Giving a 7 Week Old Cereal

Dr. mentioned wait until 6 months. Even cereal at 5 months has been linked to diabetes, obesity and digestive tract trouble later in life.

My opinion is to wait. Wait until they're 4-6 months old to start cereal. And don't add it to the bottle - it should be served separately. Kids I've known to have cereal added to their bottles grew up quite fat.

Hey. My son was big too (9lbs 6 oz) but still dr said to hold off on all "solids" cereal included until 4-6 months. Babies just eat often. Especially if you are doing breast milk since it digests so easily. If you start putting cereal in this early it will cause digestive problems. Also, when we did go to cereal at about 4 1/2 months, the ped. said to ONLY feed with a spoon. Putting it in with milk causes overeating and digestive problems. We only gave him about a tbsp once a day to start and added double that in milk so it was very runny (and messy). Good luck. This phase will pass quickly.

I am a lactation consultant for 15 years working with thousands of moms and babies! We dont feed solids in my office before 10 months! Or till a child has 8 teeth. If you feed carrots to a 5 month old their stools are orange if you feed peas stools are green. Children are NOT ready for solids until their stools will be brown! Also babies at 7 weeks throat feed. They do not use much saliva. They get saliva when they get teeth. When a baby breastfeeds the nipple is pulled to their throat and the milk sprays into their throat directly. You need saliva to begin to break down cereal! So the answer to your question is "No way"! The babe does not need cearal at 7 weeks! S.

Hi, L.:
No. Call your ped's nurse and followup with the diet for a baby's first year.
Thanks for asking. Good luck. D.

L., I agree with the Mom's who say no way to the rice cereal at 7 weeks!!! His intestines can't handle it, he'll get constipated, gassy, irriatble and can develope food allergies. 5 hours is a great stretch of sleep for a 7 week old! Feed him his formula on demand, as much as he needs, and you and he will be just fine!

I am one of the mom's of "older children". We gave all of our babies cereal by 3 months. I only wanted to say that i do NOT believe it causes any issues. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. None of my 4 girls have ever been obese, diabetic, allergic to any food...or any of the other issues it supposedly causes. It is your choice to make as a mother. There are such extreme opinions on this. I feel it did help my babies to stay full longer. If i had another baby i would continue to feed them about 3 months. I am only talking small amounts in the bottle. If you feel that it i causing gas or something you can always stop. My babies had reflux and were little piggies...so for me it was doing some good. (they were not born big, my biggest was 8lbs)

The 3-5 hours that he sleeps is very good for his age. He is still tiny...i really think we waited until 3 months for the cereal. In the end, you are his mother and you know what is best for your baby. Good luck :)

He's not ready! The babies that I have seen who's patents do that (usually because they wanted more sleep) were huuuuuuuge! I personally think it could lead to obesity. Listen to your doctor... It's too early. 4-6 months is the normal time to start cereal. It's normal for a baby to feed frequently. And formula or nursing is the healthiest thing for him.

NO! You are absolutely right!
Adding cereal to his bottle at this age could cause:
choking
increased risk of allergies
diarrhea
mal-absorbtion of vitamins & nutrients
anemia
gas
AND ANY introduction of ANY solids prior to 3-4 mos has been directly shown to increase risk of TYPE 1 DIABETES

DO NOT give him anything except breastmilk or formula right now!
www.AskDrSears.com has some fantastic info on the subject!

Good luck!

I didn't get to read all the responses, so pardon me if this was mentioned. My neighbor's grandson was eating all the time. It turns out he had some problems. There was a lot of misdiagnosis at first, and I couldn't even begin to repeat all of it now that it's five months later. This isn't to scare you. I just saw him today and he is gorgeous and thriving. Maybe a doctor's advice would help settle the debate?
I'd also be happy to put you in touch with his mother if you want to compare notes.

I would say he's still too young.

call your pediatrician! I personally think your instinct is correct though. My pediatrician informed me that cereal (and all other early solids) has only 15 calories per oz whereas formula & breastmilk have 20 calories per oz! My son is struggling with weight gain so our dr said no solids until he gains enough weight. Its a myth that cereal fills up babies better.

L. B my son was 9lbs 7ozs at birth. I breastfed him and he was eating constantly, I was exhausted all the time. My Ped. started him on Veggies at a month old, he ate green beans first. I would check with your doctor first but I also would say that your husband is right he could handle it. Good Luck

Feeding cereal to a young baby used to be the norm (you see that so far most of the responses saying "yes, give him cereal" are from moms of older children). But now the general advice is to wait until 4 months or so. Of course, every child is different so you need to talk with your ped to be sure. However, most babies are going through a massive growth spurt right at that age (6-8 weeks) and are eating nearly constantly -- my little girl (now 2.5 years) was breastfeeding nearly every hour at that time. And she was a tiny baby! So it's totally normal to be eating like a horse right now, regardless of the baby's size.

If you add cereal to his formula, he is just going to gain weight rapidly. I would consult your pediatrician and if you do put the cereal in the bottle, only do it at night while you need sleep also

I would agree that 7 weeks is way too early. I would call your pediatrician tomorrow and double check what the current guidelines are. As I recall with my youngest, I started him on cereal after he was consistently eating 6-8 ounces at every feeding.

I wish you luck!

Hi L.,
I am a newish mom too - 5 months old, and have a 3 1/2 year old. I am a person that is for feeding food early to kids, both were around 3 and 1/2 months when I started and they are fine and they were not 10 pounds at birth, so that is in your favor. However, I do think that 7 weeks might be a little early, I would just hang in there a few more weeks. My baby does not sleep through the night yet and he can eat 3 containers of food for dinner and then nurse. From my experiences an extra full tummy does not equal sleeping through the night. If he goes 5 hours that is awesome......he will start going longer shortly, hand in there, I feel for you and I hope that I helped............
P.S. the reason I would hold off is because I would fear constipation and an upset tummy because of that....

Hi L., If your son is sleeping 5 hours straight at only 7 weeks you should be over-joyed!! No, I do not believe in ever putting cereal in a baby bottle and never have. You should not give cereal to any child until your doctor give the okay...they say that if you give "solids" too early you are asking for allergy problems later on. If all else fails tell your hubby that you should talk to your Doctor before doing any changes to his diet. Best wishes.

I'm sure you got this 100 times so here is 101, do not give a baby that young cereal, they can choke on it and they don't need anything more than either formula or breastmilk whichever you are doing. Your baby will create a better sleep schedule when he gets a bit older.

Joanna
Mommy to Mara 9, Cate 7, and Olivia 5

While they used to recommend putting rice cereal in baby's bottles, that is no longer recommended practice. First of all, it does not help babies sleep through the night. Secondly, babies need to learn to eat food, not drink it. My daughter is 16 months and I followed all the recommendations- I didn't start her on any solids (even cereal) until she was 6 months and at that point I fed it to her with a spoon. The schedule you are describing is perfectly appropriate for a newborn (and actually, I think your little is sleeping more than mine did at that age!) Babies that age pretty much just eat and sleep and it does feel like you are constantly feeding them, but it's just that their tummies are so tiny. Hang in there- as he gets older he (and you!) will sleep for longer stretches at a time.

Seems like all parents of "big" babies want to feed cereal almost immediately. No offense, just an observation. (My sis just had one and is already talking it up) I really think that the grandparents have much to do with this. When my kids were babies I was constantly told by theirs to disregard my peds advice and stick rice formula in the bottle.

As another poster pointed out, there is no clinical evidence of this helping the baby to sleep through the night. Scientists at the Cleveland Clinic studied the effect of cereal on sleep and found that adding the cereal did nothing at all to speed up the age of sleeping through the night. That first uninterrupted 6-hour stretch of sleep came no earlier in those who took cereal early.

However there IS evidence of increased food allergies, digestive disturbances, problems swallowing and the failure to develop sufficient self-regulation of eating that leads to future obesity.

My pediatrician recommended that I add cereal to my child's bottle at 3 weeks. He was starving and eating all the time! He is now going on 8 years and has no health issues or food allergies.

Good luck!!

my pedi told me no.. but to be sure call the nurse or doctor and double check.. maybe the baby is going through a huge growth spurt.
Lenc

I wouldn't give my babies cereal that young, but talk with your pediatrician.

My daughter was 9lbs 13ozs, so she was right up there on the big side just like your little one. With that being said, no, you do not want to add cereal to his formula. No, his digestive track cannot handle it, you are correct.

They cannot handle cereal until about 4 months, sometimes 6 months. You want to look for signs of them being able to hold spoon-fed baby cereal in their mouths, that's when they are ready to eat cereal. Try at 4 months, if it doesn't work, just try a bit each week and see how he does.

There are a lot more reasons too why you shouldn't do the ceral in the bottle, beyond his digestive track... including trying to limit his desire to suck, limiting the intimate time you share during feedings, the damage from the increased difficulty of sucking on a thicker fluid in his bottle, cereal doesn't have the nutrients his body requires, etc. The list goes on.

And, check with your pediatrician... chances are they will say no too. Good luck!

I am with you on this one - your baby's digestive system is NOT ready for anything but breastmilk (or formula). He's a baby, they eat a lot, and they eat often; plain and simple. Adding cereal will not necessarily make him sleep longer (evidence is only anecdotal) but it will increase the risk of developing diabetes.

J.

My son was in NICU for almost 4 weeks after he was born. They began adding cereal to his formula/breastmilk and reccommended that I continue this after he was brought home. I've heard a lot of mixed reactions on that, but I followed dr orders and he handled it fine. I would ask your dr for advice, some support it, but many don't.

Hold off on the cereal until he's atleast 3 months old. His digestive track is NOT developed enough. Chances are all that will happen is that he'll end up constipated. When you do start giving him cereal, make sure that it's rice. Anything else is too complex for his lil belly. Right now, he's on a decent schedule and it's proof he's growing. Best of luck to you!

My pedi doesn't have us start ANY food until 6 months. They say that the baby gets everything it needs from the formula or breast milk during that time.
I have 4 kids, almost 16, 7 1/2 3 1/2 and 11 weeks. W/#1 they started them at 4 months or so back then. W/#2, her old drs had me put cereal in her bottle at a week old cause she was eating every hour. She was born three weeks early and was 9 pounds 5 ounces. I did that once or twice then stopped cause it only made her worse w/gas etc.
W/#3 we did nothing until 6 months and #4 will be the same way. #4 was 9 pounds 10 ounces and is still eating every two hours, 4-5 ounces. He does sleep 6 hours at night, though.

I personally think 7 weeks is way too early to stat any type of food, but that's just my opinion.

talk to your doctor. mine always says that no solids until at least 5 months old because they can't digest it. that's what i have always gone by.

Please!!! My daughter was on cereal since she was 2 weeks old!!!! She is fine. She had acid reflux from birth until about the age of 18months. True she was 100 + percentile in weight but it all came off when she started crawling and walking. I wouldn't think twice about giving your 7 week old cereal!

Hi L.. My son was 11 lbs 5 oz at birth and I had the same issue. I was feeding him all the time. At his 2 month well check I told the ped about it and she looked at his weight and said "I never say this, but give him cereal." She told me to give him 1 Tablespoon of baby oatmeal in every bottle, he has had it ever since and he is now 6 months. Baby oatmeal is easier on them and less likely to cause constipation. I took him to my chiropractor for the little constipation we had (plus a car accident) and they adjusted him and it helped. I would talk to your ped. before, but it is not going to hurt. Hope this helps and good luck with your "big boy".

Big boys eat a lot & eat often. It sounds like he is doing exactly what a 7 week old should. My 2 boys were both over 9lbs at birth. I breastfed, so I don't know how much they ate at any one sitting, but they ate often. My first ate every 2 hours, 24 hours a day until he was 3 months old. My second ate every 2 hours during the day, and had one 4 to 6 hour stretch at night. That lasted until he was about 3 months as well.
As for adding cereal to the bottle. I've read it is a very bad idea. From what I've read they consume calories too quickly that way & have trouble learning to figure out when they are full. Which can result in obesity later in life. If you decide to do cereal (I started cereal with my boys at about 3 months) I would recommend that you feed it with a spoon as a separate meal. I fed cereal for about 2 weeks, then I started on stage one foods, introducing a new one every 3 or 4 days. This worked well for us. (I was not concerned about food allergies b/c neither my husband nor I have any - if allergies are a concern you should wait longer).
As for their digestive tracts...my MIL has prescription forms from my husbands pediatrician. She was told by his ped to start him on cereal at one week. He was on stage one meats by 3 months. He is a happy & healthy adult who has no digestive problems. I'm sure there are probably some kids who would have digestive issues, but I'm thinking if your son was developed enough to be 10 lbs at birth than he probably is not one of those.
Good luck with your decision. Know that you are not alone, many of us have been there & it will end sooner than you realize. :)

I have not heard of giving a baby cereal until at least 4 months, preferably 6 months. Sounds like you have a perfectly normal (and very good sleeping!) newborn! His gastrointestinal tract will not appreciate food just yet...but perhaps the best thing to do is talk to your pediatrician (then you will also have a better foundation for your side of the matter with your husband!) Good luck!

Yes, mixed thoughts on this one. I always said no until my tiny daughter stoped sleeping through the night at 8 weeks. Pedi told me she needed more food and that cereal was safe only in small amounts and that she could have some in nightime bottle only.

My son would eat about 6ounces at one time by 4 weeks and would want to eat every 5 hours. I started putting cereal in his bottles at 5 weeks and by 7 weeks I was giving him bites of applesauce. He is now 7 years old and has had no food allergies or any other problems. A lot of it has to do with the weight at birth my son was 9 lbs 8 1/2 oz, so he was a hungry boy and still is, he is over the growth chart for height and the 80% for weight now.