For all of you formula feeders out there: Dd is 8mths and I still give her cereal in her bottle at bedtime. That's the only time she has solids in a bottle. Of course her ped said don't do that because she needs to learn to eat solids from a spoon, but she knows how to do that just fine. She's been on solids with a spoon since 4 1/2mths and eats solids with every other meal of the day except bedtime. She's starting to hold her spoon. I've kept the cereal in the bottle at bedtime just because it's convenient. Do you think I'm doing it wrong? Everything is fine with her I just was wondering if it really is bad that I'm not 'following the rules' on this one. I guess I just figured she'll be eating solids from a spoon her whole life, I don't think cereal in a bottle once a day is going to keep her from knowing how to eat real food. I bought some jar cereal which we've never used before. I've always just used the boxed kind and mixed with formula for daytime cereal feedings from a spoon.

What do you all think/do?

By My2cuties on Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - 05:57 pm:

I never did that, but I am not saying you are wrong, I just wouldn't do it. It would be just as convenient to feed her cereal with a spoon and then give her a bottle of formula and put her to bed, IMO. I found my girls slept just fine doing that for bedtime.

By Luvn29 on Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - 06:42 pm:

If it works, then do it. I feel the only rules for childrearing are rules for the safe welfare of the child. And whether you feed your dd cereal from a spoon or bottle at bedtime is not going to affect the safety of your daughter.

I "broke" a lot of rules with my children. Different ones with each of them. They are now five and eight and both were weaned and potty trained by 2. Both are very healthy now. Oh, I also never breastfed, and my one son was a little premature.

I was told to never feed solids out of a bottle when my dd was a baby, but I even went as far as giving her baby food out of one of those bottle feeders for a little while. She was not satisfied any longer with formula and cereal, and she was not able to do well with a spoon yet.

A child is going to learn how to eat from a spoon regardless of whether you feed them cereal from a bottle. I especially wouldn't worry since yours already knows how to. Your baby is still a baby. It's okay to make things easy on her sometimes. We take short cuts all the time as adults, why should a child be any different.

Follow your heart on this one. A lot of people will disagree with me, and that's okay, too. But you know whether you are "doing any harm" to your baby. I fed both of my children cereal from a bottle, and they have both flourished.

By Andi on Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - 07:26 pm:

I'm not going to say you are wrong, everyone has there own way of doing things.

DD is also 8 months old and I never gave her solids in a bottle. I also never did it with my DS who is 4.
DD gets 6 oz of formula in her bottle about 4-5 times a day. She eats solids for breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. Usually whatever we are having, if it's something she can eat.

By Frasersmama on Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - 07:54 pm:

I think a big part of the reason they don't recommend solids in a bottle is because it can be a big choking/aspiration risk. I wonder why you are giving your child cereal at bedtime. I have never done this, just breastfeeding at bedtime. Do many of you other moms give solids at bedtime? I read that can actually interfere with a full night's sleep.

By Heaventree on Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - 07:58 pm:

I don't want to be a nay-sayer, however, I have also heard that cereal in a bottle can cause choking.

Here is a link and some info you might find interesting:

http://www.storknet.com/cubbies/bottlefeeding/jf2.htm

By Mrsheidi on Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - 07:59 pm:

I have been giving Connor banana rice in the bottle at 7:30 every night, after his bath, and then he is put to bed at 8pm. I guess we've been in that routine for 4 months. Our doctor didn't recommend cereal in a bottle because of choking hazards (Connor was fine with it and it seems like yours is too...some people ruin it for others and open the nipple opening too much so that's why they say that) and our ped also wanted us to have him learn how to eat from a spoon at 4 months. So, he learned how to spoon feed then, but we still kept the cereal bottle at night.
He eats solids at 10:15am, usually a jar of something and some baby oatmeal. He really likes those rice puffs too. I'm too paranoid to get him really started on table food. Andi is quite the role model for that!
I think a cereal bottle is just fine...it is quite convenient too which, at the end of the day, seems appropriate.

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - 09:21 pm:

For frasersmama to answer your question- we started cereal around 4mths to help dd make it through the night with a full tummy. I guess I don't know anyone around here (friends, family) that DIDN'T do that. She is hungry in 3 hours on a 7oz. bottle alone...daytime, nighttime, anytime. I thought solids helped a child sleep through the night. It certainly did mine. She slept through the night on formula alone for about a month and then the bedtime bottle of formula wasn't enough anymore and she was waking up hungry. She has 4 7oz. bottles a day, along with spooned solids at bkfast, lunch, and dinner and finger foods throughout the day. Then the cereal at night, about 2 1/2 T.
I've never been worried about the choking, I guess because she's never seemed to have any trouble with it. Many people I know started cereal at bedtime at 8wks which I didn't do because she didn't need it. Everyone around here told me I was crazy, but she was sleeping fine and I didn't want to give her something she didn't need.

Thanks for the confirmation from some of you....I realize I *do* feel fine about it and as long as baby is fine with it and it works for us, I shouldn't be paranoid. You guys are great!

By Frasersmama on Tuesday, March 8, 2005 - 10:04 pm:

I didn't mean to be a naysayer, by all means do what works for you and your baby. I was just curious about that since I have never heard of someone doing it and I was wondering what your experience was like. Sounds like you are in good company

By Reds9298 on Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - 08:42 am:

Oh it's okay - I guess I was just surprised to hear that people *don't* do cereal at bedtime, even early on. Everyone is different

By Mrsheidi on Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - 09:12 am:

I agree with the whole sleeping through the night thing...helped Connor T R E M E N D O U S L Y!

By Frasersmama on Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - 12:31 pm:

I think that a big part of it is that there is a big difference in Canadian vs American trends. I live on the westcoast of Canada, very sort of hippy granola type. Anyway, all ofthe moms I know didn't introduce ANY solids until 6 mos. I started dd at 6 mos on rice cereal and introduced home cooked veggies then fruits then meats. She has never had babyfood, just cereal. I have also breastfed on demand, which meant waking up every 3 hours or so until she was 9 mos, when she began sleeping through the night, now she is a year and I breastfeed about every 4 hours during the day. It sounds like cereal at bedtime worked well for a lot of you, but I wanted to exclusively breastfeed until 6mos and was willing to wake up as often as she needed it. There are so many personal decisions in parenting, everyone does what they know is best for them and their family.

By Heaventree on Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - 01:03 pm:

Frasermama, you might be on to something. I have been accused of being a granlo eating sandal wearing person at times. Although I live in TO, I'm orginally from BC, your story is almost exactly the same as mine, except I woke-up every 2 hours to breastfeed for the first 6 months!

Anyway each to there own, no criticizms here just different experiences.

By Amecmom on Wednesday, March 9, 2005 - 02:45 pm:

Put me in the cereal at bedtime group, too! Poor Helen kept waking at night, and wanting to eat every two or three hours. We started her on cereal at 4 months. She now has 1/4 cup before each bottle. She loves it and stays full longer. If I don't give her the cereal at night, she looking to eat at two a.m. and I'm not starting that again.

As long as your baby is comfortable with solids and a spoon, then I see no reason why you need to discontinue what is working.

I didn't give my son any real finger foods until he was seven or eight months because I was afraid he'd choke. Helen, on the other hand, is five months and loves crackers and has already had a taste of table food. She stares at you when you're eating and makes chewing motions!
She's a foodie allright.

Ame

By Unschoolmom on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 09:05 am:

I just read an article on WHO reccomendations concerning cereal before 6 mos. They don't reccomend any solids but are esp. concerned about cereal since, unlike bottled food, it's NOT sterile. Given to an infant, esp. a formula fed one who is not getting the support for it's immune system that milk provides, in can cause infection.

By Reds9298 on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 11:10 am:

I am not concerned nutrition-wise about feeding my dd cereal and never was. It was recommended by my ped at 5mths., we started at 4 1/2mths at bedtime. My question here was basically if the spoon vs. the bottle at bedtime was a big difference in solid food training. *Unschoolmom: My dd was not gaining weight with breastmilk and we had other complications with breastfeeding, so we went to formula. I don't appreciate you're implication that my child's immune system is not as good as a breastfed baby. My child hasn't had one illness in her 8 1/2mths. of life so far. I have 2 friends whose children are exclusively breastfed and have been ill frequently since birth (not in daycares either). I agree that breast is best, but formula does not mean that a child has a weak immune system. Every child is different.

By Unschoolmom on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 11:44 am:

Reds - I wasn't makng any implications about your child, I don't know your child. It's just a fact that babies are born with immature immune systems and the breastmilk supports and supplements them while formula simply can't. That doesn't mean a FF child won't be perfectly healthy, it simply means there are general risks associated with the general population of FF babies. As you said, evrey baby is different and gerneral truths may not apply to an individual child.

I wasn't judging your decision Reds, just bringing up something I'd read that I thought fit well in this thread. Heck, both my kids were eating off my plate at 5 mos.

By Dawnk777 on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 01:18 pm:

Neither one of my kids got cereal at bedtime. Sarah slept through the night at 8 weeks and Emily around 3-4 months. (oh yeah, and for a while, when Emily slept all night, Sarah would wake up with night terrors. If Sarah slept all night, then Emily would wake up! Never both of them on the same night! I swear they didn't want me to get any sleep!)

I don't know if Emily would have tolerated cereal in her bottle. She couldn't handle solid food at all, until she was about 7 months old. She would just throw it all up. (yeah, like that was fun cleaning up.)

By Mrsheidi on Sunday, March 13, 2005 - 04:23 pm:

Just so you know...
my pediatrician recommended solids at 4 months and I seriously question the scientific evidence of getting an infection if feeding solids at that time. Bottle or breast fed. I honestly think some breast feeding groups go over the top and try to scare new mothers and make them feel guilty for not breast feeding. I also disagree with washing hands constantly and using a ton of antibacterial soap or Lysol for that matter. Being a science enthusiast and teacher, bacteria can grow anywhere unless it's under intense heat, pressure, and is "vaccuum packed". Besides, if we were to use antibacterial things all of the time, the bacteria changes and then we can't fight it. There are a lot of resistant bacteria because of it. I also believe that children's immune systems can be quite strong, even bottle fed. That's why they have our own immune cells in their body for months after birth. I digress...

By Unschoolmom on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - 06:59 am:

Mrsheidi - not all solids. Only cereal in particular because unlike bottled food, it's not sterile. I suppose homemade solids would fall in with the cereal. I'll have to go dig up the study somewhere, best to have the evidence before it's dismissed. But this wasn't a breastfeeding group, this was WHO and it was related more to the concern of early solids and not ness. ff vs bf.

All of that is only information though. Keep it in the back of your mind, use it to help come to decisions but it's always more important to know you're baby. I was going to wait until 6 mos. with my kids but they were both grabbing for and drooling over my food well before that. So we feed them solids.

By Tonya on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - 11:49 am:

Timmy started cereal at 1 month in the bottle but he was over 10#'s when born and was taking 5-8oz every 2 hours. Jade started cereal at 2 months she was almost 10#'s when born and was taking 5-8oz every 3 hours. Both kids had cereal and stage 1 foods out of the cereal bottle until they were around 5 months or so then I started the spoon. It was easier and I think for me 4 months was to soon to spoon feed. To each their own. I know have a 6 yr old who is off the charts for his heights and in the 75% for his weight. Big kid and Jade is still up in the 95% for her height and in the 70% for her weight. She is gonna be a big kid too.

I say do what you feel is best and if it works great.