How often feed 3 month cereal?

I have a 3 month old and just started feeding him rice cereal. He's doing great on it!! How often should I feed him the cereal? Right now I'm only doing night time right before bath and bed.

[pertykitty]

why are you feeding him cereal at 3 months?  i  am not trying to be rude but wondering.  its not a good thing to do, even if some peds say its alright.  do your research, studies show feeding a child this early can lead to many health issues later on.  breastmilk and formula are all that are needed right now and his poor digestive system isnt ready for foods.  

baby cereals are non nutritional and can take up the space and replace the good stuff they need.  as moms we get so excited, we want them to hurry and do this or that.  we cant wait to feed them, see them crawl ect.  however when they are not ready and we do things too soon it can cause problems for them.  allergies, digestive issues, obesity later on.  

i know you didnt come to hear me question you or make you feel bad, im not trying to do that at all. i want to help inform you on the best choices we can make for  our little ones.  i would give up the cereal for now and let him have a few months (6months old) then start with some really fun food that is both nutritious and fun to feed ;)

[happymom1]

i agree with pertykitty, u should try milk only.at 6 month u can start those thing cause their digestive system are ready by now.

[peekawho]

I agree w both posters.

It may not seem bad now, but early introduction of worthless cereal adds nothing nutritionally, and can lead to later obesity and allergies later in life.

This is NOT to say that all babies who eat cereal early will have these problems; clearly that's not the case.  But some children may be more prone to developing these problems later in life, and early introduction of cereal may be a trigger to start the process.

Much safer to wait a couple more months.  Never before 4 months.  Even better to wait til closer to 6 months.

[mami1323]

I agree with all of the above.  Pediatricians don't recommend starting it any earlier than 4 months but waiting until 6 months is even better.  Just like peek said...welcome back peek...missed you.

[penswriter]

we started our guys on cereal at about 4 months. but it was only once a day and added to their formula. we were having bedtime issues and their ped suggested adding just a little bit of cereal to their bedtime bottle.

they never really liked eating the actual cereal which i started to try at 4 1/2-5 months.  

[30something13]

I agree that it is never good to give a baby before 6 months any suppliments. Formula is more filling then breast milk and I have heard ltos of peds say to give cereal in the formula bottle! This was done so way back when but is not good to do. A baby needs the formula and nutrician of the formula or breast milk and to add unnutritional things to it is never a good idea! If they can not eat it form a spoon and take the food from thier mouth to the the back and swallow without their tongue moving it back to the front theri digestive tracts are NOT ready to digest it! It casues lot sof problems that don't always show right away. Cereal has added iron and if baby is taking formala then they need no more iron! Babies get an iron storage from moms in utero for the first 6-12 months of life. Studies show that extra iron can casues the immune system to hold on the germs more and the baby can get  sick easier. Go to Jack Newman breastfeeding site and it talks abou it, and may give the research article. Ihave read the article but can't remember who did it and where to find it. Veggies and fruits have the extra nurtients but they are that extra nurtients. Babies who breast feed do not need them till age one and formula feed babies do not need them till age 6-12 months either. yes formaula feed babies do not get the saem nutrietents as in breast milk and can eat sooner but if feed before 6 moths it can cause health problems later in life or childhood or sooner!

I feed my first cereal becasue that is what I though you were to do and was so excited. he wore mor ethen he ate and it was pointmess so I stopped after 1 week and did not feed him till he could hold it (steemed veggies) himself and he could eat it and swallow. Never did he move it from the back to the front again. He was one year of age and I breast feed him.

Also cereal before bed think about it. That is when baby needs to have good sleep and thier little body is trying to digest food that they are not ready for. Babies need to be upright to eat to help with digestion. THat is why they have stages and they need to be followed. All the babies I know had constipation prblems once they ate cereals to soon or had stomach problems with acid reflux, and stuff like that. My sister used cereal in their bottles and her babies drank so much fliud after that to help with the digestion that they had problems form it for years. They never knew what it was till she gave the full history to a new pediatritain after her one that told her ot was ok blew the problems off.