How to introduce cereal to 4 month old?

Question

Our 4 month old (who's easily 16-18 lbs) never seems full! He eats 5 is every 2 hours; I do both BF & formula because I clearly don't produce enough milk. How can I introduce a little bit of cereal to his bottle and if so, what kind? We have rice and oatmeal cereal. Thanks in advanced! :)

Answer

Here are the signs if your baby is ready for solid foods. 
* he/she can sit up with some help.
* he/she hold his head steady.
* he/she puts his/her fingers or toys in his/her mouth.
* he/she opens his/her mouth to show he/she wants food.
* when you try feeding him/her baby food, he/she can close his/her lips around the spoon and swallow food.
If your baby cannot do all of these things, it is best to wait for 6 months old. Talk to your doctor about the best time to introduce solid food to your baby.

Answer

Spoon feed. But don't rush it. Most 4 month olds are not ready for solids. If he still has a tongue thrust wait a bit.

Answer

I've always been told to not put it in the bottle but to make the rice cereal very watery and try it that way. My second child was like that and I eventually gave up on bf all the way and switched to formula/ solids and wished I didn't. But hey to each their own ya know.

Answer

Have you talked to your pediatrician?  They can recommend something(maybe just trying to feed cereal with a spoon mixed with some formula). We had to supplement as well. The doctor suggested starting solids when he was 4 months, we waited till 5 months though. When we started solids we skipped cereal and went for purées first at 5 months because my son was showing a great interest in food and eating. As to the type, our pediatrian recommended oatmeal bc it doesn't have the arsenic that rice cereal has. It also doesn't cause constipation like rice cereal. We do oatmeal cereal now since he's had other foods (maybe sources recommend skipping cereal at first to introduce a variety of flavors and textures). I like to mix cerral with puréed mango or pears for breakfast or lunch.

Answer

I've heard it's good and not good to put cereal in a baby bottle.  I've tried but it never worked.  It has to be really thinned out for bottle but I just took a baby spoon and made 1TBSP of oatmeal and it took my LO about 5x to like it.  I have read it can take 15-30 tries to get them to like the idea of it.  Give him the spoon to hold maybe so they feel and taste it and maybe put some oatmeal on their hands or tray or spoon to feel the texture.

How to introduce cereal to 4 month old?

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