Routine check 4 starting cereal

[gpmom]

Hi there,
My dd is 5 months old and I am going to be starting her on solids.  I had planned on waiting another month, but she is not getting enough food from me in the pm.  She also wants everything I am eating, so I have made the decision to start now.  My question is in regards to my routine.  I want to give her the food in the pm because that is where she needs more,
Here is my schedule right now, (btw sh is bf except the df)

7am-I wake and bf
845 nap time (2 hours)
11 bf
1-nap (1.5 usually)
3 bf
430-cat nap
5bf
bath and wind down
7-bf and bed ***This is where we are having trouble.  Dd cries for food so we give her a bottle and she drinks 4-6oz.  This has been gong on for 3 weeks)
10 df

So I would like to do cereal in the pm to make bed time work better.  What do you suggest?

[Sarah - Enfys' Mum]

Personally, I wouldn't introduce new solids in the evening as it can cause digestive upset and lots of night wakings!  You are breastfeeding, correct?  I didn't bf for long but I know there is often a dip in supply in the evenings.  Any possibility of supplementing with formula, or pumping extra milk when you have more (maybe after a morning feed??) and giving it in a bottle at bed time?  hth

[momtonb&ab]

could you introduce cereal at breakfast first to make sure there is no reaction, and then when she's good with it, then move it to dinner time?  If you do this, i would get cereal in around the 5pm bf.

btw, we started solids at 5 months for exactly the same reason - ds was 'starving' and crying for food (we are formula fed).  We stuck with one feed of cereal for about a month, and at six months added a second meal, and at 6 1/2 months added the third meal.  It went quite smoothly, and we just added a 'snack' and pushed dinner later this past week (at 9months) because ds started with hungry nws.

good luck!
.cb.

[gpmom]

thanks so much for the replies.  I still think I want to try it at night to try and fill her poor tummy.  Thanks

[Shdef]

If she never had cereal don't give her the first ever at night as you can miss an allergic reaction if she is asleep. This is really not a good idea to rush, honestly. Also, if you give cereal stick to rice cereal, don't give oats or wheat before 6 months, her system cannot cope with that yet.

Have you tried to give the next stage formula at night-time?

[gpmom]

Okay okay you convinced me....we are starting tomorrow morning.  I was thinking about 830 or so?? 
Thanks for all your help, I will try in the pm once that works for us.

[momtonb&ab]

that sounds like a perfect plan - be careful that she is too tired (ie 8:30 is awfully close to 8:45 naptime, you might want to get closer to 8am if she seems too tired to try something new).  just give it a couple of weeks for her to learn (and not have an allergic reaction) to eating the cereal, and in no time you will be able to move it to bedtime.  as per pp, we also stuck to rice cereal until 6 months as per doc's advice. 

keep us posted.   if she is ready for it, it won't take long to get her a good start.

[Sarah - Enfys' Mum]

We started off giving solids about 1/2 hour after the bottle; now she is awake longer it's more like an hour, hour and a half after the bottle.

[Freya'sMum]

Just a word of caution (without wanting to dampen spirits ) - introducing solid foods rarely ever helps with reducing hungry nw, in fact it can increase them! As well as the discomfort/reaction issue already highlighted by pps, cereal (rice or otherwise) has little more nutritional content than the liquid it is mixed with, and those it does have are not the kind that satisfy hungry babies!

Milk, breast or formula, is the food babies need to satisfy hunger, especially under 6 months - if you try to fill them up on solid foods in the day, it backfires because they then don't eat as much milk in the day, and then they get hungry for the missed milk in the night, so wake up more!

I would suggest what Sarah (Enfys' Mum) initially suggested and supplement with formula after the bedtime feed if required, rather than use cereal for this same effect - it will be more effective!

If you think your lo is ready for solid foods for other reasons, however, then try to think of milk as the Eat in EASY and any solid foods as an Activity, this way dd still gets her all important milk, and gets to learn all about the fun of food without the pressure of having to actually eat much of it too soon!

Ax

[Jennerific]

have you tried single side feeding at night then pumping the full breast in the morning & giving her that milk at night before bed or for the DF? also you could do solids in the morning an hour after the breast, then you'd have all day to see if there are any adverse reactions or side effects. this has been working for us & my LO is 4 months.

[gpmom]

Thanks ladies.  I started solids in the AM, rice cereal with formula.  I left it there for a few days and she had no reaction and was having her bm so I moved it to 5.  I have had it at 5 for 2 days now and she LOVES cereal.  She sleeps good and has no problems with gas. 
Your input was very helpful, thanks!!

[momtonb&ab]

yyyaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!

that's great news!