My son is now about 6 1/2 months old. He was born prematurely and his corrected age is 4 months. I'm about to start him on cereal next week after his next doctor's visit.
I am wondering which cereal brand to put him on? Is there a difference between Gerber Organic vs. Earth's Best? Which one would you recommend and why? Thanks!
WGAFF
Favorite Answer
Homemade. As organic as you can get. I make all of it homemade so i know whats going into it but its not for everyone. Good Luck and have fun starting with the solids. :D
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/cereals.htm
Oatmeal Cereal
Ingredients:
1/4 cup of ground oats (do NOT use instant or Quick Cook), ground in blender or food processor
3/4 cup - 1 cup water
Directions:
1. Bring liquid to boil in saucepan. Add the oatmeal powder while stirring constantly.
3. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly, mix in formula or breast milk and fruits if desired
3. Serve warm.
Barley Cereal
Ingredients:
1/4 cup ground barley (barley ground in blender or food processor)
1 cup water
Directions:
1. Bring liquid to a boil. Add the barley and simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly
2. Mix in formula or breast milk or juice and add fruits if desired
3. Serve warm
Rice Cereal
Ingredients:
1/4 c. rice powder (brown rice ground in blender or food processor)
1 cup water
Directions:
1. Bring liquid to boil in saucepan. Add the rice powder while stirring constantly.
3. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly, mix in formula or breast milk and fruits if desired
3. Serve warm.
Pippin
Are his iron levels low? (Common in premies). If not, I wouldn't bother with cereal at all -- it's just empty starch with a little iron added. He'll probably find fruits or veggies more rewarding.
If his iron IS low, you could offer any brand (doesn't really matter -- it's all just refined starch and iron), or talk to your doctor about iron drops and offer a different solid (or wait a while to add solids at all. With a corrected age of only 4 months, he still has a couple of months to go before he'll really be old enough.)
Anonymous
Personally i would go with Gerber, because it has been around longer, more trusted. I'm sure Earth's Best is fine, but i would go with Gerber anyway.
Anonymous
Premature babies are at a higher risks of iron deficiency and slowed growth. Cereals, even the fortified ones, also increase the risks of iron deficiency and poor growth. Starting solids before 7-8 months (corrected age) also increases the risks of anemia for the breast fed baby, less so for the formula fed baby. But there's just no point to using over-processed junk food, you are shaping your baby's tastes for the future do you want them to prefer sweetened (yes some infant cereal contains sweeteners) processed nutritionally void food or healthy real food like dark green veggies, red fruit and veggies, meat and whole grains.
I would recommend that you start with meat as most of the iron in meat is usable by the baby and less than 10% of that in cereal is (particularly fortified cereal). Babies also possess the enzymes to break down meat based products as they are the same as proteins found in breast milk.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron.html
Which babies are more at risk for iron-deficiency anemia?
* Babies who were born prematurely, since babies get the majority of their iron stores from their mother during the last trimester of pregnancy.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/delay-solids.html
Delaying solids helps to protect baby from iron-deficiency anemia.
The introduction of iron supplements and iron-fortified foods, particularly during the first six months, reduces the efficiency of baby's iron absorption. Healthy, full-term infants who are breastfed exclusively for periods of 6-9 months have been shown to maintain normal hemoglobin values and normal iron stores. In one study (Pisacane, 1995), the researchers concluded that babies who were exclusively breastfed for 7 months (and were not give iron supplements or iron-fortified cereals) had significantly higher hemoglobin levels at one year than breastfed babies who received solid foods earlier than seven months. The researchers found no cases of anemia within the first year in babies breastfed exclusively for seven months and concluded that breastfeeding exclusively for seven months reduces the risk of anemia. See Is Iron-Supplementation Necessary? for more information.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9646449/page...
Take rice cereal, for example. Under conventional American wisdom, it's the best first food. But Butte says iron-rich meat — often one of the last foods American parents introduce — would be a better choice.
Dr. David Ludwig of Children's Hospital Boston, a specialist in pediatric nutrition, says some studies suggest rice and other highly processed grain cereals actually could be among the worst foods for infants.
"These foods are in a certain sense no different from adding sugar to formula. They digest very rapidly in the body into sugar, raising blood sugar and insulin levels" and could contribute to later health problems, including obesity, he says.
The lack of variety in the American approach also could be a problem. Exposing infants to more foods may help them adapt to different foods later, which Ludwig says may be key to getting older children to eat healthier.
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids...
Cereal is not at all necessary, particularly the baby cereals. Regular (whole grain) oatmeal is more nutritious for your baby.
http://www.askdrsears.com/faq/ci2.asp
The truth is, there is nothing special about these foods that makes them better to start out with. Babies don't actually even need rice cereal
http://www.llli.org/llleaderweb/LV/LVDec...
Meat provides additional protein, zinc, B-vitamins, and other nutrients which may be in short supply when the decrease in breast milk occurs. A recent study from Sweden suggests that when infants are given substantial amounts of cereal, it may lead to low concentrations of zinc and reduced calcium absorption (Persson 1998). Dr. Nancy Krebs has shared preliminary results from a large infant growth study suggesting that breastfed infants who received pureed or strained meat as a primary weaning food beginning at four to five months, grow at a slightly faster rate. Dr. Krebs' premise is that inadequate protein or zinc from complementary foods may limit the growth of some breastfed infants during the weaning period. Both protein and zinc levels were consistently higher in the diets of the infants who received meat (Krebs 1998). Thus the custom of providing large amounts of cereal products and excluding meat products before seven months of age may not meet the nutritional needs of all breastfed infants.
Meat has also been recommended as an excellent source of iron in infancy. Heme iron (the form of iron found in meat) is better absorbed than iron from plant sources. In addition, the protein in meat helps the baby more easily absorb the iron from other foods. Two recent studies (Makrides 1998; Engelmann 1998) have examined iron status in breastfed infants who received meat earlier in the weaning period. These studies