Is rice ceral necessary?

smilingjb · September 2011

Just went to LO 4 month appt and dr said that we can start solid food at anytime, but most people wait until 6 months. I have heard and read about rice ceral as the first step, but then there are some people who say to skip it!

rachel927 · September 2011

We waited until 6 months to start solids and skipped rice cereal. Our pedi said it was fine either way. A seemed to do fine without the cereal and ate purees with no problem.

iHeartHimMore · September 2011

Absolutely not necessary. If I'm remembering correctly we did do some rice cereal, but not first. I think we started just after 5 mo. old with sweet potatoes and avocado.

breebree13 · September 2011

With Sydney we waited till about 6 months and skipped the rice cereal and purees. I did do oatmeal & purees with Connor for a little bit. truthfully I felt it was easier to just do pieces/spears of sweet potato, avocado, banana and as Syd got use to solids and picking up and holding things just giving her whatever we have for dinner.

WatchPot · September 2011

I bought 1 box or oatmeal (didn't do rice cereal, did oatmeal instead) and it is still half empty in my pantry: we just never thought to give it to him. He ate fruits and veggies instead and we didn't see much nutritional value out of it. Mostly though, I think we were just lazy and forgot about it!

blueLu25 · September 2011

Its basically just so they can learn to eat off a spoon, with something that 99% of the time, no baby has a reaction too. We started at 6 months with oatmeal b/c rice can cause constipation, but if your baby has a sensitive tummy or allergies you might try the rice b/c its the most bland. I think the first real food both kids had was sweet potato.

cwhip77 · September 2011

Ours was a little over 5 months, and her first food was mashed plain sweet potatoes. I kept hearing there wasn't much nutritional value in rice cereal, plus it was on Thanksgiving day so sweet potatoes seemed fitting.

keri1013 · September 2011

We started just before six months, did a little oatmeal but his first real food was avocado mashed with breast milk ("breastamole" Big Smile

).

cuppycakemama · September 2011

Nope, no necessary. We started solids at 4.5 months and did rice cereal for a few days while he got used to using a spoon and then moved right along to sweet potatoes, avocado, etc.

Brynnie2010 · September 2011

blueLu25:
Its basically just so they can learn to eat off a spoon, with something that 99% of the time, no baby has a reaction too. We started at 6 months with oatmeal b/c rice can cause constipation, but if your baby has a sensitive tummy or allergies you might try the rice b/c its the most bland. I think the first real food both kids had was sweet potato.

This exactly but change "both kids" to "Livy."

myself1nme · September 2011

The only thing our pedi said, was that it was a good source of iron since we were breastfeeding and weren't giving an iron suppliment (it was too harsh on his system)

omangie · September 2011

We tried rice at 6 months, but it constipated him, so we did wheat cereal for a bit and did purees along with it.

Maddimom · September 2011

We started M on rice because she had horrible reflex. We used it for about a week mixed with formula and it was a no go. After she started solids we also tried it and she looked at me like I was a nut. I say skip it

MrsH_08 · September 2011

keri1013:
We started just before six months, did a little oatmeal but his first real food was avocado mashed with breast milk ("breastamole" ).

Hilarious!

babyfished · September 2011

We started solids at 6 months, and the first things L had were banana and avocado. The first grain she had was oatmeal, since I eat it every morning anyway. We also did brown rice, overcooked so it was nice and mushy. So far we haven't bothered with any purees, cereals or actual "baby food," and it seems to be going fine.

doublem · September 2011

I wouldn't say that we skipped it, but she never ate it plain. We pretty much have done baby-led weaning and skipped most purees. I often mixed it in with other foods or used it to coat slippery fruits. I thought that helped her get more of her iron intake.

Asquared · September 2011

both my girls were a little past 5 months- I personally think 4 months is too early. I followed "the book" w/ rice cereal w/ my first and threw it out w/ my second and started her w/ avocado- it was all good.

maryg6707 · September 2011

Totally not necessary like PPs have stated. We started about 5 months with rice and DD was not a fan so we pretty quickly switched to oatmeal blended with fruit puree.

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