First time feeding baby rice

When Can You Start Feeding a Baby Rice Cereal? Safety and More

If you ask for advice on the best time to start feeding your baby rice cereal, the responses may be all over the place. Some people might suggest feeding a baby rice cereal starting at 6 months, whereas others might suggest as young as only 2 or 3 months old.

But just because someone else gives their baby rice cereal early doesn’t mean that you should do the same. For advice, the best place to go is to your own pediatrician — they’re the authority on your baby’s health. In the meantime, here’s what other experts recommend.

Updated recommendations

New guidelines caution that rice cereal shouldn’t be the only solid given. So the old practice of starting only iron-fortified rice cereal at about 6 months is no longer recommended.

For the first few months of life, you’ll feed your baby exclusively with breast milk or formula. Anything other than breast milk or formula is considered a solid food. So when deciding the right time to start your baby on rice cereal, you should follow the same guidelines for starting a baby on solid foods.

Some people argue that rice cereal is an exception to the guidelines — perhaps because of the ability of rice cereal to dissolve in (and “thicken”) breast milk or formula when added in small quantities.

Yet, rice cereal is a solid food. Babies aren’t ready for solid foods until they’re about 6 months old.

Since every baby is different, it’s important to look for signs that your baby is actually ready to start eating rice cereal before serving it.

You should hold off feeding a baby solid food until they have control of their neck and head. Your little one will need to be upright while eating, so they should be able to sit in a highchair.

Most importantly, don’t give a baby rice cereal until they have the oral skills to move solid food from the front of their mouth to the back. This skill doesn’t typically develop until at least 4 months old. Until then, your baby’s tongue will push out any food that enters their mouth.

Another telltale sign that your baby may be ready for solid food is when they express an interest in your food. If you’re eating in their presence, they might try to grab your food — or lean in toward food with their open mouth (have your camera ready!).

For the most part, you shouldn’t give a baby rice cereal before the recommended guidelines. Even though the extrusion reflex — that automatic reflex that causes a baby’s tongue to push food forward — can provide some protection before they’re ready, offering solid food too early can still pose a choking or aspiration risk.

Giving a baby rice cereal — or other solid foods — too early may also increase a baby’s risk of having obesity.

But when they’re ready, rice cereal can be a great starter food, among others.

After several months of only consuming breast milk or formula, some babies have difficulty adjusting to solid foods.

To start the introduction process, mix 1 to 2 tablespoons of iron-fortified rice cereal with 4 to 6 tablespoons of formula, breast milk, or water. Some people mix rice cereal with fruit juice, too. But this isn’t recommended because fruit juice doesn’t offer health benefits and is very high in sugar.

Spoon feed an iron-fortified rice cereal to your baby. (It’s important that babies get enough iron once they start solid foods.) But don’t be surprised if it takes a couple of feedings for your baby to get the hang of eating this way. You can nurse or bottle feed first, and then end feedings with rice cereal.

Doctors used to recommend rice cereal as a “first food.” But now we know that age-appropriate foods can be introduced in any order, and rice cereal shouldn’t be the only solid given for very long due to arsenic exposure, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

You can introduce other jar or puréed foods like fruits and vegetables before or after you introduce rice cereal. And do include other iron-fortified, single-grain cereals besides rice. Variety is the spice of life — even for baby!

When introducing new solid foods to your baby, do so one at a time. This way, you can detect any potential food allergies or sensitivities early. For example, after you feed your baby peas for the first time, wait 3 to 5 days before introducing carrots.

You might have heard of adding rice cereal to a bottle to thicken breast milk or formula. This, however, isn’t recommended unless your pediatrician says it’s OK.

If your baby has episodes of acid reflux, your doctor might advise this method to thicken the milk and try to prevent regurgitation. But this is rare.

Starting a baby on solid food is a major milestone, but you shouldn’t introduce rice cereal too early. Doing so poses a few different risks. So wait until your baby is about 6 months, and look specifically for signs that they’re ready for solids.

When in doubt, talk it out — with your pediatrician. They’re a goldmine of information, and best of all, they know your baby’s health better than anyone else, including Dr. Google.

When Can You Start Feeding a Baby Rice Cereal? Safety and More

Updated recommendations

New guidelines caution that rice cereal shouldn’t be the only solid given. So the old practice of starting only iron-fortified rice cereal at about 6 months is no longer recommended.

Yet, rice cereal is a solid food. Babies aren’t ready for solid foods until they’re about 6 months old.

Since every baby is different, it’s important to look for signs that your baby is actually ready to start eating rice cereal before serving it.

You should hold off feeding a baby solid food until they have control of their neck and head. Your little one will need to be upright while eating, so they should be able to sit in a highchair.

Giving a baby rice cereal — or other solid foods — too early may also increase a baby’s risk of having obesity.

But when they’re ready, rice cereal can be a great starter food, among others.

After several months of only consuming breast milk or formula, some babies have difficulty adjusting to solid foods.

You might have heard of adding rice cereal to a bottle to thicken breast milk or formula. This, however, isn’t recommended unless your pediatrician says it’s OK.

If your baby has episodes of acid reflux, your doctor might advise this method to thicken the milk and try to prevent regurgitation. But this is rare.

When in doubt, talk it out — with your pediatrician. They’re a goldmine of information, and best of all, they know your baby’s health better than anyone else, including Dr. Google.

90,000 3 reasons to offer the baby rice dishes - Parents.ru

About power

Photo: Jun IHARA/GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO

Allergist -immunologist

Honored favorite

Rice is a storehouse of benefits. No wonder it is the No. 1 product in oriental cuisine, popular all over the world. It becomes the basis of many delicious dishes and does not harm the figure. Why is it so beautiful:

Many vitamins. Rice is one of the most useful cereal crops and a very important product for children's diet. It is rich in fiber, proteins, carbohydrates, all B vitamins, trace elements such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, manganese, iron, copper, amino acids. And all this is necessary for the growth and proper physical development of children.
Low calorie and hypoallergenic. In 100 g of rice porridge, for example, no more than 100 calories. For a child, it is also good because it does not contain gluten, which is often the main provocateur of allergic reactions in both children and adults.
Disease prevention. The benefits of rice for a child's body are obvious. Products and trace elements contained in rice are necessary for the mental development of the child, they improve cerebral circulation, strengthen the nervous system. In diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, rice products have a beneficial effect on the gastric mucosa, gently enveloping it. In addition, rice is a good absorbent, capable of removing harmful substances and toxins from the body. It is not in vain that rice broth is recommended to give water to a child in case of poisoning or during a rotavirus infection.

Photo: Graham Oliver/Getty Images/iStockphoto

When to start?

Rice can be introduced into the baby's diet with the first complementary foods. What's more, it's considered one of the most recommended foods to start weaning as it's highly nutritious, easy to digest, and causes little to no allergic reactions in babies.

Rice goes well with any ingredients and products - meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, cereals, nuts.

Dishes such as rice porridge with water or milk, ground rice as a side dish, casseroles, mousses can diversify a child's diet. The product should be used no more than 1-2 times a week.

The right choice

When choosing rice, be guided by the degree of its processing. The higher it is, the less useful substances are preserved in it. The most dietary and favorable is brown / brown rice. It contains many more microelements, vitamins and complex carbohydrates, which contribute to a balanced diet, help replenish the baby's energy reserves, and also act as an excellent absorbent, absorbing and removing toxins and toxins from the body.

In second place in terms of its beneficial properties is steamed rice. Vitamins and minerals in such rice are slightly smaller than in brown. This is because during processing and polishing, some of the useful substances are removed along with the shell, and some goes into the core. Such cereals are very convenient to prepare and much tastier than other types of product, since after cooking it turns out to be crumbly and, most likely, the child will be more willing to eat it.

More useful materials about the proper upbringing of children - in our channel on Yandex.Zen.

Lyubov Prishlaya

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Rice porridge is ideal for the first feeding, as it does not contain gluten.

Rice is different, so you can find on sale long-grained, medium-grained, round-grained, and rice also differs in color: white, brown, wild or black, yellowish. The most ideal option for usefulness for baby food is brown rice, which retains the shell of the cereal, which is the benefit. But you can use any kind of rice for baby food.

Brown rice and any other rice are unlikely to cause allergic reactions, the absence of gluten contributes to this. Nutritious and versatile, brown rice can be paired with any meal your child loves.

Brown rice is a minimally processed brown rice with a light nutty flavor.

Brown rice is more nutritious than white rice. This is because it is unrefined and the natural shell is preserved. Brown rice on the Russian market is a little more expensive than regular white rice, but it's worth it. Moreover, you can cook rice flour for baby porridge at home without industrial additives, which will reduce the risk of allergic reactions.

Table of contents:

Rice in the form of porridge can be introduced into complementary foods for a child from 4 months of age. However, it is necessary to remember the WHO recommendation to introduce complementary foods at the age of 6 months.

The second step in starting complementary foods is to identify the first type of complementary food and the first product (see here). Usually mothers have a choice between cereals and vegetables, if there is a lack of weight, then, most likely, cereals are introduced into the baby's diet. But buckwheat and rice are considered the first complementary foods. Most often, buckwheat is chosen as the first porridge, since the child's stool most likely will not change. But rice porridge strengthens, it is ideal as a therapeutic diet for diarrhea.

But it should not be discarded and can be introduced as the first complementary food, as it is easily digested, coats the stomach, helps to remove toxins from the body, and is often recommended for unstable stools and frequent spitting up. It is also necessary to note the nutritional value of rice, with its low calorie content, which is useful for overweight. Rice also helps the body meet the need for complex carbohydrates, which are then used to build muscle mass and feel full for a long time.

Rice is introduced into complementary foods like any new product, it is necessary to withstand the first 4-7 days to monitor the reaction of the child's body to a new product. Usually, butter is introduced along with porridge, so if a child is about 7 months old and porridge is introduced, then butter must also be introduced, also as a new product. With an undesirable reaction of the child's body in the form of worsening stools, rashes, etc. consult a doctor and stop giving rice.

How to select and store rice

It is best to choose local varieties of rice, as they travel less from seller to buyer. Our Krasnodar rice is ideal for baby food. Moreover, there is brown rice of Russian production, but you need to look for it. It will be difficult to choose rice, since there are more than 150 types, and it also differs in the way it is processed: polished, unpolished, steamed.

Therefore, mothers usually use rice, which the whole family eats for a long time. You can, of course, buy brown rice for your beloved baby, but this is decided individually with the pediatrician and at the family council.

When choosing rice, you should pay attention to the appearance of cereals, which should be the same size throughout the package. If it is long-grain rice, then round-grain rice should not be found in the package. It is also worth checking for the presence of larvae, insects, checking the GOST sign and making sure that the rice does not smell of anything nasty.

Whole grains can be stored for 12 to 18 months in a dry, cool, dark place. If the temperature becomes extremely warm in the house, you can store the grains in the refrigerator. However, do not forget to look at the expiration date on the package.

Cooked rice is stored for no more than three days, for a child it is worth preparing a new porridge every time.

Ground whole grains such as rice flour should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Flour can be stored in a cool, dry place, but should be checked frequently.

When the grain is ground, the natural oils found in rice can become rancid if left unrefrigerated. When buying any type of ground whole grain, it's best to buy a smaller amount to ensure it's used quickly and completely before it goes rancid.

By the way, brown rice should be stored in the refrigerator, and preferably in the freezer. If such rice is stored in the kitchen at above zero temperatures, then the oils begin to oxidize, which makes brown rice harmful.

Freezing rice or rice porridge

Freezing rice porridge does not behave very well, namely it becomes too soft and tasteless, therefore, it is best to freeze multi-ingredient dishes where there is very little rice porridge. Boiled rice is better than frozen rice porridge. Here's how food behaves after freezing.

Complementary food preparation: Rice

You can use a rice cooker, slow cooker, steamer and just a pot of water to cook rice porridge. Usually, rice in its pure form is not very suitable as the first complementary food, because after cooking it, whipping it into a homogeneous mass with a blender and other devices turns out badly, only a plastic grater will help, but it will take a lot of time. Therefore, rice must be prepared for the preparation of baby food. You need to pass it several times through a regular cereal mill, which is not difficult to buy in any store. Someday I will write a review of two mills that I have at home, one Soviet, the other modern. It turns out ordinary rice flour, from which it is easiest to cook children's rice porridge.

Approximately ¼ cup of rice flour uses 1-2 cups of water, depending on the final consistency and the child's preferences. Next, rice flour is poured into boiled water, everything is whipped with a whisk to get rid of lumps. Then everything is cooked over low heat until cooked, see the recipe here.

I think everyone knows how to cook whole grain white rice, but remember, wash in several waters, you can soak for 1 hour, simmer for the first time, stirring until the rice is ready.

There is another original way to cook rice, but it is worth trying to understand whether it suits you or not.

Wash rice, boil water, add rice, cook at a boil for 1 minute, then turn off the heat, close the lid and leave to cool or reach for 5-10 minutes, until cooked. You will get fluffy rice.

Brown rice cooks a little differently because it is more firm. It is best to soak brown rice overnight in cold water, then wash it thoroughly in new water in the morning, pour new cold water over it. Boil for about 10 minutes, then rinse again with cold water, pour again and cook for 15 minutes. And then you need the rice to reach, so we remove it from the fire and wrap it in a blanket.

We would like to remind you that children should not be introduced to sugar and salt until they are one year old.

The difference between brown and white rice

The difference between brown and white rice is not only in color. A whole grain of rice has several layers. Only the topmost layer, the husk, is removed to make what we call brown rice. This process is the least damaging to the nutritional value of the rice and avoids the unnecessary loss of nutrients that occurs with further processing of the grain.

If brown rice is further milled to remove the bran and most of the germ layer, the result will be white rice, rice that has lost more nutrients.

However, the rice is still unpolished and is polished to make the white rice we are used to seeing. Polishing removes the aleurone layer of the grains, filled with essential fats. Because these fats are highly susceptible to oxidation when exposed to air, this layer is removed through a refining process to extend the shelf life of the product.

The resulting white rice is simply a refined starch that is largely stripped of its original nutrients.

How often to give rice?

If the child is prone to constipation, a pediatrician should be consulted, as the product is too useful to be abandoned forever, it may be worth introducing it later into the child's diet or feeding rice porridge only 1 time per week.

If the child is healthy, then we still monitor the stool while rice porridge is introduced into the diet, then when other products are introduced, when the child’s menu expands significantly, rice porridge or rice should be given 2-3 times a week as part of various dishes, not only like porridge for breakfast.

Foods that go well with rice:

Fruits, vegetables, yogurt, meat, fish, poultry, seafood, seaweed, mushrooms, dried fruits are great foods to mix with boiled rice.

Grass and spices that perfectly complement the taste of rice:

Cardamom
turmeric
GDs
Muscular walnut
rice porridge with apple and pumpkin
cauliflower and rice puree

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On our site Encyclopedia Baby Food there is useful information on the nutrition of your children, which is useful for everyone, and we update the site "Encyclopedia Baby Food" constantly and try to search and write only excellent, verified and necessary information for you and your children.

Disclaimer No. 1: It must be understood that the author of the articles on the Baby Food Encyclopedia website is not a medical staff, “I am not a doctor.” The information I share is based on my own experience. My goal is not to teach you how to eat or feed your child, but to talk about how we did it, what new things I learned or read. This expands the picture of Baby Food knowledge, gives you a glimpse of the whole process so you can decide if you like it or not.

Disclaimer No. 2 : However, the above does not cancel visiting a pediatrician. Before you start complementary foods, you need to get his professional opinion on the best way to introduce new foods for your baby. I also draw your attention to the fact that you need to look at the original date of the published articles, because some of the "best practices" may have changed. Always check with your child's pediatrician about complementary foods and their health.

Disclaimer #3: Keep in mind that every family is unique, every situation is also completely unique. There are no universal solutions. Only you can find what works best for you. Certain goals require certain sacrifices and priorities - not everyone wants to make those choices, and that's GREAT! Just know what you want to achieve, and be ready to get to work, putting the best of your strength!

Disclaimer No. 4: On the Encyclopedia Baby Food website, photos from books on baby food with attribution are used to better understand the information (Article 1274, paragraph 1, part four of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Literature on baby food is found in the public domain on the Internet.