What kind of cereal for LO?

LimaD

I'm about to start my 6mo old daughter on solids, with a cereal first.  I've heard about the recent findings of higher amounts of arsenic in infant rice cereals.  Did anyone try other types of cereals? I know there's an oatmeal cereal, but wasn't sure if there were some other good options people have tried

BabyMakes 3

kbruington:

You can skip all cereals and go straight to purees if you want. Or try oatmeal.

This. I will very rarely use a rice cereal to thicken up a veggie, or fruit puree. But oatmeal seemed more nutritious to me  

JJ_13

I have started LO with veggies first, but plan to make homemade brown rice cereal and oatmeal as well.

beccalee721

We skipped rice and started with oatmeal, more for nutrition / constipation issues than the arsenic scare actually. LO loves her oatmeal! Like PP said, we used rice to thicken her pureed veggies at first, but now that we make our own veggies (so easy BTW!) we don't need to use the rice at all, and just combine her veggie with her oatmeal with a little bit of BM so it isn't too thick.

abbyful

No cereal.

 From Frank Greer M.D., who is on American Academy of Pediatrics's Committee on Nutrition:

"Complementary foods introduced to infants should be based on their nutrient requirements and the nutrient density of foods, not on traditional practices that have no scientific basis." "Newer thinking is that the emphasis for complementary foods should be on naturally nutrient-rich foods. This includes protein and fiber, along with vitamins A, C, D, and E and the B vitamins." "Rice cereal is a less than perfect choice for the first complementary food given to infants."

 

We started with avocado. 

tevagirl

We started with veggies, sweet potato and avocado.  After about a month we added oatmeal.

eebaehr

We did oatmeal, which DD loves.  I mix it with a fruit or veggie now but at first she ate it plain.  I tried it myself and it just tasted like plain oatmeal, not bad at all.  We started with that and it probably took her two weeks to really figure out how to eat.

Oh and there are nutrients in cereals, iron especially for breastfed infants.  You can of course skip them if you choose and get iron in somewhere else, but they do offer some benefit for your baby.

fusionbride

we started with sweet potato (heavily thinned with breastmilk), then quickly added avocado, banana, pears and peas.  I am finally adding oatmeal cereal this week. Once baby is 6 months you can intro single-item veggie and fruit purees, and depending on your particular situation, you can skip or minimize cereals (we're planning on giving oatmeal about twice a week)

the AAP says that the trace amounts of arsenic in rice cereal are too small to be of concern, so I wouldn't avoid rice cereal just based on that-- but I wouldn't give it every day either.  Baby needs a lot of variety in their diet so they can try a lot of different tastes.

 

pb_bride

We started with veggies and fruit.  A few weeks later I added oatmeal - REGULAR oatmeal (old-fashioned), not oatmeal cereal.  I cook it longer so it becomes very mushy, and DS had no trouble eating/swallowing it.

vettymama

We started with banana and did fruit and veggies until we decided to do BLW. Never did cereal.

mamathefox

I tried rice cereal at 6 months once. I mixed it with my BM and DD tried to drink it. She was getting mad it was on a spoon. The BM confused her I think. I switched to sweet potatoes and she loved it. She likes veggies more then fruit but she prefers 'real' food (she's 8 months) now. Pace yourself. Be comfortable with all you do. 

CurlyQ284

We skipped rice and went with oatmeal. DS got really constipated so no more oatmeal, just purees.

brookemcalland

We started with banana and avocado, never actually did cereal, they're kind of tricky for me. I would skip the cereal part, give your baby instead, fruits and vegetables: you'll find a complete list here https://goodmomming.com/ with all the solids that are recommended for a specific age and the solids you should avoid. Hope it helps!

LimaD

Thanks for all the input and suggestions!

ellebee2

eebaehr:

We did oatmeal, which DD loves.  I mix it with a fruit or veggie now but at first she ate it plain.  I tried it myself and it just tasted like plain oatmeal, not bad at all.  We started with that and it probably took her two weeks to really figure out how to eat.

Oh and there are nutrients in cereals, iron especially for breastfed infants.  You can of course skip them if you choose and get iron in somewhere else, but they do offer some benefit for your baby.

This. We did Oatmeal and Barley cereal.  

juniper75

We started on rice but it was causing some constipation so we switched to oatmeal and barley. My LO prefers the barley but also likes the oatmeal.

melody921

DD has always had oatmeal. They make barley as well and a mixed grain for when they're a bit older. Like PPs said, you could even skip the cereal entirely if you want.