When can they have regular oatmeal/quick oats?

[Liam and Shane's Mommy]

Just wondering when you can start a baby on big people oatmeal?  I wasn't sure if its too much fibre on their little tummies.  My ds is nearly a year.

[tylersmommy]

It's okay as soon as they're able to handle the texture. You can even run the dry oats through the food processor or blender to make them a bit finer if you'd like. That said, I waited until Tyler was older (almost 2) before giving him "real" oatmeal. He was having iron fortified infant oatmeal for breakfast every morning, and I wanted to make sure his iron intake was adequate after we stopped formula.

[Marisa's Mom]

Big people oatmeal sometimes has those little hard pieces that shouldn't be there (sorry, can't think of the word for it right now). Do you worry about the LOs eating those? I mean, I usually spit them out if I happen to run across them.

[tylersmommy]

Marisa's mom - there are lots of different "kinds" of oatmeal out there. The main difference is how coarse the oats have been cut. I'm not sure what type of oatmeal you use, but I've never run across anything like that and I eat oatmeal quite a bit. What kind of oatmeal do you use?

[Marisa's Mom]

Marisa's mom - there are lots of different "kinds" of oatmeal out there. The main difference is how coarse the oats have been cut. I'm not sure what type of oatmeal you use, but I've never run across anything like that and I eat oatmeal quite a bit. What kind of oatmeal do you use?

I use Quaker Oats Old Fashioned oatmeal, it's the "slow" cooking type, not the "instant" type.
http://www.quakeroatmeal.com/Products/SQO/SQO-QuickOats.cfm

I just remembered the word for the hard pieces I was trying to describe previously. It's the husk, those small yellowish hard pieces that you sometimes find in your oatmeal, but they really shouldn't be there. I'm afraid that baby may run across a piece while eating Big People oatmeal.

I think I chose the "slow" cooking type over the "instant" type because someone told me that it was better for you. Maybe it has more fiber or something. I can't remember what it was. I seem to have Mommy Brain 80% of the time. LOL. The other day I was trying to remember what the downsides were between Butter and Margarine. I remember each had a bad thing about them, but I couldn't remember  what it was, and I'm still trying to remember!

I love oatmeal, especially on cold days. I have to admit I prefer the way it comes out when I make it in a pot, but out of laziness (and time constraints in the morning) I usually microwave it. I used to love it with honey & milk, but I've switched over to raisins & milk. I used to get this HUGE container of honey from Costco that would take me forever to get through, so by the time I reach the bottom third of the bottle, the honey has hardened and crystalized in a bad way.

[Liam and Shane's Mommy]

Thanks for the replies.  Maybe I'll try the instant.  Re: the butter margarines downsides... Isn't it that butter causes heart disease due to saturated fats and margarine causes cancer due to hydrogenated oils etc.?  That's what I remember hearing from long ago.

[tylersmommy]

You might try instant for your LO. I use instant for Tyler and slow cooking (or whatever's in the house) for me, and the texture of the instant when it's dry doesn't look as coarse as the slow cooking. I'd never noticed the husks before, I'm going to keep an eye out for them tomorrow morning!

[Marisa's Mom]

Re: the butter margarines downsides... Isn't it that butter causes heart disease due to saturated fats and margarine causes cancer due to hydrogenated oils etc.?  That's what I remember hearing from long ago.

So which would you choose? Which is the lesser of the two evils?  I tend to go for real butter. 

DH & I drink 2% Milk.  And now that my 13 mos old is drinking Whole milk, I get to drink the leftover if she dosen't finish the carton before it expires. 

[Marisa's Mom]

I use instant for Tyler and slow cooking (or whatever's in the house) for me, and the texture of the instant when it's dry doesn't look as coarse as the slow cooking. I'd never noticed the husks before, I'm going to keep an eye out for them tomorrow morning!

Do you mean something like Gerber Oatmeal cereal for babies? I used to give that to DD, although we haven't done it for about a week now. She's currently in a fussy eating phase so we decided to take a break from the Oatmeal baby cereal.

I did pick up packets of Instant Oatmeal, you know, the kind that comes in sweet favors like "maple & brown sugar" or "apples & cinnamon". We haven't tried it with her yet. Kinda hanging onto them for a day when she decides she is sick of eating waffles in the morning. I'm glad she loves waffles, something that isn't overly sweet. I'm always afraid DD is going to develop a taste for all the really sweet stuff and then not want to eat anything else. I wish I could pick up that economical box of 60 waffles from Costco, but there is really no room in our freezer for it.

[Liam and Shane's Mommy]

As it turns out I buy the non-hydrogenated margarine but will pick up butter for a special treat.  Its funny with regard to the milk thing, I found my now 4 year old wouldn't drink homo milk but preferred 2% or lower.  I'm waiting until I try my nearly one year old ds on it.  He might be the same way.  Homo milk is so thick, but I guess no thicker really than formula?!

[tylersmommy]

Do you mean something like Gerber Oatmeal cereal for babies?

No, although Tyler seriously did eat that every morning until he was almost 2 (I was paranoid about his iron intake since he was a vegetarian). Since then, I've been using the packets of Quaker instant reduced sugar. The box has peaches and cream and strawberries and cream in it, and I haven't seen any other flavors that are reduced sugar. I don't think they make single serving packets of plain oatmeal...I wish they did!

[Marisa's Mom]

No, although Tyler seriously did eat that every morning until he was almost 2 (I was paranoid about his iron intake since he was a vegetarian). Since then, I've been using the packets of Quaker instant reduced sugar. The box has peaches and cream and strawberries and cream in it, and I haven't seen any other flavors that are reduced sugar. I don't think they make single serving packets of plain oatmeal...I wish they did!

Yeah, that's the one thing I like about the Gerber baby cereals cuz they're vitamin/mineral fortified. We stopped giving her baby cereal though thinking she might be bored with the texture or something. This was during a fussy eating phase. I think it just turned out to be her being too tired at the end of the day for her dinner (since she was most fussy about not wanting to eat at dinnertime). We're trying to give her dinner a little earlier, and then a snack sometime before bedtime.

Anyways, I did not know they made Quaker instant oatmeal with reduced sugar! Good to know. I picked up a variety pack of the regular sugar versions. There are some plain packets, but most of them are the flavored sugary type.

What foods do you give him that are high in iron?

[tylersmommy]

What foods do you give him that are high in iron?

He loves iron-fortified adult cereals like Kellogg's Complete, scrambled eggs, and beans, which are all good sources of iron. He has also decided that he worships chicken nuggets, so I've convinced myself that the nutritional value outweighs the fact that they're, well, chicken nuggets. We always make sure to maximize his iron intake by giving him a vitamin C fruit at the same meal to help his body absorb the iron and not give him any dairy at that meal, which can inhibit the body's absorption of iron.

When Tyler seemed to be getting burned out on infant cereal, we did all kinds of crazy things to keep it interesting. We'd mix it with veggie puree, different fruit purees, add some chunks of soft ripe fruit, or mix in some cheerios to give it some texture.

[Marisa's Mom]

What foods do you give him that are high in iron?

We always make sure to maximize his iron intake by giving him a vitamin C fruit at the same meal to help his body absorb the iron and not give him any dairy at that meal, which can inhibit the body's absorption of iron.

I give DD her milk at meal times. I guess I should stop doing that. I just found it easier to give her milk at mealtimes, then put the milk back in the fridge afterwards until next meal. I don't like to keep her milk sippy cup sitting out at room temperature all day long. I keep her water available to her all day, it's usually in the living room where she can easily get to it.

How do you make sure Tyler gets all the daily milk he should be drinking?

How funny with the chicken nuggets. I haven't introduced those to DD yet, and am in no hurry to.

Other than when I have a burrito from the local take-out place, I never could figure out how to get beans in my diet. I just can't cook 'em. My first experience cooking beans was when I tried to make Mujadarrah. It took FOREVER to cook, because I didn't know I should have soaked the beans overnight before cooking. That was a few years ago. I haven't tried cooking beans again since then.

[tylersmommy]

Well, Tyler's a milkaholic, so he usually has no problem drinking enough milk. What I do is offer water only with breakfast (sometimes OJ and water) and sometimes for the rest of the morning (depends on whether he's been constipated). I try to get his iron in at breakfast (I just read the oatmeal box, it's actually iron fortified! Hooray!). Then I let him have milk with lunch and dinner and the rest of the day. If he's pretty thirsty, I'll refill his cup with water every so often. We bought him insulated sippy cups from Playtex so he can keep them out longer.

We just use canned beans and make sure to rinse them off really well. I'll rinse a can, put the beans in a tupperware in the fridge, and give them to him with meals for a couple of days. Easy!