I put 1/2 tsp in each bottle since it has helped with him spitting up.

At night, I mix a little with water (the kind that has the rice and formula already mixed together) and I give it on a spoon. The first time was hard, kinda had to figure a way to get it in there, but after the third time he has started opening his mouth for it.

Just an FYI...I have heard that when you mix cereal in w/ their bottle that it is easier to confuse baby. "They" say that once you start any kind of solid food, even if it is watered down w/ formula that you should teach them to eat w/ a spoon b/c they should be at the age where they will start to understand the concept of a spoon and then it will be easier to ween them from complete bottle feeding! I am just starting out w/ my 4 month old on rice cereal, this is our 4th night, and it seems, little by little, that he is getting the hang of using his tongue to push the cereal back. It is still so watery, though, that if he is laying back enough it will just slide down his throat!
Good luck!
Andrea

I gave dd cereal right from the spoon at four months and she had no problem with it. I was told by my ped to never, ever give cereal in the bottle, I don't remember why though, so I didn't even try it that way. It took a few days for dd to really get the hang of it, but now at almost 7 months, we can't get the spoon in there fast enough:-)

Just to follow up on Sara's post (even tho I haven't started 3m old DS on cereal yet), I read the reasons for not putting cereal in a bottle is that babies could choke on it, and because it does not promote regular eating habits and reinforces continued bottle feeding.

I agree that you should feed cereal out of a spoon...if they're not willing to take it from a spoon, they're probably not ready...I hate seeing those "feeder" bottles at grocery stores, etc...I think it encourages lazy babies (not to mention that their mommies are too lazy to actually feed them the correct way!!)!! Look on the back of your cereal box, it should have directions for baby's first feeding...I think it's like 1 tbsp of cereal to 4 tbsp of either breastmilk or forumla :)

A little off the subject, but doesn't Enfamil or some other brand of formula make a concoction that's got rice cereal in it? Yes, Enfamil A.R. I put the link below. Does anyone have any experience with this stuff???

Here is a link that might be useful: Enfamil w/ added rice

I waited until 6 mo. and I put the ceral on the spoon and DD will only eat it if I let her guide the spoon into her mouth. I keep hold of the spoon b/c she won't take it out. What a riot.

I think the formula with cereal in it is really the other way around...cereal w formula so that if you don't have milk pumped or a formula bottle made, you can make that cereal with just water.

There is actually formula with cereal in it, it's for babies that have acid reflux...I've had no experience with it, but have a friend who had to use it...I guess it just makes it harder to get up (gross)! But it's not much cereal at all, I could barely tell there was anything different (but I don't see formula too much anywho). (oh, there is cereal with formula, too...so you can just use H2O ;D)

You're not supposed to give cereal in a bottle other than very little if your baby has reflux.

I used to measure the first few times 3 tbspns of cereal, but now I just pour cereal & formula together to reach the desired conssitency, which has gotten thicker than when I first offerred it to her 2 mos ago.

So what about someone starting their newborn on cereal at 2 weeks? My SIL really has me worried because they said they were starting their son last week. They were already complaing about the sleepless nights and how their baby was up half the night. We, my fiance and I, tried to tell them that their son was still pretty young and it takes time to develop a schedule. Up until now they were very by the book and planned everything about this baby a good year before he came about. Now I'm wondering what will happen. What if he's not getting the amount of formula he needs at 2 weeks because they're filling him with the cereal in the bottle? He could end up malnurished. Or what if they start him now and his little tummy expands and he just keeps eating more and more and more and gets really big? It's not really that he's eating a lot at one time or anything, it just seems that he has his nights and days mixed up and wants to stay up at night. Plus, it was very hot and humid for a good week and half after he was born and came home. There are a lot of adjustments that babies have to make after they are born. Aren't they jumping the gun a little? I don't see what the rush is because SIL won't be going back to work, at least not for a long time.

Babies will be up for feedings periodically. This is natural. Some babies are every 2 hours, my DD was every 4 hours. They do it according to their own metabolism, size of stomach, etc. They are still very instinctual animals at that age, and won't under- or over-eat. To give cereal at 2 weeks tells me that they are wanting to not be inconvenienced. Feed the baby formula/breast milk only. He/she can't digest anything else yet.

At 2.5 to 3 months, ask doc about adding cereal, but not 2 weeks! OMG!

(I never added it to DD's milk, at 4-5 months, I started spoon feeding her. You test the child's ability to spoonfeed by putting a little ontheir tongue with your finger, and see if they have the natural 'push back food with tongue and swallow' instinct yet. I tested this for about 2 or 3 weeks, and once she had the instinct developed, I started with the spoon.)

(Dnephew was different. Bigger child, bigger appetite, growing and gaining fast. DSIL added to his formula at 3 months, and moved to spoonfeeding as soon as DN learned to do the tongue thing).

Also, DD was born in dead of winter. But she was hotnatured. I was overdressing her, and for her first 2 weeks was miserable. Once I figured out she was too hot, I dressed her accordingly, and she was very mellow after that.

My granddaughter is 6 months old and still refuses to take cereal or any other foods. She closes her mouth tight any time you try to bring the baby spoon near her. Any advice on getting her to eat solids?

Marion,
Really silly-sounding made-up sing-song is what worked with my DD. DH would make fun of me, and I said whatever works, I'll do, even if it sounds silly! It was the same little sing-song substituting whatever food I was using that day. "Where does your cereal go? Does it go on your face? Nooooo, it goes in the tummy!"

Every time I got to the word 'tummy', she'd open the mouth without realizing it, and I could pop the spoon in. I'd say it with every spoonful. Over and over til we were sick of it. I have no idea why it worked but it did.

It's all a matter of distraction.

Another idea: give her a spoon to hold, too, to keep her distracted. Or a small favorite (washable) toy.

We recently started our 4 1/2 old on cereal (from a spoon) and he loves it. About the bottle..I have never really heard of putting it in bottles.
We used to be foster parents and a 5 month old came to us with a infa-feeder and we stuck with it not knowing much about it since we had no children of our own. Once we got him to the dr. he wanted us to toss it. They say now that feeding infants food through infa-feeders not only developes laziness but also more importantly overeating.

my 2 mth old twins have doubled in weight they were 3.5 and 3.6 when born.they are now a little over 8 lbs. the problem i have is that the one never seems to get full. i know they do not recomend cereal in a bottle this early but im not sure what to do.today he ate 12oz in one feeding and still was smacking his lips and crying and knawing on his hand b/c he was still hungry.im not sure can u overfeed them on formula? 12 oz is an awful lot for a 2mth old baby that was a primee. i remember i started my oldest on cereal at 5mths and that was okay but 2? please if anyone can help i would appericate it. please email me ems9882@yahoo.com

I resent the accusation that parents that bottle feed cereal to babies are lazy. Parenting decisions are personal decisions and based on what works best for individual babies. My grandmother parented 12 of her own children, fostered and adopted several others, and played a major role in raising zillions of her grandchildren, and I would hardly describe any of her parenting techniques as lazy. Babies were fed cereal from bottles for years and the world still went round. The kids didn't turn into drug addicts, or rapists, or serial killers. I bottle feed cereal to my children and they are normal. They have healthy normal appetites, play and are rambunctious like other children (not lazy), excel in school, have no allergies, never choked (any more or less than on formula), or any of the other horror stories people will have you believe. I advise people to take into consideration what their pediatricians say (they don't know everything or your child personally) and what you see, read, and hear, and then make your own decision based on your instinct and your child. You can try anything once or twice. If you see that it is not working or is unhealthy, stop. It's that simple. I personally feed cereal in a bottle, but never before 2 months, and would advise you to try to hold out until 4 months. But there is no handbook on parenting or feeding that has the CORRECT uniform answer because there isn't one.

To MarionR - I tried the baby rice and cereal first but my baby hated it, just didn't like the taste. I tried him on the baby jars of fruit puree to start him off and he took these really well.

Hopefully by now at age 7, Marion's granddaughter is eating much better :~)

Although at that age I had a DS who would only eat hot dogs.

For the mom that said "mommies are too lazy to actually feed them the correct way" talking about cereal in bottles. I'd like you to realize that for babies with acid reflux this is sometimes the ONLY way for them to keep their food down! It was a last resort for us. Seeing your child vomit after every feeding breaks your heart. And is sure as HELL unhealthy!!! How dare you criticize all mothers for this! Maybe you should do some researching first!!!!