I have read a few posts lately about infant cereals and why NOT to give them.
Ds#1 had no trouble with them but was a very tough kid to get off of puree food and is still very picky. So I am looking from some info regarding why NOT to feed cereal and how to introduce foods better this time although I am months away from introducing anything as ds#2 is only 3.5 months.
One thing I've read from North I believe is that the infant cereals are enriched or fortified I think. Are there any that aren't as, unlike the bread I see in the stores and some of the other cereals I buy sometimes, I don't see those words on the infant boxes?
Thanks

hi jordyn
i don't have any info on baby rice etc, my ds did not like it anyway so we progressed to veggies and fruit fairly quickly although i weaned at 4 months - shoot me lol. at 6 months ds is also on meats and pasta and baby yoghurts too. good luck with the weaning i know there are so many different opinions out there it is confusing. take care

Hey Weepy!
Thanks for the input although I am not sure what you mean by weaning? I don't plan to wean him (from the breast) at all till he's atleast 8 months and I go back to work and then it will only be from the breast to a bottle of expressed milk (Lord knows I have enough in my freezer from when the hospital insisted I pump everytime I nursed while using shields....I could feed a few babies right now LOL!!!). If by weaning you mean introducing solids (if you can call baby food that LOL) then I plan to do that around 6 months I think...depending on how he's doing. He's a very petite little guy who never seems over anxious to eat or agitated like he's not getting enough and he sleeps 10 hours or more at night.
I am just curious about these cereals and if all are the same or how you would know? I was given 3 boxes so I don't even need to buy any...especially if he doesn't like them.

I have seen some infant cereals that are non fortified, but I can't remember their names. They were at whole foods and were organic. But, being fortified is just ONE of issues. I think we all need to eat whole grain foods, not just our infants, and infant cereals are so over processed that the box they come in would probably be more nutritious. I plan to introduce whole brown rice as her "cereal", and probably not until the end of her first year.

As for first foods, well, Ava will be 6 months old tomorrow and is for the most part, still exclusively breastfed. Here's my take on introducing solids - when they can pick it up, put it in their mouth, chew it, move it to the back of their mouth, and swallow it, THEN they are ready to eat solid foods. I also think they don't have teeth for a reason. A baby who is toothless and still has their tongue thrust reflex is one who is meant to be on a liquid diet, yet I know many people who push the solid foods because you must "TEACH" a child to eat. What horse pucky. Ava never touched solid food until I handed her that banana the other day and she went to town on it like she'd been doing it for months.


I am taking the self feed approach, and this week I've let her eat a piece of banana (big mistake, stinky stinky stinky farts, I'm actually dreading the first banana poop..lol). She got a few good nibbles of it, and actually stopped to chew it, then put it back to her mouth. I was surprised how well she did with no prior "experience". LOL

Avocado, slices of peaches, slices of apples, bananas, pears, green beans, soft cooked carrot slices, chunks of baked sweet potato. These will all be her first foods, and yes, she'll feed them to herself. I put her in the high chair and put the food on her tray. If she eats it, great. If not, that's fine too.

I'm not making purees for her. I don't think force feeding mush promotes healthy eating habits. I want her to eat on her own accord, not on my schedule, or at my discretion. I want her to learn to put food down when she's full. Most infants will push the spoon away way past when they would have stopped eating on their own.

I also don't expect her to do much serious "eating" for another few months yet. And that's fine. Solid foods for the first year are for practice, not nutrition.

Plus, spending the time doing special shopping and cooking, then pureeing and freezing and reheating and spoon feeding... oi! :dizzy: It would seem so much easier to just set aside some plain unseasoned veggies from our dinner and put them on her tray. She's much happier this way too, she doesn't like it when you put things in her mouth.

yet I know many people who push the solid foods because you must "TEACH" a child to eat. What horse pucky. Ava never touched solid food until I handed her that banana the other day and she went to town on it like she'd been doing it for months.

I've wondered why people keep saying that little ones need to "learn" how to eat... :dizzy: I was shocked the first time I fed Elijah something. He did wonderfully.. No "practice:rolleyes: " was (or is IMO) needed..

I still have mixed feelings but I will say that I definately plan to do things differently this time than I did with ds#1 as he is the pickiest eater you will ever meet and had such a tough time eating so many things. Of course he also had a strong gag reflex at times, had a gross motor delay and troubling swallowing, sucking etc. I had thought he outgrow all his 'issues' after 13 months but have since changed my thoughts on this since he's 3.5 years old and unable to control his bowels in order to be trained...guess that would be a gross motor delay too eh (dumb mom that I am...took me 6 months to figure this one out!!!)
I will say though that at 16 months or so he did have a very serious iron deficiency because he wouldn't eat meat at all...then again when you don't like anything but purree and meat is so gross purred, iron will be a problem.
Thanks for giving me food for though...pun totally intended LOL!!!!