Cereal for a 4 Month Old?

I understand that you only wanted to breast feed, but you are going to have to supplement with formula if you are not getting enough milk. The baby needs the nutrition. Cereal will not help him sleep longer and could lead to more problems if he isn't ready for cereal yet. I hope this helps, good luck.

You could pump some milk each day. Pump before you feed him, that way you will get more milk out. And don't worry he will be able to get milk out after you pump.

My suggestion would be to nurse as often as you can the days you are home and the mornings/evenings you have to work. Once you begin to supplement with other things your milk is likely to decrease even more. The more you nurse the more milk you will have.

To increase your supply further I would suggest pumping out a couple of ounces after you have already nursed 1-2 times a day on the days you are home.

You can also try Fenugreek, an herbal supplement that increases milk supply.

Good Luck!

Hi Cassie,

Just to add to what you've been given for advice (and I haven't read it all): It is okay to begin cereal at 4 months (they recommend no earlier than 4-6 months, 6 is ideal). My first son started a bit of oatmeal (never would eat rice) just before 4 months. He was exclusively breastfed but was contstantly latched on and couldn't get enough, in spite of an abundant milk supply. He was so much happier with cereal and I continued to nurse him for almost a year. My second son would NOT eat cereal at all until well into 7 months. He grew just as well, my milk supply was fine with both, and my second nursed for over 13 months. Every baby's food readiness is different. I would use other readiness signals though, including how well your baby follows you eating with his eyes, smacking his lips when you eat, etc. You might pump more frequently at work (how often do you pump now?) or try pumping first thing in the morning before the baby gets up. Good luck! There are going to be swings in supply and talking to a lactation consultant might also make you feel better about everything. :)

Drinking 1-2 beers in the evening after you have fed the baby and put it to sleep will do wonders to increase your milk supply. not sure he is old enough to get cereal yet. if you are going to give him cereal you might as well supplement with a little formula during the day when the babysitter runs out of milk.
good luck.

Don't do it. Cereal is the worst first food you can give him. It will set him up for gut disturbances and allergies. Pears are closest in molecular structure to breast milk. Don't believe the baby food manufacturers or the pediatricians who are taught by them. Some mashed FRESH (never processed or cooked) pear or even other fruit will provide vitamins, minerals, enzymes. Cereal is a completely dead food lacking in nutrition that needs flavoring and to make it palatable. Usually there are added synthetic vitamins that are not processed by the body.

Feeding him will further slow your breast milk. Why not just feed him more often when your home to stimulate your milk production?

Hello,

If your interested please visit www.westonaprice.org and review the articles on home-made baby formula, fortified baby formula and babies first foods. I think cereal is a not the best first baby food, especially compared to breast milk. How many time are you pumping at work? I went back for 2 days like you, and with my first I had a hard time keeping up because I did not pump soon enough to build a reserve! No one told me to start early:-( With my second this has never been a problem I pumped from week 2 with her a home, just a bit every day until a small supply was built. Don't give up I am still nursing at 12 months with my daughter and have not had to supplement yet! I think you will find some very interesting information under the westonaprice website. I have attached a link to get you started! Keep an open mind about the site:-)
http://www.westonaprice.org/children/nourish-baby.html

You can absoluetly do this because baby is old enough. However you have a couple courses of action.
You could also take a fenugreek supplement. I have read you should start with the recommended dose, see how it works and work to a level where your milk smells slightly like licorice. This really worked for me.
Also, how much is baby eating at each meal? Are the bottles getting bigger because a care provider has told you that it's not enough? That's what happened to me and i have since learned to be more firm. If you feel that he is good with say a 6 ounce bottle, but baby sitter thinks he should be taking 8, stand firm and follow baby's lead. If you can produce the smaller amount he will eat more often, but that's how it would be if he were taking it right from the breast. He also then will be hungrier and nurse more when you are home if he isn't overfed while you are gone. I think the "right" amount is a balance between what satiates baby and how much he eats in a 24 hour period. It is so easy to eat from a bottle that many babies take more, and they are also pushed to take more by a baby sitter, which stretches their stomach capacity.
Also try pumping after the overnight feeding and first morning feedings that you do at home just to completely drain your breasts. You may squeeze out an additional ounce or two and make up the slack as well as create additional rpoduction.
And of course, relax. Nothing limits milk production more than stress. Comforting i know.
Working 2 days a week, you can totally do this. You'll get in a groove and you can go for months.
Good Luck!

Feeding cereal at night is not going to solve your problem. He will probably still wake for a nighttime feeding at this age and will most likely not sleep long enough to make a difference. And most likely even if he did sleep through the nighttime feeding, chances are you will not have the energy to get up and pump and will sleep through too.

There is no shame is supplementing. If that is what you have to do, than please don't feel guilty. I used to do a 1/2 and 1/2 mix of breastmilk/formula. You can still continue to nurse exclusively when you are with him, but he needs to get what he needs. Pumping unfortunately does not work the greatest for everyone. I had a consistently decreasing milk supply with both kids. Eat healthy, drink so much water that you are in the bathroom every half hour. This should allow you pump as much as your body possible which maybe less than he would get though and he will still be able to keep up your supply with his demands when he nurses.

Don't forget, even when you exclusively breastfeed, your supply has to keep up with his demands, so there are periods of adjustment when he hits growthspurts and your body takes a few days to increase to his new demand.

Good luck!

Cassie,

I sugest trying to increase your supply before resorting to cereal prematurely. Make sure you are eating well and try some mother's milk tea before bed. In the morning pump before you nurse and continue pumping through out the day and night on your regular schedule. Don't stress about it. If you need to temporarily leave a bottle or two of formula you can always go back to breastmilk once your supply has normalized.

Good luck,
R.

That's a dangerous game. The medical advice is that for the first year, breastmilk (or formula) is the main source of nutrition. If you use cereal as a substitute, the baby doesn't get all the nutrients he needs. It's always suggested that you nurse about an hour before you feed "solids" so that they eat, but don't fill up on it.

You can also try mother's milk tea or fenugreek seed pills to help your supply. It's very likely he's going through a four-month growth spurt too, so your supply should catch up in a day or two. The stress of work could be contributing to the dip in supply as well. Oatmeal for breakfast gets you off to a good start and is a great way to boost supply. On the days you don't work, maybe you can squeeze in an extra pump when you feed him cereal around dinnertime. It's recommended you don't feed them solids right before bed, because they can get an upset tummy or bring it back up.

BTW, I also went back to work part time and wanted to exclusively breast feed. Eventually, I was able to pump enough to keep him going while I was at work, but I did have to take the fenugreek and oatmeal and tea as well. It all worked out and as much as I hated it, I did have to give him a few bottles of formula for when I couldn't produce enough by pump.

Good luck and feel free to email me directly.

M. Kennedy
ShantiBabyYoga.com

you can give him cereal his old enough to start eating babyfood like 1st gerbers he probably wont take it till lik the 5-15 try but you can also put cereal in his bottle wit the brest milk or formula good luck

Hmmm-- I think it would be wiser to supplement with a little formula than rush solids on a 3.5 month old.
When I was preparing to go back to work full time, I tried a little Similac Advance in a bottle (mixed with breastmilk initially in case she didn't recognize or like the taste) and she tolerates it extremely well. No change in gas or spitting up and it takes the pressure off having to pump insane amounts of milk at work (I usually can only produce about 10-12 ounces a day over 2 pumping sessions and she drinks almost twice that while at daycare)

You're not a bad mom to supplement a little formula 2 days a week!

Yes, at that age, they usually want more. We started around 3 1/2 months on the baby rice cereal, it's the easiest for them. It starts to get them used to the spoon too. We did once/day, made with formula or breast milk so the flavor is familiar. Some add into the bottle to thicken it but our doctor said not to do that. You should check with your doc either way. Good luck.

Hi Cassie,
do you only pump at work? If so, I would suggest adding some pumping times at home (perhaps after nursing in the morning, when you have a lot of reserve and once in the evening, if necessary). I would also suggest e-mailing or calling someone at the La Leche League. After hearing your nursing, pumping, working schedule, they will make great suggesting for you. I work full time (single Mom) and was lucky to be able to exclusively breast feed for the first 6 months and then continue to breastfeed after introducing solid foods.
It was very stressful in the beginning until we worked out a nursing/pumping schedule that worked for us, but so rewarding. Good luck!
J.

Hi Cassie,

I did not breastfeed and I did give cereal early to my kids, however I think I would add formula in between nursing verses just cereal. Cereal is more of a filler and really has no nutritional value. I think it is more important that the baby get the nutrients right now. I gave cereal early because my son was drinking every 2 1/2 hours with formula so I knew he was still hungry. You can also do cereal if you feel the baby is still hungry, but not instead of breastmilk or formula. I would also check with the doctor. If the baby is hungry then of course feed him but I think the formula and breastmilk is much more important then cereal right now. Good luck.

Hi Cassie,
It's been 10 years since I was a working and pumping mom. If you are not pumping enough at work, try pumping when you are at home - after a feeding, take advantage of the letdown that you already have and pump after your baby is done eating. A lot of women have extra milk first thing in the morning.
The AAP recommends not supplementing babies with anything other than breastmilk the first six months, however, your baby must eat! While I didn't give my baby any formula and really did not want to, if you're not able to leave enough milk for your baby, formula is really what he needs to be supplemented with. Cereal just fills them up, it doesn't provide the nutrition that they need from their milk. Cereal should not take the place of a breastmilk feeding, the idea is not to fill him up but to meet his nutritional needs. While I hate to see someone end up using formula, if you're not able to pump enough milk for him, that's really the route you need to go. But I would try pumping more to get more milk first.

My daughter's name is Cassie (Cassandra)!

First of all, congratulations on nursing for this long - most women give up by now, especially since they think they are not producint enough milk. You need extra support and education about breastfeeding right now. I would talk with a certified lactation consultant, La Leche Leader, and/or participate in a breastfeeding support group. I would not recommend feeding cereal until 6 months time, and I believe that is the recommendation of the American Pediatric Association. I would keep nursing on demand to keep your milk supply up Pumping is not a good indicator of how much milk you are producing - it only mimics the real thing, an infant will get more milk out from sucking!

Best of luck with your breastfeeding journey!

Kind Regards,
Annie

FYI - I still nurse my 3 year old daughter occasionally and still produce milk after all this time!

Don't panic yet--seriously, stress is one huge contributor to decreased milk supply.

Don't start cereal yet. Reason 1: 4 months is too early to start solids and baby cereal is one of the worst foods to start with--the AAP recommends starting at six months, because 6 months is the minimal age where the baby's gut is mature enough to possibly handle solid foods. Before then it just goes straight through and can cause damage.
Reason 2: If you want to increase your supply, making your son sleep longer and spend less time breast feeding won't do it--in fact it will probably lead to a decreased supply even if you pump during the period he is asleep. The more you breast feed the more supply you will have. Pumping will not stimulate production the same way direct feeding will, so breast feed your son as much as you can while you are at home with him.

Take in other factors for your son's changes in nursing patterns. He be nursing more for comfort since the whole mom not being right there for him 24-7 is still relatively new and he needs the reassurance that you are back after his grueling day at work (ie. the babysitter's) ;-). 4 months is also a common period for normalization of milk production, so whereas up until then many people have an abundance of milk, around 4 months there doesn't seem to be extra, so it feels like there isn't enough. It's also a common period for a growth spurt to start, so the baby wants to nurse constantly.

If you can pump while at work, then that would be the best time to try to increase your supply with the pump. If you can't then nurse as much as you can as soon as you get home, during the evening and night and in the morning before you go to work. It's called reverse cycling-- Kelly mom: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/reverse-cycling.html

On the same website (Kelly mom) there's information on foods and herbs you can consume to increase your supply (and if I remember correctly they also have a list of stuff to avoid if you are having supply difficulties)

If you are still worried about your supply dropping, call your local LLL and see if they can give you some advice or get you in contact with other local working moms who can help you through this period of adjustment.

Usually cereal is for the morning or lunch not for bedtime. It can upset her and its too heavy for her stomach. there are things you can do for your milk supply like eating yogurt, spinach, but 3 months is better than nothing.

this isn't the answer... you are going to have to go to formula some times... the baby still needs the drinking part.. you can add cereal but you can't take away drinking.. they need a big amt. of formula or breast milk.. you'll have to supplement. good luck

Hi Cassie,

in the US, it is recommended not to introduce any cereal until at least 6 months, but in France they've introduced them (in a very watery way, and in the bottle) since 4 months forever, and their children are no more sick or allergy-prone than ours (less, I think, actually), so my advice would be to try and see how he reacts.