2months- rice cereal?

[lane0413]

Just wondering if anyone out there is putting rice cereal in their LO's bottle? I have a friend who started her daughter at 2 months and she is suggesting for me to do the same with mine at 2 months...I know its not the recommended thing to do but just wanted to see what ya'll thought.

[RyansMum]

My honest opinion is that it is just too young to be feeding anything other than milk and also its not the best idea to put it in a bottle.  I would be waiting until your lo is getting nearer to 6 months before introducing any solids and then in a bowl.

Out of curiosity why is your friend doing this?

[ark]

I would say no personally.  My LO had a really hard time with it at 4-6 months.  What would be the reasoning for starting so early?  I know people used to do this often to try to get them to sleep longer, but this usually doesn't help any.

[jana224]

I was told that by a few people too... that it would keep them fuller longer, sleep better, etc, but that truly is just a myth.  My DD was sleeping 8 hour stretches at 2 months and never had cereal, and other babies who eat cereal still wake 3-4 times in the night.  A fully belly is required to keep a baby from waking from hunger, but that belly can be full of formula or milk. 

Some of the problems associated with early introduction of cereal:
-tough on their digestive system, resulting in more gassiness, stomach pains, etc.
-increased risk of food allergies and intolerances
-overly fast weight gain
-choking, since cereal makes the bottle much much thicker

Lastly, when you do intro cereal, you want to do it when baby can sit up and take a spoon so that he/she can associate the spoon with eating, something that is different from the bottle.

I started my DD on rice cereal just under 5 months, at the pediatrician's "go ahead", and she still had difficulty with gas and pain... so we stopped for 2 weeks and then tried again with oatmeal, which she tolerated no problem. 

[shivi]

There are some formula milks with added rice cereal but I think they are all the follow on milks, at least after 4 mths!

My son still drinks toddler formula, Nestle's Nan 3R, with added rice....this is suitable from 9mths plus I think. But there is a 2R from 4 mths also....

[jess, lukeys_mom]

The best food for a young baby under 4-6months - hands down - is breast milk or formula. Nutritionally, this is undisputed. Solid foods before can cause digestive problems, allergies, further sleep disturbances, and bring new 'foreign' substances into baby's little body.

The only thing that IS disputed (and you can probably tell which side of the fence I lie on ), is whether adding rice cereal to a baby's bottle can make them fuller and sleep through the night better.

Now...even IF it could be true that a 2 month old baby sleeps more soundly with rice cereal, the one thing you know for sure is that nutritionally it's not a good idea. So isn't it worth waiting till baby sleeps through the night on his/her own without introducing something that has shown to be in some ways harmful?  I did HATE the sleeplessness of young infancy so can totally relate to anyone who's struggling there but the risks don't outweigh the benefits IMHO.
 

[DebMcGee]

DON'T DO IT!!!!

2 months is way too early and too young to expect it to sleep through the night too. The tummy is still small so hard to get much in it anyways which is why they need to feed more often. If your baby is hungry after normal formula, then by all means use Hungry Baby milk which is suitable from birth but that's all. It has more protein in it that takes longer to digest but doesn't upset the tummy so is ok. But unless your baby is on the larger side, then I would stick to standard milk.

I had people telling me all sorts of crap and it's hard to know what to trust sometimes but definitely 2 months is too early.....

Things get better once your baby hits 12/13 weeks - you'll both sleep better as babies can take more milk in by that stage so hang in there....it's not too further to go. It's much better to get your baby into a routine like easy now so that they learn how to sleep by themselves rather than rely on food to make them sleep. And BTW - my DD's daytime sleep suffered when I put her on solids for the first few weeks so it is definitely a myth that food = more sleep.....

[Tobysmum]

Ditto to everyone else's posts.  Babies bodies just aren't ready for anything but breastmilk / formula until 4-6 months - and I'd say ideally 6 months.  You'll find along the way that lots of people will give you some very bizarre advice!  I think most doctors would also agree not to give any solids until 4-6 months.  I personally started at 6 months (DS#1 was big!)  It will NOT make your baby sleep.  My baby has been on solids since 7 months (he wasn't interested at 6 months) and he's still waking once per night to feed!  Giving your baby rice cereal at his age could potentially do long-term damage.

[EllenS]

My lo slept 10 hours a night (except for growth spurts) from about 6 weeks to 6.5 months, when we started solids, and did not STTN again till she was over a year.  Solids definitely made her sleep worse.

[TDR'smom]

I would not do it.  It can cause a choking hazard, allergies etc etc.  It's just not worth it and there is no real evidence that it helps little ones sleep through easier. 

[Missy Lou]

we all pretty much think the same thing.  a full tummy does not mean a LO will sleep better (assuming the rice cereal does that).  if sleep is the reason, i would suggest visiting the sleep boards.  sleep training can be hard, but is worth it.  i waited until my DD was about 12 weeks to sleep train though because we had all kinds of issues with colic and reflux. 

also, 2 months is really little.  most LOs won't sleep through the night at 2 months.  sleeping is hard for LOs to learn, but things start to even out a bit by about 12 weeks.  they seem to get a hang of eating and sleeping.

hugs if you and LO are having a hard time with sleep.  most of us can sympathize with that!

[mum101]

Our experience of rice cereal with DS is that we gave him 3 teaspoon fulls of it over 3 days at 5.5 months old and he had his first case of constipation.  He was in pain and struggled to go for days. So we now only give him a tiny bit on and off.

There has to be a reason that doctors and nurses say wait until 4-6 months, I'd trust that fact alone.