How Much Cereal Should be Added to Formula?

New parents are often told by well-meaning friends and relatives that they should add infant cereal to their baby's bottle, usually to get a baby to sleep through the night. But adding cereal to formula is not safe and should only be done on a pediatrician's recommendation for babies who suffer from acid reflux (see "References" below).

  1. Is Adding Cereal to Formula Safe?

    • Infants who do not have the ability to eat solid foods do not have the ability to swallow cereal mixed with formula, even if it is in a bottle. In some cases, infants under 4 months have aspirated or choked on baby cereal (see "References" below). Adding infant cereal to formula also can delay developmental milestones for an infant to begin eating solid foods.

    Does Adding Cereal to Formula Help an Infant Sleep Longer?

    • The Cleveland Clinic Foundation has issued a report stating, "There was no statistically significant trend or a consistent tendency of one group to have a higher proportion of sleepers than the other. Therefore, feeding infants rice cereal in the bottle before bedtime does not appear to make much difference in their sleeping through the night." (see "References" below). Parents may find that their infant begins sleeping through the night after they begin adding cereal to formula. But this often occurs naturally when the infant begins sleeping through the night without adding cereal to formula.

    Adding Cereal to Forumla for Infants with Acid Reflux

    • Small amounts of cereal should be added to formula only if recommended by a pediatrician for infants with acid reflux. add a small amount of cereal to formula to thicken it. Parents should follow their pediatricians' instructions exactly to be sure not to make the formula too thick for their infant's developmental stage.

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