How & when did you introduce rice cereal?

[♥♥♥]

my daughter is 5 months old and just isnt satisfied with her formula anymore, she is constantly and ravenously hungry!

So, I bought some rice cereal to start giving her but soon noticed that the label doesnt give me any clue as to how much is the correct serving for a 5 month old girl!

How much per day did you begin giving your 5/6 month old? and when and by how much can I start giving her more?

 

[mystic_eye 1 of 3]

I never used rice cereal its basically like handing a baby a bowl of sugar.

There's no amount given because: a) in many countries its illegal to market foods to babies under 6 months of age b) its not required c) there are no food guide amounts for babies under 2 because their needs are too different

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9646449/
Take rice cereal, for example. Under conventional American wisdom, it's the best first food. But Butte says iron-rich meat â€â€￾ often one of the last foods American parents introduce â€â€￾ would be a better choice.

Dr. David Ludwig of Children's Hospital Boston, a specialist in pediatric nutrition, says some studies suggest rice and other highly processed grain cereals actually could be among the worst foods for infants.

"These foods are in a certain sense no different from adding sugar to formula. They digest very rapidly in the body into sugar, raising blood sugar and insulin levels" and could contribute to later health problems, including obesity, he says.

The lack of variety in the American approach also could be a problem. Exposing infants to more foods may help them adapt to different foods later, which Ludwig says may be key to getting older children to eat healthier.
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/T032000.asp
HOW WILL I KNOW WHEN MY BABY IS READY FOR SOLIDS?
As with all aspects of parenting, watch your child and not the calendar. Besides the developmental milestones above, watch for these ready-to-eat cues in your baby:

Able to sit with support, reaches and grabs, and mouths hands and toys
Watches you eat, following your fork as it moves from plate to mouth
"Mooches," reaching for food on your plate
Mimicks your eating behaviors, such as opening her mouth wide when you open your mouth to eat. Grabbing your spoon is not a reliable sign of feeding readiness, since baby may be more interested in the noise, shape, and feel of your utensils rather than the food stuff on them.
Baby can show and tell. Around six months of age babies have the ability to say "yes" to wanting food by reaching or leaning toward the food and "no" by pushing or turning away. Expect mixed messages as your baby learns to communicate. When in doubt, offer, but don't force.
Does baby seem hungry for additional food? If your baby is content with breastmilk or formula, no need to complicate his life with solids. If, on the other hand, your baby seems unsatisfied after a feeding, is shortening the intervals between feedings, and several days of more frequent feedings don't change this, it may be time to begin.

[...]

HOW DO I START?
Use your finger as baby's first "spoon." It's soft, at the right temperature, and baby is familiar with it. Encourage baby to open her mouth wide. Place a fingertipful of this glorious glob on baby's lips while letting her suck on the tip of your finger. Next, advance the fingertipful of food to the tip of your baby's tongue (where there are tastebuds receptive to sweetness). If this gets swallowed, or at least is not spit back at you, try placing the next glob toward the middle of baby's tongue.

Watch baby's reaction to this new experience. If the food goes in with an approving smile, baby is ready and willing. If the food comes back at you, accompanied by a disapproving grimace, baby may not be ready. Some babies make funny faces just because this is all so new to them. What happens in the mouth may be a more accurate indicator of whether a baby is ready to eat solids. If the mouth opens for a second helping, give it another try – you may have a winner. Even if the food comes back out, the baby may just need to learn to seal his mouth shut when he moves the food from the front to the back. Rejection of the food could also indicate that the tongue-thrust reflex is not yet gone, and baby can't move the food to the back of his mouth and swallow it. If your baby just sits there, with an open mouth, confused by the glob of food perched on her tongue, she's probably having difficulty with the tongue-thrust reflex. Let her practice a while. If she still doesn't seem to know what to do, wait a week or two before you try again.

http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/ci2.asp
Many babies become constipated when foods are first added to their diet. The main reason for this is that the standard recommended starting foods are all constipating - rice cereal, bananas, squash, and applesauce. Why do health care professionals choose these starting foods when they know they will make most babies constipated? Good question. Even my own Baby Book lists these as starting foods.

The truth is, there is nothing special about these foods that makes them better to start out with. Babies don't actually even need rice cereal.

 

[Elizabeth H]

I started my son on rice cereal at almost 4 months. He had really bad reflux and afrer numerous medications not working i tried cereal and voila! the cereal helped immensely! So the box does give directions for first feedings. i think it says a table spoon. My son is 5 months old in a week and right now i make 4.5 ounces of formula and i use that half ounce (sometimes more) to make cereal with. I also mix some pears or carrots in with it sometimes. So its about 3-4 tablespoons cereal and 4 ounces of formula. Start small and gradually increase. It will take her alittle while to really get into eating cereal but, like my son, soon she will love it and eat more and more of it.

haha why did i get two thumbs down?? what was wrong with my answer?

 

[eloquent]

i mixed it with breast milk when my kids were 6 months. they didn't like it, so i gave them cream of wheat instead. feed babe till she's full & let her sip on the cup of water to rinse it down.

 

[Tanya]

Are you sure she is HUNGRY? Most of 5 months old woiuld be just as happy if you give them a spoon to mouth.
HEre are the signs that your baby is ready for solids
-she can sit up WELL unassisted
-she lost her tongue thrust reflex
-she has acquired pincer grasp.

Most 5 months old don't have all the 3 signs in place. Meaning they are not ready.
And when she is, you don't have to give her store bought crap. You can start with banana and ripe avocado, baked sweet potatoes - those are awesome first foods. And then just transition to your normal table foods.

The whole point of introducing solids is to teach the baby to chew and get him to eat from your family table - store bought jars and cereals do NEITHER.

 

[~JuliaGulia~]

I think that you would be OK to start at this age. They say anywhere between 4 and 6 months. Start with 1 tbsp. twice a day and see how she does. Remember to make it quite runny as she will have to get used to the new texture.

Personally, I would skip the cereal altogether and start with veggies. Rice cereal really contains no nutritional value and tastes like cardboard. It's more of filler than anything else. If your family has no history of food allergies and you're not worried about them, how about starting her with carrots or squash or something a bit tastier.....