Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
Boy, this is a tough one and one I never have any answers to. 
Can mom try to transistion her dd to a bottle? I almost think it would be better if mom introduced the cereal. It would be a horrible day for everyone if a baby gets cranky because of hunger and not "knowing" how to eat. Since she is a real part time kid, I would have a really good heart to heart with the mom and share your concerns with her. See if she is willing to teach her child to eat the cereal or drink from a bottle.
If all else fails, go with Nannyde's policies. Where the whole thing is the parent's responsibility.
Good luck with this one. I will be watching for other ideas and posts to see if anyone has figured out a trick to this situation.
Yeah, I'm going with the whole this is a parent's responsibility thing. The mom should be both bottle-feeding and spoon feeding if that's what she wants you to do, especially since the baby is part time and having trouble at daycare.
Cereal probably will keep the baby satisfied longer if she will eat it, but I'd at least go with a whole grain organic brown rice baby cereal with probiotics added. And make the mom buy it.
Usually, the advice is to wait to offer solid foods though, until the infant can sit up on its own or is 6 months old. Has the doctor cleared this baby to eat? I'd really put the responsibility for this one back on mom.