Rice cereal

vannerpuss

Did you moms give your baby rice cereal, Or did you skip it? What were your reasons?
Asking for a friend as her baby hates it. I suggested skipping it and giving her baby foods that are naturally rich in iron and people started jumping down my throat about it (gotta love Facebook) saying that it is their main source of iron after 6 months.

beccalee721

I skipped it and went with oatmeal instead for a number of my own reasons. The single grains are recommended to do first because they are easy on the baby's tummy. Some people do baby led feeding and wait for solids until the baby can pick them up themselves. It's all about your personal preference and your baby's reaction IMO. But for the first year your baby's "main source" of everything is supposed to be from breast milk or formula. Everything else is a gradual learning experience.

JKohio

We did rice cereal for #1 and he got awfully constipated. With #2, we skipped rice cereal and went right to baby oatmeal, then multi grain cereal. Worked out much better! I'd say skip it.

nanabanana06

We skipped all puree and cereal and did real food from the start. It's been great and my 9 month old days better than my toddler.

BabyBsOven

We gave it only a few times, DD hated it and we just went on to table foods. Rice cereal has been linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes due to the high glycemic index and the fact that about 60% of non-milk or formula calories come from rice cereal in most 4-12 mo. It is so processed that the nutrients are stripped and replaced with artificial ones so, IMHO, it's better to just give the real thing like mushed fruits and vegetables. For iron, my doc told me to start giving lots of red meat and make sure the formula I used was iron fortified. I cook a small amount of ground beef or buffalo or lamb a few times a week and give that as finger food.

vannerpuss

BabyBsOven said:

Rice cereal has been linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes due to the high glycemic index and the fact that about 60% of non-milk or formula calories come from rice cereal in most 4-12 mo. It is so processed that the nutrients are stripped and replaced with artificial ones so, IMHO, it's better to just give the real thing like mushed fruits and vegetables.

Would you happen to have a good link for that info?

minervacullen

I tried it a couple of times, just because. She didn't mind it, but she hates the texture. We tried purees at first and she vetoed that, so we switched to BLW. Her iron is just fine.

Maybe link some links about how rice cereal is not important and that a lot of people never even bother.

ETA
I would also point out, as pp mentioned, that bm or formula should be their main source of nutrition for the first year.

There are also lots of iron rich veggies. DD likes spinach, I make a quesadilla for lunch every day. I put the tortilla in a non stick skillet, so I don't need to fry it, sprinkle some cheese, all natural turkey meat or left over meat from the night before, fresh spinach, and grate one baby carrot. She LOVES it! She gets so excited when I get the ingredients out of the fridge. I cut it into triangles and she eats the slices like pizza.

winecastle14

@vannerpuss you're right. Here's a chart to explain why to skip it...

Heyjordynhey

We tried rice cereal, and it gave him a terrible reaction. so we switched to oatmeal and haven't had any issues since  

BabyBsOven

Here are the specific links: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/white-rice-brown-rice-whole-grains-diabetes/ https://aapnews.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/09/19/aapnews.20120919-2.full https://www.internalmedicinenews.com/fileadmin/content_pdf/ped/archive_pdf/vol43iss11/70296_main.pdf

BabyBsOven

One more . https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/yourlife/parenting-family/babies/2010-12-01-babyfood01_st_N.htm BTW, I'm not anti-rice cereal. I'm an "everything in moderation" kind of person and my DD would probably have it more if she liked it. I just think that rice cereal shouldn't be the first or only thing a baby eats beside formula or breast milk.

[Deleted User]

Nana_Osaki06 said:

We skipped all puree and cereal and did real food from the start. It's been great and my 9 month old days better than my toddler.

This.

DocLuv

2013mommy said:

We skipped rice cereal. I make him oatmeal with fruit mixed in but we never did any plain cereal by itself.

We skipped the rice cereal and feed our girl baby oatmeal mixed with mashed fruit and she loves it!

blush64

BabyBsOven said:

We gave it only a few times, DD hated it and we just went on to table foods. Rice cereal has been linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes due to the high glycemic index and the fact that about 60% of non-milk or formula calories come from rice cereal in most 4-12 mo. It is so processed that the nutrients are stripped and replaced with artificial ones so, IMHO, it's better to just give the real thing like mushed fruits and vegetables. For iron, my doc told me to start giving lots of red meat and make sure the formula I used was iron fortified. I cook a small amount of ground beef or buffalo or lamb a few times a week and give that as finger food.

In the links you posted that I read it didn't seem to say exactly what you are stating. I found the information about white rice vs brown rice. Which source spoke about the diabetes link to rice cereal in infants?

I would like to show it to my sister and mother.

blush64

Nicb13 said:

blush64 said:

We gave it only a few times, DD hated it and we just went on to table foods. Rice cereal has been linked to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes due to the high glycemic index and the fact that about 60% of non-milk or formula calories come from rice cereal in most 4-12 mo. It is so processed that the nutrients are stripped and replaced with artificial ones so, IMHO, it's better to just give the real thing like mushed fruits and vegetables. For iron, my doc told me to start giving lots of red meat and make sure the formula I used was iron fortified. I cook a small amount of ground beef or buffalo or lamb a few times a week and give that as finger food.

In the links you posted that I read it didn't seem to say exactly what you are stating. I found the information about white rice vs brown rice. Which source spoke about the diabetes link to rice cereal in infants? I would like to show it to my sister and mother.

You'll find a ton of info if you just Google it. IMO, they eat rice cereal for such a short amount of time and the quantity is usually so small that I really don't see what the big deal is. There are much larger things to spend time thinking about.

I never thought it was so bad. Every time I look online most of what I get against rice cereal is opinion. When it's something other than opinion it usually says that it isn't going to harm although it isn't the best first option.

I decided to start with barley or oatmeal and I am receiving a lot of trouble from family about that choice. I am also receiving a lot of hassle about making my own baby food (I will also use jars of food). I was just hoping there was something I could show them so they would stop bothering me.

I will just keep doing what I am doing, trying to smile and ignore them.

spinsoffresonance

We did baby led weaning: skipped the baby cereal and purees and started right away with table food.

ObLaDi

We skipped it, and did a combination of BLW and organic purees. For the past month, he's been eating whatever we're having (which always includes meat, at least at dinner) cut up into little pieces. We've never fed him anything iron fortified (he's breastfed).

His iron levels were normal at his 9 month visit.

ETA: I don't think it's a big deal either way. Just do what's comfortable for your family!

this decaf life

Skipped it, I'm only just now getting oatmeal for her because I don't like giving her Cheerios every morning.