Is this weird? (re baby cereal)

jenber77 · November 2010

Is it weird that DS's doctor still wants me to feed him baby cereal every day? At 18 months?

browneyedgrl4282 · November 2010

Is he under weight? This was something mentioned the other day when talking about how Brady lost weight!

hannah&ben · November 2010

Um... kind of... it's empty calories except for the iron it has in it. It literally offers nothing else nutritionally. Did your pedi give you a reason?

jenber77 · November 2010

It's funny. The breastfeeding clinic I saw on and off for the first five months told me to skip cereal when starting solids, that it's empty calories. I told the pedi this at the next appt and she was horrified and said I should definitely give it to him. I think then it was for the iron.

Now... well, I assumed it was still about the iron, especially since I told her he's not a good eater. And possibly about the calories? DS is definitely on the small side (10th percentile for weight), but I don't think he'd be considered underweight.

I'll ask her specifically why next time we see her, but I was just wondering if anyone else was told to do this.

browneyedgrl4282 · November 2010

jenber77:

It's funny. The breastfeeding clinic I saw on and off for the first five months told me to skip cereal when starting solids, that it's empty calories. I told the pedi this at the next appt and she was horrified and said I should definitely give it to him. I think then it was for the iron.

Now... well, I assumed it was still about the iron, especially since I told her he's not a good eater. And possibly about the calories? DS is definitely on the small side (10th percentile for weight), but I don't think he'd be considered underweight.

I'll ask her specifically why next time we see her, but I was just wondering if anyone else was told to do this.

This is probably why! My son is in the 5% for weight! They told me to give him more calories via cereal, milk, eggs, cheese, and so on! They told me that they need the calores for proper brain devlopement

howleyshell · November 2010

I do think it's odd.

I can't understand WHY you'd want to do that instead of feeding him something like regular oat meal?

Plus... baby cereal is NASTY! I found that my guys ate a lot more food once I started feeding them real food.

I'd think regular cooked oat meal with some fruit and maybe even some yogurt in it would pack a nutritional punch that would leave baby cereal in the dust.

Mrs.Reem · November 2010

I can see doing oatmeal over rice for sure. The iron is probably the reason. Rice is empty calories and I avoid feeding it to my girls but oatmeal has good fiber in it.

Mrs.Reem · November 2010

I can see doing oatmeal over rice for sure. The iron is probably the reason. Rice is empty calories and I avoid feeding it to my girls but oatmeal has good fiber in it.

alchris · November 2010

Kira was off the bottom of the weight chart at 18 months, and that was never mentioned. What I did do a lot from about 9-24 months was give her oils, nuts, avocados, beans, etc. -- dense caloric things. She loves oatmeal so we share oatmeal most mornings, but that didn't start until around 2 years (and I put flax oil in it). But baby cereal...nah. I'd do more meats, beans, veggies, etc. instead. I tried to stay away from filler things, i.e. things that will fill her up but wouldn't provide enough calories or nutrients.

ETA: For iron, because of her lead levels, I gave DD (liquid) Floradix every day from 12 to about 22 months. But I didn't want to fill up her belly with things that wouldn't beef her up a little too.

dusk42 · November 2010

I just try to feed her a lot of iron-rich foods, and her iron levels were fine at 9 months. She hates cereal with a passion (even the baby oatmeal) and won't eat any food mixed with it.

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