Hello again. I have yet another question. I know, of course, that you're not supposed to introduce solids until four to six months. But my question is about thickening feeds - can you thicken a bottle with cereal in a 3 1/2 month old? I think it might help Reid, but I don't know if I should wait a few more weeks. Have some of you done this before four months? I know about Enfamil AR, but Reid can't have cow's milk. Any suggestions? Help!

We began giving Sydney cereal in her bottles at about 6 weeks. She couldn't keep anything down (breastmilk, Similac, Isomil). Finally we switched her to Alimentum which we'd had success with for Mackenzie (now 5). However, Sydney continued to spit up so the GI added 2-3 tsp per ounce of rice cereal. The rice immediately constipated her so I switched her to oatmeal and we've been good since. She rarely spits up anything now and is such a happy baby at 4 1/2 months. The bottles are pretty thick so you'll have to use the cross-cut nipples. Good Luck!

I just read this morning in a store flyer that babies are introduced the purees with small chunks at 5-7 months. About thickening formula with infant cereal, you'll want to check with the doctor first. Adding any food to a bottle is taboo, except when it comes to infants with reflux. Here's a bit of an idea of what solids you can introduce and when.

First 4 months--only breast milk (with vitamin D supplement) OR formula (with no supplements)

4 months--iron-enriched infant cereal - rice first

5 months--pureed vegetables, followed by pureed fruits

6 months--dried breads

7 months--pureed meat and alternates (beans, peas, lentils, etc.), egg yolks (not whites!)

8 months--mashed "family" foods without sugar, butter, margarine, or seasonings like salt, spices, herbs

10 months--finger foods such as fruit and vegetable pieces, toast

12 months--whole (homo=3.25%) undiluted milk

Steffi,

I've made this post into a Sticky so that we can keep the list of when to start solids at people's finger tips.

Steffi -
I also started Nathan on Alimentum thickened with cereal when he was about 8 wks. While non-refluxers normally shouldn't have cereal until 4 mos, it is a different story with GERDlings. Like Janette said, check with her doc first, but they usually okay it with silent or spit-up reflux. Since he has a milk allergy, try to get a cereal that is soy-free (since soy intolerance is common with milk allergy babies) like Beechnut. Also, like GAmomto3 said, you may also have to experiment with rice vs oatmeal, and different nipples to find the right flow. :)

our ped. told us to start feeding Sam rice cereal with a spoon at 11 weeks. It was tough for about the first 5 days until Sam got the hang of the spoon & pushing the food to the back of his mouth to swallow but once he mastered that look out :D

with my first child(Shanon) it was recommended her formula be thickened due to GERD but she would not take it. She was breast fed until she five months old ( i limited by diet) and would not take cereal in the bottle with the special formula. my second child (Rayne) at 3 weeks started with cereal in her bottle. which made her constipated and gassy. I have my mixed feeling about it. But certainly follow doctor's orders.

I have been giving my son cereal since he was 2weeks old. Recently after viewing the message boards on this site i switched to oatmeal and he does much better...not as constipated or gassy. Kysen is 10 weeks old now and I began spoon feeding him at 8 1/2 weeks because he was dowing 30 oz of formula a day and still hungry. I have given him pears and bananas with his cereal and I usually spoonfeed him once a day and then give him a cereal bottle before bedtime... i give him 4 oz of Enfamil AR mixed with 2 scoops oatmeal(the same scoop as the formula) and feed it to him through a Y cut nipple. He has done really well on this and now at 10 weeks old sleeps from 10pm to 5 or 6 am. Check with your MD first, mine was OK with this.

Hi. Our pediatrician has had my son on rice cereal since he was a month old. I have to mix 1 tablespoon to every ounce of formula. It has limited his vomitting to once per day. I think after reading this I may try oatmeal cereal and see if that helps with gas. He is also on Zantac.

Heidi

I think you are perfectly fine giving your son rice at this age. We recently started my 6 week old on it per the ped suggestion and his is doing fine. I also have a 2 year old who we started on solid foods at 2 months simply because he was hungry all the time and he also did fine. I know so many moms who start solids earlier than the 4 month recommended period..each baby is different. Go for it!

Emma is 2months and her ped has us putting a tbs. an ounce into alimentum. I also switced from rice to oatmeal and found that helped somewhat with the constipation.