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When my daughter turned 4 months old our pediatrician told us we could start rice cereal...we did and OMG did my daughter projectile vomit about 2 hours after eating it...
So I thought, ok maybe she having a stomach bug so I didnt try her again on the cereal until yesterday and she is about 4 1/2 month old now, who is breastfed by the way. Same thing happened...2 hours later...projectile vomiting. I read something on the internet about some babies have allergic reactions to rice cereal. Has anyone here had anything like this happen to them and IF SO....what can I do? My decision thus far has been to STOP her on rice cereal. I might try oatmeal and I will definitely start her on veggies and fruits, but probably not until she is at least 6 months or older.
Any feedback would be appreciated! Thanks Melissa |
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The World Health Organization recommendation is for babies to be exclusively BF for six months. I hear from many friends about pediatricians pushing solids earlier than that, though. I understand that some babies really do seem to need something more (my DS#1 was not interested in other food, happy between feeds, etc., so I fed him cereal at six months just because I figured I was supposed to, while DS#2 became fixated when we'd eat, really seemed to want to participate, was not content between feedings, etc., so started on solids around 5 mo.), but if your daughter is happy without the solids at present, personally, I'd wait until six months (or until you feel like she really needs more) to do any solids at all, giving her gut time to mature.
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Thank you so much for your answer...It really made alot of sense. She is showing NO signs of wanting anything other than me!! haha. She is very content with just breastmilk. I think that I may start carrots, sweet potatoes and squash at about 6 months. But who knows, maybe I could wait longer.
Thank you |
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I have never read any benefits of starting solids earlier than six months, unless baby simply needs the food. I know that some people delay solids longer than six months, and I'm sure a month or two isn't a problem, but it is important for kids to start solids at some point, as they need them to help with their tongue development for speech.
I was in the UK when my boys were little, and while the official mantra is breastfed for six months, the health visitor who did a class on introducing solids for a baby group I was pretty old-school, and was saying that if babies didn't start on solids around four months they wouldn't sleep through the night, would reject solids later, etc. I held up my 22-lb six-month old who was sleeping through the night and who'd happily just started on solids. I think it really does just depend on the child, so follow her lead on this one. Maybe in two months she'll handle the cereal fine, and if she doesn't at that point, maybe it's time to look into it, but esp. since she's not looking for more, I think you're right not to push it now. |
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I completely agree with you. My daughter has been soley breastfed since she was born and she is strong healthy and active. She is so happy and contented with just breastmilk. Heck, sometimes, actually most always she only feeds on one side and doesnt even want the other breast. My thinking is that, if, the day comes that she eats on both sides and still seems hungry, then that is a sign from her that she is still hungry. At that time, I will start solids. Until then, I will listen to my gut and my baby.
Thank you aavt for all your knowledge and advice. I love this site. I always get a helpful and reasurring response from someone.  |
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My daughter was exclusively breastfed and didn't start solids until she was 6 months old. For most exclusively breast fed babies, there really is no reason to start them on solids sooner than that, and in fact, some of their digestive systems might not be ready.
You may find that if you wait a little while, the rice cereal will go down better and won't cause the bad reaction you're getting now. Also, my daughter was never much a fan of rice cereal, she vastly preferred oatmeal. I made all my own cereal at home. The book Super Baby Food has recipes for very easy to make cereal at home (basically just involves grinding up the whole grains in your blender until it's a powder and cooking it with water on your stove). I also recommend the website wholesomebabyfood.com.
Good luck! Oh, and as an early food, sweet potatoes were the biggest hit at our house!! |
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Our minds think alike!!!! Just yesterday, (before reading your message) I ground up some brown rice in my Magic Bullet and cooked it on the stove. After it was done I mixed it in with some fresh breastmilk and my daughter loved it. Better yet, 2 hours later no vomiting action. She had a little spitting up but not projectile vomiting like with the store bought rice cereal.
What I have come to believe is when you breastfeed your baby you are in fact giving them something so perfect and natural and so easy to digest. Does anyone else believe that introducing store bought foods with perservatives and other added ingredients causes problems in the breastfed baby. I know every baby is different but I think that is what is happening with my baby.
I have already started making my daughters first foods. So far I have make butternut squash, sweet potatoes and carrots. It was so fun and easy to do. I actually gave her a little bit of the squash after it was prepared and she made the funniest looking face. Kind of like "Good God mom what the heck is this stuff???!?!?" haha.
I do think that I am going to wait until about 6 months or so until I start her in on the solids. I may try her on the homemade brown rice once in a while just to get her used to eating off of a spoon.
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| We didn't have any problems with the food introduction (I did use store cereal, but made and froze my organic own of everything else, veggies, fruit, meat, and yogurt), but I sure had problems getting my boys to drink from bottles, cups, straws, anything else basically, until they were completely weaned around 17 months or so. Guess they just liked what they liked . . . |
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My son, Jacob, had the exact same reaction to Rice cereal at 5 months. We tried different brands once a week for about 1 month until I gave up. It didn't matter what brand, he'd projectile almost immediately.
I tried again at about 7 months with Rice cookies (Baby Mum Mums) and that worked. He ate those for breakfast until he was about 8 1/2 months. |
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| Just wanted to throw a bit more information into the mix. In general, babies should start an iron-fortified cereal at the age of 6 months. Delaying this too much, or making your own, without supplementing iron, can lead to iron-deficiency anemia. Unless they are premature, they can get by on 'mom's iron' until 6 months of age. While babes can also start fruits and veggies around this age, keep in mind that they are not iron-fortified, so they also need the iron-fortified cereals at the same time. |
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| That's actually why I used store-bought cereal. The Super Baby Food author who's big on making your own cereal does really stress the iron thing; she recommends iron drops, I believe, as well as specific ways of getting iron into baby's diet (like hard-boiled egg yolks). |
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Well, just to throw a different pov about the iron thing... My first dd hated solids of any kind. Cereal, veggies, fruit, meats... Fresh homemade, frozen homemade, store-bought - everything!! I tried every trick in the book for weeks and even brought her to two docs. She wanted nothing to do with solids of any kind until she was about 11 months old and then only what she could pick up with her fingers.
The first doc saw her at her 6 month appointment and just about had a fit because she wasn't eating meat yet (at the time we'd just started iron-fortified cereal a week earlier and for that first week it went fairly well, it was afterwards that she started refusing). Told me to keep going with cereal, start asap with meat (doc didn't seem to care at all about veggies or anything else) and until she started taking in large quantities of both that I was to give her iron drops. Second doc told me top refuse to nurse her (especially at night) and basically just let her starve until she gave in to the cereal and/or meat.
Neither felt right so I basically kept looking for more info. I did a LOT of research on this topic and what I found totally reinforced what I already knew in my gut - that she was fine on breastmilk alone.
What I found was that first of all, the iron recomendations are based on very old and outdated information. It's based on formula-fed infants (like most growth charts and the like still are) whose nutrional needs just aren't the same as breastfed babies. Secondly, it's based on ignorance in terms of how iron is absorbed. All they looked at was the *quantity* of iron in breastmilk vs how much a baby 'needed' by x months of age. What they didn't realize was that the iron in breastmilk is actually absorbed by the baby at a *much* higher rate than the iron in formula or cereal is (only about 5% of the iron in either is ever actually absorbed by the body - this is why it has to be put in such large quantities). Thirdly, if I remember correctly it's also based on an underestimation of how much iron term babies 'store' when in the womb (do note that this applies to *term* babies - not preemies).
What all this means is that most breastfed babies are probably just fine without baby cereal *ever*. Many doctors are starting to realize this (for example, Dr. Sears recomends avocados or bananas as baby's first food - not cereal, LLL doesn't recomend cereal either). We have way overemphasized cereal as 'important' in baby's diet. And when you think about it, it certainly makes sense, iron-fortified cereals are hardly 'natural' and I just can't believe that nature would have designed babies to 'need' something that doesn't exist in nature.
But even after researching all this I was still a little concerned (iron-fortified cereal is sooo heavily emphasized that it's difficult to get away from) so I took her in for a third time to a local health clinic. The nurse there said that she certainly looked fine to her (she was a tall & plump baby of 9 months - having survived and thrived on nothing but breastmilk for her whole life) but that we could test her iron just to be sure. It was quick & painless, just a little prick on the finger and put the drop into this little machine. Get this - my dd's blood iron levels were not only 'normal', they were on the high side of normal!!
Anyway, all this to say that while there's nothing really 'wrong' with cereal for infants, it's not some miraculous super food that all babies absolutly *must* have. If your baby doesn't want it, doesn't digest it well or you'd prefer to start with something else, then do so with confidence...
Karen. |
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| The iron thing is kind of interesting, once you start reading about it a bit. I remember reading all sorts of conflicting information when I was wading through it several years ago. |
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Read "Is This Your Child?" by Dr. Rapp if you are concerned about allergies. She is an amazing allergist with some really great ideas on allergies in children and their effects. This book will change how you think about food and other things your children are exposed to.
I know personally that her ideas on food rotation work because my brother had severe allergies that cased massive behavioral problems and he was completely cured by Dr. Rapp's methods. One teacher even told my mom to give up on him and put him in an institution because there was nothing that was going to help him. After two weeks on Dr. Rapp's rotation diet, my brother was like a different person and he never had any behavior issues again.
I recommend Dr. Rapp to anyone who even thinks their child might have any allergy issues. |
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| Your daughter may have FPIES. It stands for Food Protein Induced Entercolitis Syndrome. My son is being evaluated currenty for the same issues with rice cereal. He has also been diagnosed with reflux and Milk Soy Protein Intolerance. Please take the time to find out some more information about FPIES and talk with your doctor about it. It can be pretty serious. Here is a link with more information: http://www.kidswithfoodallergies.org/resourcespre.php?id=99 |
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