I'm planning to start my baby's first solid food in the next couple weeks. She is five months old. I have heard single grain cereal is best to begin with and rice cereal was recommended by my pediatrician's office. I came across organic brown rice cereal and as wondering if any of you see any advantage in using that instead of regular rice cereal? Pros and cons from your experience would be highly appreciated
Thank you for all your responses and great advice. My Pediatrician's expert opinion - whole grain brown cereal is okay as long as it has the same amount of iron as the other regular plain rice cereal. It is in fact hypoallergenic and the probiotics will not hurt but only help. The only reason to avoid it would be the rare possibility of allergy where I need to watch DD for any signs of vomiting within the first 2 hours of her first few spoonfuls of it. Also, for some people, if the cost is prohibitive it is fine to stick with regular rice cereal. Hope this is helpful for moms here who are in the same position as me....Motherhood is about decisions and more decisions for sure!
I started off with organic brown rice just for the same reason as for an adult why brown rice is better than white rice. Honestly though, I switched to regular rice cereal shortly after - just felt like my son wasn't likeing the brown rice.
I didn't try the brown rice cereal until a little later for my daughter, but that was only because I didn't find it until later. I don't see any problem with starting out with that at all, if anything it would be better to start with. I mixed her cereal with breastmilk because she was breastfed and she loved it. If your daughter takes formula I would mix the cereal with formula. We gave our baby her first little bit of cereal at 4.5 months because she was such a little thing, it was strange at first for her, its so cute how they spit it out when they are so used to milk, its like "What are you giving me!?" Just keep trying she will love it :)
You may notice a change in her BMs, possibly a little more frequent once you start the brown rice because of fiber content especially if she is a formula fed baby. Not to worry though! If it seems way too often maybe she was not ready, but you will know whats right for her!
I waited until my kids were closer to 6-7 months & did the mashed veggies & pureed meats instead of alot of cereals. I found that they got alot more nutrients & had fun with the different textures. Best of luck!
humm my baby is 4 months old and i am wondering as well...maybe the brown will be too hard to digest? white is a more simple carb. then after 3 or 5 days are you trying barley and then oatmeal?
A couple of things - it is a good idea to wait to start the cereal until your baby is at least 6 months old. This is the current AAP recommendation. Formula and breastmilk are far more calorie dense than solids so they need to be primary in her diet and introducing solids will not help her gain weight. Rice cereal is generally recommended but can sometimes cause constipation. New guidelines suggest that parents can be more flexible in choosing a first food. I started with bananas with my children. I used oatmeal instead of rice, which was less constipating. I also use organic whole grain cereal, because whole grains are more nutritious in general. Hope that helps. Have fun!
The white rice cereal is the most mild and will probably be your best bet. If I know what cereal you are talking about, the brown rice says 6 months and up. I started giving the white rice mixed with formula or breastmilk at 4 months because my son was not getting fat enough from my milk alone and he took it fine. Just make sure it is not thick and give it on a spoon. If she pushes her tongue out then she's not ready. Be aware though that cereal, especially rice, can cause serious constipation. Not sure if the brown rice does that too. Be ready with the prune juice (diluted) if you don't see poop for 2 days.
Hi S.,
Brown rice would have more to offer nutritionally than white rice - white rice isn't a "whole grain" and has less to offer than the brown rice, whole wheat, rye, barley cereals, it doesn't have much nutritionally at all. I used it with my first baby because that's what was done, but my 2nd never got the white rice cereal.
I would go with the organic brown rice cereal. Happy Baby and Earth's Best are both good brands. The white rice has very little nutrition in it and even less flavor. It's a very glue-like consistency. The brown rice on the other hand is nutritionally much healthier. You should only start with about a teaspoon of cereal and mix it with breast milk or formula. The consistency should be very thin, like soup at first. It should be a small amount, sort of like dessert- given in addition to a breast/bottle feeding and you should not decrease the amount of milk she is getting. Get the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron for more information on first foods. http://www.superbabyfood.com
http://www.superbabyfood.com/chapters/Super-Baby-Food_Sta...
We used the Beaba and had no issues. If you read a bit further you'll find a lot of misinformation was initially put out and corrected. We honestly love it and still use it for fruit compotes.
Congratulations on your baby!
And isn't it fun to start feeding your baby "real food"...LOL
I gave my daughter the organic cereals too.
The rice made her constipated, so I gave her the oatmeal and she did fine with it.
The cereals are so mild for the babies, I don't think it matters if it is brown rice or white as far as ease on her tummy...and the benefits of whole grains is so well known these days....
I would try it without any reservations.
Good luck S. and enjoy this next stage in your child's development...it is such a fun time :)
(Especailly when you put the cereal in, and she pushes it out and you put it in and she pushes it out...LOL TOO CUTE.)
I miss that stage...my daughter is 20 months and she is at the stage where I can't get her to eat much at all...so frustrating since she was such a great eater! But that's just the phase she is in now....
Best regards
P.
