My son is eating every 3 hours during the day and sleeps for 7 hours a night. He is still nursing with a formula bottle here and there if I can't pump enough. When did you Mama's introduce cereal to your baby? He is 3 months old.
Why would you want to?? He is sleeping so long at night, which is great, so why do you need the cereal. If he continues this pattern there is really no need to introduce cereal before 6 months. Introducing cereal before then only has about a 50% success rate for getting babies to sleep longer (if that's what you're going for), other than that, there aren't a lot of other benefits to early introduction besides that, in my opinion.
Sleeping 7 hours at night this young is AMAZING... honestly that kind of sleep on a regular basis shouldn't be expected until they are much older. Sometimes we get lucky! :)
Baby's nurse more during growth spurts. It's very normal. Its not only normal its necessary. Nursing every three hours at 3 months is not too frequent, and with that long break at night I am amazed he waits every three hours. Cereal doesn't have nearly the nutrients that your milk or formula does. It's not about giving a baby the sensation of a "full belly" - they are hungry because they NEED the milk. They don't overeat. He needs more nutrients to grow, to help his nerve and brain development. You should speak with your pediatrician on when it's ok to introduce cereal.
My pediatrician said nothing before 6 - 8 months, for instance. Even at 6 months breastmilk was the primary form of nutrition and cereal was just a little taste for texture and introducing feeding.
Something else I was told to do with my third child was pump and add formula TO the breastmilk to increase the calories. This way she still got all the benefits of breast milk (live enzymes, proteins, etc) AND added calories, nutrients etc from the formula. If you're worried your child isn't getting enough, or their weight gain isn't right on the charts you can talk to your doctor about this.
Good luck!
Except in very special and particular situations, it is never recommended to put cereal in a bottle, at any age. There is a HUGE risk of chocking, due to their developing sucking reflex. Introducing allergens too early, can actually cause allergies. (even with a low allergen food, like rice.) There are some other concerns, but choking is the biggest. He is only 3 months old, it will seem like he is eating constantly at times. Babies go through growth and development periods (he's coming on a big one) and can often cluster feed. Eating every three hours, is very normal for a 3 month old. YOU might feels he should be going longer in between feedings, but there is no need for that. Why force him to go longer, when that's not what his body needs? His body needs food, when it needs food. Babies self regulate their food intake and he knows when he needs more. There is no reason, for making him go longer between feedings. Sure, it might be nice...but that's not what his body is asking for. Sleeping seven hours without waking , is VERY good for a 3 month old.
Is there a specific reason, you want to give him cereal so soon? If he doesn't have certain digestive issues and it thriving, he doesn't need any more then milk or formula. When he asks for food, feed him. Other then that, don't change what nature intended. It only leads to stomach issues.
That's really good.Most breastfed babies eat every 2-3 hours and sometimes wake every 4-6.I wouldn't worry about introducing cereal.With formula fed babies you may introduce cereal around 4 months.My pediatrician said that when you breast feed you don't need to introduce it until around 6 months.My babies did really well at night as well.They slept through the night at 2 months old and 2 out of 3 were breast fed.If he wasn't getting enough he would be waking at night,fussy.and wanting to eat all of the time.We went through this with my nephew.If you are unable to pump successfully it's ok to give him a bottle of formula when Dad or sitter feed him.
cereal between 4 and 6 months.. my daughter (not a good nurser) got cereal at 4 months.. my son (loved nursing) got cereal at 5 months.. but cereal is only once per day for the first month or two of feeding.
remember.. for the first year... all the baby's nutrition comes from the breast milk or formula.. baby food is just practice for eating later.. do not add too much solid food too fast or the baby tummy will be too full and he wont get enough milk.
Bare minimum is 6mo (except for rare medical conditions)... but most aren't ready to actually start digesting it until 9mo. (It's like you or I eating cardboard). As another mum said earlier: When they start mooching your food.
Personally, we did tasting whenever he was interested in what we were eating -started at about 8mo with our son-, but followed family tradition of first regular solids (aka adding cereals, veggies, fruits, meats on a daily basis) at 1yo.
my son started having small amounts of cereal in his bottle at 4weeks. he wouldnt sleep well, eat, or act right without it. hee seemed unsatisfied when he ate before then. he was also diagnosed with failure to thrive at 2 weeks and we did what we had to get him to eat. he also had colic and the cereal(i used rice) just seemed to help. at 4 months i started giving him a bit more by spoon and that was when he was no longer colicy. but this practice isnt for every baby. me and my baby dr were working hard together, going to the dr every week monitoring these things so he would stay out of the hospital. he is now a happy healthy (rotten lol) boy! no allergies, no weight problems, bit over active but what almost three yr old isnt? every child is different-
not until they show lots of signs of rediness... sitting up, teeth, wanting to eat, etc. 6 months or so. i did start earlier (5mo) with my first and it went poorly... didn't make that mistake with my other two.
Talk to your pediatrician next appointment, but most babies stomachs are not ready to digest "food" until 5-6 months. 3 months is a little too young.
You should not give solids until 6 months though some tell you can start at 4 months
Updated
You should not give solids until 6 months though some tell you can start at 4 months
Most advise 6 mos for solids.
That seems to be the same schedule my son had about that age- except he was still waking every 3 at night also. I originally had just wanted to breast feed but my body had other plans! My son was diagnosed with GERD at about 3 months old. Our pediatrician prescribed a medication that we used for a few weeks and after seeing it wasn't working she suggested bottle feeding and adding cereal to the formula or breast milk. Not only did it work wonders for his GERD but he also went longer between feedings! We began spoon feeding a small bowl of cereal about a month or two later.
So I guess we added cereal to his bottles about 4 months and started to spoon feed a thin bowl of cereal around 5-6 months.
Good luck!
