Rice cereal?

[MamaLump]

Yay or nay, and why?

We aren't quite ready for solids but I'm doing my research now. The pediatrician said we should wait till 6 months and then the cereal acts as an iron supplement while we "play" with other real foods. What do you guys think?

Sent from my iPhone using DS Forum, so please excuse typos!

[cloth.momma]

I'm not doing rice cereal.. for one I found out that I am gluten sensitive & even though rice is considered safe, I don't want to introduce my little one to grains until after one year.. I'm currently following Weston-Price's recommendations for introducing foods.. My little one didn't take too well to egg yolk so I've discontinued until after he turns one.. but he loves his bananas & avocado! I also add some coconut oil to his food to give him some extra healthy fats.. you can read Weston-Price's info on their website.. just search "Nourishing a Growing Baby" westonaprice.org

Hope that helps!

[swedishmaiden]

I am not convinced that EBF babies need iron that young, although WIC told me the same thing, but I occasionally blended some baby spinach with fruit for DD so she could get some extra iron that way. Rice cereal is a refined food and I like to avoid that as much as possible, so it didn't make sense to me to introduce that as a main food.

But if someone does feel they really want to use some kind of cereal, I'd suggest using whole grain brown rice cereal so it isn't just an empty carb with some added nutrients.

[Bellamoon]

We dont use rice cereal at all. Ds loves purees but wants them thick so we thicken them with oatmeal.

[colin-mylilguy]

Could you ask your Pedi to just check LO's iron @ 6 months, instead? If its normal, no need to add supplements, KWIM? We did that and LO's iron levels were still normal at 9.5 months and he's still EBF.

You could go look at Kellymom.com - it has a lot of great info on breastfeeding. You can read more about it but basically the cereals are fortified with iron, meaning they don't contain iron naturally and it is artificially added. This fortified iron is more bioavailable to harmful bacteria and changes the normal bacterial growth in baby's gut. It also hinders the absorption of the natural iron in your breastmilk. For all these reasons and some others, we decided to skip cereals and anything else that is artificially fortified with iron. The Pedi said LO would be deficient if we didn't do supplements but just the opposite has happened and its not a fluke. Nature set things up to work well. Follow your baby and your instincts and things will work. GL!

[ackeller]

NAY. Rice cereal is almost pure starch, which equals sugar. If you are worried about LO's iron, have his blood checked every few months. I agree with the pureed spinach if you're concerned.