Rice/Cereal Mix « Back to Group Discussions

[CDsMom1031]

I know what the doctors/books say, but when do you guys plan on adding rice/cereal into their breastmilk/formula? My LO is 7w3d.

[meesh933]

Never. We don't do  bottles, so would have no way to mix it in with milk. But there's also some compelling evidence that adding cereal to bottles is in essence force feeding, which can lead to some issues as far as recognizing your body's hunger/fullness cues later on.

As far as starting solids, we do baby led weaning. When baby is interested (sometime around or after 6 months), we let him eat what we eat. We don't mush it, or puree it, we literally take food straight off of our plates and give it to baby. I'm trying to get a fussy baby to bed, but here's a link with more: http://www.babyledweaning.com/

[SoCaliMommy]

 Even if we did bottles, I've always heard adding rice/cereal to a bottle is a major No No unless the Dr recommends it kind of thing.

 Starting Solid Food~ We will start around 4 months and make our own baby food.

[meesh933]

"I’m much more concerned about a subtler issue. Babies are born with a wonderful mechanism for knowing how much food they need. During the early months, they take their cues from the volume of what they drink. Adding cereal derails this mechanism. It forces them to take in deceptively large amounts of calories. It teaches them to overeat." Dr. Greene on Cereal in the Bottle for Sleep
 

From:

http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/tipcerealinbottle.htm

[KaliShanti]

This is what we do too!
 

Originally Posted by meesh933 

Never. We don't do  bottles, so would have no way to mix it in with milk. But there's also some compelling evidence that adding cereal to bottles is in essence force feeding, which can lead to some issues as far as recognizing your body's hunger/fullness cues later on.

As far as starting solids, we do baby led weaning. When baby is interested (sometime around or after 6 months), we let him eat what we eat. We don't mush it, or puree it, we literally take food straight off of our plates and give it to baby. I'm trying to get a fussy baby to bed, but here's a link with more: http://www.babyledweaning.com/

[CDsMom1031]

I don't do bottles, either. For now. I start back at work on Monday, so he'll have to get pumped bottles while I'm at work. =(

I'm really afraid for my supply once I go back to work, BTW. I'm terrified that it's going to start going down because I'll be pumping so much. Once school starts back up, I'll be gone probably 10-12 hours a day so I'll have to pump for 4-5 of his feedings.

I have a friend with a baby that's 7w today and she called me yesterday to inform me that she was going to start adding it to her breastmilk/formula mix. She had latching/bleeding issues and decided to only pump then her supply diminished so now she has to combine the two.

So I was just wondering everyone's opinion. I literally had no intentions of starting. LO is completely content and doing awesome with just my breastmilk so I'm going to keep it that way for as long as possible.

[jbk21]

I am not doing rice or cereal this time at all.  I don't think their digestive systems are capable of handling it before 4-6 months, and even after that it is not necessary as a first food- I start with avocado and banana.  I'm doing BLW this time as well.  

[LiLStar]

What everyone else said. And infant rice cereal is a highly processed "food". Any nutrients that were originally in that rice are long gone, and its been "enriched" with synthetic vitamins and iron. Then it takes up tummy space that should be used for breastmilk or, after 6 months, real yummy solid food. 

[Abraisme]

No rice cereal here either.  I don't do bottles, but even if I did I would never consider adding it.  It's totally void of nutrition and doesn't do anything for the baby.  It doesn't even help babies to sleep longer, it's a total myth. 

We also do baby-led-weaning.  Both of my older kids started licking/tasting foods around 5mo because of their interest.  My DD could sit up and feed herself by 5mo, so I gave her chunks of fruit or veggies to suck on while we were eating.  By 7-8mo she was pretty much eating what we ate with each meal (the soft, baby friendly items).  My kids have been eaters, but I have many friends whose kids didn't eat much at all until 12mo+.  Both variations are normal and I think it's best to follow your baby's lead and allow them to feed themselves WHOLE food.  Baby food and rice cereal are gross, I wouldn't want to eat it.  ;)

[LunaLady]

I've read that children don't produce enough of the enzymes to sufficiently break down things like rice until they are much older.

http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/right-way-to-feed-babies/

Anyway, we're pretty Paleo here at our house, so baby likely won't get any wheat and very little rice at all as it is (and what rice he will have will be when he's a toddler and it's with a meal, not mixed with milk or anything). There's lots of evidence around gut syndromes and the wheat/corn/soy/etc that's grown in this country being a major cause of the problems. Humans have a hard time digesting those things as it is, but the crazy modified stuff this country produces is down right poison. 

I've read both of Gary Taubes books, as well as Nourishing Traditions and have watched several documentaries on the subject and I feel pretty confident in our decision to not eat those things 

[munchymum]

Originally Posted by TTCChloeOrConner 

I don't do bottles, either. For now. I start back at work on Monday, so he'll have to get pumped bottles while I'm at work. =(

I'm really afraid for my supply once I go back to work, BTW. I'm terrified that it's going to start going down because I'll be pumping so much. Once school starts back up, I'll be gone probably 10-12 hours a day so I'll have to pump for 4-5 of his feedings.

It should be possible to maintain your supply. There's loads of info on the web, eg http://www.workandpump.com/supply.htm  And lots of babies up their night-time nursing to keep the supply going - maybe not great news for you, but good for your baby 

[Sasha's Mama]

No rice cereal here either. I've always heard it was a choking hazard to thicken up their bottles w/that stuff. I had so much pressure from my mom to put my first young baby on rice cereal mixed with milk because he was a big baby and just "so hungry" that my breastmilk wasn't enough 
 

Originally Posted by munchymum 

It should be possible to maintain your supply. There's loads of info on the web, eg http://www.workandpump.com/supply.htm  And lots of babies up their night-time nursing to keep the supply going - maybe not great news for you, but good for your baby 

After I went back to work w/my first at four months, I had to supplement with a bottle of formula a day until he was not longer on bottles, and stopped pumping at work completely at 10mos, but he kept on nursing til he was 3.5yo. I agree that he increased how much he nursed in the evenings to make it up for not nursing in the day, and even at two years old he would nurse 10+ times a day on weekends (though this was probably for comfort, it kept my supply rebounding). I was at work/commuting and away from him around 10 hours a day, maybe a bit more (that makes me really sad now to read that!). Keep at the pumping and taking care of your nutrition and you guys will find your rhythm :)

[Krystal323]

never.  it's void of nutrition, if not actually bad for human health--and anyway have you tasted that stuff?  it's nass-tay.  like mushed-up cardboard or paper might taste/feel.  

baby-led weaning here too!  usually that means baby's first food is whatever he or she is quick enough to swipe from my plate that's safe to gum on, hehe.

[Jaimee]

NO, absolutely  not.  Rice cereal is a terrible food and there is NO reason to feed it to anyone ever.  Babies don't even have the proper enzymes to digest rice at such an early age.  Plus, starting babies on solids too early can cause a lot of issues.  There are cues to look for that indicate baby's readiness to eat solids and by eat I mean experiment with as very little eating actually occurs at first.  And lastly, the research does NOT indicate that babies sleep any better/longer when fed solid foods.

We do BLW, here's another article about it: http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/03/13/baby-essentials-that-arent-part-7-baby-food/ and start of with low allergen foods that baby can hold and control.