I am interested in the varying opinions because they seem to be so very dramaticly different.

Thanks,

Kim

Wow, I was getting ready to post the same questions.

So here is my BAD experience.  My  little one is 6 months.  She only drinks formula (up until 10/1 she had breastmilk and formula).  She drinks approximately 27-30 oz a day.   My dr  says wait until after her 9 month appt.  My baby hardly sleeps and the pressures from everyone indicating she was hungry so feed her some cereal, I decided to try it last week.  I did one night with 7 oz of formula and 1 teaspoon of cereal.  She seemed to like it and didn't have a probably eating (6 oz) of it.  So the bad part, she got extreme constapation, and it didn't help her sleep at all.  As  a matter of fact the constipation was so bad she would scream when trying to go.  This is the time I wish I would have listen to the dr. when he said wait, she isn't ready.  I had to give her a little apple juice to offset the horrible constipation which didn't help her from getting a belly ache, but at least she didn't scream to poop.  It has been seven days since i tried it and we are still working out the issue. 

So my experience is I wish I wouldn't have done it yet.  I do know many many many people who give it to their little ones early and they have absolutely no issues. 

Good luck.  Thanks for posting I will be checking back in to see what everyone else writes!  Stacey

My daughter, who is now almost 12, was breastfed until she was about 2 1/2.  She was exclusivly breastfed until she was 1.  After that I started adding things in but until she was 1 she did not eat anything.  My doctor was fine with that.  She told me that if I was on demand breastfeeding her and she was gaining and doing fine, there was no need to give her anything else. 

I was going to say "no to the rice cereal!" because of the constipation!!!!!  People always seem to want to start on rice cereal first, I learned the hard way! 

With all 3 of my kids, I started them on cereal at 4-5 months.  Rice cereal is an instant constipation problem!  If you want an alternative, start with another easy on the tummy one like oatmeal.  Try it for a couple of weeks, then do something like barley.  If it works, then go to a mixed cereal.  Hold off on the "rice cereal " for a while, as it will stop them up!

Debbie

Ah yes.I guess I use Rice Cereal as a general term, I throw oatmeal, etc out there as the same question. (knowing they are vrey different).

My ped said that babies should have good control of their movements- i.e be sitting up...so My first DD was about 6 months or so, but DD #2 was ready at her 3/4 month appointment.  He said in the very beginning that babies should be fed only milk in their bottle, no cereal.  My girls ate oatmeal- one hated cereal one, one liked it.  We gave it to them in the evening before bed to try to help fill their tummy.  I find they sleep through the night on their terms. Good luck.

I started Sage on barley cereal at around 4.5 months.  Barley is more nutritious and doesn't give them constipation.  Then I went to sweet potatoes, pears, bananas, apples, peas, oatmeal around 5-6 months.  She loves eating, she's doing well with it.  My dr had no problems with cereal at 4 months.

I started my daughter at 4 months and my son at 2 months. He just had that want for something more. It did not stop him up or anything, I only gave him about 2 oz at a time before bed.

We did not do any solids at all until 7 months, the studies I read show that babies who are fed solids earlier then six months are more at risk for obesity, diabetes, respitory issues (such as asthma), allergies and are more likely to suffer from ear infections and sinus issues. The human gut is "open" for the first six months of life to make it easier to digest the nutrients from the liquids that babies take in and so they can get more nutrients because they are growing and developing so fast, introducing things like rice cereal before the gut is ready to handle them can cause life long issues and problems.

Honestly though, from speaking with my pedi, if the baby has had any formula at all then it does not really matter when you introduce solids as long as the tongue thrust reflex is gone (if they still have this reflex they are at risk for choking b/c they are not physically ready to swallow anything more then liquids).

Technically, Tristan always had it because his formula had added rice starch so it is thicker and harder to throw up (he had GERD). Somewhere between 3 and 4 months he had actual cereal. My pedi said we could start it then. Tristan had no more tongue thrust reflex and held his head up at birth due to the way he was wedged inside (they said it strengthened his neck and leg muscles).

Rice does tend to have a constipating effect. If you really want to use rice, give them extra water, juice, or thin formula to prevent it. We chose to do oatmeal long term. We tried the wheat, but he really liked the oatmeal and I feel better about him eating that than rice. Rice isn't really that great for you. If causes blood sugar spikes even in non-disbetics; so we switched over to oatmeal only around 6 months. It's known to be 'heart-healthy" and much better for you than rice. It also doesn't seem to cause constipation problems as much.