My son is 3 months old. Early on(2 months) his formula stopped filling him up. We had to start putting rice in his milk to stop him from getting extremely hungry every 1 1/2 hours. I even began giving him the rice with a spoon once a day! Now though, he's back to getting hungry more often again and we've decided to give him baby food. I'm not sure if this is the right move to make, seeing as its not recommended to do this until 4 months. I do want him to get full at his feedings, but I also don't want to put him at risk with any digestive problems. Does anyone have any advice about their child and feeding baby food? Should I keep him on the rice mixture for another month, or start with the baby food now?

This is a debateable topic. I would defiantly consult w/ your ped. Our ped told us @ about 2- 2 1/2 months to add rice in his bottles. It seemed to help. He was never contented. We had to supllement w/ formula from the beginning b/c I never produced enough to fill him up. Some people will stand firm, that rice DOES NOT work, & maybe it didn't for their child, it seemed to help him slep an extra hour or 2 during the night. So I'm a beliver w/ our son that rice milk helped.

I wouldn't start food unless you have the ped ok. BM or formula is the only nutrients your child needs the 1st year. Everything else, is just practise for eating. We started our son on oatmeal cereal @ 3 months, it was really watered down like a runny soup. It's really important not to start fodds too early b/c of allergies. Yes, our son has allergies, but they were inherited from both me & daddy. Good luck!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cj456mom,

Our doctor advised not to put rice cereal in the bottle to spoon feed it to our son, we started him at 3 months because of the same problem he was not getting full enough. He took the spoon right away. He is now 4 1/2 and he gets oatmeat cereal in the morning and rice cereal in the evening and i am a true beleiver is helps at night. Ever since I started the cereal at night he has not woke up before 8 am in the morning. He now sleeps 8-10 hours at night.

This may be a stupid question, but I'm totally ignorant in the ways of formula. Why not just give him more formula if he's hungry?

If a BF'ing mama asked this question, the response would be to feed on demand whether that means feed every 2 hours or every 2 minutes. Is there a reason why that wouldn't be true of formula?

Good question Cekack. My daughter was formula fed and as her appetite increased, so did the number of ounces in her bottle. If you give your baby 5 oz every 3 hours and now it's not enough, why not increase the amount of oz or the frequency in feedings? What does your doctor say?

I agree...I don't think any baby NEEDS cereal or baby food until they're at least 5 or 6 months old....and that's with a spoon, not in the bottle. If the baby is more hungry more often, I say just give him another bottle or start increasing the ounces. Another thing I've learned along my parenting jouney....just because a baby cries does not mean they need to be fed. I am a daycare provider and I've seen so many babies develop weight issues because their parents think they need to stuff a bottle in the baby's mouth every time it makes a noise. Just because the baby may act like they were starving when you put the bottle in their mouth, that's not necessarily true...some babies just love the comfort of the bottle/breast and crave that closeness and sucking. I once thought "well if they're taking the bottle they must have been hungry"...but like I said some babies just crave the comfort of it and don't necessarily need the formula at the time. I would definitely see what your doctor has to say. I know when my girls were around 4 months old I was just dying to start them on cereal...something new. But my dr. wasn't lying when he said there's no need for it that soon...it's just one more thing to have to worry about and add to your day. They will be eating everything in sight soon enough...keep it easy while you still can

I totally agree...if a baby is getting hungrier more often than I would just increase the amt. of formula. I don't believe that a baby NEEDS to have cereal or babyfood at all before at least 6 months. I was always told to never put it in a bottle, because if the baby can't eat it from a spoon then they don't need it. When my girls were 4 months old, I was just dying to get them started on cereal...it was just something new and exciting I wanted to try. When I asked their dr. about it, he said I could if I wanted to but they really didn't need it yet..it would just be adding one more thing to have to do everyday. I would just increase the formula...that cereal is so messy...keep it simple until they really do need the solids. Your baby will be eating everything in sight soon enough