12 Week Old Ready to Start Eating Rice Cereal?

Hi! Just wanted to let you know that I was born 7 or 8 pounds and I cried constantly-that's what my mom tells me.
Anyway the dr. suggested ceral also at 3 months and she said after doing it that I was like a different child.

Good luck,

Esther

Just please keep in mind that outward signs of her wanting and being ready to eat solids do not represent the readiness of her internal functions. Her digestive system won't be prepared to handle solid food until she is four, maybe even six, months old...

Also, my daughter was 9lbs 13oz when she was born and we did not start her on solids until she was six months old, just to be sure she was ready. A baby's size doesn't necessarily mean they can handle digesting the solid food.

They grow up fast, don't be too quick to get her on solids. :)

I think her little tummy would not be ready for cereal at 12 weeks. The frequent wake ups at night might be more for comfort AND she could probably have a snack. Soon she'll start taking more than 2-4 oz. Don't let her take double the intake at a single feeding. Add another 2 oz. an hour or so after the previous bottle. Good luck!

I know there are different schools of thought, but I am a waiter when it comes to feeding. I started all of mine at 6 months. I can't be much help in terms of ounces as I nursed except for a few pumped bottles for each child. They took bottles too infrequently for me to ever get a guage on how much they were drinking at any time.

There are several growth spurts in those early weeks that often bring along added hunger. My first was probably the same age as your daughter when she had her "explosive period." Nearly every time she nursed, she would spit - I don't mean a little either. No burp cloth would begin to handle the situation. Usually we both needed a full (down to undergarments in many cases) change of clothes after she ate and exploded. She was happy and growing so my ped wasn't concerned. I wasn't either - it just made for a lot of laundry! It lasted a few weeks as I really concentrated on making her slow down and burp frequently and feed for shorter times but offered more often. That worked for us. Sometimes they just need to eat more frequently to get those extra calories in during growing periods.

If you can stand to wait on feeding, there is much research that recommends doing so for a variety of health reasons. This may sound selfish, but it also really makes your life easier if you can hold off. Once you start down that track of solid foods, it just keeps going and it one more thing to fit in the day. Their tummy's aren't designed to be ready for solids until later so no need to add one more thing too early.

In a word: no

Your baby is bigger than most, and may be ready to eat cereal sooner, but you aren't doing her any favors by providing cereal before her stomach and intestines are ready to digest it. That's why pediatricians suggest you start cereal at 6 months. I started mine at 5.5 months and it worked okay. (Mine ran about 9 pounds at birth) But as 12 weeks, I would simply provide a larger amount of formula at feeding time

I a assuming since you know how many ounces she ingests that you are bottle feeding. why don't you mix up a full bottle, feed her some, burp her, and then feed her more. Putting her fist in her mouth is not necessarily a sign of hunger. It's something to play with. It's something to DO that a baby can do. babies like to suck and fists are convenient sucking toys.

With a first baby, we all seem to want them to grow up and go through their stages quickly. If we could have a baby that grows up before we have our first babies, we would be more apt to relish the early days and enjoy each stage for what it is rather than want to rush through it. Getting to the point of feeding REAL food is fun, but it's fun when the baby's stomach is ready. Your pediatrician knows best. And I think the idea of starting at 4 months was a concession to your insistance that she eat more than milk.

I've had 4 kids, and as an aging parent, I would highly recommend you slow down and smell the roses along the way. We're talking 6 months at most, probably 5, of your life. Relax, take time to enjoy each day, because soon your baby will be away at school all day, and then she'll be a teen, and she may not want hugs and cuddles anymore. She'll be ready to let go of the apron strings long before you are. So relax and enjoy the warmth and the confinement of being so in demand. you will never get these days back again. (some of that is GOOD, too, but when your arms are empty, you'll remember those days and grin, wishing you could relive them -- not for months at at time, mind you, but for a day or so) It's impossible to understand this emotionally until your child is grown. You know it intellectually, but it doesn't "feel" like it will happen and you can't imagine the differences and how your life will change until it's done.

My advice? Set a life long pattern in place now, of trying to enjoy the reality of the life your child is living today, what her needs are, what new things she can do, etc. It sounds like you are doing some of that already. And work hard not to push your child to grow up too soon. Enjoy the sense of wonder a child brings to the world, and try to slow your own life down to accomodate that. You'll never regret it ! :-)

My daughter Gabby was 10 lbs 10 oz when she was born... so she was born hungry :) At about 3 months she was drinking over 30 ounces a day so my pediatrician said that we could put 1 teaspoon of rice in each of her bottles to help fill her up. And if you read other posts i have submitted you'll see that when i started feeding her rice cereal with a spoon it was INCREDIBLY binding.. no problems with the teaspoon in her bottle though, she had BM's every day. So she was on spoon-fed rice cereal for only a few days before we were told to move onto oatmeal. She is almost 5 months now and weighs about 17 lbs :) I made sure that she spent time on her belly every single day to help strengthen her upper body. Now she is almost crawling! Seperately she lifts her upper body up and then she'll put her head down and lift her rump up!
i know that most people say that you should hold off as long as necessary with adding solids, and of course, our pediatricians know best! Good luck!

Oh - I should also mention that Gabby was constinantly spitting up and the pedi also felt that starting the rice cereal would help that as well (as opposed to starting her on a reflux medicine) it made a huge improvement.

I'd wait. My 14 week old will take 6-7 ounces every 2-3 hours so what you are talking about doesn't sound too unfamiliar. I'd listen to the pediatrician and just hang in there and feed her when she's hungry. If she's only taking an ounce when she wakes up at night, are you sure she's really hungry? Only you know your baby best! Personally I'm going to wait until as close to 6 months as I can, just from things I've been reading about allergies and stomach problems. It seemed to work fine for my older daughter, but I know they are all different! Best of luck to you!

start off with a little rice cereal. mix it with her formula. try a few tablespoons to start out. try a little and see how she does. when she is about five months she will be ready to start on baby food. my son was a good eater so i started with a little rice cereal at about four months. babies have to figure out how to swallow the cereal in her mouth so do not be alarmed. she will figure it out within a week. bottom line is use your common sense and do what you think is right.

Hi! I may have some advice, however, my son is breastfed, but at that age he was taking in around 6-8oz per feeding, and nursing about every 4 hours. (he was bottle fed while I worked once a week, so thats how I knew the amount). He has always been a good eater too, and packed on the pounds like your little one. At night, maybe she's waking out of habit now, most likely she can make it about 6 hours without eating, and Ive read and heard that bottle fed babies usually can sleep longer than that. Or, could she have reflux? My son spit up CONSTANTLY... but since it didn't seem to hurt him the docs were'nt worried. Sometimes eating is the only way to soothe that burning from the regurgitation, and that's why she may want to eat small amounts constantly like that. So there's a few thoughts. As far as the cereal, I didnt start until 4 months and he didn't seem too interested until 5months. And when you do I wouldn't put it in the bottle with the formula, I'd start teaching her to eat it, really thin, and at a time of day she's really happy. Hope this helps!

Hi T. N, You should follow your ped's advice. Starting solids too early has been found to add to allergy issues. Have you tried offering your baby more than a 4oz bottle? At her age she should be drinking more less often. She should be able to hold her head up with control and you have to look at her thrust response (pushing things out of her mouth with her tounge) before you start any kind of solids. Also beware of the "put ceral into her formula" trap. It is also not adviseable for a child so young. Chewing on her fist & drooling a lot is a sign of the teething stage...which also may be part of the reason why she wants to suck on a bottle so much...try giving her a wet (cool) clean wash cloth to chew on, or a teething ring when she first begins to cry shortly after a bottle either might sooth her more and help with her frequent small bottles. Best wishes.

It's not about how hungry she is, it's about her being ready to digest the food. If she's still spitting up alot of formula, she's not ready for even rice cereal. Keep with the formula.

Your ped is not trying to torture you, there are reasons for waiting to 4 months old. Many peds encourage waiting until 6 months old. A baby's digestive system is not equipped before that point to properly digest the new type of food, so to keep your baby her healthiest and have the lowest chance of allergies developing, you really should wait until that time. I was feeding my sons nearly every hour in the weeks leading up to the 4 month mark. It was hard, but definately in their best interst. Good luck.

Please wait. As other posters have said, she's not ready. Six months old is the recommended age to start solids to reduce the risk of inducing allergies and for their own development. Check out this link to see if your baby has the signs of being ready: http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html

Babies are supposed to be eating easily digestable foods: ideally breastmilk, but formula if you don't nurse. Easily digestable = she's hungry in a couple of hours. It's all part of motherhood, these early months of round the clock feedings. Best of luck!

I'm not sure if the cereal will help, after just reading an article that there's no proof that cereal added to milk fills a baby more or keeps them sleeping longer.

However, our pediatrician had us adding cereal to his bottles at 2mos because of reflux. They wanted 1 tablespoon per 2oz, but this was too much and hurt his tummy. So, I went to 1 teaspoon per 2oz and this helped weigh the food down in his belly, but didn't seem to hurt.

The other option was getting a formula that was already thickened - but we preferred to the cereal thickening over the chemicals added to the formula. Good luck!

Hi! I understand she seems hungry and that cereal may seem like the answer but it's not. Her little belly is really not ready yet. Four months is even considered a little early...six months is ideal. If she is only taking 2-4 oz a feed you may need to increase the amount that she gets up to 6 oz. This may satisfy her a little better. Also, since you said she burps up alot after feeds, keep her as upright as possible during feeds, stop and burp every 2 oz and then keep her sitting up on your lap or in her carseat or swing after her feeds for 1/2 hrs. These are suggestions we give at my hospital for babies with reflux but I think it works best for every baby because it helps with digestion. Imagine how your belly would feel if you laid down right after every meal! Hands in the mouth is not feeding related...it's just baby behavior....everything goes into the mouth and it's preparation for beginning teething! Good luck with your little one!

Your Pedi told you to wait, so wait! Really, don't rush the solids.

I am one of the moms that most do not agree with on this one. I gave all four of my kids rice cereal early and they were fine. I also (as another post said) put it in the bottle. It helped to satisfy them. There was not one negative effect on my kids.

You could try a little rice in her bottle, but it probably isn't going to help. 4 Tablespoons of rice cereal (which is A lot-- you'll be putting 1-2 teaspoons in a bottle) is only 60 calories, where as 5 ounces of formula is 110 calories. I would be trying to up the amount of formula she is eating at a time-- at least 4 ounces at a feeding, and feeding more often during the day, esp in late afternoon, early evening. By 3 months they have a better idea of the calories they need in a day and if they are getting them during the day they will need less at night. But more than one 5-6 hour stretch of sleeping without eating is just not reasonable at this age.

i used to add a teaspoon full of plain yogurt into my kids formula! its easier to mix in and thickens the formula just enough to fill up my kids!!

good luck

Jenn

The reason they say four months is because they are able to hold there heads up and there digestive systems are getting more advanced. If you want to start her now make the cereal real soupy like, use part of her bottle she gets in the morning to mix it with the cereal once she is done with the cereal let her have the rest of her bottle. Don't put it in her bottle.

We waited until four months as recommended by our pediatrician. From what you're describing and your daughter's age, I think you should hold off on the rice cereal. Taking in an ounce in the overnight hours sounds like she may be sucking herself to sleep. Does she fall asleep for the night on the bottle? I'm just guessing based upon what you wrote, so I may be off with my thinking. Also, waking up once or twice or even more times a night for an 11 week old is perfectly normal.

Just from experience, and I understand every baby is different.....30 ounces... That means she is eating almost nine 4 0z bottles a day(that is if it is 4 oz in her bottle)....If you look at it this way...try giving her six 5 ounce bottles....Go a stage up on the nipple(faster flow might get her to eat 5 oz)....I understand the excitement to start solids, but her belly is not ready!!!!! Stick to the formula. Please do not put the cereal in her bottle....not a good idea, and it is not going to make a difference in her sleeping at night.....I watch two infants(17 weeks old), and I can tell you from watching them since they were both 10 weeks....that they are both sleeping through the night....why? How? I am giving them most of there calories from formula during the day....Example...6 ounces when they get to my house at 8am(have not eaten since the night before)at 10:45am....6 oz....little catnap....2pm....6oz....5pm......8oz....picked up at six and one more bottle before bed around 8/9pm of 8 oz...(faster flow nipple)......NO SOLIDS have been givin.....it is how they eat during the day....I did the same thing for a boy who is now almost 2(watched him since he was 5 weeks), and he was sleeping through the night also.....Please wait for the cereal....It is also very possiable that she is beginning to teeth(not that she will actually get the tooth), her gums are preparing themselves....does she take a binki? sometimes they just need to chew/suck on something....does not mean they are actually hungry....Somebabies will eat whenever you want them too....they do not realize when they are full(hate to compare them to puppies, but it is the same thing).....puppies can not have food left in there bowl at all times cause they will always eat it....Sorry to ramble....but I had so much to say from experience....you do what you feel is right.....Talk to your ped.....find out what you can do....Have a good one....