When did you start giving baby cereal ?

[Miss Magic]

Hi !
I'm a new mom my baby is 4 months old and people keep telling me to give a little bit of cereal mixed with breastmilk to my babe before she goes to bed ... Everyone is saying she will sleep threw her night time feedings! That would be awesome but I'm not sure if it's good for her ? Did anyone do this and when did you start using cereal?

 

[Snow Owl]

I don't believe in this whole cereal thing.

We started weaning (with purée veg) at nearly 5 months, which she loved! Didn't introduce breakfast (as her 2nd meal) till she was about 6 months

I know some people start on baby rice and porridge but I just go straight into real food!

 

[Linnypops]

We started porridge at 4 months. She didn't start sttn till I switched to formula at 6 months (she started nursery and I'm a rubbish pumper)

 

[sheldonsmommy]

I waited until 6 months with both kids, but it didn't make a difference as to how long they slept at night.

My ds1 started sleeping through around 2 months (I was completely spoiled) and I started formula at 3 months, rice cereal at 6 months.

Ds2 was breastfed until around 8 months but slept through at around a year. He was given food at 6 months (I started with soft chunks of what we were eating because he could grab it).

Go with food if she is interested, but you have so much time to introduce food, try not to rush it

 

[sue_88]

Don't wean till 6 months your LOs gut is too immature still, and wouldn't bothered starting with cereal there's little too it nutritional wise.

The sleeping thing is a myth.

 

[MindUtopia]

We never did, just started at 6 months with baby-led weaning. The only cereal my daughter had until she could use a spoon herself (around 9 months) were porridge balls and dry cereal when she could pick it up and eat it. Others may say differently, but I would caution you on the whole 'starting weaning makes babies sleep better' thing. Breastfed babies in particular usually need to feed more through the night because breastmilk is more easily digestible than formula (it's a good thing, it's what they're meant to do). But in our case, weaning meant MUCH worse sleep for about a month or so. I could literally hear her stomach gurgling and churning and it would wake her up lots more during the night. It will settle down in time, but until their stomachs adjust to solids, it can really upset things. So if you want to wean early, do it because you want to do it, but don't let people pressure you into it with false promises because it's likely it may not improve sleep and might just make it worse. If you don't feel ready, I'd wait it out.

 

[mel28nicole]

I did cereal/oatmeal around 4 months, just once a day in the mornings. DD has slept through since 3 weeks so I have no advice on that. If your baby is shoeing signs of readiness (sitting up well supported, showing interest in food) then having some cereal once a day would be fine.

 

[ishvisahaani]

I waited until my baby reach 6 months.

 

[noon_child]

We never did, just started at 6 months with baby-led weaning. The only cereal my daughter had until she could use a spoon herself (around 9 months) were porridge balls and dry cereal when she could pick it up and eat it. Others may say differently, but I would caution you on the whole 'starting weaning makes babies sleep better' thing. Breastfed babies in particular usually need to feed more through the night because breastmilk is more easily digestible than formula (it's a good thing, it's what they're meant to do). But in our case, weaning meant MUCH worse sleep for about a month or so. I could literally hear her stomach gurgling and churning and it would wake her up lots more during the night. It will settle down in time, but until their stomachs adjust to solids, it can really upset things. So if you want to wean early, do it because you want to do it, but don't let people pressure you into it with false promises because it's likely it may not improve sleep and might just make it worse. If you don't feel ready, I'd wait it out.

This! I found weaning added a lot of trapped gas for a while.

Babies' sleep generally goes to pot a bit around 4months but there is no evidence to suggest it has anything to do with hunger or food. There are developmental changes that you can't really do anything about - you just have to ride them out for a few weeks.

 

[staralfur]

We skipped the rice cereal and went straight to finger foods at 6 months. Rice cereal is, well, gross... and has very little nutritional value. Solids had absolutely no influence whatsoever on my LO's sleeping patterns.

Weaning guidelines are 6 months across most of the world because it's the safest time to introduce food. Introducing it too early can cause a lifetime of issues, so definitely not worth the risk just to see if it will get your baby to sleep longer, in my opinion.

 

[HaveANiceDay]

We never did baby cereals/rice/etc, I think it's best to wait till as close to 6 months as possible. When we did start solids, LO's sleep didn't change at all, I don't believe it's a guarantee that they will sleep better. It's a bit of a myth really. Giving solids to a baby early to try and make them sleep longer at night is imo starting solids for the wrong reasons.

 

[halullat]

We also skipped rice cereal and did BLW from 6 months onwards, introducing foods before 6 months is no longer recommended and to be honest weaning makes life much more complicated!