[oceanica]

So Athena is about 5 weeks and she still eats about every 2 hours, sometimes it's longer or shorter but approximately every 2. She never wants more than 125 ml or so of the similac advanced although she sometimes wants some more in a half hour. She seems to be growing well and is probably about 9 pounds I would guess, up from her birth weight of 5 and 14 oz.
MIL and others have advocated adding rice cereal to her formula. As you guys probably know peds rec waiting till 4 months, but everyone who gives me this (usually unsolicited) advice says to start it now.
What has been your experience?

[SupaModel]

I waited til 4 mos but DS really didn't like so I really dont give it to him anymore. Now we are just veggies and fruits.

[blessedbybug]

Originally Posted by oceanica

So Athena is about 5 weeks and she still eats about every 2 hours, sometimes it's longer or shorter but approximately every 2. She never wants more than 125 ml or so of the similac advanced although she sometimes wants some more in a half hour. She seems to be growing well and is probably about 9 pounds I would guess, up from her birth weight of 5 and 14 oz.
MIL and others have advocated adding rice cereal to her formula. As you guys probably know peds rec waiting till 4 months, but everyone who gives me this (usually unsolicited) advice says to start it now.
What has been your experience?

I started DD at four months. Waited til 6 months for DS.

[aclee]

Waited till 5 months to start solids (the dr forced me) Ty wasn't really interested so we wait till closer to 6. Didn't even start with rice cereal, started with sweet potato.

Starting kids that young, and adding to formula is a really old school thing. My grandmother talks about giving me her yogurt at 2 weeks old. hmmm...well everyone of her grandkids that she "got her hands on" and started food that young, has struggled with weight problems their whole life...lol I'm not saying it's all nana's fault, it's just how it was done.

They put their babies to bed on their tummies too, so I guess I would respond with how things have changed. yes we all are alive and well, but research is improving on infant care so dramatically. They used the research they had, we use the research we have...

[minibus]

We are planning to start Josh on rice cereal when he turns 5 months. I think the rice cereal in the bottle is old school. Everything I've read says don't start them on solids until they're 4 months, unless there are medical reasons and if they're old enough to take solids, they're old enough to take them from a spoon. I've also read that they get confused if you're feeding them solids from a bottle.

We heard this advice too ... surprisingly from one doctor, as well!

Here's an article that made me feel better, though...
http://www.parenting.com/article/Baby/Feeding/Mythbuster-Infant-Cereal-in-Baby's-Bottle

[sbaglio]

Unless there is a reason why you need to thicken her feeds (e.g. reflux), there is no need, in my opinion, to start rice cereal before age 4-6 months. Though rice cereal is one of the least allergenic foods available for infants, the risk is still there with early introduction of solids. If your child is taking sufficient calories and gaining weight appropriately, why rock the boat?

[nikkianni]

We started DD at 6 mos. on the advice of her ped. She was on formula only up to that point.

[JustCourtney]

What exactly are you concerned about? If she weighs 9 lbs, then she has almost doubled her birth weight in 5 week! Yikes! Our little man was 7lb 1oz and at 9 weeks weighed 10lbs even.

She seems to be thriving eating just the way she is!

[Fran27]

Putting formula in the bottle is not good. I'd post a few links, but not sure it's allowed, so anyway the main risks are 1) allergies, 2) babies can't swallow solids properly before 4 months at least so they might end up breathing it more instead, 3) it leads to overeating. Babies know if they are full by the volume of what they are eating. If you add more calories to that, they will eat more than they should, and it might lead to obesity later on.

So, IMO, unless there is severe reflux and it's necessary to thicken their feed, adding cereal does more ill than good... Plus it's empty calories and it's an old woman tale that it helps babies sleep longer.

[Whirled_Peas]

We did baby led solids. Let our son decide when his body was ready for more than a liquid diet. He started putting our food into his mouth at 7 1/2 months.

Nature knows better than we do. Let your baby lead the way.

[mrskt]

My mom has been giving me the same routine about our 9 week old, so this weekend, I caved and told her to go for it. It only took about 3-4 bottles for her to get that it wasn't doing any good, and now we are back to normal, and Anya doesn't seem any worse off for the experience.

My cousin had the same issue with her daughter and her mother - same results for her as well


Katy

[oceanica]

courtneyncarl, I wasn't really too concerned... Athena is a little fussy at times but not extremely, and I don't mind feeding her so frequently (at all!). But they say it'll satisfy her more and she won't feel as hungry, and that she'll sleep better and longer. Also since she can't seem to increase her intake (otherwise she pukes) but she is getting bigger, I wanted to make sure she was getting enough. I think people just feel "intuitively" that having a liquid diet even if you are a baby is not really eating and is not really enough.

[SupaModel]

Originally Posted by aclee

hmmm...well everyone of her grandkids that she "got her hands on" and started food that young, has struggled with weight problems their whole life...lol I'm not saying it's all nana's fault, it's just how it was done.

...

DH and I was visting MIL in San Diego and we started reading his and SIL baby books. Well I was reading SIL book and it said "K" at 3 weeks LOVES chocolate chip cookies!!! I was like NO WAY!!! SIL saw and said "THAT's WHY I'M FAT"!! She has struggled majorly with her weight for years and I bet it had something to do with MIL feeding her crap so early.

MIL is Dutch European but raised in indonesia Jakarta (sp?) That being said she has her own view about raising babies

[Fran27]

Yup exactly... Babies know when they're full. Trying to hide extra calories and make them eat when they're not hungry just makes their stomach bigger and makes them fat. Unless they have a great metabolism.

I've been there too...

[Amber76]

As far as the sleeping better thing, I started DS on rice cereal five days ago on the advice of our pediatrician. He is four months old and at his check-up had fallen off his growth curve, so she recommended trying the cereal. Well, my son, who used to sleep from 8:30 Pm to 8:00 AM has woken up at least once every night since we started the cereal. So much for that helping kids sleep. We've decided to back off and wait a few weeks before trying again. DS is very active and his birthfamily is TINY, so we're thinking he is just small. He is growing, just not at the same rate as the American growth charts say he should.