Baby Rice In Bottle

[HPmum2B]

So I know it is generally not advised to put baby rice in a babies bottle, but the main reason I have seen for this is because people are generally doing it before weaning age.

DD was born premature, so general weaning advice for her is from 5 months (if she is showing signs), she is showing the signs they say to look for, so I am starting to wean her.

I am mainly aiming at purees to start with, but will introduce finger foods when appropriate.

But my question is, is it ever okay to put baby rice in the milk. I have seen people say it is a choking hazard, but I don't know how it would be anymore of a choking hazard than the thicker anti-reflux milks.
I have also seen people say that they have done it on the advice of their doctor.

I am looking for your experiences. Thanks.

 

[erinprime]

My doctor has us add 1 teaspoon of rice cereal per ounce of formula in her bottle for reflux. She is lactose intolerant so we can't use the regular reflux formulas. The rice cereal has been more effective treating her reflux than all of the medications we have tried. We have been adding the rice since 3 months. I am not sure I would do it for any other reason though because I don't see the point. For weaning we skipped the cereal anyways.

 

[staralfur]

Forgive me if I'm missing something, but what would be the point in putting it in the bottle if you're giving purées and solids anyway? Why not just spoon-feed it as opposed to putting it in the bottle?

Anyway, it's different from thicker milk because people who put rice in bottles cut the nipple so that it's big enough to pass through. It's also a different consistency; they're 'drinking' solids at a faster rate than they're used to (due to the nipple needing to be cut).

 

[britt1986]

I have been giving my little girl rice cereal in her bottle since 3 months. In the beginning she had 1 tbsp in a 4oz bottle in the morning and at night. Now at a little over 5 months she has 2 tbsp in a 5oz bottle in thw morning, at lunch, and at night and also has a puree fruit for breakfast, puree veggie for lunch, and a puree fruit or veggie for supper. She has done amazing with it. It has also helped with her reflux. I know here in the US they make nipples for bottles in stages. Slow, medium and fast. Also tri-cut for thicker milk or for a faster flow.I see nothing wrong with pputting rice cereal in the bottle. Parents, especially parents in the 60's and 70's did quite a lot.

 

[staralfur]

Parents in the 60s and 70s also smoked while pregnant, smoked around their kids, let their kids roll around the car while it was moving... Whether or not people did it in the past is not particularly indicative of its safety.

 

[HPmum2B]

The reason I thought it might be beneficial, is because I would be able to get a bit more solids in her before bedtime. I never did it with my first, but I hear alot of people talking about, so I am curious to know the pros and cons.

I agree people doing it in the past in does not necessarily make it safe. But if people have been doing it for years without ill effects, then that would indicate its not necessarily a bad thing. - So one of my questions, is has anyone had any problems resulting from it, either directly or indirectly. Or furthermore, anyone actually seen any benefits from it? Not much point doing it for no reason afterall.

To be honest, there are already too many doubts in my mind, so I don't think I will be trying it, but I am still interested.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

Baby will be fine without the extra solids x

 

[AP]

Theres no nutritional benefit to it. I know some use it for reflux babies to thicken the milk but it is better to use a thickener than risk rice. Theres no need to fill them up before bedtime - in fact - it could make sleep worse with their bodies trying to digest it.

 

[Pearls18]

I'm glad you're not going ahead with it there is no nutritional benefit, I know premature babies are supposed to wean earlier but isnt that because they were born before they had all the back up nutrients term babies have? In which case baby rice won't do anything anyway and will only fill baby up and stop them having something nutritional whether that is milk or another solid with nutrients, so completely undermines the purpose anyway.

I think a lot of people do it to try and fill baby up so they sleep through, not many will admit to that but it's the same as giving porridge before bed, I have no idea if it works, but for the reasons above I can only see it having a negative affect on baby at the expense of potentially a bit more sleep for the parents, it might not be a huge negative but I for one haven't been making it my life's work for the last year since I found out I was pregnant looking after my baby to then do something to compromise his health even slightly for a bit more sleep, and this is coming from someone who is being woken 2 hourly.

If it's sleep you're concerned about (which I totally sympathise with), there have been studies that show banana before bed being beneficial. If you want to give baby rice, you can just make up with formula to a purée and add some fruit to give it some value and spoon feed it, no need for it in a bottle at this age

Unless for medical reasons that I am unaware of, I can't see there being any benefit, one of those old wife bits that will eventually fizzle out, it seems much more frowned upon in the Uk than other countries.

 

[pLadyBug]

At 5mths rice cereal would not pose a threat to your baby's health. As stated previously some people do add cereal for reflux reasons to help babies keep their food down, others because they believe doing so will have their babies sleeping through the night.

If you think your baby is ready for pureed foods then I would skip the whole rice in the bottle step. Reason being is the pureed foods will have more nutritional values than rice cereal; the cereal would just be a filler. Either way your baby will let you know when she is ready for solids. When these signs are present that's when you move to the next step. Age does NOT determine when a baby is ready for certain foods. Every baby is different. I think this is one of the reasons people fed their babies the way they did in the past.

...My experience is from the 5 I already have.