I have a grandson that was born 2 and 1/2 weeks ago. My son and daughter in law have been going around with deciding to put in cereal with his bottle to help him sleep at night. I am 41 and it's been quite some time since I cared for an infant but I remember that my doctor said this was something that should NOT be done. :nono: I have told my son to wait and ask the doctor when they see him again. My daughter in law is being told by her mother to go ahead and do it. I am concerned that this could possibly hurt my grandson. Any ideas, anyone???? :confused:

My children are 4,3,3. Granted my daughter was two and a half weeks and I had to put a Tsp of cereal in her bottle because she had acid reflux and it thickend it to help her keep it down. If there is no medical issue than I wouldn't recommend doing it. Cereal may fill the baby up a bit but at that age the child needs the nourishment from the formula. More formula the better. Babies usually do not sleep through the night until about two months old or older. Around two months old you can start to introduce formula but not a large amount. Some people who are older want to go back to their day and age of feeding babies early and doctors do not recommend it because of alleriges the baby can get early on. Also on a different note. The baby may choke if the cereal is too thick for the baby. There is no known cause for SIDS but all precautions should be taken. Good luck. Your a good grandma. So....my opinion is NO cereal.

It is best to wait a longer. It does take babies about 6 to 8 weeks before they sleep through the night and some a little longer. At 2 1/2 weeks babies usually just wake up to eat and go right back to sleep anyway. Besides, feeding the baby too early like that can also lead to early obesity in the infant which isn't good for it either. I have 4 grown children and a grandbaby that is 8 days old. I remember how tired I was getting up with my own and I am sure they are just exhausted, but from experience I would suggest waiting a bit.

Grandma, you can only suggest what you think is best. Remember it is your son's turn to make his share of parenting mistakes. Hopefully none of them will be detrimental to the babies health. Try not to worry. :)

The baby is only 2 1/2 weeks old! Part of being a parent is dealing with feeding the baby during the night. I think it is selfish and unrealistic to except a baby this young to sleep longer through the night. At this age a baby still eats every 2-3 hours and the night is no exception. Tell your daughter in law to just deal with it as millions of mothers have since the beggining of time. A baby should not have rice cereal put in their bottle unless they have bad acid reflux and can't hold formula down. When a child is ready to begin rice cereal (4 months old for bottle fed babies) it should be fed to them with a spoon. [removed]

i put a tiny bit of cereal in my daughters bottle when she was 2 weeks old....
she was only 6 lbs at birth and at a year old is still underweight for her age group but healthy.

your daughter in law and son will have to find their own way in this parenting thing, i can understand she is tired, it is hard to be a new mother, and if a little bit of cereal in the bottle helps the baby sleep a little longer and keeps her from losing her temper with him from lack of sleep then it isnt so bad.
dr.s will say they like parents to wait, and if you want to approach them about it do it in a supportive way....i am not sure that just "telling them to deal with it" is a good idea, as you may drive a wedge.
reguardless of what you say or do to them, this is their baby and they will probably do what they want to in the end anyway.

I also had to put cerealin my son's bottles when he was only 2 weeks old because of bad acid reflux. He had it in every single bottle until he was about 9 months old. I don't think it will hurt the baby but I would tell them that you would feel better if they talked to the doctor before doing it GOOD LUCK.

Think of the reason an infant wakes during the night. Their stomachs cannot hold a lot of food! their digestion is tender and they should not be made to eat something because they think it will make them sleep longer. No infant sleeps through the night. Some children take a long time to do so. It's not just the food that keeps a baby asleep. I say no cereal in formula.

Infants don't sleep through the night.. plain and simple. I understand the frustration of not getting enough sleep beause the baby wakes up every 2-3 hours. But, that's just what happens when you have a baby. And like some others said, you can't just tell them to deal with it, otherwise you're going to stress out an already stressed out couple.. possibly to the point that they want nothing to do with you until they've come to their senses a little after getting some much needed rest.

With my firstborn, he started sleeping through the night on his own, without added cereal, at around 8-10 weeks of age. I didn't introduce him to cereal until he was around 3 months, might have been 4 months.

With my second child, I had to give her cereal mixed into her bottles at 2 weeks old due to acid reflux - per doctor's orders. She STILL didn't sleep through the night until she was 8 weeks old. It made no difference in her at all. It just helped keep the formula down.

BUT, this is their baby. They're going to do what they feel is right for them and their child. You can try to give advice on the issue, just as everyone else (everyone with children has their own ways of childcare), but in the end it will be up to them.

Good luck :)

Thanks so much for all of your replies of advice and support. As many of you said, it is their baby and their choices. I will be careful not to cross the line of being overbearing. He is a precious little bundle and I am sure all will be fine. :)

I'm sure you probably offered but the best thing my mother did for me was to stay the night and had the babies in a different room and I was able to catch up on sleep for at least one night and with my hormones going nuts it was soooooo appreciated. (mine were twins) but it will be just as important with one.

If it is sleep depervation your daughter is going through give her some tips to get some extra sleep. Some things i did when my son was a newborn (after the first it gets harder and harder to find the extra sleep you need). Get everything you possibly can done while the baby is awake so that when the baby sleeps you are free to sleep. Don't be afraid to ask someone to take the baby for a few hours so she can get some sleep. If her and the baby's bedtimes clash than try to wake the baby to feed him about 30 min before she wants to go to bed, that way she should get atleast a few hours sleep before the baby wakes.
The problems with feeding an newborn cereal (when there is no medical need for it) is that it can cause allergies to develop, in some babies it can also cause stomache upset because their tiny tummies just can't digest it. And as was already said the baby needs as much formula as he can get. I also know from experience that cereal really doesn't help the baby sleep any longer at night. Your grandson will sleep throught the night when he is ready. Just remind your daughter to get as much sleep as she can durring the day.

Back in the old days my grandmother said that people always started giving infants rice cereal at 2 weeks and started solids way before it is recomended these days. They even made their own formula out of all kinds of crazy ingredients. Like other posters mentioned it caused allergies and it just isn't natural to start a newborn on solids. Babies that are only breastfed can go without solids up to 6 months of age. Ok It probably isn't a good idea to say "just deal wiht it" and I didn't expect you to use those words... But you know I remember how I was so tired (I had a cesarean). I was exhausted and it really was no fun everytime that baby woke up. But I knew that I had to deal with it and it is all part of being a new parent and I would have never dreamed of giving him rice cereal just so I could get some extra sleep. Most people expect sleepless nights and you just have to get through it until the baby goes longer on his own. At 2 months he should be sleeping 6 hours though (hopefully).

I think years ago moms were told to add some cereal into the babies bottles to help them sleep longer, so my mother in law tells me. I think now adays we hear its not the best thing to do, it can overload their system and may cause so food alergies so I have heard. I don,t think ther is much you can do, they are probably going to do what they want. I wish them good luck. It may still take quite a few weeks until he will sleep through the night. Sandra

i did the cereal in my daughters bottle so early because she spit up CONSTANTLY, it was the only way she would keep formula down....so she had it in nearly every bottle .

as i said before, she is 1 now and is still underweight by a little, and has absolutly no allergies to anything..

not wheat, rice, eggs, dairy, she has even had peanutbutter in cookies with absolutly no reaction to any of those.

i am sure the allergie thing applys to some children but again i bet it is just a bit of babies...not every baby.

I was told 4 months ( I know some Dr's go until 6 months) but the Dr. told me it was due to allergies, if they are feed cearel and veggies/fruit to soon it can cause food allergies. I have also heard that their little tummies just can't digest anything but the breast milk/formula until later. Don't know it thats true but I don't think its good for them. And they should start with rice cearel first. I haven't put any in his bottle, I have only fed the cearel by spoon. Goodluck!!

I haven't read through the responses so I'm not sure anyone has mentioned this, but the baby can choke on the cereal in the bottle.

Please tell your daughter "no way". Not only could baby choke, but he is too young for food. His tummy is not ready. Also, in case you didn't 'read my other posting to another person, kids who are started on food at 3 months of age or earlier, or 7 months of age and up, are QUADRUPLED in the incidence of juvenile diabetes. I heard this on a radio/medical show by a very qualified doctor. No way should this baby get cereal. Food should start during the 4-6 month period. Not earlier, not later. Please please please.

My daughter started having rice in her formula when she was 1 week old. She was slurping down tons of formula and shooting it across the room after eating it. Doc said she had acid reflux and thats why she ate so much cause her belly hurt. He had me put 1tbs. in 2 ounces of formula. The rice never caused any complications. He even had me give it to my son and he had no reflux. If its sleep she needs why does'nt someone come and stay a night or two with her? My mom did this a couple of times for me and it was such a blessing.

I never did it. I always heard it was a no no. I would ask your doc.

I'm going through the same argument with my mother in law. At my sons one month appointment I asked the doctor about it and he said that babies aren't suppose to get solid foods until three months of age. The cereal is concidered a solid food. Also they don't recommend feeding the cereal through the bottle. The first three months of life, all they need is the formula. My son was acting like he was starving at about 2 1/2 weeks. I was feeding him 2 ounces like recommended. I finally put him up to 3 ounces and that worked wonders. The doctor said that if the baby is acting like its hungry after eating a bottle to try to increase the formula. But not to go over 4 ounces in the first month. My son is now almost six weeks old and I'm feeding him 5 ounces. Some babies are just hungrier than others. I personnally won't give the baby formula this soon, it will proubably be too hard on the babies stomach.