Starting Rice Cereal - Concerned w/ Feeding

[CountryS2011]

So I started Rice Cereal at request of my Ped. She's doing great, loves it, and I don't give her too much. Maybe half a table spoon mixed with 1 oz formula...
Well she's still drinking her normal bottles of 6 oz, and at night, she'll wake up every 2 hours, drink 6 ounces, and go back to sleep...

What should I do to make it more dominant on rice cereal and not so extremely much on formula?

 

[staralfur]

Nothing. She's 4 months old, she should be relying on milk for nutrition. If she's still drinking full bottles then she needs them. Milk is more calorie-dense than rice cereal (actually, rice cereal has very little nutritional value whatsoever), so she needs the milk to fill her up when she's hungry and to meet her nutritional needs.

 

[Night Flower]

Im surprised your doctor even recommended feeding a 4month old anything other than milk. It can be very dangerous as their bodies cannot digest the grains until atleast 6 months old which is the minimal age of feeding foods other than milk.

 

[CountryS2011]

I've heard from many doctors that you can start 4-6 month and she wanted her started now with having doubled her weight, sit supported and hold head up, and watches us eat/tries to even grab it

Im surprised your doctor even recommended feeding a 4month old anything other than milk. It can be very dangerous as their bodies cannot digest the grains until atleast 6 months old which is the minimal age of feeding foods other than milk.

 

[CountryS2011]

I can't believe her milk intake. 6 oz bottles every 2-3 hours like woahhh

 

[special_kala]

That's pretty average milk intake.

Baby rice has barely any nutritional value, no taste and bulks their stomach. Milk is far more important.

Going 2-3 hours between feeds is normal at her age as her night wakings.

 

[Lovn.sunshine]

My doctor said the same - she met all the milestones to start rice cereal at 4 months old. At 5+ months now we only give her it 2-3 days of the week for one "snack" between bottles and occastionally will add it to her night bottle but she still has the same amount of formula with or without the cereal. I'm baby lead though, so I go with what she wants!

 

[CountryS2011]

That's pretty average milk intake.

Baby rice has barely any nutritional value, no taste and bulks their stomach. Milk is far more important.

Going 2-3 hours between feeds is normal at her age as her night wakings.

Wow, thank you for telling me that! Because I honestly thought it was a lot for her age. The dr. said not to worry, but still, it's like "I don't think you understand how much she's drinking"

 

[special_kala]

You have to bare in mind that milk is the only thing your baby is growing on is milk. Imagine how much milk a adult would need to drink to sustain themselves and were not even growing at the incredible fast rate babies are.

My eldest was on 7oz from a few weeks and 9 Oz's by 4 months. She didn't have food until 5 1/2 months.

Honestly I would steer clear of baby rice. It is just bulk.

 

[Emmy0320]

My daughter is six months and we're just now introducing solids. Still at this age milk is supposed to be the primary nutrition. The food is supposed to compliment and go on top of the milk for now.

You might be getting confused on the ounces by comparing breastmilk to formula? The amount of breastmilk a baby consumes remains pretty steady as the content of the milk is what changes, not the volume. Formula on the other hand needs to be increased as the caloric content remains the same.

As far as the when to start baby food debate it depends on what doctor you ask. Most of what I hear around me is that doctors say 4-6 months is fine for formula fed but tend to still recommend waiting until 6 months for breastfed.


Good luck!