What is the first cereal to feed a baby

How to Get Started – The Baby's Brew

November 11, 2021

I will always remember feeding each of my babies their first foods. After months of only breastfeeding and bottles, my husband and I couldn’t wait to introduce the next milestone to each of our babies. But with the first baby at least, there was also apprehension. Our pediatrician had recommended we start with a single-grain baby cereal such as rice cereal, but I didn’t know which one to get and I wanted to make sure I fed my baby the right way!

So to get you started off on the right food with baby feeding 101, I’ve put together this guide to giving your baby cereal for the first time. And it will only get more exciting as you introduce other foods to your little one.

Choosing a First Baby Cereal

Before you actually feed your baby, you have to choose what you want to give them from the array of cereals and other options available.

Most parents reach for the rice cereal to give their baby as their first food. I know I did as a new mom! It’s an easy choice and one that doctors suggest due to its benefits. It's easy to such as its digest, won’t trigger an allergic reaction and is tolerated well by babies who’ve only been fed breastmilk or formula. It’s also iron-fortified, which babies need as their iron stores start to deplete around 6 months of age.

Though rice cereal has traditionally been suggested as the best first food for your baby, even many doctors may still give this recommendation, it has gotten a bit of a bad rap in recent years due to the arsenic that’s found in rice - causing parents to look at other options. (This article from Healthy Children explains how you can ensure rice cereal can be used in a healthy diet for your baby.)

If you do choose rice cereal, you’ll want to start introducing other solids to your baby shortly so that’s not all that they are getting, as recommended by the FDA.

Other Cereal Options Besides Rice

Fortunately, if you want to skip the rice cereal completely, you can! There is no need to feel like this is the only first food for your baby. Many experts share that any iron-fortified single-grain baby cereal is a great choice, such as baby oatmeal or barley. You can even start with other pureed foods which we discuss later on in this article.

When to Start Feeding Your Baby Cereal

Several years ago the recommendation was that parents could feed their babies at four months if they showed readiness signs. But medical advice evolves and this is a guideline that medical experts have changed to give babies the healthiest start possible.

It’s now suggested that it’s best to wait til closer to your baby’s ½ birthday to introduce solids, especially if he is breastfed. There’s really no reason to rush it!

But it’s not just age you want to pay attention to as we know that all babies develop at different rates.

Here are signs to look for that will let you know your baby is ready for solid foods:

able to sit up supported in a high chair
has proper head control
no more tongue thrust
eager to take a spoon
are interested in the food that you are eating

If your baby isn’t yet showing these signs, you’ll want to wait a bit longer before starting baby cereal or other solid foods. No need to worry - all babies are ready in their own time! Your baby will continue to get the nutrition they need from their breastmilk or formula so you don’t need to be concerned that they are missing out on important nutrients. If you do have concerns, it’s always best to talk to your pediatrician.

Can you give your baby cereal in a bottle?

Even though your well-meaning grandma may suggest that you mix cereal into your baby’s bottle to help fill them up so they can sleep better, this practice is actually not safe according to the CDC. In fact, they share that it won’t help your baby sleep better anyway. This practice puts your baby at risk for choking or overfeeding and also may encourage parents to start solid foods long before they are ready.

Instead, follow the guideline to not feed your baby solid foods until he or she is at least 5-6 months in age and watch for the other readiness signs mentioned above. At this point you can feed your baby with a spoon and introduce finger foods as they are ready.

RELATED: Starting Solid Foods With Your Baby

How to Introduce Cereal to Your Baby

Breastmilk and formula will continue to be your baby’s primary source of nutrition until the age of one, but cereal is a great way to get them started with supplemental nutrition and transition them to solid foods. So how do you go about it?

Here are the steps to follow to give your baby her first single-grain cereal:

Make sure they meet the recommended readiness signs. This will not only make for a safe feeding experience for your little guy or gal, but it will also be a lot more enjoyable for you.
Plan to feed your little one after they’ve had a full feeding of breastmilk or formula. This way their tummy will mostly be full which means they’ll likely be happy to try a little cereal. (If you try to introduce solids to a hungry baby they will most likely be uncooperative!) Initially you’ll only feed your baby once per day, and it’s up to you when you want that time to be. We recommend choosing a time that your baby is usually in good spirits!
Follow the directions on the label of your chosen baby cereal. You don’t need much to start! 1 tablespoon of cereal mixed with breastmilk or formula until it’s a runny consistency will be plenty for those first couple of feedings. If your baby is used to drinking warm milk or formula, you’ll want to use that same temperature of milk to mix with your baby’s food. (This is why we love the Baby’s Brew portable bottle warmer...you can choose your baby’s milk temperature with the push of a button!)
Be sure your baby is sitting upright. Ideally this would be in a highchair, but they could also be sitting on your lap. You’ll want them to be wearing a bib as a lot your little one’s food won’t make it into their mouth initially.
Use an infant spoon to feed your baby. Do your best to get the spoon into their open mouth, but just know it’s going to be a bit messy at first as they get the hang of what’s going on. It won’t be long before they are opening wide at mealtime!
Watch for cues from your baby that show that they are full (or are just are no longer interested). If your baby turns their head, is fussy or won’t open their mouth to eat, it’s time to be “all done!”

And that’s it! You can do another feeding the next day (or you can just do every other day) with the same type of cereal. Be sure to wait three - five days before introducing another food so you can keep an eye out for any allergic reactions. This is the recommendation given by the CDC.

After a couple weeks to a month of successfully feeding your baby once per day you can move to twice per day.

Does cereal have to be your baby’s first food?

Some parents choose to start with a different food or may take baby cereal out of their little one’s diet altogether. Starting with other pureed foods instead is totally fine and may even work better for some babies. WebMD shares that both pureed vegetables or fruits are good starter foods and that there’s no rule saying that baby cereals must be first.

Some great first foods, if you want to skip the cereal route, include:

Avocados
Bananas
Blended Red Meat (great source of iron)
Squash
Sweet Potatoes
Pears

Just remember that these all need to be pureed and made into a runny consistency that’s easy for your baby to eat. Mixing with your baby’s warmed breastmilk or formula will help to bring this to a consistency that your baby can manage. You’ll also want to avoid giving your baby any of the top allergen foods such as the ones listed here unless you’ve been given different advice from your doctor. These are best introduced when your baby gets a little older.

Still not sure which food to start with? It can be a bit overwhelming! This is a great conversation to have with your doctor before your baby turns 6 months and they can help guide you on what would be the best option. Whatever you choose, it is sure to be an exciting time for your family as your little guy or gal begins his journey of eating "real" food!

When Can My Baby Start Eating Solid Foods? (for Parents)

A friend just started giving her 3-month-old applesauce and rice cereal. My son is just 2 weeks younger than hers, and I am wondering if I should be introducing solids soon too. When should I start?
– Taylor

Doctors recommend waiting until a baby is about 6 months old to start solid foods. Starting before 4 months is not recommended.

At about 6 months, babies need the added nutrition — such as iron and zinc — that solid foods provide. It’s also the right time to introduce your infant to new tastes and textures.

Some babies may be ready for solids sooner than 6 months, but don't start until your baby is at least 4 months old.

How do you know it’s the right time to start solid foods? Here are some signs that babies are ready:

They have good head and neck control and sit up in a high chair.
They're interested in foods. For example, they may watch others eat, reach for food, and open their mouths when food approaches.
They don’t push food out of their mouths, which is a natural tongue reflex that disappears when they’re between 4–6 months old.
They weigh twice their birth weight, or close to it.

Talk to your doctor about the right time to start solid foods.

How Should I Start Solids?

When the time is right, you can start with a single-grain, iron-fortified baby cereal. Start with 1 or 2 tablespoons of cereal mixed with breast milk, formula, or water. Feed your baby with a small baby spoon. Don’t add cereal or other food to a baby's bottle because it can lead to too much weight gain. Let your baby practice eating from a spoon and learn to stop when full.

When your baby gets the hang of eating the first food, introduce others, such as puréed meat, fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, or yogurt. Try one food at a time and wait a few days before trying something else new to make sure your baby doesn't have an allergic reaction.

Foods that are more likely to cause allergies can be among the foods you introduce to your baby. These include peanuts, eggs, cow’s milk, seafood, nuts, wheat, and soy. Waiting to start these foods does not prevent food allergies. Talk to your doctor if you are concerned about food allergies, especially if any close family members have allergies, food allergies, or allergy-related conditions, like eczema or asthma.

Infants with severe eczema or egg allergies are more likely to have allergies to peanuts. Talk to your doctor about how and when to introduce these foods to your child.

When starting your baby on solids, avoid:

foods with added sugars and no-calorie sweeteners
high-sodium foods
honey, until after the first birthday. It can cause botulism in babies.
unpasteurized juice, milk, yogurt, or cheese
regular cow's milk or soy drinks before 12 months instead of breast milk or formula. It’s OK to offer pasteurized yogurt and cheese.
foods that may cause choking, such as hot dogs, raw carrots, grapes, popcorn, and nuts

Also, do not give fruit juices to infants younger than 12 months old.

Over the next few months, introduce a variety of foods from all the food groups. If your baby doesn't seem to like something, don’t give up. It can take 8 to 10 tries or more before babies learn to like new foods.

Reviewed by: Mary L. Gavin, MD

Date reviewed: February 2021

What kind of porridge to choose for the first feeding | How to introduce porridge: how to cook, properly breed porridge for the first feeding

Your baby is growing up, getting stronger, gaining weight, and now there comes a moment when feeding only breast milk or formula is not enough for the full development of the crumbs. It's time to introduce complementary foods into your baby's diet. The question arises - where to start? Your pediatrician should answer it.

Today we’ll talk about how to properly introduce complementary foods with cereals. Let's talk about how to breed porridge, which one is better to choose for the first feeding, and how homemade porridge differs from store-bought.

Cereals for children up to one year old

Porridge contains all the necessary set of trace elements, is perfectly absorbed, and has a beneficial effect on the digestive system.

Usually, cereals begin to be introduced into the diet of a baby at the age of six months. If the child is bottle-fed, it is permissible to start earlier, at 4-5 months. These are only approximate dates, in fact, everything is individual. It is necessary to take into account the pace of development of the child, his readiness for adult food and the tendency to allergic reactions.

Complementary foods with cereals are recommended for children who are not gaining weight well. Most likely, the baby simply does not have enough calories. In any case, before starting complementary foods, a pediatrician should be consulted. He will help you choose porridge, tell you in what quantities and how often to feed her child.

It is important that the first porridge be:

Industrial production . Not only because the raw materials are sterilized and undergo rigorous quality control. But also because at home it is difficult to achieve such a degree of grinding cereals, as cereal manufacturers do. For example, Materna porridges consist of delicate cereal flakes, which form an absolutely homogeneous mass when brewed. If desired, they can be diluted to a thick mixture and offered to the baby to drink from a bottle.
Single component . To track down the cause of an allergic reaction if it occurs.

Dairy or non-dairy: with which cereals does the first weaning start

Pediatricians recommend starting complementary foods with dairy-free gluten-free cereals. Gluten is a fairly heavy vegetable protein for digestion by a child's body. Its use can lead to allergies. Dairy-free cereals can be diluted with breast milk or your own milk formula to make them more nutritious and taste more familiar to the baby.

The first gluten-free cereals include: corn, rice and buckwheat.

How to switch from dairy-free to milk porridge

If no allergic reactions occur within 4-7 weeks from the start of complementary foods and dairy-free cereals are well absorbed, you can start offering milk cereals for children up to a year old to the baby, their energy value is much higher.

How to properly organize feeding with cereals

For the first acquaintance, you need to cook a five percent porridge, which means that for five grams of dry porridge there should be 100 mg of water. The resulting consistency will be ideal for a child who is not yet able to chew and swallow thick food.

The best time to feed is the morning meal. So you will have time to track the baby's reaction to a new product: if there are any allergies or stool disorders.

For feeding, a baby spoon made of safe material for the baby's delicate gums or a regular teaspoon is used.

As a first test, it is enough to give the child about half a tablespoon of liquid porridge. The kid should try out a new product, get used to the change in texture and taste.

Make sure the porridge is not too cold or hot, and does not contain lumps.

After porridge feeding, feed your baby his usual food - breast milk or formula.

Increase the volume of a serving of porridge only when you are sure that the baby eats it with pleasure, and he does not experience unwanted reactions.

Every day, increase the amount of porridge per spoon until the serving is 150 g for a six-month-old baby, 160-170 g for a child aged 7-8 months and 170-180 g for an age of 8-9months. Closer to the year, the serving volume will be about 200 g. And the five percent porridge is replaced by a thicker, ten percent one.

We remind you that these are only general recommendations, and the development of each child is individual and the dosage may differ from that described above. It is important not to change cereals at the beginning of complementary foods, your baby should get used to one cereal, and only after a successful debut, you can offer the next one - not earlier than in two weeks.

If you start experimenting ahead of time and give your child a different porridge every day, in case of an allergy, it will be very difficult for you to understand what exactly the child's body reacted to.

The child does not eat porridge

Toddlers refuse porridge for various reasons.

Don't like the taste or texture.
It happens that children who started complementary foods with fruits and vegetables do not eat porridge, because their taste is very different and not so bright. Try adding an already familiar apple or broccoli to a new porridge. In addition, a child may not like the taste of some cereal today, but in a couple of weeks he will eat it with pleasure. Set this mess aside for a while and try again later.
The porridge is too hot or too cold.
Check food temperature on the inside of your wrist. If you do not feel cold or hot, then the temperature is optimal.
The child is not yet hungry. Set the plate aside for half an hour and then try again.

The main advice to parents is not to despair, and offer the same porridge many times in different combinations.

What kind of porridge to introduce first into complementary foods

Be sure to ask your pediatrician for advice on which cereal to give your baby first. After all, all kids are different.

The main types of cereals recommended for consistent introduction into the child's diet:

Buckwheat porridge . It is considered indispensable in the diet of the child. Contains vitamins B1 and B2, iron, magnesium, protein.
Rice porridge . Contrary to the common misconception of many parents, baby rice porridge will not cause constipation because it does not contain crushed rice. For the manufacture of these cereals, rice flour is used, which has a beneficial effect on the digestion of the child and is rich in healthy dietary fiber.
Corn porridge . Such porridge is a leader among other cereals in terms of the content of potassium in its composition. Also contains a large amount of protein, iron and fiber.
Oatmeal . No other cereal compares to oatmeal in terms of fat and fiber content. In addition, oatmeal is rich in vegetable protein and calcium, iron, magnesium, vitamins B1, B2, PP. Oatmeal is introduced last of all the described cereals, because it is very rare, but there is an allergy.

The Materna product line includes dairy-free and milk porridges for children from 6 months. All cereals do not contain salt and sugar and are made from cereals and fruits grown in Israel specifically for baby food.

when you can enter, which porridge to start with, which is better to enter at the beginning

Published: 06/21/2020

Reading time: 5 min.

Number of reads: 54885

Author of the article: Ponomareva Yuliya Vladimirovna

Pediatrician, Candidate of Medical Sciences, Allergist-Immunologist

Your baby is growing and developing intensively, and others say that he is changing right before our eyes. By the 4-5th month of a baby's life, every mother begins to wonder if breast milk alone is enough for him, and whether it is time to start introducing other foods.

Content: Hide

When to start complementary foods
Advantages of cereal feeding
Useful properties of milk porridge
variety of grain
Danger Gluten
Greek cereal
rice cereal
Method of preparation

WHO and the Federal Research Center for Nutrition, Biotechnology and Food Safety recommend that complementary foods be started at 6 months of age unless there are other grounds for earlier introduction. Indeed, breast milk is a unique product that perfectly meets the needs of the baby during the first four months of life. However, despite the high biological value, it cannot satisfy all the needs of a growing organism. Slowing down the start of complementary foods can negatively affect the growth and development of the child. Up to 6 months, the baby can remain only breastfed with normal growth and weight gain and neuropsychic development that meets the standard. Another important condition is a full-fledged balanced diet for a nursing mother, since the qualitative composition of human milk determines the supply of the most important nutrients and biologically active substances to the baby. Often there is a need for an earlier introduction of complementary foods - from 4-5 months. It is at this age that most children experience functional maturation of the gastrointestinal tract, and the ability to digest and assimilate food other than breast milk appears.

The benefits of cereals

"Where to start with the first complementary foods, and what foods will be the best for the baby?" - one of the most common questions parents of infants. The choice of foods to start expanding the diet should be individual and depends on the characteristics of each child. The pediatrician, together with the parents, decides from how many months to start introducing complementary foods, determines the sequence and schedule for its introduction. Very often milk porridge is preferred as the first product. The most important place in the nutrition of young children is given to grain-based products - as a source of almost all essential nutrients. Indeed, it is impossible to imagine the diet of a young child without tasty and healthy porridge. This product is rich in vegetable proteins, which are necessary for the normal growth of the baby. Complex carbohydrates and fats provide long-lasting satiety and provide energy for an active day. And dietary fiber and the vitamins and minerals included in the composition are important for the normal functioning of all organs and systems. In addition to the unconditional benefits of the components of milk porridge, it is also the taste familiar to the baby, which is as similar as possible to mother's milk. The semi-liquid consistency of this complementary food smoothly prepares the gradual transition from liquid to pureed, and then to solid food.

Useful properties of milk porridge

The nutritional value of milk porridge is much higher than dairy-free ones. In addition to useful substances of plant origin, the addition of milk ensures the supply of protein, fully digestible in terms of amino acid composition, easily digestible fat, calcium and a number of vitamins. Thanks to this, complementary foods with milk porridge become a complete meal that can completely replace one of the feedings in children older than 5 months. Modern industrial products of some manufacturers (for example, the Bebi Premium cereal line) are made on the basis of special baby milk, which is adapted for safe use in the first year of life, unlike cereals made from whole milk. This is very important, since unadapted protein in cow's and goat's milk can cause allergies, damage to intestinal cells and baby's kidneys.

Variety of cereals

Cereals are very diverse, so on the one hand, this allows the wide use of various types of cereal complementary foods for organizing a healthy diet, and on the other hand, it determines age restrictions and an individual scheme for introducing various types of cereals. All cereals are rich in slowly digestible carbohydrates, but they differ significantly in the content of protein, plant fibers, which are part of vitamins and minerals. Milk porridge as a product of the first feeding should be from one type of cereal, do not contain sucrose and gluten.

The danger of gluten

Gluten is a vegetable protein found in many cereals and determines the quality of dough in the bakery. In children under 6 months of age, gluten-containing foods are not introduced into the diet, since infants do not have special enzymes that digest this protein. The introduction of gluten in the first half of life can cause damage to the villi of the small intestine mucosa and cause serious illness. Therefore, your baby's first cereal should be based on buckwheat, rice or corn grits - these cereals do not contain gluten. Another advantage of each of these three types of cereals is low allergenicity, so they can be given as first complementary foods to children at risk of developing food allergies.

Buckwheat

Buckwheat is rightfully recognized as one of the most useful foods for young children. For the manufacture of children's cereals, the unground is used - a whole grain product, a storehouse of useful substances. Vegetable protein, which is rich in buckwheat, contains a balanced complex of valuable amino acids, many of which are essential. Buckwheat contains the largest amount, in comparison with other cereals, of vitamins B2, PP, as well as potassium, iron, magnesium, copper, zinc. And these substances are very important for the full functioning of organs and systems, the development of immunity, strengthening the heart and blood vessels. Buckwheat porridge is rich in fiber, which has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the child's digestive system. This will be useful for children with a tendency to delay stool.

Rice groats

Rice groats are rich in complex carbohydrates, especially starch, and this is the necessary energy for the intensive development of the child. At the same time, the starch granules in rice are small, and porridge from this type of grain is well digested and absorbed. Therefore, rice porridge is a dietary product and is especially useful for babies with a weight deficit. The protein content in rice groats is the lowest compared to all other cereals, but this is offset by the usefulness of its amino acid composition - the main "bricks" for building your own tissues. Rice includes a small amount of fats, but they are mainly represented by very valuable unsaturated fatty acids. Otherwise, it is poor in vitamins and minerals. The low content of vegetable fibers contributes to the fixing effect, which will be useful for children with unstable stools.

Corn groats

Corn groats, like rice, are high in starch. And the content of protein, vitamins and microelements surpasses it. Porridge based on this product is rich in vital trace elements - iron, phosphorus, magnesium and zinc. Of all cereals, such cereals contain the largest amount of vitamin A. Another distinctive feature of this cereal is its high fiber content, which has a beneficial effect on the baby's digestion, inhibits fermentation processes in the intestines, and the baby is less worried about colic.

How to prepare porridge

Every mother asks herself a question: to use ready-to-eat industrial porridge or cook it yourself from ordinary cereals. For many people, instant foods are not associated with healthy eating, so it may seem that it is better to cook porridge yourself, because it will only contain familiar, proven ingredients. This approach is wrong - industrially produced baby cereals have a number of advantages compared to home-cooked ones. They are made using special technologies, taking into account the peculiarities of the metabolism and digestion of young children. All products undergo a very strict three-stage quality and safety control, the absence of harmful additives and microbial contamination is guaranteed. Whereas, using ordinary cereals, one cannot be sure that the grains were grown in an ecologically clean region and did not undergo aggressive processing before use. In addition, in industrial cereals, the optimal degree of grinding, which corresponds to the age characteristics of the chewing apparatus and the child's digestive tract. Another advantage of such products is the enrichment with important biologically active substances - vitamins and minerals, absolutely necessary for the normal growth and development of the baby. Their number is balanced and covers a significant part of the daily requirement.

How to introduce milk porridge into the diet

Any new food should be introduced gradually, the digestive organs need to adapt to this product, and the mother needs to assess its tolerance. Start the first feeding with milk porridge when the baby is healthy and in a good mood.