Is it safe to give my baby rice cereal in her bottle 6 to 12 months?

What the evidence says

Putting rice cereal in your baby's bottle is not recommended, even between 6 and 12 months. Canadian health guidelines say thickening formula with rice cereal at home is not advised, because it packs in a lot more calories without adding nutrition your baby needs at that age.

One big concern is choking. Babies drink from a bottle using sucking and swallowing patterns that are different from eating with a spoon. Thickened liquid from a bottle nipple can go down the wrong way more easily, which raises the chance of choking or breathing the mixture into the lungs.

Another concern is overfeeding. Babies are naturally good at stopping a bottle when they are full, based on volume. Once cereal is mixed in, they take in more calories than they realize, which can lead to excess weight gain over time.

There is also an arsenic concern specific to rice. Rice naturally absorbs more arsenic from soil and water than other grains. Health agencies suggest offering oat, barley, or multi grain infant cereals instead of only rice cereal, to lower a baby's overall arsenic exposure.

If your baby has real feeding or reflux problems, a doctor may sometimes recommend a thickened feed for medical reasons, but this should only be done under medical guidance, with a supervised plan, not as a home remedy for sleep or fussiness.