Soo the doctor gave us the O.K to try him on cereal. He goes nuts for it, and eats it all up. Didnt even spit any back at me!!! I guess he was hungry or something...anyway.... I was wondering how much Im supposed to feed him. He gets a tablespoon of cereal mixed with 3 tablespoons of water at 9am and around 8pm. Is this enough??? Hes a BIG boy...97th percentile for hieght, 75th for weight....so needless to say he has an appetite.
My other question is...is this going to make breastmilk less able to fill him up?? I didnt even think to ask the doctor this, and I wish I had.....because I dont want to start him on any other solids for a while, and I really want to give him breastmilk as much as possible.
I realize hes young, and i feel like a horrible mom for giving him cereal before he was 4 months...but he really seems to like it, and the doctor said he could be ready for it...
I'd stop because it's not recommended to start until 6 months now. Babies have an open gut that can cause for allergies and problems if given solids too soon (even if it seems like they are doing just fine on them) not to mention problems like diabeties and obesity later in life because they were given solids too early.
Your doc may think he's ready but there are some doctors that still recommend using karo syrup and tell mothers that breastfeeding isn't enough so their word isn't the final say on what's good for a kid.
you can mix the cereal with breastmilk too, until its really milky. But yeah, alot of people will say no cereal till after 6 months. My doctor also said 4 months, but I waited until 5. My breastfeeding relationship went down the toilet after that, but my doc also recommended supplementing with formula (for no reason!) and I did. Anyway, within a few weeks I wasnt breastfeeding at all. I was really really sad about it. still am :(
There's guidelines for a reason, it sounds like your doctor just doesn't know enough about this area to know to recommend following them. Feeding cereal before the recommended age can cause huge digestive problems, bleeding in the digestive tract, allergies, etc. I seriously, seriously recommend to stop and wait until it's been proven that his body is physically able to digest it.
hmm..i guess that makes sense....i guess my question now is which is the
'lesser of the two evils". Im having one of those rare cases where baby wants more than mommy can supply.....like i fed him last night, until there was nothing left, and then he gulped down two ounces of formula!!! He woulda eaten more, but i was afraid he wouldnt be hungry when it was time to breastfeed again. Hes really a big boy, with an even bigger appitite!!! i was more worried about giving him formula...the cereal to me was evasive action against working formula into a daily routine..soo im guessing the formula is actually safer????
Thischild is going to have me going broke when i have to buy actual groceries for him!
you should try your best to avoid formula if you can. I'm assuming that's what you want, right?
I know your boy is a bit older now, and you're breastfeeding habits are well established, but giving formula is actually more of a hinderance. You should try your best to get your milk supply back up. Drink lots of fluid and try to nurse every hour or so. The stimulation will have your milk supply back up in a few days. The more formula you give, the less breastmilk you'll have.
Yeah.....he just gets SOOOO angry when theres nothing there....He starts flapping his arms *I call him a bird, because it honestly looks like hes trying to fly* and then he yells at me....He yells, and he looks me in the eye, and cries real tears....and i feel HORRIBLE!!!! AND in the first two months he went from 7lbs 15oz to 13lbs.....18 inch to 25....and then in the last month, hes only grown an inch, and only gained under a pound, which is a little inconsistent with the growth he was showing the first two months.
Am I over-paranoid about this stuff or what??
I heard that oatmeal helps increase supply. Ive been eating that stuff a lot lately, to try to help...I know theres a tea out there thats supposed to work....does anyone know the name of it???
there is a herb called Fenugreek that brings milk supply up. You can get it at health food stores. Is there a lactation consultant in your area that you can call?
There are lots of things you can do to increase your supply. The first is nurse, nurse, nurse. That is another danger os starting solids early- it decreases your supply. Also, do not give him formula because every time you give him formula, your body will make that much less milk until you are going to have to start giving him more and more and your milk will dry up.
Drink lots of water. Nurse him as much as possible, even if he doesn't seem hungry. Oatmeal. Fenugreek. Fennel. Mother's Milk Tea. Brewer's Yeast.
PM if you have any questions or need help/
I'm definetely behind the delayed solids program. My OLD DR. okayed cereal at 4 months.... SO I gave my daughter rice, and she was fine, I didn't move her up into anything else.... And then at our next appt. she recommended oat cereal, against my better judgement I did it.....
She scratched her stomach raw within 20 minutes. It was bizarre. I couldn't help her get rid of her gas fast enough. Since then she's been off ALL solids, but has develop intolerance to too much lactose in MY diet. And if I eat too many milk products..... like 2 servings. I end up with blood streaked diapers. It's only happened twice. The first time before we knew she had a problem, and once since when I ate foods that included milk ingredients that I just didn't think about.
She's now 6 months old and suppose to be going back on solids..... but I'm so scared, that I have just been breastfeeding lots, and watching her weight gain. I went on Floravit iron because that seems to be my NEW Dr.main concern, but my supply seems to be doing the trick.
I don't want to scare you or any other posters either, I just want to say trust your own judgement too. Something in me knew she shouldn't have had the oats, and it I had listened to myself, I might have avoided the whole problem!
Dried apricots are also good for milk supply, and helping you go to the bathroom!!!!!!!
Both of which, are good things!!!!!
I agree with the posters offering supply boosters. Nursing on demand, avoiding pacifiers, making sure you stay hydrated, etc will all help your supply and giving formula and pacifiers can reduce it.
I do feel though that formula is a better option than giving solids before he's ready, but encourage you to work on increasing your supply rather than replacing feedings with formula.