Question about starting cereal

Hi ladies,

I just started feeding my 5mo rice cereal this week and I'm so confused! My pediatrician said to first start our by offering him 2 tsp of rice cereal and then thin it out with formula - twice a day, AM and PM. So I've been offering it to him in the morning around 6:30am with a 7oz bottle of formula and then around 3:30pm with a 7oz bottle of formula. Should I be just offering him the formula and then an hour or two later offer him the cereal or is it ok if I alternate between bottle and cereal during the same feeding. I've been looking at previous postings on here and it seems like most are separating it entirely. For those that do that, how do you ever leave your homes?
Thanks!!!!

Re: Question about starting cereal

i think you really just need to take your cues from him. if he eats the cereal and would like the bottle right after or even soon after that's fine.

with my dd i've learned that when she has cereal she normally will not always finish her bottle b/c she's too full...other times she takes the whole thing. i do however wait like 20 mins or so before offering her the bottle to prevent throwing up/over feeding.

they won't eat if they aren't hungry.

Re: Question about starting cereal

our ped said to offer cereal first and then after offer the bottle

Re: Question about starting cereal

I'm only a few weeks ahead of you on the cereal/baby food journey. It took a little trial and error but here's where we wound up:

7:30 am - cereal, then 6 oz. bottle right after
11:30 am - 8 oz. bottle
3:30 pm - 8 oz. bottle
7:30 pm - cereal, then 6 oz. bottle right after

Sometimes if our little guy is REALLY hungry he won't go for the cereal and we'll do the bottle first but otherwise we've found it easier to do cereal first. That was if he doesn't finish the bottle (which is hardly ever) so be it.

We've started food a few weeks ago and stuck to the same schedule and now do cereal and baby food together, then bottle.

It's a fun time. Good luck!

Re: Question about starting cereal

This stage is all about trial and error. This my second time around and it's totally different. With DD, she would have formula and cereal together. DS likes them separated. Here's what I do:

AM Meal:
7:30/8:00 bottle
9:00 cereal

4:00 Bottle
5:30/6:00 cereal and now veggie

You will get a lot of different answers about this. I like doing the bottle 1st because at this point that is where all the nutrients are coming from. The food is just for practice and if he doesn't eat too much of it, at least he will have had his bottle.

Good luck!