I want to start my daughter on rice cereal, she is 6 months actual an d4 months adjusted. Her doc wants to wait until her next appt in 2 months. She was born at 31 weeks weighing 2lbs 120z at birth and is 10lbs now and i think the cereal will help fatten her up. Does anyone have any suggestions.
Our son is 8.5 months actual, 5.5 months corrected. We are starting rice cereal next month. Our son has some feeding issues (came home on an NG tube, but is now 100% bottle) so we will start it at a feeding clinic appointment (we have them monthly). Our feeding specialist (SLP) says we should see our son showing readiness (looking at us eat, able to sit propped up in high chair). We are deciding to wait until 6 months corrected to hopefully minimize any choking concerns, yet still begin to offer him solids in the developmental window that our SLP talks about. Our doctors talk about the rice cereal as beneficial, but bm or formula will supply all that baby needs to grow the first 12 months.
We started our son on rice cereal about a month ago. He was 5 months actual, 2 month adjusted. Our ped told us they dont normally start them that young, but he was eating over 40 ounces of formula a day. He wasnt satisfied with just formula and thats why we added the rice. We started off with 1 tbsp once a day and then increased it to 2 tbsp once a day. He is now on 2 tbsp rice twice a day and soilds once a day. I dont think it would be a bad idea to try it and see how it goes. Just start slow. Good luck!
Based on our experience, the advice of our son's therapists, and a lot of literature that I've read, you're doctor is correct in waiting.
It is one of those topics that a lot of parents want to push early under the mistaken assumption that "solids" fatten babies up. There is good reason why the American Academy of Pediatrics says to wait until baby is 6 months old before starting solids (that's 6 months adjusted for preemies).
It is unlikely that feeding a preemie rice cereal early will fatten her up. Most likely, feeding her cereal will make baby feel full, which will make her breast milk/formula intake plummet. It is breast milk/formula that make babies gain weight and have the proper proportion of nutrients.
If you do the math on the calories, you'll find it is easier to get calories from milk than rice cereal. Unfortified breast milk and/or regular formula has 20 calories per oz. Rice cereal has about 60 calories per quarter cup. A quarter cup is A LOT for a 6 month old just learning to eat, let alone a 4 month old. That quarter cup is the equivalent of 3 ozs of milk, meaning that it is much easier for baby to get calories from milk than from rice cereal.
In addition, if you push rice cereal early and baby isn't ready, you may cause oral aversions. Babies oral development in terms of swallowing tracks along adjusted age. At 4 months adjusted, the swallowing isn't as developed, not to mention that the size of the stomach isn't very big.
Keep in mind that if you don't want to cause oral aversions, when you first give baby solid food between 6-9 months (adjusted), that time period is for learning to eat, not for calories or nutrition. So not forcing food on baby is important. Moreover, "solids" should not affect the amount of milk taken in. If they do, baby will have problems gaining weight.
We fed our son rice cereal a little early...around 5 months adjusted. This was only because he was lunging for our food (a sign of readiness). We didn't give him very much each day because we knew that it was important to keep up his milk intake. And a little bit of rice cereal goes a long way. At first, we only gave him a tablespoon a day.
My son is 15 months adjusted today. I'm happy to say that following our son's OT's advice has paid off. He has been able to sidestep some common oral aversions that a lot of preemies have. He isn't a heavy fellow. He's tracked along the 25th percentile on weight for his adjusted age since he was probably 6 months adjusted or so. Given that he was born 1 lb. 3.65 ozs and was way below the bands of normality when he came home around his due date, we are happy with his progress. He sprouted a couple months ago and is around the 75th percentile on height for his adjusted age. He is a good eater. He is an adventurous eater.
You could ask about adding something to the milk to increase the calories if baby isn't gaining weight fast enough and is already maxing out on ozs per day on milk (e.g., 40 ozs per day as that's very high). There are drawbacks to increased calories in milk. Some babies don't drink as much if milk's caloric value is increased. And if baby has reflux, it can aggravate it. Is the doctor concerned about baby's rate of weight gain? If doctor is concerned, then talking with doctor and a pediatric nutritionist would be a good idea. If doctor is happy with trajectory of weight increase, then I wouldn't worry about it. Babies who grow too fast can have problems just as babies who grow too slow. So I wouldn't push it if the grow trajectory is already on a decent pace.
One final note about adding rice cereal to bottles. Some people say it helps. Other people say it slows down how much baby eats per day. If baby ever chokes on milk, be careful with adding rice cereal. Rice cereal down the bronchial tubes from choking can cause problems.
Good Luck.
I started putting a bit of rice cereal in Ian's bottle at neg 2 weeks adjusted age, to help swallowing. His Pediatrician wants to start foods the beginning of December at 4 months. He is right on chart with his milestones for a 3-4 month old. He smiles and laughs. Uses 2nd stage language skills, coos and babbles. Holds his head up and moves head side to side. Can even stand up assisted and take steps! He will sometimes hold his bottle. He watches us eat and cries because he wants some. I tried one baby spoon of stage 1 bananas before, just to see. And he opened his mouth for the food and was able to "tongue" it back to swallow.
It's up to your little gal and what her Dr.s say. But ultimately it's your baby, and if you and her Dr think she's ready. Try it. but just a little bit. She might not be able to get get it to the back of her throat so keep a "suckie ball" ready it get it out of her mouth. Or may be allergic to the foods, so only a tiny bit and wait a couple days for reactions, like diarrhea or redness.
Even if you are going to do it no matter what, let her Dr know. So that they are aware.
I would recommend starting at least at 6 months corrected. Our baby was born at 33 weeks, 2 lbs 9 oz and was completely healthy other than being small. I started him at 6 months actual because I thought he was a great nurser and wouldn't have any issues. I should have waited until he was 8 months actual or older. He wasn't ready and he actually developed an oral aversion, resulting in therapy. I don't wish having a child that hates eating on anyone...it is a batter that is very tiring and frustrating. I am not saying that your child will have that issue, but do want you to know what happened to us! It is recommended these days to way until the child is 6 months to start solids...we can't forget our little ones aren't really 6 months!
Good luck!!! As always follow the advice of your pediatrician!
I have had a lot of luck with all three of my babies who were preemies ranging from 1# 15oz to 5#6oz starting them at 6mo adj. Per what katek said it's important that they don't fill up on cereal, or you'll have a classic case of overweight but undernourished. We do 1 feeding per day at 6mo adj, 2 feedings per day at 8 mo adj and 3 feedings per day at 10mo adjusted. I let them nurse as often as they want between meals.
Hmm....funny this was posted b/c yesterday the pediatrician wanted me to start adding a tspn of rice cereal to my son's bottle every other feeding. He is only 4 weeks adjusted! But earlier I figured I would try it but instead of in the bottle I let him taste a little by spoon first. He actually loved it and kept trying to go for the spoon but I didn't let him eat much just in case. Now that I see this post and everyone's opinions, i am not sure what to do! He eats so much so filling him up a little might help us....I don't know!
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