Making Sure Your Baby is Ready
Wait until your infant is 4 to 6 months. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends waiting until 6 months of age to start solid foods, but some babies are ready earlier than others. Giving your infant cereal too early increases the chance of choking or inhaling the rice cereal mixture into his or her lungs. Early exposure to cereal can also increase your baby's risk of developing food allergies. Your baby may be ready to try rice cereal at 4 months of age. Your doctor can help you decide what is best for your baby. It may be alright to introduce rice cereal before 4 to 6 months of age if your baby has reflux issues. Talk to your pediatrician before you try this though. Your baby should also be able to eat from a spoon before you introduce rice cereal to his or her diet. Feeding your baby solid foods too early can cause your baby to become overweight.
Be sure your infant has met the necessary developmental milestones. In addition to being old enough, your infant should meet certain developmental milestones before you introduce cereal. Your infant should be able to sit with support, have head and neck control, push up with elbows from a lying position, place hands or toys in his or her mouth, and lean forward and open his or mouth when hungry or interested in food. If your child is 6 months of age, but has not met these milestones, you may need to delay the introduction of rice cereal. Waiting for these milestones is important. They help ensure that your infant can safely swallow the rice cereal. Infants also have an extrusion reflex that causes them to raise their tongue and push against objects that are placed between their lips. This reflex is usually gone by 4 to 6 months of age. Trying to spoon feed your child cereal with this reflex can be frustrating and difficult.
Meet with your infant's pediatrician or health care provider. Talk to a medical professional before you introduce solid foods. Your physician can verify that your infant is developed enough to handle solid foods. This is the time for you to ask questions and mention any concerns you have about solid foods. In some cases, your infant's intestinal tract may not be fully developed or your baby may not be able to fullness, leading to potential overfeeding. Do not give your infant solid foods until your doctor says that is alright.
Adding Rice Cereal to a Bottle
Talk to your pediatrician.. Do not add rice cereal to your baby's bottle unless your pediatrician recommends that you should. This is typically only done to treat infants with gastroesophageal reflux (GER). Eating cereal from a bottle can make it more difficult for your baby to learn to eat from a spoon and can increase the risk of your baby eating too much and becoming overweight. To reduce reflux, keep your infant upright (i.e. on your shoulder) for 20 to 30 minutes after a feeding. Try a premixed,"anti-reflux" formula. These formulas contain rice starch. Try a hypoallergenic formula that does not contain cow milk or soy milk and see if your infant's reflux improves. Try this for one or two weeks. The American Academy of Pediatrics does not recommend that you feed your baby rice cereal from a bottle. However, your pediatrician is the best source for deciding if you should feed your baby rice cereal through a bottle.
Add rice cereal to the bottle. Start by adding 1 teaspoon of rice cereal per ounce (i.e. 6 teaspoons) of formula. Prepare the bottle right before you plan to feed your baby. The mixture will continue to thicken if you let it sit. Your doctor may recommend a different ratio of rice cereal to formula. You can add up to 1 tablespoon of rice cereal to the bottle.
Give the bottle to your baby at night. The bottle with the rice cereal should be your baby's last feeding for the night. This may help your baby sleep longer because the baby's stomach will feel fuller. Cut a larger hole in the nipple of the bottle because the mixture is thicker than formula alone. Don't give your baby rice cereal at every feeding. Rice cereal is mostly carbohydrates and does not provide the same nutrition that formula or breast milk does. Giving your baby rice cereal at every feeding may decrease the amount of nutrients the baby is getting. You can either cut a small "x or "y"" in the nipple of the bottle or go up to a larger nipple size to accommodate the rice cereal formula.
Monitor your baby's response. Watch how your baby is swallowing the rice cereal. If the mixture is too thick, your baby will have difficulty getting it down and may become tired during the feeding. Notice if your baby becomes constipated or starts gaining too much weight. These are common side effects of drinking rice cereal. Adjust the amount of rice cereal you are giving your baby based on your observations. If the rice cereal makes your baby constipated, you may want to try oatmeal instead. If you are trying to treat your baby's reflux, you should start seeing results in 2 or 3 days. If you see no improvements in that amount of time, rice cereal may not be a good solution for your baby.
Spoon-feeding Rice Cereal to Your Baby
Mix the rice cereal and formula. Read the package instructions for preparing the rice cereal. Typically, you add 1 tablespoon (14.78 ml) of rice cereal to every 4 tablespoons (60ml) of formula or breast milk For example, if you are currently feeding your infant 8 tablespoons of formula, you must add 2 tablespoons of rice cereal. Stir the mixture with a spoon until it looks like thin milk or has the consistency of soup. If you have purchased rice cereal that already contains formula, prepare the cereal as directed on the packaging. In some cases, you may only need to add water.
Serve the rice cereal and formula mixture with a spoon. Although the mixture has the consistency of milk, serve it to your infant with a small spoon. Eating the mixture from a spoon will also keep your baby from overeating and ingesting too many calories. Your baby is used to drinking formula from a bottle and instinctively knows how much to drink based on volume. However, adding cereal and eating from a spoon can make it more difficult for your baby to know when to stop eating. Alternatively, you can add just a tiny amount of formula to the rice cereal, so it still holds it shape on its food. This is a good way to help your baby practice eating solid foods.
Serve a small amount initially. The first mixture that your infant eats should be thin. You can thicken the mixture over time. Give your infant one teaspoon (5 ml) of the mixture at the end of breastfeeding or bottle feeding at first. Gradually build up to one to four tablespoons (15 to 60 ml) of the mixture two times a day. This process will give your infant time to develop his or her ability to swallow. Place the spoon near your baby's lips and let your baby smell and taste the cereal on the spoon first. Your baby will probably refuse to eat at first. If your infant is not interested in the mixture or refuses to eat it, try the mixture again the next day. You can also try a thinner mixture. Your infant may intermittently spit out some cereal with his or her tongue as a natural reflex. You can also feed your infant formula or breast milk from the bottle, serve the rice mixture from the spoon, and then end the feeding with formula or breast milk from the bottle. You can begin to thicken the mixture once your baby has tolerated the mixture well for three to five days. Your baby may vomit after trying the rice cereal the first few times. Do not worry about this. Just try the rice cereal again the next day.
Look for allergy symptoms. An infant that is allergic to the mixture may experience bloating, vomiting, diarrhea, or increased gas. If your infant experiences any of these symptoms, stop feeding him or her the mixture until you speak with your doctor. If your infant has hives or difficulty breathing after eating the mixture, see a doctor immediately. Your infant is more likely to have an allergic reaction if a close family member has any type of allergies, eczema, or asthma. Talk to your doctor about your family history of food allergies when you discuss introducing rice cereal and solid foods.
Considering Alternative First Foods
Avoid arsenic found in rice. Most rice cereals are made from processed, white rice. Rice has a higher concentration of arsenic than other grains. Arsenic is a carcinogen (i.e. cancer causing) that can set your child up for health problems later in life. If you are concerned about exposing your baby to arsenic, you can choose a cereal made from other grains (e.g. oats, quinoa, wheat, and barley). Not only does whole grain cereal reduce your baby's exposure to arsenic, it has more fiber and nutrients than white rice cereal. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends cereals made from oats as an alternative to rice cereal.
Introduce another first food. Although rice cereal is the most common first food, other foods are acceptable as well. Finely chopped meat and pureed vegetables can be your baby's first food. Mashed avocado and stewed pears are good options for a first solid food. Introducing rice cereal is a tradition, but it is completely safe to try other solid foods first. No matter what solid food you offer, make sure it contains no sugar or salt. Wait three to five days between each new food that you introduce.
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