You should NEVER feed cereal in a bottle.
There is no proof that early introduction of solids helps babies sleep. This misconception may stem from the fact that adults often feel a little sleepy or drowsy after a large, high carbohydrate meal, but the same has not been shown to hold true for infants.
We must remember that a baby's stomach is not ready to digest starches until age 4-6 months. Breast milk and formula contain milk sugar, which is easily digested, but infant cereal contains starch, which is not easily digested by infants until later on. Therefore, giving cereal can cause intestinal distress, including cramping, bloating, diarrhea or excessive gas.
In addition, some evidence suggests that babies given cereal in the bottle tend to over-eat, the reason being this: cereal cannot pass through the normal size opening in a nursing bottle nipple, and so the parent often cuts a wider hole in the bottle. Now, too much can be easily sucked through. In addition, young infants are not able to manipulate thicker consistencies of food in their mouths, (it flows differently then milk) and it may cause choking.
There is also a good deal of evidence that early introduction of inappropriate foods may produce allergies that could be avoided by waiting for the correct age for introduction.
Solids readiness depends on both the maturity of baby’s digestive tract and baby’s developmental readiness for solids. Although the maturity of baby’s digestive system is not something that we can readily observe, research indicates that 6 months appears to be ideal for avoiding the allergies and other health risks of too-early solids. After this point, different babies are ready for solids at different times -- developmental readiness for solids cannot be determined using a calendar. Most babies are developmentally ready for solids somewhere between 6 and 8 months.
Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:
Baby can sit up well without support.
Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
Baby is ready and willing to chew.
Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.