Do You Think this is a Food Allergy to Rice Cereal?

[dallinsmommy]

Okay, I'm a first time mom and pretty clueless . . . I started my little guy on rice cereal three days ago (he's 4 1/2 months) at the pediatricians recommendation. I now know that I should wait until closer to six months; however, I fed him about two teaspoons and that was it-I haven't fed it to him since. Well, that night and the next day he was soooo gassy. He was up all night passing gas and moaning; poor little guy. Yesterday and today he's been having bowel movements every 3 hours or so. He's exclusively breastfed and was having bowel movements every 2-3 days before this incident. His movements used to be really runny and would 'puddle' in his diaper (we always changed him right after-it was easy to hear them however, today and yesterday they have been thick with cottage cheese looking curdles in them (Sorry if that's too graphic).

I'm wondering a) if this is normal behavior after rice ceral? b) if this sounds like a food allergy, c) if he's just too young for cereal, or d) if I need to call the doctor? We had given him a few bites of rice ceral for the past couple weeks-he's a refluxer; so we thought it would help; however, this is the first time we gave him anything more than a bite or two.

Any advice would be great-thanks so much.

[Livvismum]

I'd say that it sounds like his system isn't ready for solids yet. I'm not really sure about the bowel movements and the cottage cheese consitency. I would say give your doc a quick call just to be sure.

Sara

[GraceKellysmom]

I agree on waiting.

When you do intro solids, the poop is going to change. Smell, color, consistency. You aim for nice, soft, easy-to-pass poops. Too much iron-fortification in cereals without balancing it with fruits/veggies can cause gas and constipation.

Also, some babies do much better with oatmeal cereal. Applesauce and bananas are great first foods too. I know Tracy suggests pears, but the US pears are not good at all, almost sour. If you made your own in season, they would be much better.

[Kitsmom]

Had the exact same issue with my ds.  Ped had me give him rice cereal at 3 months (to help with his reflux).  He got very fussy.  I thought that he was allergic.  Since he is sensitive to milk protein (have to feed him soy), I called Gerber to find out if there were any milk products in the cereal.  They said that there was no milk products. 

At four months, I tried again (My ds was eating over 50 sometimes 60 ounces of formula a day) -same issue.

Then I bought some organic mixed grain cereal.  He had no issues with the organic.  Could be just a coincidence.  It doesn't seem very logical.  But worth a try.

[Caroline-Charlies Mummy]

We had the same problem, we just went along with what everyone does and gave ds baby rice to start. That night we had our first up all night screaming session, and it was like he was really in pain in his stomach. It also made him constipated. I subsequently :roll:  heard that it's not the best thing to give as a first food, as it can be very heavy, not so easy to digest, and cause constipation (it's recommended b/c it's pretty tasteless, so can take on the taste of baby's usual milk).

As has been recommended, we left it a couple of weeks, and then tried with pureed fruit & veg (started with sweetpotato, then pears, both of which he loved).

[Colleen]

Actually, rice is hypoallergenic, meaning it is not possible to be allergic to it. HOWEVER -- they add many ingredients to the rice cereal so an allergy to one of those things is a possibility. :?

Rice does make babies more constipated for sure! I'm sure that isn't comfortable for them. If you feel that baby is ready for solids, try going with a fruit or veggie instead. Squash and pears are what I did.