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XP: Mom's who have introduced rice cereal?
So Connor is a little over 4 months and rarely seems to get full. He was
waking up 4-5 times a night for the past couple of weeks. I wrote if
off as the 4 month wakeful period but now many including pedi say to
start introducing rice cereal. Mainly b/c each time he woke up he was
hungry. So I would nurse him and he would go back to sleep but only
for a couple of hours. So maybe they are right.
So, when did you introduce rice cereal to DC? and how did you do it?
I have heard about mixing it with BM and putting it in the bottle then
some say that is a big no-no and to make it in a baby bowl and feed
with a spoon. So what did you do? Also did you DC take to it right
away?
Thanks ladies!
PS- I know some of you dont think that rice cereal helps a DC sleep through the night. If so can you let me know your thoughts since he is waking and eat then going back down then waking up again in a couple of hours.
I would REALLY like to hold off on any solids till 6 months but I also want to do whats best for him and give him for what he is looking for. I am soooo confused. 
Re: XP: Mom's who have introduced rice cereal?
Did you do it early on? I picked up a Y-nipple but it said for 6 months so I am nervous about doing it. I dont want to choke him. Is that what you used and did Alex do ok the first time with the bottle?
I have heard and read research about putting it in the bottle and that was not good to do...Although there is research for and against everything, right? So confusing! Anyway, part of the reason I introduced them (around COnnor's age I think) was b/c of Ryan's size and my pedi recommendation and just b/c he seemed hungrier. So we did it with the bowl and little spoon b/c I also wanted him to start learning how to eat. At first not much actually went in his mouth and he dind't seem to love it or hate it. He started liking it a lot more once we could introduce other solids - b/c we then mixed it with a fruit or a veggie. Now I don't think I could get him to just eat the rice, he was never a big fan. But he did ok and seemed ot like the oatmeal.
It takes awhile for them to understand how to eat and get the hang of it so you start very very small and work your way up. They get it over time!
I have always been told that you do put the rice in the bottle unless its medically needed for reflux or something like that.
We introduced rice cereal to Brianna around 4 months. I mixed it with formula and fed it to her by spoon. It was about a month before she actually learned how to eat off a spoon and swallow the cereal. If you introduce it now, its mainly just to introduce it to him. It will take him awhile to learn what to do with it. So by the time he 5-6 months old he'll be great at eating the cereal and then you can introduce other stage 1 foods.
As for sleeping... I NEVER saw any difference in Briannas sleeping when we started the cereal. For us, it made no impact on sleeping longer stretches. BUT, Brianna is not a good sleeper anyways. Could Connor be going through a growth spurt? Which would explain why he is up more frequently to eat. I think if this is the case, you just need to accomodate him until it passes. Have you tried to introduce fomula at night? Formula tends keep them full alittle longer than BM and that might take the edge off for alittle while with him. Maybe hes just not content with the BM at night and needs alittle something more???
Good luck!!
Rice cereal was the first solid food that I introduced to both of my kids and it was at about 6 months (just after they had healed from their respective lip repairs). At that point, both kids had long been STTN (They never experienced a sleep regression at this age.) so there was absolutely no change in the way that they slept by adding in cereal. Sleep habits were never mentioned to me by any doctor as a sign of readiness for solids.
I will say that I did notice a difference in the way that my pediatrician spoke about starting solids between the time that I was doing it with Jakob and when I was doing it with Caroline. I think that maybe there has been a little bit of a shift in philosophy in the last couple of years I remember being told with Jakob that it was best to start solids at six months and not before but with Caroline THE SAME DOCTOR told me that, in general for most kids, he recommneds to start at any time between 4-7 months depending on if the child is showing readiness.
Good luck in figuring out the right thing to do for Connor. This is all so confusing even still to me and I have done it twice!
Beth-
Here is what I know about rice cereal.
You want to start it sometime between 4-6 months of age, but no later. By 6 months kids should start to experience solids, because eating is a learned skill and there is a magic window for the "best" time to learn. The rice cereal is often recommended as the first solid to try because it has such a small chance of an allergic reaction. You just mix some up in a bowl with some bm or formula (you could also mix in water in desperate times, but to maximize nutrition you should stick with milk/formula.) and feed with a baby spoon. The early experiences with food are purely for experimentation and learning for baby. It's not very nutritious at all, it's just for learning texture and basic feeding skills.
The people who chose to put cereal in with milk in bottles are hoping to get extended periods between feeds. The reason lots of people are against this is because the cereal tends to be very filling and takes longer to empty from the belly (hence the longer periods between feeds). However, the down side to this is that the cereal takes up more room in the belly, leaving less room for the nutritious milk. The "missed" feeding that he may have during the night has lots of great nutrients and calories in it. Just know that if you chose to do this, you are cutting down on his intake of those valuable nutrients. This may not be a problem if he's taking in plenty during the day, but it is something that I would think about.
I recommend talking to your pedi before deciding to put cereal in milk. You're not doing any dammage by introducing it with a spoon, but you are changing his intake fairly significantly by adding it to a bottle, and that's worth a chat with a Dr. in my mind before trying it.
Good luck!
We started Jordan when he was just under 5 months. We just KNEW he was ready...I don't really know how to explain it, but we knew! We started with rice cereal. We mixed it with either BM or formula, and made it really thin to start. We fed it with a spoon, which I think teaches him good eating habits. I personally wouldn't choose to feed it to him from a bottle because my whole point in adding solids was to teach him to eat solids, not to help him STTN (which he did NOT start doing even after we introduced rice). But, to each his own, I suppose.
Ben is a big boy, was showing interest, sitting up with help and was just hungry. ?I too wanted to wait until 6 months, but I "knew" he was ready and the pedi agreed. ?We started a little before 5 months and he hated the rice cereal. ?I gave it about 1-2 weeks before switching to oatmeal and then slowly introduced stage 1 veggies then fruits.
IMHO, he HAS been sleeping a little better- but it could def. be?coincidence- just that he's older and has learned how to nap better. ?He now sleeps 8-10 hours at night, sometimes more & usually waking once to eat whereas he used to sleep 4-7, waking several times. ?So who knows?
If YOU feel Connor is ready, there is no harm in trying the rice cereal. ?It takes them awhile before they even really "eat" it anyway. ?Also my opinion, I wouldn't put it in the bottle- but you do what you feel is best! ?GL!?
I am very much PRO solids early on because both my boys went on rice cereal at that 3.5 months by spoon...3 months I threw some in the bottle but it didn't do a whole lot. By this age they are most likely waking cause they are hungry so I started with giving rice cereal at night before bedtime to keep him fuller, and thank god it works! Both my boys slept through the night since 8 weeks old then all of a sudden would wake up 1x then 2x a night...so to me it's a sign they need something more, so by what you describe I would say give it a try, at least do it in the bottle and if you see no difference in a couple days...do it by spoon.
Here's to you getting some good quality rest soon!
Good luck!