Just say NO to cereal in the bottle!

It seems like as soon as you are pregnant, you are bombarded with all kinds of "advice" about how to feed and care for your baby. Alot of it is unwanted, some of it comes from healthcare professionals and is good advice, and some of the "advice" can be harmful! One particularly common peice of advice we hear alot in the clinic is the advice to put cereal in a baby's bottle. This is one of those things you may hear from your mother, grandmother, peers, and other family members. This practice can be particularly harmful and it is not recommended.

Putting cereal in baby's bottle at any age is harmful due to several reasons:

1. Cereal thickened formula for a young baby is a choking hazard! Young infants do not have the developmental skills to handle textured foods yet. Often a baby is given a cereal thickened bottle and layed down to go to sleep. The baby can choke or aspirate (inhale) and no one is there to know it! This is a double no-no. You should never prop a bottle up or give a baby a bottle while laying down and you should never put cereal in a baby's bottle.
2. Cereal in a baby's bottle can overfeed the baby. Do you know that overstuffed, overtired feeling we get after eating Thanksgiving dinner or another large meal? That doesn't always feel good. Do you want your baby to feel that way?
3. Putting cereal in a bottle messes up the perfect nutrition balance of formula or breastmilk. Your baby's milk is specially formulated to have the perfect balance of nutrients your baby needs. Don't mess it up by adding cereal, baby foods, or other items to your baby's bottle.
4. You have decided to bottle feed because you do not wish to breastfeed or breastfeeding did not work out for you. You want to bottle feed as if you were breastfeeding. Always hold your baby when you feed them. Feed them when they are hungry and stop when they are full (don't make them finish a bottle if the baby stops sucking, pushes the nipple out, or you see milk dripping out of the corners of the baby's mouth- these are all signs that your baby is done). And do your breasts have cereal in them? I didn't think so...
5. Putting cereal in the bottle usually means you are introducing solids too early because your baby cannot eat off of a spoon yet. Introducing solids too early can put your baby at increased risk for food allergies and obesity. Wait until your baby is old enough to eat off of a spoon (usually around 6 months). Breastmilk or formula is all your baby needs for the first 6 months of life.
6. Cereal thickened formula can cause constipation and tummy aches.

In very rare cases of severe reflux your doctor may recommend thickening the baby's milk with rice cereal. Cereal in the bottle should always be a very last resort. There are other ways to manage severe reflux and special formulas that are made already thickened so that the nutritional balance is not messed up. Please discuss these options with your doctor before putting cereal in the bottle and definitely don't put cereal in your baby's bottle otherwise!

If you are having feeding difficulties or have questions about introducing solids, please call your local health department and ask to speak with a nutritionist.

-Allison Leonard RD