Infantreflux.org | Starting Cereal

This topic has 18 replies, 1 voice, and was last updated 19 years, 7 months ago by Anonymous.

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February 26, 2007 at 3:56 pm #25899

Anonymous
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Ok, so I finally started today. I know I could wait a few more weeks, but Ben is really acting hungry and his diapers are sopping from all the milk he has been drinking. You would think I haven’t done this before, but I still have a few questions…

1. I started with Beechnut oatmeal today. No soy, so that’s good, but it does say that it contains wheat! What the heck? Wheat??? I gave it to him anyway. Should I be worried about this? I haven’t even added wheat back to my diet yet. Should I just use rice?

2. With what do you all mix your cereal? I pumped some breastmilk this morning, but that’s a pain, and it’s not warm once you mix it in, and you can’t microwave it, right? I think I remember just using water with Claire after trying breastmilk for awhile.

3. Is it a huge deal to start the solids at the first meal of the day? I swear, I don’t have time to do it then. It takes FOREVER to nurse him, what with all the burping, struggling, etc. that by the time I finish and give him some time just to rest from it, get Claire’s breakfast, clean her up from it, it’s almost time for him to take a nap! I didn’t eat breakfast until 10:30 this morning! I started my daughter’s cereal at the dinner meal, and it worked fine. Is there a real concern with doing it then?

ok, I think that’s it. I’m sure I’ll think of more later.

February 26, 2007 at 4:43 pm #25903

Anonymous
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Hi Naomi,
I used to mix breastmilk into my boys’ cereal at first, mainly to get them used to it. Once they were eating fruits, I mixed it with water and sometimes added a little banana or other fruit.

It shouldn’t matter when you feed him his cereal. If dinner-time works best for you, go for it!

February 26, 2007 at 5:06 pm #25906

Anonymous
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I started my babies with cereal in the evening….figuring it would help them sleep, so I don’t think it’s that important to start with breakfast at his age.

I was supplementing with formula once a day by the time I started cereal so I was able to use either formula or breast milk. Water is fine, though.

Not sure about the wheat question….. I guess this would be a good trial for that.

Good luck. I hope the oatmeal goes well for him.

February 26, 2007 at 9:49 pm #25933

Anonymous
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My understanding about the wheat is that wheat isn’t an actual ingredient, but that there are lots of cross contamination issues with wheat and oats. So… unless the oats are grown and processed in wheat free areas, they may contain wheat. With Kaelyn’s allergy issues, we waited until this week to do any cereals with Alex and we are only doing rice. Unless your family has a history of allergies, I wouldn’t worry about the wheat in the oatmeal. pkkb2007-2-26 21:50:15

February 27, 2007 at 4:19 am #25953

Anonymous
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I started Alana’s solids either at lunch or in the evening as well. I don’t think it matters as it is really about getting themused to the oral sensation and practice swallowing in the beginning. To be honest…I started trying a couple of times a day after about a week of trying…it was only then that she started to get the hang of it.

I sometimes mix Alana’s rice cereal (yes we are on it with success!!!) with a small amount of diluted apple juice (not sure if you can do this or not). Apparently the juice can help to activate the iron more quickly?? Other times its just water (but then she always gets some kind of fruit in it…have you tasted that s#*T).

February 28, 2007 at 9:13 pm #26134

Anonymous
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Oh, Therese, the apple juice is a grand idea! I’ll have to try that eventually.

No, I haven’t tasted it, and don’t ever plan to. It looks like hellish stuff, so I don’t blame him when he rolls it around in his mouth and makes horrible faces. Poor guy. He really doesn’t like it at all. He starts crying halfway through. And whoever said that cereal can help with reflux is insane. He has such a hard time getting it down, he swallows air, and then is refluxing like crazy. What a mess! I don’t remember it being this hard with my daughter. It’s only day 3 though, so we’ll see. I think I am going to give it about a week and then start adding it at other meals too. Hopefully with more practice he will do better.

I wonder if rice cereal tastes better? I started Claire on rice and she really did not like the oatmeal when we switched to it.

March 1, 2007 at 10:40 am #26180

Anonymous
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Sometimes it’s the consistency that they like or dislike. Liza liked a thin consisteny. Eliana liked it surprising thick, even from a very young age.

March 1, 2007 at 2:41 pm #26222

Anonymous
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Well, I used breastmilk the first day, and it went much better than the last two when I used water to mix it. I think I’ll go back to the breastmilk. It must make it taste better and it does change the consistency too. Hopefully that will help!

March 1, 2007 at 2:54 pm #26226

Anonymous
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if wheat end up being a problem, i get organic oatmeal cereal from the health food store..and it says on the packaging wheat free… as well as soy free.

March 2, 2007 at 3:03 pm #26382

Anonymous
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I started with cereal in the evening as well for the same reasons as Christine. What I did was I would pump around 10pm for the next day and mix it with room temperature water. It still was cold, but I remember reading somewhere that was good becuase then they were used to it being cold for when the started real milk. Oh actually you know what, I just remembered, when I first started cereal, I would warm the BM by putting the bottle that held it in some warm water. You can heat it up that way (or warm it up). I started on rice cereal as well and didn’t swich to oatmeal for a while. I really don’t think it matters that much.

March 2, 2007 at 9:02 pm #26431

Anonymous
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I went back to breastmilk yesterday and today, and it went much better. He was actually opening his mouth in anticipation of me putting the spoon in. We still had to stop halfway through because he was refluxing and needed to burp, but at least he didn’t cry this time!

March 2, 2007 at 9:06 pm #26433

Anonymous
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I don’t think that stuff tastes very good when it’s made with water, so I can’t blame Ben at all for preferring it with mommy’s milk instead.

BTW, this is the thread and it was Shane’s mom who said she gets wheat free oatmeal cereal from a health food store but she didn’t say what brand. Maybe she’ll see this and post it for you.

March 2, 2007 at 9:53 pm #26444

Anonymous
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That’s great the cereal’s going better now for Ben! I’m starting Dagney tomorrow, in the 4:30pm-ish bottle, not her last bottle, is that what everyone means by evening? If I tried feeding her at her last bottle, it would never get fed because she’s passed out after the bottle! Since she’s already getting it in her bottles, she should be fairly used to the taste, right now I mix about 1 ounce neocate to 1 tablespoon cereal, so I may put a little less formula to get it a little thicker, and give it a whirl! How exciting! When would I start the oatmeal? I was planning rice cereal tomorrow, then after a few days she’ll (hopefully) have some clue of what to do with the spoon, on to sweet potatoes or carrots and other veggies/fruits from there. When would oatmeal come into the mix? I have to read the Brazelton book again, I know there’s a “sample” menu for 6 month olds in it, I do much better when things are laid out in writing for me!

March 3, 2007 at 3:32 pm #26506

Anonymous
Inactive

I just started with oatmeal because rice was so constipating for my daughter. I’m actually rethinking it now because it contains wheat and I can’t tell if it’s bothering him or not. I may go to rice instead. I think, according to most books, you do rice then veggies and fruit and then other types of cereal.

March 3, 2007 at 3:34 pm #26507

Anonymous
Inactive

Oh, and yes, somewhere between 4:30 and 5 is when I’ve been giving him the cereal too.
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