Need Advice on Mixing Cereal

You could also buy the already jarred rice cereal. I bought the flaky stuff and mixed it with breast milk but when my supply went down I changed to buying the already made stuff. Plus they also sell the rice cereal with apples or rice cereal with cinnamon.

How about water? Or even half breast milk and half water - it should stretch what milk you are able to pump. Or you can mix juice in, but I would dilute it (you don't want her to get used to always sweet cereal).

Another thing you might try is a much smaller amount of formula powder than what you would use to actually make formula with the amount of water you're using (does that make sense? ... maybe a teaspoon or so of formula with several ounces of water). I don't know why, but it seems to taste a bit different if the powder is mixed in first and then the whole thing mixed with water. Might be worth a try.

A couple thoughts come to mind. Do you think she is old enough to eat soft meats? They have more readily absorbed iron than cereal anyway--always a better choice when baby is old enough; then you could ditch cereal. If you'd like to continue with cereal, some moms mix it with water successfully. Rather than staying up late to pump, you might do a quick pumping in the morning and use that milk for cereal.
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Does your little one get the puree baby foods yet? She's old enough now to be on regular baby foods. You could just drop the cereal all together or mix it with the pureed baby fruits, or fruit juices.

Just mix it with water. She's still breastfeeding, so she'll get what she needs from breastfeeding through that and you need the sleep! To get her used to it, don't just do it cold turkey. Start with half water, half breastmilk and gradually up the water amount in the ratio until it's all water. Cereal has iron (which is not in breastmilk) and other vitamins she might not be getting from other baby food, so you don't want to just drop the cereal.

I had the exact same problem. I would even try mixing breastmilk with formula and she would still refuse it. She wanted it mixed with breastmilk only. At my daughters 9 month doctor visit, I asked her ped. if it was OK that I give her some whole milk with her cereal. She gave me the OK and my daughter took that great. I was so happy not to have to pump anymore. It could be worth asking your pediatrician to see if that is an option.

I just used water and mixed in a tiny bit of juice as well just to flavor it a little.

You could mix it with juice or just plain water for the consistancy you want and then add baby food fruit or veggies to give it more flavor...or I used to just add a bit of cereal to the baby food to thicken it. Once she has started eating fruits and veggies, the blandness of the cereal may turn her off...breastmilk adds that bit of sweetness that formula doesnt.

My 6 month old nephew was over last night and I used his pears to mix with the cereal. I had no breast milk or formula and he seemed to love it. Good Luck!

I used water occasionally for my boys. You might try whole milk or soy. I have heard that the tea 'mothers milk' helps your production, you might try to up that so that you can pump more/earlier.

I mixed it with applesauce. You may have to add a little breastmil/formula/water to get it to the right consistancy, but my little guy loved it!

try applejuice or grapejuice

I have always mixed it with a little bit of apple juice and water. All 3 of my kids have done great. I never was able to pump enough extra. Good Luck!!!

With my little one I mixed just a small amount of breastmilk with water and cereal. I, personally, waited to introduce juice until my daughter had stopped weaning, but that is another option. If you do that, just use a little bit of juice (like a spoonful or two) and mostly water.

I know other moms have used unsweetened rice milk, but I never did. As for pumping, I found that I was most productive first thing in the morning. Have you tried breastfeeding on one side while pumping the other? That always helped me get quite a bit more as baby helped with the let down.

Good luck!

I always mix cereal with apple juice. (You can dilute the apple juice with a little bit of water, if you want to.)

Once they've been on the rice and other cereals for awhile and have tried some other foods, I would mix the cereal with other baby foods. Like the fruits and vegetables. The cereal helps thicken the runny fruits a bit so that it's easier to get it in their mouth.

Maybe you could do half breast milk and half water to mix with it? Or half breast milk and half some pureed food--applesauce or carrots or something?

When my son was eating the cereal, I would mix it with water. He didn't have a problem with eating it that way. You might try a little water with some breast milk. Good Luck.

I've used water on many occasions, or juice. I would often mix it with a little water and then mix in a fruit or vegetable baby food once my kids were at that stage, they loved it!