Hi ladies just wondering if you could give me any advice on easier ways to feed DS. The Dr. told me to start him on fruits and cereal. But he is having a really hard time. He doesn't seem to know how to eat. I know this is a learned experience, maybe you have some advice on how to teach him to eat off the spoon? He really needs the cereal and fruits he is a big baby,and the Dr. said he is getting enough formula that he needs other things. And he is still eating 4oz every 2 hours.

By Tonya on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 08:39 am:

Most won't agree but at 3 months I did cereal and fruit in a cereal bottle. They sell them at Meijers and Wal-mart and K-Mart. I didn't go to the spoon until he was use to the cereal from the bottle. Like 5 months. Timmy and Jade were really big babies and started on cereal and fruit at 2 months. Too young for a spoon.

They have time to learn the spoon in a few months.

Good luck.

By Brooke327 on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 08:51 am:

Cereal bottle Humm ....never seen one. Is that what they are called? Or do they have a name?

By Cat on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 08:59 am:

You can just get a nipple with a bigger hole to allow the cereal to go through (or carefully make the hole bigger). I had a neighbor once that had to start her dd on cereal at 6 weeks because of reflux. If you keep up with the spoon, practicing every day with very thin cereal, your ds will get it. Yes, he'll make a mess until he learns not to shove the food out with his tongue, but he'll get it. Most babies are proficient with being spoon fed between 4 and 5 months. You're not that far off from that and you've got a head start on most babies (that start solids at 4 months). Good luck.

By Heaventree on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 09:16 am:

I know many have done this, however, feeding cereal to a baby in a bottle is a choking hazard and many studies now conclude that it contributes to overeating and obesity in children. So my advice would be keep trying with the spoon, your baby is really young and it takes a lot of coordination and practice to push the food around in his mouth and to swallow. Even if it seems like he isn't doing much when you put the food in his mouth he is pushing it around and learning how to move his tongue around the food. He many only eat one small spoon a day. If you doctor recommends cereal then continue but it can take awhile for them to master the whole art of swallowing. Just be patient it will come in time.

By Tonya on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 10:24 am:

A cereal bottle has a filter to keep them from getting clumps in their mouth. And yes it is just called a cereal bottle. They come in 2 sizes usually both in the same pack.

Here is a picture The are by the maker Sassy



You can get them anywhere at Farmer Jacks or Krogers. Just look in any baby section I bet you will find them.

By Ginny~moderator on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 10:54 am:

If it were me, I'd follow Heaventree's advice. I know many mothers have probably used the cereal bottle with success, but the long term goal is to get your son to learn how to take food from a spoon and get it into his stomach. Using the bottle will only postpone that learning process. And, I'd try with the fruit first, because it is sweet and he may try harder with that.

By Tonya on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 11:28 am:

The Dr recommends that you never try the fruit first because once they get the sweet stuff in thwy will not want the bland stuff. My Dr always told me to try cereal then adda little fruit and when you go to the next step always do a veggie 2nd to give the the different types of food. And always do applesauce as the first fruit because it is the easiest for them to digest.

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 12:30 pm:

I used a regular bottle and made the nipple a little bigger for cereal. We just did it in the bottle though at nighttime (for sleeping), the rest of the time was on a spoon. The grandmas of the world have been bottle feeding cereal for ages. It's a personal choice. We never had a problem. If he's CHOKING off the spoon, then maybe you don't want to do the bottled cereal yet. If he's just not sure what to do, that's a different story and the bottle would be fine. Ditto Ginny though on the bottle will eventually be going away anyway. We only did one cereal bottle a day with Natalie. The rest was spoon, so keep trying!

Ditto Heaven on the learning to eat from the spoon. It will improve, just do it everyday and he will soon figure it out.

By Pamt on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 01:14 pm:

I'm actually quite concerned about your doctor's recommendations period. It is generally recommended that you don't start infants on solids until 4 months at the earliest, but typically closer to 6 months. And you always start first with cereal for a period, then veggies, and fruits last for the reasons Tonya mentioned. The reason that your DS is having trouble with solids is that it is not developmentally appropriate. I work in pediatric outpatient therapy with swallowing problems (along with OTs) and we would NEVER try to feed a 3 month old solids with a spoon. The only time to add cereal to a bottle this young is due to reflux. If he's still hungry, then nurse him more often or increase the amt of formular.

By Breann on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 02:38 pm:

I was having the same thoughts as pamt. That is so tiny still. Why did your doctor recommend fruit and cereal? Did he/she give a reason for it?

My kids didn't start on baby food until abuot 6 months or so.

By Tonya on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 02:58 pm:

Timmy and Jade were both on cereal before 2 months. my kids came out just over and just under 10lbs. They were both drinking 6-8oz of formula every 2-3 hours that is not good for a baby. Talk about obese (sp?). They both started on thin cereal in bottles at 4-5 weeks of age. I could not give my kids that much formula. I followed my mommy gut and went with it. I only started 1 thing at a time and stayed on it for 2 weeks before adding anything new to watch for allergies and was very careful but you have to go with your gut.

I will say I did learn the hard way of no fruit until after veggies with Timmy it was awful trying to get him to eat new veggies after he had a few fruits under his belt but he outgrew that too.
Good luck.

By Reds9298 on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 03:06 pm:

I didn't even really register the age here for the spoon feeding. At 3 months, Natalie had just started having one cereal feeding/day, in a bottle, at night. My ped didn't recommend cereal, we chose to do it for sleeping reasons. No spoon though.

By Hlgmom on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 04:56 pm:

Ditto Pamt...it is just what I was about to type!

By Emily7 on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 05:06 pm:

Another ditto Pam.

By Brooke327 on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 07:39 pm:

My Dr. says that a baby should not consume more that 32 ounces of formula (powder form) in a 24 hour period, because like Tonya says its not good for the baby. He also told us to give him apple or white grape juice in between feedings. He said to introduce cereal and fruits from a spoon.Which I have and like I said he is having a hard time, for good reason. He is a large baby. 15lbs at 3 months he will be 4 mos on the 13th. I just want to do the right thing. But have heard so much controversy on feeding. Some say cereal in a bottle some say not.Some say 6 months some say 4. Alot has changed since I had my other DS 11 years ago. I am going to call the Dr. in the morning and see what else he has to say. I guess so much has changed over the years it confusing.

By Pamt on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 08:16 pm:

I agree Brooke. It is confusing and the recommendations from the AAP and other groups are always changing as well. What isn't changing though is the general pace at which babies develop and they do have a natural tongue thrust reflex at this age when a spoon (or almost any object except a nipple) is placed in their mouths. Likely is a protective mechanism of some sort. Even when starting to feed a baby at 4 months, as I did with my first, it was kind of understood that feeding cereal would be fun and a good way to introduce DS to new tastes and textures, but that more cereal would go down his chin and on his shirt so it wasn't to be relied on as a way to get in calories/nutrition.

I don't know at all about the 32 oz of formula in a 24 hr period since I breastfed. However, that seems a little odd to me since there are no "rules" on limiting breastfeeding. I never had any idea how many ounces my guys drank. I just fed them when they were hungry.

By Hlgmom on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 08:23 pm:

Unfortunately- that is one of the problems with formula...it is harder for them to digest than breastmilk so they can essentially consume "too much." It takes such a long time for their digestive system to recover from each feeding. Larger breastfed babies do not usually encounter that particular problem with needing supplemental food.

By Mrsheidi on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 08:53 pm:

You shouldn't feed solids yet. Not until they're 4 months old, at least. Their intestines aren't equipped to digest it yet.
At 4 months, we did add a little cereal to his evening bottle. We just clipped the nipple just a *little* bit. (It was cut 3 ways and we just extended one cut by a few millimeters.)
And, at 4 months, you can start with a spoon. I agree with the bland foods first. It will take him 2 weeks to finally understand how to eat off the spoon properly.

By Heaventree on Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - 09:57 pm:

Brooke,

Sorry it seems that this whole thread has only helped to confuse you more as there are so many differing opinions. Each family and baby is different, you must first trust your instincts and if you think your doctor has sage advice then follow it, if not find another doctor, but essentially it is up to you. Good luck in whatever you decide, you are a great mommy for trying to be informed and doing the best for your baby. Please let us know what you decide and how it ends up working out for you.

By Kaye on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - 10:18 am:

The general guide lines are as pamt mentioned. But each child can be a little different.

I would actually consider switching formula first. Because the issue is about them overeating. Well with some formulas it more goes through them, then actually digesting it. But I had one that ate and ate and we just let him. Juice is empty calories, I have a concern with a doc reccomending you replacing a feeding with juice.

As for learning to eat with a spoon. When their bodies are ready for solids they just do it. It is part of how our bodies work, so cool. It doesn't really matter which food (cereal, fruit or veggies) start first as long as you start slow. Most people do start cereal first. In general you just keep trying.

My middle kid was my eater. He weighed 10 pounds at a week old and just kept going. He ate a LOT of formula. We started cereal in his bottle and it really did nothing. We started feeding him at about 3 months, he just couldn't do it. So we tried about 2 times a week and at about 4 months he figured it out. He hated baby food though, never ate a whole serving, he liked to chew though..LOL. So by 8 months he had no baby food and just ate like us. He was walking at 8/2 months, so he was just a different kid.

Follow your gut, if you are having to forcefeed your child, then you need to look at other options. Our bodies are made to receive nourishment. Breast milk meets those needs best, so when you are using formula (artificial breast milk), then you have to adjust some because it isn't the same.

By Brooke327 on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - 03:45 pm:

Kaye

Just wanted you to know that the dr. in no way or form told me to replace juice with a feeding , just to give it in between feeding.The baby was also on 5 different formulas and was intolerent to all of them, and is now on nutramigen(enfamil). Just seems to eat alot. LOL and often.

By Debbie on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - 06:51 pm:

Brooke, my oldest ds was on that formula. It is not as "heavy" as regular formula. He drank LOTS of it. I want to say he took 8oz, every 4 hours for a long time(it was several years ago, so I don't remember exactly) His pediatrician said that he may want more because of the make-up of that formula. Fortunately, he grew out of the digestive problems he had back then.

By Eve on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - 10:20 pm:

I didn't read every post, but wanted to say just keep trying. He'll get the hang of it with a spoon. You may want to thin it out even more. When I started (3 1/2 months because my little boy was reaching for food and was hungry! He was a little baby bird and wanted it!) I made it very, very watery where it almost poured off the spoon. I started with just a little cereal and then went with the guidelines out now that you start with all white fruit and yellow/orange veggies. Then, when he did well with all of those, I added more of a variety to his diet.

I give DS a tiny, tiny amount of juice in a sippy filled with water. He doesn't drink too much, but it's a little added calorie for him. He's also a BIG eater, so I do put a couple of tablespoons in his bottle at night. I use the Nuk fast flow nipples for the cereal and he does well. He seems to need something to fill him up more. With DD, we never did this. So, I think it can vary from baby to baby.

Just follow your instincts. He'll eventually eat from a spoon. He may just not be ready yet. As for the bottle, people have been putting cereal in for decades. My Ped. doesn't seem to think it does anything much for helping babies sleep, but says to do what I feel is best. Good luck to you.

By Tripletmom on Wednesday, July 26, 2006 - 10:34 pm:

Ditto Eve-When I started my guys on cereal at 3mths,I made it a little bit thicker than formula, it took a few days for 2 of my guys to get the tongue reflex going.I never did put cereal in a bottle though.