It is not uncommon for parents to add cereal to a baby’s bottle. However  there are several important reasons why you should not do it unless advised by your pediatrician.

Reasons not to give your baby cereal earlier than recommended

A baby’s  digestive system is thought to be not  well prepared to process cereal until  about 6 months. However when the baby is ready to eat cereal, she should be ready to eat it from a spoon.

NOTE

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends  breastfeeding as the baby’s sole source of nutrition for about 6 months. When you do add solids to your baby diet ,continue breastfeeding until about 12 months. You can continue to breastfeed  after 12 months  if you and your baby desire. You need to ask your baby’s doctor about vitamin D and iron supplement during the first year of life .

Not ready : Giving your baby cereal before she is developmentally ready usually results in gagging or inhaling of thickening mixture into their lungs. Unless there is a medical reason to give it early, it is not worth it to rush things.

Allergies :Exposing the child to cereal before 4 months of age increases the child’s risk of food allergies in future. The risk is reduced when you wait till about 4 to 6 months of age when the time is right .

Overfeeding : Babies know how much formula and breastmilk to drink based on volume and not calories. It is said that it is difficult to  overfeed a baby however this applies to formula and milk alone. Giving the baby cereal  in a bottle may make it difficult to tell if you’re giving the baby more than needed.