The girls are a few days beyond 4 months and the ped thinks it'll be a good idea. Should we do it around their first bottle of the day. How much formula should they get before we try the cereal?? And then do we finish with the rest of their bottle?? We've got the bowls and spoons ready!!!:laugh:
Those that feel strongly about ffing please don't attack the thread.:blush: I wasn't able to bf...tried and failed.
Mindi
08-04-2007, 07:39 PM
I never gave my kiddos cereal in a bottle. I ff my first 3 and i always just used a spoon. Each one of them gobbled it down like it was going out of style.
I would suggest you give them some formula so they are *starving* then try a small spoon of cereal and see how they do with it. If it goes well try a little more. If not, give more of the bottle. They will let you know if they are ready for a spoon or not.
CrunchyMama0607
08-04-2007, 07:39 PM
how exciting!! just follow the directions on the side of the cereal box for the 1st feeding :thumbsup: as for the bottle after cereal, i say yes since the 1st feeding is only 1 tablespoon of cereal i think. :) let us know how it goes!! :p
p.s i suggest adding a small amount of sweet fruit babyfood or juice in w/it so it doesn't taste bland and serve it warm.
kthoelen
08-04-2007, 07:40 PM
Don't worry about ffing. I had to with my dd as she just couldn't nurse. You can only do what you can do. At least you tried!
I would give them the cereal first then give them the bottle. I know that if you give them the bottle first they may be too full or get really upset if you take it away mid feeding!!
Have fun giving them their first cereal!!!
excitednewIM
08-04-2007, 07:44 PM
We're not putting it in the bottle.
We're using a bowl and spoon. My post is a bit confusing.
jls~Kain~Drake
08-04-2007, 07:54 PM
I think as far as giving bottle before or after, it depends on the child. If I tried to give ds1 a bottle before cereal..but only gave him a couple of ounces and then took it away....he was one completely unhappy baby. Screaming his head off! Once he started the bottle, he had to finish it. But, by the time he finished it...he wasn't hungry for anything else. Ds2 wouldn't have anything to do with cereal.
hackermd
08-04-2007, 07:54 PM
4 months really? :headscratch:
excitednewIM
08-04-2007, 08:07 PM
They are 18 and 17 pounds and eating 32 - 40 ozs a day.
mom2madison06
08-04-2007, 08:18 PM
I would not give it in a bottle. The idea is to learn that solid food goes in with the spoon is definitely something to reinforce, and you don't want them to overeat by drinking too much "spiked" formula. I would try the spoon. We started Maddie when she was just about 5 months old, on Christmas Day. She'd been showing signs of readiness, like "chewing" while at the table with us, and sitting up, showing a lot of interest in our foods, and reaching for things I was eating. She ate the ENTIRE bowl. She was definitely ready. If you're feeling like they're ready, just mix about 1-2 Tbsp. with enough formula/EBM/whatever liquid you feed your child to make it a thick soupy texture. Good luck! The "recipe" on the box never turned out right for us, the measuring Tbsp., and then just adding to texture helped more.
And on the bottle before v. after debate: I did her cereal between feedings, so it wasn't an issue. I wouldn't worry too much, though, especially since your babies are as big, if not bigger than my 12 M/O! They're obviously eating well to begin with! I think it's mainly an issue with kids who might not drink their BM/formula if they fill up on cereal.
Mommy2LivandNoah
08-04-2007, 08:18 PM
This sounds like my kiddo's. My Ped. said to start giving DS food. My son is 5 months old and 20 lbs. I FF my first daughter(BFing DS)..and we didn't start her till around 6 months, however we are starting to give DS some. He's still having issues keeping anything in his mouth, so we are just taking it easy. I usually offer it before milky feeding him...he tends to work better with it that way. I guess he's just more hungry....He still hasn't gotten it yet, so we will keep working on it..! Hopefully your girls will take to it easy....:)
moni54
08-04-2007, 08:22 PM
My baby started cereal at 4.5 months, because she wanted to more than anything. She liked hers mixed with my breastmilk, so if there seems to be a taste shock to baby, I would try mixing with the formula. DD loved hers with a little unsweetened applesauce mixed in!
dru1213
08-05-2007, 08:05 AM
DD hated her cereal plain, then i tasted it, yeah tastes like wet cardboard..:yuck:
I tried mixing formula in it, so there was some more nutrition in it.. or what i normally did was take other baby food, a veggie or fruit, and mix the cereal into it, to thicken it up and thats how she ate her cereal..
Maybe your kiddos will like the taste better than mine did..
Kanga
08-05-2007, 09:56 AM
For the first week, I wouldn't mix anythign else in new. And I wouldn't get them used to juice either, especially this young. IMO, it's the same as pop but without the caffeine. Most nutrients of fruit are in the actual flesh of the fruit, nto the juice. If she has a reaction, you'll never know if it was to the cereal or the baby food. Obviously they've had formula before so if they do have a reaction (pretty rare for cereal anyways) you'll know for sure it was the cereal and not the formula.
Solids until the first year are purely for fun/practice. Until a baby is one year old the digestive systems are simply not able to process the nutrients in food. I think it's best to do solids in between bottles. If you do it before you could be filling them up on too much empty calories (really cereal doesn't have much in it anyways except iron but they get that in formula already) before they get their bottles which of course have the nutrients they need in it.
IMBHO, I think cereal is pretty useless. Not bad, just useless. Not many calories (and nothing has more calories than bm/formula anyways) and no special nutrient that can't be found in other foods. It's main one is iron, which there is plenty of in formula anyways.
We won't be feeding Cami anything until she can feed herself. We believe it will teach her to know when she is hungry sooner rather than just taking the next bite off the spoon because it's there.
If you truly feel like formula is not enough for them at this point, then I'd start with mashed sweet potato or avocado. Bananas are good too (and easy) but they can be binding so i wouldn't give much for the first time until you know how it will affect them. Boil, steam, or bake a sweet potato, then puree with formula or water. If you boil it, I'd recommend using the water you boil it in for the puree as some nutrients are leeched into the water. Let them have fun with it, put their fingers in it, etc. Maybe they'll end up putting it in their mouth.
Maddie&Jake'sMom
08-05-2007, 10:15 AM
We also never gave Maddie cereal to start. She started with avocados, pureed and mixed with EBM. Then on to sweet potatoes, butternut squash, apples, pears, etc.... We always gave her solids AFTER she nursed because its REALLY important that the first year of life, breastmilk or formula be the PRIMARY source of nutrition. Right now, solids are just for experimenting with tastes and textures. Its not for nutrition. :goodvibes:
But we started her late on solids as she had no interest earlier. She started at 7.5 months and only really took to it at 10 months. Even though our pedi was pushing us to start her at 4 months. :rolleyes:
We started making her cereal when she was 10 months old. We bought whole grain oatmeal and organic brown rice from Whole Foods, grinded it up and cooked it. She loves it. :thumbsup:
