First Time Cereal Feeding

B. my pedi told me that feed a infant with cereal in a bottle stimulate obesity, so keep that in mind.
good luck!
Mafe

B.,

It is best to feed her from a spoon. This does teach her how to properly swallow and to accept food from the spoon. only liquids should come from the bottle. It is messy but well worth it. Continue to do what you are doing it will all work out.

Good luck.

S.

PS; this is how I fed all three of my boys and it was the best thing for them, because at a certain point the became interested and wanted to start feeding themselves.

You are NOT wrong to argue with your husband. I do not understand the concept of putting food in a bottle. I've been in public places and have seen people put a jar of food mixed with formula in a bottle. I personally think that it is not only disgusting, but it's being lazy. What is wrong with feeding a baby with a spoon? It is a beautiful interaction between the baby and the one feeding her. Yes, feeding is messy. It's supposed to be messy but they are washable. Tell your hubby to go watch tv or find something to do while while you enjoy feeding your child with a spoon. : )

You are right about not giving it in the bottle. It does not teach her to eat and will also put her at risk of choking and learning to over eat because she will crave the suckling of the bottle and milk, but will end with a very full belly, thus teaching her that she is to eat until she is stuffed which can lead to adult obesity. At her age she does not need cereal at all. The formula you give her is complete nutrition and adding table food at this time is just going to frustrate the both of you and possibly set you up for a child that is very resistant to trying new foods. I would wait until she is at least 6-7 months old. Why make your life more complicated than you have to? Take this time to just let her be an infant and when she is really trying to take your spoon from you and mimicking how you eat, then offer her something light. Breastfed babies don't need food until at least 1 year of age. Any food you give before then is just for learning and trust me, after raising 4 of my own and a dozen daycare children, the longer you wait, the easier and more pleasant it is on everyone. Also, giving her cereal to help her sleep is NOT a good idea. She is waking because she needs to eat and she also NEEDS to learn how to self soothe herself back to sleep. Focus on this challenge and leave eating in a different category than sleeping. Best wishes.

I know that more and more parents are putting cereal in baby's bottle. But I am with you. You are are doing great. She is doing even better, If she took a few spoonfuls at this age she is ready. Keep it up, things may go slow. But by 5-6 months she will be eating a bowl full. Just let your husband know that every baby is different and that she is ready to eat it this way. Also let him know what the doctor recommnds. Bottles are for breastmilk/formula not cereal.

B.,

I think your issue is less feeding the baby and more your husband. LET HIM HELP!!! He may just stop helping and will effect his bond with your child. Cereal in the bottle isn't ideal, but will it REALLY hurt once in a while? You have to know he won't be taking over the feedings. He just wants you to validate that he has an opinion. You do it your way and let him do it his. You're going to have SO MANY battles if you don't let some things go. Just ask him to make sure the bottle cereal is very thin. That way your baby won't be confused about texture and swallowing.

B.,
I did both with my son. When he was around 3 months I started in the bottle just so that he would be able to sleep a little longer during the night. I was breastfeeding and he would wake up every two hours to be fed. When I started putting some cereal in a bottle with my breast milk it really seemed to fill him up and keep him satisfied for longer. Of course my husband was thrilled because that was the one time during the day that he got to feed our son...LOL But around 3 1/2 to 4 months old I started spoon feeding him the cereal in the morning and was also putting it in his bottle at night so that he would stay satisfied for a little longer. I know that it is very stressful when the both of you are arguing over what to do but maybe you could do both and make both of you happy. I don't remember ever asking my doctor about this because all of my family did the last feeding at night cereal in the bottle and in the morning spoon feeding the cereal. So I'm not sure what the doctor would say. Hope this helps :) Good luck!

Well like you I was dead set against feeding my son the cereal in a bottle, but at 2 months old he had doubled his birth weight and was drinking 6-8oz of formula per feeding every 3-4 hours so my doctor who was normally against it said sometimes we have to make exceptions to some rules. At his 2 month checkup I was instructed to how to do it and to try to spoon feed it to him 2x’s a day as well and in the end it worked out, and I did both, and today he is 19 months old and doing just fine. Yeah it can be messy at first but hey take some pictures, and laugh about it…lol! I can say now looking back on it I don’t think I was being lazy by putting it in his bottle, I was just making sure he was eating a little less and staying fuller longer (I did not give it to him to make him sleep threw the night), I cant imagine spoon feeding him 6-8 times a day cereal…2 was enough…lol. And I have to say he loved the spoon feedings too. Just do what works for you, and I know you will not want to hear this but sometimes we have to give in to let the dads have a say so too. But if your mommy voice says no, then go with it…

I actually did put food in the bottle a few times and personally see nothing wrong with it...

However, I think that they're your children and you need to do whatever you think is best for them. Even if your husband disagrees with you. Generally, (and this is the way it is for me), Moms are the ones providing most of the care and if your husband has a problem with that, tell him to become a stay at home dad and then he can make all those decisions.

You know your children better than anyone and I say do whatever you feel most comfortable doing.

I agree with you - babies should not be feed rice cereal in a bottle. If your doctor agrees and you don't want to do it then don't. Plus, people used to drink and smoke while pregnant (under doctor's orders), people used to smoke in a house with children, people have fed their children artificial, fat laden food for years before understanding the consequences. The point is that just because other people did it doesn't mean you should. Information changes with time and we learn better ways. I'm sorry that your husband doesn't help a lot, but if you are going to be the one doing it all then do it your way. I don't want you to ruin your marriage over this issue, but you get one chance with your kids and don't listen to anyone (even me!). Follow your gut because you are her momma and you know best. I did everything more slowly because my daughter has allergies - she didn't have rice cereal until 6 months. I fed her through the night as long as she needed, I never let her cry it out (more than a few minutes). I have a happy, healthy baby, but I also have piece of mind knowing that I did what I felt what was right. She will get the hang of rice cereal - just try a few bites each day. Good luck! I'm a 33 year old first time mommy too - it's tough figuring it out as you go. I'm finally feeling more confident and mine is 1 year old!

Hi- You are not alone. I just started cereal as well. I did exactly what my Doctor said 1 tablespoon of cereal with 2 ounces formula or breastmilk. It was so runny I could hardly keep it on the spoon. Each day I would added 1 more tablespoon as the doctor said now I put 4 tablespoons in with 2 ounces and it is thick enough for her to eat and she eats it all. The point of spoon feeding your child is to get them used to eating from a spoon. Does your husband also want you to put baby food in the bottle also???? The idea of cereal is to get your baby used to being spoon fed while increasing the thickness of the cereal so they are ready for baby food.

I have two toddlers and they were little I fed them the cereal at first its just a few tablespoon its more so they can learn to eat from the spoon and then slowly u increase the tablespoons but I did it to them at about 5mths. If you put in the bottle it defeats the purpose. good luck and take care.. enjoy them while they are tiny they just grow soo fast..

If she is 3 months old, I would question even cereal fed by spoon! (And you might want to get your husband in for one of the pediatrician visits, too!) Here are some milestones to look for:
1. Baby can hold her head up well supported. (usually 4-6 months)

2. Baby no longer has the tounge-thrust reflex. (that is, when you feed her a bite, it comes back several times)

3. Baby reaches or shows interest in table foods

4. Baby can move tounge back and forth, and up and down.

5. Baby can draw the lower lip in so that food can be taken from a spoon.

As for your husband, what did his mom do? Is he willing to take the blame if she starts choking on the cereal laden milk? I would try to press for a compromise- If you are feeding her, you do it your way, let him do it his if he is feeding her. (Ask him to only use a small amount of cereal, or pre-mix the bottle for him). Some guys just have this Mr. Know-it-All mindset, it often takes a glaring, obvious mistake to break it, but the more graciously you can deal with him, the more likely it is to break.

I have to say that I started off putting the cereal in my daughter's bottle. Initially it was just in the one she took right before bed and it gave her enough on her stomach to help her sleep through the night, which is actually what my pediatrician recommended. It didn't hinder my daughter at all from learning to eat from a spoon when I introduced baby food a few months later. (Recommendation on that - start with the veggies instead of the fruits).

As a "second wife" myself, I can't say that I agree with your husband bringing what his ex-wife did into the mix. However, sometimes we have to do what we have to do to keep the peace. Even as young as she is, your daughter will pick up on the tension between the two of you.

Good luck!

The best way is whatever works for you and your baby. I fed mine EVERYTHING in the bottle, cereal or veggies or dessert, but I'm not saying it is the best way nor the only. It does seem a little early for solids though. Around 6 months would better since their digestive system might not be ready for it.
On the other hand, my daughter-in-law was very successful feeding her daughter with a spoon very early on. It was actually funny watching the speed at which she did it so my grandaughter would'nt spill out a drop! LOL Good luck at whatever method you choose. Don't mind the ogre!

Sounds like you have a lot on your hands, lol.
Be careful how you deal with your husband. The quickest way to ensure that he doesn't help with the baby (now and in the future) is to act like he CAN'T be any help. I'm not saying he is right about this (he's not), but just be careful how you talk to him about it (and other things he might be trying to help with - Daddy's do things differently.. trust me. I gave both our kids baths all by myself for 4 years, b/c I didn't let him do it the way he liked to do it... I learned the hard way). LOL
Cereal doesn't provide much, if anything, as far as nutrition for your baby. It's all about teaching them to swallow solid foods. It takes practice for them to learn, that's why it's so messy, and the first few bites are pushed OUT of the mouth instead of IN~
Many families have (and still do) put cereal in the bottles in an effort to get baby to sleep longer at night. I have an opinion about that, too, but that is a different conversation. As with lots of advice you may receive from grandparents and older generations, medicine and science have progressed since we were babies... they now know that some of the things that used to be common practice are not the BEST practice. Do your research, talk with your pediatrician, and if at all possible, encourage your husband to come to all the well-baby (and sick baby) visits WITH you.
Good luck.

Hi, B.. Well, you're right and the Pediatrician is right. Three months is a little young for any cereals at all, and it's not good to put cereal in a baby's bottle.

The baby doesn't actually need anything but formula at this age. Anything else can actually cause colic and/or obesity.

If he won't listen to you and to a bunch of other experienced moms, tell him to listen to the doctor. And maybe you can remind him that that ex-wife of his IS his EX for a reason, and you don't want to follow in her footsteps. You might also remind him that if baby gets colic from drinking formula clogged down with cereal, the screaming will keep you both up ALL night, and he won't be happy then.

Good luck.

Peace,
Syl

Oh Yes, I remembe this argument too. My mother in law, told me they all did it it is fine. I didnt like it but I was the sucker and did it anyways. First they do have a cereal bottle now and it is great. The trick is is to not use the bottle everytime. Maybe at bed time when you know she may not sleep all night the cereal helps the waking up hungry thing. My trouble was my boys were hungry ALL the time and I was looking for anything to passify them. I really dont think, if you get the cereal bottle, that this is a bad thing. It helps them sleep and they are getting a full belly. Maybe you could try every other time with a spoon and she will still be getting use to using the spoon. Good luck. And hey my boys did turn out ok and it did not harm their eating skills, they learned real quick how to use their spoon.

Stand your ground, just let your husband know that dcotor said no and that is what you are going with. Just because others have done it and been okay doesnt mean it will always turn out okay. You can dart out in the middle of the street sometimes and not get hit by a car too, doesnt mean that one day it wont happen. Better to err on the side of caution, especialy when it is an infant. I am surprised actually that yuor peditrician has okay'd cereal at 3 months anyway, its normally not until 6 months to let their stomach develop more, if you start too early it can cause food allergies.
But, besides that, not need to argue with your husband over it, tell him the final word is following what the doctor says. And it is a sign of laziness, my sister did it to my nephew and I hated it, even when he could crawl around she was putting baby food in his formula-totally disqusting and lazy!! Yes it will cause some mess, but messes can be cleaned up, no use crying over spilled milk, right? It can be cleaned, not the end of the world, and a sacrifice it may be not to be so lazy but a child is not something you regret sacrificing for, or doing the right thing for either. Good luck.

You should definitely not give her cereal in the bottle...even though our mothers and sisters did it! Also, she's not even 4 months so it seems a bit early for starting cereal.

You're doing nothing wrong! Children need to learn to eat from a spoon. I never put cereal or anything other than liquids in a bottle/sippy cup. Who cares if it's messy. Just get yourself a good waterproof bib (good one to use is the bumpkins kind. They are thing wash great in the washer and dry almost immediately when hung - also stuff and not thick). Also the first few times a baby doesn't know how to eat properly. They push their tongue out as if sucking instead of pulling in. It gets better and before you know it she'll be eating finger foods and trying to feed herself with her own utensils. Men always try to find the quick and easy way out. I know I have a 3 year old and both his dad and grandpa (especially grandpa) always try to find the easy way out. It's a man thing. Genetically programmed hehe. The only time a doctor may suggest cereal in the bottle is when there is reflux. Thickens the formula to help keep it down. Best of luck!

-- Barbi

B., dont feel bad my husband was the same way thinks he knew everything we have only been married for 2 1/2 years. his mother would put everything in the bottle and i use to get so mad. the ohly advice i can give you is do what you think is best, if you dont think its best to put in the bottle than dont she is your baby and your her mother she depends on you for everything. hope all works out for you and you always have someone hear if you need to talk

GOOD FOR YOU!! Remind your husband, in a nice way that you are not his ex nor are you his sister. I agree with you hole heartedly. They need to learn how to eat off the spoon. As far as it being messy, that is natural, maybe try a little less on the spoon but also that is what they make bib'f for. Also each child is different. I had to start my children earlier than the recommended time of feeding them as well due to their appetites. They are all grown now, healthy & NOT OBESE.
Remind the ones insisting on your daughter being fed by bottle that this affects their teeth and the less she uses it the better for her all around. If she is given everything by bottle she will become lazy and not be willing to eat without the bottle and becoming more dependant on it. Do they expect you to puree' stage 2 or 3, unless you give her table foods when she is old enough? Stick to your guns and teach her that using utensils is for eating!!