Anyone start with brown rice cereal?

[Chloevalentine]

So my baby just turned 6 months and I'm going to introduce solids! Cereal being the first I was thinking of introducing brown rice cereal first. I'm assuming it's the same concept being to mix it with formula. Also should I be giving him his entire bottle first and then moving him to a high chair to offer him a tablespoon or 2 or cereal ? The dr said the offer the cereal first 2 tbsp and then he might just have that and not the formula? Any suggestions? Thanks

[jessmum46]

Brown rice cereal sounds a little harsh for small tummies to me  I know recommendations do differ between countries but there really isn't any good reason to start with cereal at all.  It can be quite difficult to digest and I'm guessing that brown cereal may have a higher fibre content and therefore be more likely to cause tummy upsets?  I don't have specific experience with it though. Often things like pear, apple are much better tolerated (not to mention taste better!) so it could be worth going for one of those instead?

As food is generally for fun before age 1 we normally suggest giving the milk feed first, and then offering solids an hour or so later.  They are really just for fun/taste/experimenting and at his age he certainly shouldn't be filling up on solids at the expense of the higher-calorie milk.

Obviously you have to do what is right for you and your family, just be aware that some of the advice given out by doctors regarding feeding and weaning (speaking as someone who works in a similar field) can be a bit outdated and not in line with the most up to date nutritional advice.  It's worth reading around a bit and then making your own informed choice
 
Good luck with whatever you choose!

[Chloevalentine]

Thank you for that advice. I didbt even think about the brown rice being to harsh I was just looking into organic baby cereals and came across it. I didbt think that regular rice cereal offered much nutrition.  So you suggest even skipping it all together and giving it later on or not at all?  So maybe giving him peas first ? Just thought the cereal would be a lot more bland compared to veggies and might be easier as his first try at solids. I think you are right about what the pediatrucs tells you. Where do you suggest I research ?  Also I should wait an hour or so after bottle? Seems like it might be hard to leave the house if I'm feeding then a time then feeding then nap. Is it not good to offer right adter bottle because he won't be hungry? Thanks again

[anna*]

Sorry to be brief as typing on phone but why not look onto baby led weaning.

[Chloevalentine]

I was planning on starting a tbsp of oatmeal baby cereal for a few days then moving to a veggie. Are you supposed to offer bottle first then offer cereal ? Won't he be full adter full bottle?

[anna*]

Food before one is just for fun. It's just about trying tastes and textures and this age. So yes, milk first, solids an hour-ish after

[creations]

Hi there - I think you may have already decided against the brown rice cereal but just wanted to say, not sure where you are but in the UK guidance is to not give any whole grain foods at all until 12 months.  If it is a small amount, like a few bites of toast, then I didn't buy a whole loaf of white bread, I gave him our brown bread, but any other baked goods, pasta etc were all white. One of the reasons is that it is far too filling so can prevent your baby feeding as much as he needs, for instance he might not have space for his milk needs.

I would look into BLW as pp mentioned. And weather you go traditional puree route or BLW finger food route, I would go with some vegetables first, an hour after his regular, full milk feed.  If you need to go out and about you can pack a little tub of steamed carrot batons in your bag, next time take steamed green beans, next time a bread stick. It really does not need ot be full balanced meals at every offering, tastes and discovering texture and smell are the key things at this point. In fact in the early days my LO didn't like more than 1 or 2 different things at each 'meal' so couldn't have handled a balanced meal with all the food groups present.  you can balance out the food groups across the day and the week rather than in each meal.

weaning is such fun! hth

[Chloevalentine]

I gave him his bottle and then made 1 tbsp of cereal and 3 tbsp of formula so it was watery. Then I fed him the rest of his bottle. Which he sucked down. The dr said just to do it once a day when will I up it to twice a day? I can't imagine that he got many calories from it. He's been so hungry the past few days not making it 4 hours in between bottle which he always does. I give him 4 9 oz bottles and the past few nights I gave him an extra 2 oz before bed because he doesn't seem content. I hope the cereal will help I'm not sure what else to do for this hungry boy!

[anna*]

The great thin about baby led weaning is they can just go at their own pace. Are you not interested? Sorry I'll stop mentioning it

Sorry I can't help on purees I've never gone that route.

[creations]

I'm not sure what else to do for this hungry boy!

I would just feed him - whether you give him the food on a spoon or let him self feed, if he is hungry let him eat.  What's the worry?
I had to give mine solids at 5.5 months despite being TOTALLY determined to follow the rule of waiting until 6 months. DS had NOT read that page of the book and he was HUNGRY!  It made absolutely no difference how much milk I gave him, he'd never been that into milk anyway, he knew full well what he wanted and it was FOOD.
At 6 months your baby is ready, really, ready. Previous generations used to start solids weaning on thin rice at 8 and 12 weeks and gradually introduce one vegetable or food type at a time, that's why many people have the idea that weaning is such a long careful process, but these days we wait until 6 months (or as close to as we can without the child screaming the house down) to begin solids and at this age it is not a slow process, you can move to 2 and even 3 meals per day immediately (or within a couple of days/weeks) and offer everything from all the food groups (very little that 6 months old babies can't have, honey, sugar, salt, whole nuts, whole grains are the primary ones). Your LO is 6 months and raring to go.  A 6 month old is advised to be offered finger food even if you choose the puree route of weaning, and within a matter of just a couple of weeks the puree should be moving to mashed foods then whole foods - and with puree feeding the amount of food should still be led by baby, you feed until he shows lack of interest, refuses to open mouth or pushes the spoon away or looks away, he knows how big his tummy his and when he feels full. Baby really should be joining the family meals within the next couple of months and learning all the family tastes, meals and traditions rather than having their own separate meal or rice.

Oh and by the way - they don't need teeth. Their gums are hard as nails and will gnaw through anything including hunks of meat, in fact giving them something hard to gnaw on is relief for teething gums.

If he's hungry - feed him 

[Chloevalentine]

Thank you for all of that info! I gave him two feedings today of oatmeal cereal that I mixed with formula ( the container saud 1 tbsp cereal and 4/5 tbsp of formula which I thought was so watery) I made his second meal thicker. I plan on waiting about 5 days and then I'll introduce veggies. Should I add in another feed? So two feeds of cereal and one of a veggie? Will I still be offering the same amount of formula ?

[creations]

I don't know what oatmeal cereal is like, possibly soemthing like the baby muesli my DS still likees to eat even though he is almost 3yo.  I didn't follow the pack, but instead used a tiny amount of formula to mix it and let it rest a minute or two then rolled it into balls for him to pick up and self feed.  Maybe the oatmeal you have can do similar?

There ishonestly no need to wait 5 days before introducing vegetables but if you feel happier with that then that's what you should do. Weaning is an amazing development, one I thoroughly enjoyed so keeping the stress level down and the enjoyment level up for both of you is well worth considering.

Always offer the same amount of formula, unless he takes VAST quantities of milk there is no need to reduce it at all (and I still wouldn't at this age, closer to 12 months I would if necessary). He will gradually do this himself in later months by just taking less and you can drop a bottle feed - but that's later.  Equally you do not need to limit solids unless he vastly reduces his milk intake, milk is priority so you wouldn't want it to drop at all or much yet.

[Chloevalentine]

Another question... I wonder if feeding him twice a day cereal is too much to start with. Will he get constipated or diarrhea? Maybe I should just be starting with once a day? Once I start the veggies and fruit do I do one meal cereal and one meal veggies? Or two cereal one veggies?   

[Chloevalentine]

I'm also feeding him his bottle and then I bring him to his highchair to give the cereal. I'm not waiting an hour. I just feel like it's to scheduled that way. Meaning bottle time, nap time, cereal time. Do you think that's ok or is it a big deal to wait an hour after bottle ?

[jessmum46]

No it's fine if he's happy to take the solids straight after bottle (though you may find as you go along you need to space them out more or he won't really be hungry).  The thing to avoid mainly is having so much solid it affects his milk intake which is why the solids after milk rule is suggested.  The exact timing doesn't matter.

Nor in fact does what you give him at each meal . There isn't a hard and fast rule, just go with the flow and what feels right for you both.  Is the oatmeal cereal more like thick porridge or more like baby rice?  Personally I'd move onto more interesting things fairly pronto if it's like baby rice!  We started with one meal which I think was fruit/cereal, then added some veggies at another, and then once we got onto three meals we started introducing some proteins too.  So by 7-8 months DD probably had something like cereal/fruit for breakfast (by cereal I mean weetabix or homemade porridge - there's a great recipe with pears and apricots!), lunch might be a meat/fish with some veggies (puréed to start, then mashed, chopped etc) and a yoghurt, dinner was usually pretty small but maybe some finger foods, cheese, raisins, bread, salad sticks etc. 

There isn't a right or wrong way to do it so how you get there and at what pace is totally up to you and LO