Rice Cereal in Breastmilk

GI doctors and allergists don't recommend putting cereal in bottles. Cereal shouldn't be given until 6 months of age due to the increase risk of allergies and GI issues.

I would wait 'til 6 months. Any solid food introduced before then increases risks of food allergies. I didn't wait and my daughter has a ton of them. I am pregnant now and will be looking into the medications suggested here if I have a problem producing enough milk again. Once you are dealing with a child with allergies you would do anything to go back in time and do things differently.

DO NOT put cereal in her bottle. You can feed it to her on a spoon, but do not put it in her bottle. Please.

I've always heard NOT to put cereal in bottles because worst case it could cause the child to choke. I've also heard it's a myth that rice cereal helps children sleep longer.

My experience was the same with both my children -- my supply seemed to go down around 4-5 months and I started supplementing with formula. I also used Weissbluth's sleeping book for both kids (I know some are not fans) but waking up 1x per night at four months is great!! For our first daughter, I kept feeding her at 1 a.m. until she was 9 months old, for our 2nd, I was just too exhausted and started cutting out the night feeding at 5 months. Weissbluth's book (and my doctor) said that by 4-5 months they don't physically need the food at night, so if you talk to your doctor and he/she agrees, maybe that would work?

Re: working and pumping, I had a good book called something like "Working Mother, Nursing Mother" that gave me the advise to pump more often, but for a shorter duration. A little difficult at work, but I changed from pumping 2x for 20 minutes to 3x for 10 min. each. I could definitely get more that way, but as I mentioned above, it still started to taper off. Exclusively breastfeeding on weekends helped boost supply too.

Good luck!!! My daughters have a similar span (20 months apart) and I know it can be hard!!

Keep nursing at night; it stimulates milk production.

I would be wary of adding cereal to her milk, because I my first child has severe food allergies. Introducing foods before six months may start the allergy process.

This something our parents did, however with food allergies on the rise, it is typically best to wait to introduce food until 4-6 months maybe longer - check with your pediatrician.

There is NOTHING wrong with supplementing with formula. I breast fed my kids 6 - 8 months then went to formula. I know both sides of the fence can feel strongly, but you need to do what is best for your family.

Your baby is your priority and thus the baby's need for food needs to take precedence here in making the best decision.

I do know that if you quit nursing entirely at night you will dramatically reduce your production of milk supply more and probably start you menses if not already.
Hopefully you are nursing when you come home - when nursing, the baby can get more milk out than a pump can.
Sounds pretty tough with a work schedule, maybe you can pump more at night for next day? Eventually you will make more at those times if you keep stimulating with nursing or pumping. Most of all of these things I have read from "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding"

Hi, T.! Given the info you offered on the frequency of her feedings, at 4 months old I'd venture to guess she's on a little growth spurt trip right now! Cool! But that also means her appetite is getting more demanding.

You WILL hear contradicting info about adding rice cereal to her bottle. My two cents: I have learned after 3 kids, all of them natural childbirths, all breastfed (and formula supplemented, too) that by 4 months old they're damn hungry.

Sorry, but I know this rubs against the grain of the follow-the-rules folks. I "did the rice thing" earlier than 4 months old with my 1st and 3rd (son 8.9 lbs, daughter 9 lbs at birth). Big babies have big appetites (and big babies sleep through the night if you appease their tummies!)

Go ahead, at least give it a try! Don't go crazy at first, though! Slow, steady introduction. Remember, rice doesn't provide any nutrition, it adds bulk. Contributes to the feeling of fullness.

Start: Very warm temperature milk (so rice will completely dissolve), lightly pour in about a half teaspoon of the Gerber rice cereal flakes and see what it does to the consistency. You will find it really doesn't do much at all - it's barely a teaspoon - but you should introduce slowly (more for your peace of mind). Do it during the day. See how it goes. Same at night. You will find that by the time you're able to add a bit more? SHE WILL BE SLEEEEEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT, rosy cheeked, warm and plump! As these little ones should be until they're able to crawl/walk and turn that wonderful fat into muscle! :-)

The only downside to this? By the time you're REALLY adding ALOT of rice to the milk (you'll see), the nipple on the bottle may clog..... yes and then you have to enlarge the opening with the tip of a scissors or something.

I've had pediatricians (the young ones!) poo-poo this idea and I've had pediatricians who high-fived me on doing this.

Give it a try. She's four months old, she can smell you guys eating real food. Let her move forward a bit. Every kid is different; some are light eaters, some are ravenous. Figure out what SHE wants, not what a book says she SHOULD want.

My son had a two handled sippy cup at 6 months old. The little monster couldn't crawl, but he had a dang sippy cup. He's almost 13 now, no allergies, tall and broad shouldered! :-)

And one more thing: this little "taboo practice" (it seems) makes for a WONDERFUL transition to when you introduce baby food! Your little one won't be shocked to go from the thin consistency of a liquid to the foreign texture of, what else but...? RICE CEREAL!!!!!

Good luck! Hope to read how this goes!

ps) look up more info on the 'net. I found this article from "Ask Dr. Greene" (one of many, but here ya go).

Apparently, according to the Academy of Pediatrics, 4 months and 13 lbs (how much does she weigh?) is FINE to start introducing solid foods! Check out the 4th paragraph: http://www.drgreene.com/21_561.html

I started feeding my son solids at 4 months, my pediatrician advised against putting rice cereal in his bottle, but perhaps your girls are ready for solids?

I did not read all the responses but have you tried the herb FENUGREEK to increase your supply? I used it with my first to help increase supply and it worked. You can get it from any health food store and it is safe for the baby.

Definitely worth it since formula is so much money and the benefits of breast milk are so great.

I gave both my kids fruits and cereal early, nothing happened with regard to allergies but since allergies are so common now, I would try everything first before you give food.

Good Luck!

I also heard conflicting advice on this. I heard NOT to do this for any reason and it was for the future health of the infants digestive system and you could be introducing allergies prematurely and encouraging painful ear infections because the infant has to SUCK much harder on the thicker substance.
As far as your milk supply goes why don't you drink Mothers Mile tea this helps your supply increase...Try that route and
I would check with your ped first before moving forward with the cereal.
Here is an article to read about your 4 month old.
Hope it helps.

http://www.sweetbabies.com/articles/sleeping_4mos.html

My daughter will be 4 months next week and I had milk supply issues too. The oatmeal and Fenugreek helped a lot also. An fyi from a lactation consultant, the Fenugreek may make both of you initially gassy but will go away and it can make your baby's urine smell like maple syrup- no big deal. I've read on the Medela info and from lactation consultants that is typical for BF babies to take 19-30 oz/ per day and typically 3-5 oz/feeding for the first 6 months- different from formula fed babies. I would also NOT put cereal in her bottles- She should be learning with a spoon (I work with kids who have feeding issues). Also, you may want to delay solids to allow more time for her digestive system to develop. If she's not needing as much milk b/c of solids it will eventually result in a reduced milk supply b/c of supply/demand. I am still up at 2 am with my little one too! Although i forgot a strategy I tried earlier maybe it will help.... she's close to the next size diaper so tonight I will try the next size up. At 2am last night her diaper was FULL- seriously no more was going to fit and I when she was younger it helped to put her in the next size up when she got close- more room for pee, more comfortable baby, she slept a little bit longer=more sleep for working mommy :) Everyone is happy! Good Luck!

Hi T.,

I have had the exact same problem with my 6-month old, so I feel your frustration. Your daughter might be ready for rice cereal at 4 months (supposedly the new age to start cereal, and then solids at 6 months, or so the APA and other sources say). Although, my doc advised not putting in the bottle, as babies could overeat if it's in the bottle, not to mention that cereal is an excellent time to introduce 'eating' and learning how to push food to the back of the mouth.

I do have to say, though, I've added a tblsp of rice cereal to the small bottles that I pump (the recommended quantity is one tablespoon of cereal for every 4oz of breastmilk/formula - perfect for those dinky bottles that I unsuccessfully pumped).

Some folks say to eat certain herbs, drink more water, or pump/nurse more often to up your supply. Unfortuneatly, this does not always work. I've tried in vain to pump/nurse more and it has done nothing to help my supply. I've tried the more water and certain herbs/oats, all to no avail. Unfortunately, there are just some women who do not produce enough, much as we hope we could.

I do think you should keep up with it though. It's better for your baby, gives you more bonding time with her, and saves you a bundle on formula. Don't fret, though, about supplementing, we've all done it, and our kids turn out just fine.

Good luck with your endeavors!

K.

It is not to late to "get your milk back" if that is your goal. From my experience, the more often you pump, the more you will produce. The more water you drink, the more you will produce. (don't drink coffee or pop either) I also have a 4 1/2 month old - the Dr. didn't want her to have cereal in her bottle (it gets difficult to clean - difficult for them to suck thru a nipple anyhow) but did allow me to start feeding it to her in the evenings. I mix about 2 ounces of my breastmilk (you can use formula if she will take it) with some organic rice cereal... basically enough flakes to thicken it to a good consistency. When I started with her, i used less so that it was runny & she wouldn't choke. Once she got the nack, i started to make it thicker each night. Now I add about 2 Tbsp of stage 2 organic carrots to the mixture each night & we've been doing this for almost 2 weeks. Next I plan to try squash (which I am going to make thanks to the ideas I found on this site). According to my Dr, you can't do the cereal thing all day - in the evening is fine just to slowly introduce them to different tastes. (It also fills them up & helps to get a good night sleep) At this age, formula or breastmilk throughout the day only. Don't be discouraged by the slowing of your supply - you can get it back if you want to & it really is the best for your baby. 6 ounces per bottle is great though, but i think you may be missing a feeding (hard for me to guess though, i just feel like i'm always nursing - but we usually do 6 nursing feedings, plus a cereal "sit down" with our family dinner time). hope this helps.

First, Congratulations for breastfeeding while working! Second, I had this exact issue with my daughter when I introduced cereal at 4 months (she's now 8 months)I tried the herbs, teas, oatmeal, even beer (my favorite)and hospital grade pumps, pumping every two hours even at night. It was too late, the milk supply was too low.
If I were to do it all over again there are a few things I would do differently. 1. i would have started all those interventions at the first sign of decrease, that might have helped. 2. i would have had her nurse or drink breastmilk before she eats the cereal (opposite of what my doctor told me) that way she would have drank more and on the weekends kept my supply up. 3. i would have used the following cereal introduction schedule: week 1- 1tablespoon cereal 4 tablespoons milk week 2-2 tblspoons cereal 4 tblspoon milk week 3- 3:4 week 4 and from here on out-4:4 I would give her cereal only 1 a day for the first month 2 times from then on.
I would not add it to the bottle because it's not really necessary. my daughter ate it from the spoon at 4 months and did well. My daughter also woke up at 5 am to eat then went back to sleep until 8 am every day until about 7 months. the cereal didn't really make her sleep longer. Good luck!

My doctor recommended adding rice cereal to my son's bottles. At two months he was 14 lbs and drinking drinking 32 ounces (formula and breastmilk). He was gassy and spitting up a lot. Adding rice reduced the amount of formula/breastmilk which eliminated spitting up and gas pains. She recommended 2 tablespoons for five ounces of formula/breastmilk. The goal was to feed him 4 ounces and save the last ounce for him if he was not satisfied. I was surprised with her suggestion, however, I value her advice since she is an excellent pediatrician. I did not do this with my older two just my youngest.

The point was to reduce the amount of breastmilk/formula to elimate gas/spitting up NOT to sleep longer.

My adorable baby is 4 months now>>> My pediatrician gave the green light on solids. I stopped adding creal to his bottle and am spoon feeding cereal since he is 18 lbs, sitting up and has two teeth. I will introduce solids in the coming weeks.

She also said that any amount of breastmilk is a good thing.

Adding cereal worked for me, however, I would NEVER have done it without my doctor's consent. I'd check in with your doctor. Also, adding cereal to the bottle makes the babies suck harder. This could be bad for their ears as well hollow out cheeks. If you do decide to do it, only do it short term.

Best of luck - Working mother of a 4 year old, 3 year old and 4 month old.

I didn't have problems producing the milk, but my daughter was drinking too many bottles. Her pediatrician actually recommended giving her a little cereal. I would say talk to your pediatrician, but i started off small, adding a teaspoon or two per 6 ounces. The flip side to the cereal is the more cereal the less she may receive through the nipple and you really don't won't to give her an advance nipple, she's not ready for. I say start off with the teaspoon and see if that won't feel her little belly up. Hope it helps.

Agree with posts, NO cereal in bottles. You can also try the supplement More Milk Plus by Motherslove which can be found in Whole Foods. I did fenugreek and felt that my body built a tolerance to it and went with this tincture and is working well. Also aim to drink at least 2L of water per day to keep up your supply (I know it is hard!) My peditrician stated that babies will start to sleep better through the night when they reach 15lbs, so you may still have to nurse her for that 2am feeding. Giving solids will not make them sleep through the night, it is an old wives tale. Even the Mayo Clinic Health book for the first year of life will tell you that. Also you shouldn't feed solids until they have at least doubled their birth weight. I commend you for your continued efforts, I feel that my baby is much healthier than my friend's babies that formula feed. Keep it up and best of luck to you.

Hi T., I wouldn't add the cereal to her bottle. Try warming a little nursery water and mix a couple tablespoons of rice cereal in a bowl. This introduces baby foods in a much safer and healthier way. I'm almost sure your milk supply would increase if you could pump more, since you are restricted to three times a day try pumping an extra ten minutes each time. At first you won't get much more but after a couple times the supply will meet the demand. I've fed rice cereal both ways and having it in the bottle doesn't make them sleep any longer than a warm bath. I hope this helps.  

your nursing at 2 am is the most beneficial thing to keeping your supply up. your production is highest from 1am - 5 am.

a 4 month old's digestive tract is not ready for solids yet, wait until 6 mos. supplement if you have to instead.

start taking more milk plus. it's expensive but helps to boost your production. get it from your lactation consultant or mine, who's name is janet in naperville: phone ###-###-####.

i have a supply problem too and take that as well as alfalfa and extra calcium/magnesium supplements.

also, i have found that doing 2 very simple exercises as often as possible, at least 3x/day, is helpful:
1) arm circles. put hands on shoulders and draw circles with elbows in the air 15x going forward, and then 15x going backward. increasing circulation in your arms and upper body will help your supply.
2) open up the chest area. stand in a doorway and put your forearms (elbow to hand) on the door frame. Step one foot forward and lean forward, supported by your foot. Feel the stretch. my chiropractor taught me this and it helps a lot. it stretchs out the lymphatic system that's in your upper body.

I have an online breastfeeding support gropu if you'd like to join it. my lactation cons. often gives free advice and is very knowledgable; she participates on the group site. if you go here an click "join", mention that you were referred by mamasource so I know to accept you. :-)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bfsg/

That's great you are still nursing! I would strongly advise against rice cereal in her bottles. Pediatricians recommend 6 months as the time to introduce solids for many health reasons. Also, putting the cereal in her bottle thickens it and can lead to very painful ear infections.

These are some great websites that have information for working moms on pumping, among other parenting topic:
www.kellymom.com
www.askdrsears.com

You can also buy some wonderful books (or get them from the library). Nursing Mother, Working Mother is a great one.
If you ever have a specific question, you can always call a La Leche League leader in the area. They are volunteers who are happy to take calls or emails 24/7.
You can find a local leader through:
http://www.llli.org/Web/Illinois.html

Good Luck to you and your family!

It is not recommended to add rice cereal to a bottle (though a previous generation did this) as it can cause choking, excessive weight gain and other problems. you basically have two choices: you can nurse more to get your supply up or you can supplement with formula and/or start feeding some solids. If you do the latter then your supply will drop some more. I agree that pumping at work is pretty darn hard. I never got more than 4 ozs at a time. I would nurse a lot on weekends to get the supply up. I managed exclusive breast feeding for 5 months but then did mix and match. Others will tell you to drink lots of water, oatmeal and take a variety of herbs. except for the water, none of the other remedies worked for me but they are certainly worth a try. Rice in the bottle will not help your child sleep longer. when your child is old enough, and has enough of a stomach, she will drink enough to last through the night. My doc told me this is around 4 months. part of the waking up after 4 months is really just habit and not feeding is the easiest way to encourage her to go back to sleep herself.

I know nothing about rice cereal and amounts, but ways to boost your supply are to eat oatmeal every day as much as you can. Regular hot oatmeal, those oatmeal squares, oatmeal cookies, you name it. There's also a supplement I used to take when I returned to work called Fenugreek. It can be found in any vitamin store. You can take up to 2000 mg a day, and it really helps your supply.

I think you should get the advice of your pediatrician. When my children were infants, i followed their advice to the letter. Often people start putting cereal in a bottle and this leads to a pretty chubby baby. Maybe it is time to start feeding cereal as a regular feeding. My memory isn't the best since my kids are 19 and 13, but I think it was around four months that we started the rice cereal and slowly began adding the little jars of food. your doctor would have the best advice.

I know that you have already gotten a lot of advice on this but from what our neonatolgist said. It is ok to put the cereal in the bottle and the nutrionist at the hospital said that it is 1/2 tsp per ounce. I have no problem with his recommendation considering that I had triplets who were born 3 months early.

He had us giving our littlest one the cereal to help with her spitting up.

I want to encourage you that your baby is blessed to have you comitted to breastfeeding. It is not an easy thing to pump!

I would also encourage you that your baby is sleeping very well, if she is only up once a night. I think in Healthy Sleep Habits Healthy Baby, it says that breastfed babies may wake once or twice a night to feed until 9 months. So once a night at 4 months is great!

As far as rice cereal, I'd be curious why you'd prefer that over formula. I'm a real breastfeeding advocate, so I'm not pushy with formula - but if you are doing what you can and don't have enough expressed milk, don't feel bad about suplementing. I'd be concerned that the rice cereal would be empty calories, where the formula would have more nutrition.

That said, make sure you are giving here the right amount of expressed milk. Sometimes we think they need more than they do, especially when they are taking from a bottle. This is because babies can't turn off the bottle supply very easily, so they tend to drink the bottle even if they aren't really needing it. I think the general rule of thumb is one once per hour. So if the baby is feeding every three hours the bottle should have three ounces in it. I'd check this on kellymom.com to be sure (they can also tell you how to up your supply). It is a great website for acurate information.

I hope this makes sense, with 3 kids under five and a bad cough, I didn't get much sleep last night :)
C.

I would just be careful and research new studies are out that that is why older americans are gettign diabetes they think from starting rice at such an early age, I know our mothers mothers did it at like 2 months old and that generation has the highest diabets in older people. then they changed it to 4 months old but it is still showing high rates of diabetes in people 50+ etc. when if the cereal was held off thill 6 months and food till 8 the risk for diabetes went down.
sorry but for three months of not sleeping for a lifetime later to not ahe diabetes or at least post pone it would be worth checking into or waiting.
good luck
J.

I have always been told to never bottle feed solid foods. Cereal is a solid. You can most certainly start to spoon feed rice cereal to your 4 month old. Mix it with warmed formula or breast milk. Start small, mix cereal and formula/B. milk to a very thin consistency as your baby learns to take from a spoon and as she gets used to solids you can adjust thickness. This is what I have done for all three of my kids when they were babies, ages 13 yrs to 15 months. I hope this helps. Take care

From everything I've read or been told, they say not to put cereal in a bottle. I'm not sure why, but I stuck by those rules. My daughter is now 8 months and starting around 4 1/2 months, I started giving her cereal. I was told by my doctor that I would notice a change when she was ready for cereal. Everything I read said to wait until 6 months, but I thought I would see what happened. She had slept through the night very early on and suddenly she started waking up at night and was hungry. I just started with one cereal feeding a day and she slept through the night. I used a bowl and spoon. At first it was very little cereal and mostly breastmilk and then I started making it thicker and thicker as she got the hang of it. So far, it's gone great. Good luck!

Hi T.,

I had the same problem and I went to my OB and she prescribed Reglan (sp) and it really helped. You start off with one pill, and the next day two, then three, then four for a week and then back down to one. Sometimes you can stop taking it after that initial 10 days but I ended up taking one pill a day for quite awhile and it really helped my milk supply build up. It's really safe and no side affects so stop stressing and give it a try. It works.

I'd listen to the ladies that responded who have had to deal with this issue professionally:
Do NOT put solids in bottles, leads to so many other complications.
Check with your pediatrician! If you don't like the answer, or they're not helpful, find another ped now who can answer your questions.

My research has taught me that 6 months is best for solids to be introduced, and the baby has to be able to turn their head away so you don't overfeed. This is the time where they learn a healthy relationship to food that will last their whole lives!
What about a rice-based formula? Then it's liquid and a decent supplement as well.
Good luck, and try to sleep yourself somehow :)

Hi Terri,
I'm a neonatal nurse at CDH hospital and if you want to increase your breastmilk production you can try two things... an herbal suppliment called Fen U Greek (found at health food stores GNC) you can take up to 6 pills a day 2 in the morning , 2 in the afternoon and 2 at night. I would recommend starting out slower til you know how your body will react to the pills. Start out with 4 a day 2 am,1 in the afternoon and at night. Sometimes it will cause low blood sugars if you start to fast(so if you decide to take them and are feeling jittery or flu-like symptoms) back off on them for a few days.
The other option you have to increase your milk supply is calling your OB Dr. for a Prescription dose of Reglan 10 mg. Lactation consultants recommend both ways to increase you milk production but with the Reglan you are only on it for 12 days day 1 you take 1 pill, day 2 you take 2 pills and days 3-10 you take 3 pills a day, day 11 you take 2 pills and day 12 take 1 pill and then you are done. It has helped alot of women increase their milk production and it is considered safe methods.
There are alot of moms who go back to work and their milk supply drops due to stress but if you need more info you can email my home address ____@____.com. I wouldn't recommend the rice cereal until you pediatrician okays it and just so you know adding cereal to breastmilk or formula doesn't make babies sleep longer if your baby is growing she will still wake up if she is hungry whether cereal is in the bottle or not. I also have a 3 month old who was sleeping 7-8 hours the first month at night and now I feed her at 9 P.M. and she wakes up at 2:30 for a feed and again at 5 a.m. and I know that I am producing alot more then she is eating because when I pump after only 5-6 hours I am getting sometimes 14 ounces and I know she isn't eating 14 ounces at one time. So just hang in there. Hope this helps
L. V

Ask your pediatrician if she is ready for solids. She's 4 months and one section of the APA approves starting solids at 4 months.

Our baby started solids at 4 months and did fine. At 13 months, he is not overweight and eats everything but mashed potatoes. Just remember that every baby is different, so check with your pediatrician.

If you have to supplement with formula do NOT feel guilty about it! The main priority is getting your baby the nutrition and calories she needs for growth, not stressing yourself out over not being able to pump enough milk.

I would contact my family doctor and get his/her recommendation as to what to do. Babies have such a sentistive digestive sytem. You may also consider call the lactation consultant at you local hospital. They are very imformative even sometimes more so than the doctor.

D.

My milk slowed up after a couple of months also. The dr. said a Tbls or 2 would be plenty. Make sure you check with your dr. 1st. and cut the nipple tip in a tiny " x " so the cereal can come thru without gagging your tiny blessed one.

I would not put the cereal in a bottle, instead add the breast milk to the rice cereal in a bowl and spoon feed it to the 4 month old. It will be liquidy at first but at four months she should be old enough to start with a baby spoon to start learning how to spoon feed. As always you can check with their doctor.
I had a real hard time keeping up a good milk supply with all 3 of my children. We do the best we can and no matter how heartbreaking it might be sometimes it is best for everyne involved to switch to formula. You can always add your breast milk to the formula for those extra antibodies. Childrn do just fine being bottle-fed. You are blest to have had at least 4 months to breast feed. Good luck.

T.,

On Sunday, 3/9, I posted a similar question regarding adding rice cereal to the bottle (my son is also 4 months) and the overwhelming response was not to add it in the bottle. The bottle is for liquids only. If you are going to give your daughter rice cereal do it with a spoon. The reason for giving rice cereal at this age is for them to get used to eating with a spoon - they are not gaining additional nutrition.
My ped was pretty adament about this also. He also said that some babies may sleep longer due to the rice cereal but it is not for certain and at 4 months it is normal for babies to get up once at night to eat. If you have any other questions, let me know.
R.

Hi T., I also had a hard time producing enough milk when I returned to work. I called it my "other full time job".My motherinlaw used rice cereal 2tablespoons to a 4 oz. in my sons bottle around 4 months.He loved it! Have to use the Y cut bottles. My Dr. said No No. I didn't though . I used a spoon and mixed it with b-milk.I had to start to use formula around 7 mo. My son hates formula. He's 9 mo. now and still gets up around 3am also to eat. I'm not sure but I think its for comfort. Good Luck. C.

I started my now 8 month old on cereal in a bottle at 6 weeks! We gave it to him right before bed and he slept eight hours the first night! You just have to make sure that the nipple is wide enough for the cereal to come out... I slit a bigger hole in it!
Good luck!

I'VE read everywhere not to put cereal in a BOTTLE due to high choking risks....besides, they should not start on cereal until 6 months.... we have great success with the costco brand, kirkland, for a filling formula. my 5 month old baby sleeps more hours at night on kirkland vs. similac or infamil---and it has the exact same nutritional values (and approved by my pediatrician, Dr. Gosh). good luck ;-)

Hi T.,
I had trouble also after I went back to work when my son was between 3 and 4 months. I did not add rice to his milk during the day but i did in the evenings. During the day I put 4oz of formula to my two of milk and when he started drinking 8oz I increased it to 6oz of formula and 2oz of breast milk. I don't think you need to add the rice to the day bottles (but check with your pediatritian just in case) for he/she would know if your daughter needs extra food in her milk. However, I was always recomended to put the rice in at night so he would not feel hungry during the night and it worked, as for the quantity, I would follow the instructions on the package but I think I use to put enough for one oz out of an 8oz bottle. Hope that makes sense :)
One other little note for self, I unfortunately had nobody to advice me and i kept going into my son to feed him at 4am in the morning and he kept up the habit until he was slightly over 1! now he is 2 and doing great but if you can try to wean your daughter of the night feed before then you will be thankful in the long run :)
Hope this helps!
M.