Introducing Cereal---Looking Back

Addison now takes cereal three times a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Babywise suggests offering cereal at all three meals until 1 year and we plan to follow the recommendation. Since her cereal has breastmilk in it, she is getting lots of good nutrients within the cereal so we felt it was wise to take the suggestion of Babywise.

As I reflect upon our journey of cereal introduction and reintroduction there are some things I would do differently. If you are a frequent reader, you know we introduced cereal at 4 months (see previous blogs: Cereal Day 4&5, Cereal Day 3, and Cereal Day One) and then back off for several weeks reintroducing at just over 5 months. Every baby is different, but I offer our story for all the Mommy readers out there who might want to file this information away in case it is needed.

• Increase quantity more slowly: Round one we ramped up the amount offered fairly quickly (day one 1 tablespoon, day two 3 tablespoons, day three 4 tablespoons twice a day, etc.). Round two we spent one week offering only 2 tablespoons ONCE a day. Looking back, it was key for the initial introduction to cereal to be very slow, while the frequency offered could move much more quickly. It was as if she had to learn how to digest it ONCE a day and after that hump---she was good! Ultimately it took us about three weeks to get to three cereal offerings a day.
• Watch for elimination changes before increasing amount and frequency: Round one we did not pay attention to changes in her elimination, period. Round two, we introduced the cereal at once a day, small quantity, slightly runny and waited for three eliminations before making any changes. This way we knew the cereal made it all the way through her system successfully and unclogged.
• Consistency of cereal: During round one, the consistency of the cereal was similar to cream of wheat from the get go. I feel like this was the cause for her stomach issues;it was simply too thick! Round two, we allowed the cereal to be on the runny side until we were serving cereal three times a day.

All in all she enjoys the experience of eating and I believe, she actually prefers it to nursing. I am not surprised she prefers eating over nursing. She has never enjoyed nursing or even the occasional bottle of expressed milk. Addison is too interested in moving on to the next milestone and seeing the world than laying down to nurse or take a bottle. This continues to be one of our few struggles, however I realize we have a great and contented baby and I am grateful.

Blogs coming up soon...

• Introduction to Carrots
• Separation Anxiety
• The Sippy Cup