We've been giving our 3 month old cereal once a day for about a week. And he gets pear juice to help him go to the bathroom, I'm hoping to stop the juice since he gets oatmeal. Should I be brushing his gums?

Why are you giving him cereal? Is it for reflux?

Until there are teeth in there, I don't think there's any reason to be brushing anything. If you're really concerned about it, there is no harm in wiping the gums with a guaze pad.

I started my DD on cereal at 3 1/2 months too. She acted like she wasn't getting enough from me at the time. Anyway, at 3 months, I also started brushing her gums. Gerber makes a great gum paste and a finger brush that is soft and my DD loved it. She loved the feeling of it against her gums. Plus, it gets them used to the feeling for future for when they have teeth. And, you cannot give them fluoride drops until they are 6 months, so this is a good bet for now. Good luck!:)

Oatmeal can be constipating in a baby. Don't count on it to replace the pear juice and it may make things worse. I started my DS on oatmeal at 6 mos and had to limit it to a couple of times per week due to constipation, even though he was getting extrememly small amounts, just to taste. Wiping the gums with gauze and little sterile water is fine.

Oatmeal is usually NOT constipating... it has fiber in it! As someone who has had surgery for hemorrhoids, I'm pretty focused on what does and does not cause constipation and what has fiber. Oatmeal is one of those things that people with rectal problems eat to help with regularity.

Rice (not the whole grain version) cereal has NO fiber (fromthe package), while oatmeal and barley cereals have 1g of fiber, as does the mixed grains cereal. I've found that rice cereal is the most constipating for my daughter, in addition to vegetables/fruits like squash, banana, applesauce. I don't exclude these foods, I just balance it with prunes, peaches, pears, or peas which all are good sources of fiber.

unfortunately x, our babies digestive system is not like ours. oatmeal was nearly as constipating as rice was for my lo. sometimes the introduction of higher fiber foods does cause a reverse reaction because baby bellies haven't had time to catch up to where we are. Now that ds is 8 months old Cheerios are a favorite food with no problems, but at 4 -5 months (oatmeal, rice and cheerios) caused real problems!

oh and the brushing, i was told to wait until ds had teeth to brush, but now wished i had started a bit earlier, if only to get him used to a toothbrush (i have the one that goes on the finger too). sometimes it goes fine, but other times...not so good :-)

Thanks for all the advice ladies! Even though oatmeal does have fiber I can see how it could constipate little ones gentle bellies. My boy, however, does not have that problem! :) We are stopping the juice. He has had the messiest diaper

To answer your question x, I'm giving him cereal because I want to. :) And because I'd much rather him have something like that to help him go to the bathroom instead of the sugar from the pear juice.