infant cereals

[Guest guest]

Re: Infant Cereal

 

I agree with the other posters that 4 months might be pushing it

unless your little one is really chomping at the bit (literally!?)...

 

If you're really interested in making your own cereals, check out the

Super Baby Food book by Ruth Yaron. Take much of what she says with a

grain of salt, but absorb much as well!

 

Also -- infant cereal is just so easy from the box, and you can't

really give whole grains until a certain age anyway (I think 8 months

or so?) so it's almost not worth making yourself -- plus so much gets

wasted in the beginning, and if you put a lot of work into creating

cereal, you might get burnt out quickly on the whole babyfood making

scenario...(happened to a friend. made one batch, baby rejected, mom

was crushed at the rejection and quickly went back to the jars. i

learned really quickly that whatever my kiddo didn't like, it wasn't

a judgement on me or my cooking...just the food.)

 

Good luck!

 

Phyllis

Mom to David (11-15-01)

[Guest guest]

> We are about to start our 4 month old on her first solid food. It has been

> recommended that we start with rice cereal mixed with breast milk.

 

Jeanne,

I've been meaning to reply to your post.

Here are some thoughts. In the natural childbirth classes that I teach I

include some reccommendations for feeding. These are from my experience with

my son who is now seven and vegan. Also from our pediatrician/ family

practice doctor. She has a wholistic practice and was a nutritionist before

going to medicial school. She totally supports a vegan diet. Saying that

here's the food breakdown. When your child takes an intrest in your food, it

is then that you should look at starting solids. At about 5- 6 months my son

started to grab food off my plate. As far as where to start. Our doctor tells

us that grains should wait. She sees tendancy toward constipation at later

times when people start with grains, whether rice cereal or other grains.

That said, begin with veggies or fruits first and after you have gone through

the veggies and fruits, then introduce the grains. Grains take so much time

for the body to digest and they are more difficult to process than veggies or

fruit. As far as iron supplementation, that is not needed unless there is a

problem that you have identified.

Please feel free to email me if you have more questions about this appproach.

 

Peace,

Laura

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I havent tried either of these so I dont know how they are but here's

two cereal recipes I found:

 

Homemade Rice Cereal (4 mnths and up)

 

1 cup water on stove and bring to a boil

1/4 cup brown rice in blender for 30 seconds, add to water and cook

for 10 minutes.

 

*You can also blend grain with beans. Just adjust the water amount.

(I'd wait a few months before trying the bean addition)

 

 

Baby Oatmeal Recipe (6 mnths and up)

 

Put a cup of

water in a saucepan on the stove top to boil.

Take 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) of oatmeal (non-quick cooking) and put

it in the blender until

it becomes a powder.

Stir it into the cup of boiling water, turn the heat

down to low, and let cook for 10 minutes.

Stir with a whisk or fork to

prevent lumping and scorching on the bottom.

Let cool thoroughly before

feeding to your baby. It will look just like the commercial boxed

baby

oatmeal mixed with liquid, but much, much more economical!

 

TIP: You can double the recipe and store half of the cooked oatmeal,

covered

well, for up to two days in the refrigerator.

 

When warming food from the refrigerator for baby, warm ever so

slightly on

the stove top or for a few seconds in the microwave, just enough to

get the

chill out. Stir very well to distribute any " heat pockets " or " hot

spots "

that may burn your baby's mouth. Then test for proper temperature as

described above.

[Guest guest]

> " Jeanne Wishengrad " <jeannewish

> Subject:infant cereals

>

> We are about to start our 4 month old on her first solid food. It has been

> recommended that we start with rice cereal mixed with breast milk. We will

> then slowly introduce vegetables, fruits and other grains leaving common

> allergens (nuts, strawberries, wheat, etc) until after her first birthday. My

> question is - has anyone made their own infant cereals? We are going to try

> to give our daughter only organic, non GMO foods for as long as possible. We

> can get an organic infant rice cereal at the market, but I'd just as soon make

> my own if that's possible. Anyone ever done it? Also, iron-fortified cereals

> are often recommended (as infants have depleted the stores of iron they are

> born with by 3-4 months). Any opinions on whether it's better to have a

> home-made non-fortified cereal with a supplement of vitamin drops or a

> commercially made iron enriched cereal?

 

Hi Jeanne,

I think it's great you're intending to give your dd only organic foods. But

I would like to add my voice to the others who've expressed that 4mos is a

bit early to start solids. Unless your dd has been diagnosed as

slow-growing or failing to thrive, starting foods at 4 months can backfire:

you intend to save " common allergens " until she's 1+, but starting foods

before 6 months often causes allergic reactions.

 

The baby's gut needs more time (minimum 6 months) to fully develop. A

full-grown gut and long-term breastfeeding will be your best protection

against allergens.

 

Maybe your dd is showing some of the signs that she's ready for solids, but

even they can be misleading. Babies can hold a cup and drink from it (more

or less) from about 5 months on - do we take that to mean that the baby

wants to wean from the breast? What baby doesn't start grabbing for her

parents food as soon as she learns how to grab? Or starts babbling and

looking interested in her parents' plates? What she sees is indeed

stimulating - fascinating - but not necessarily age-appropriate. Again, LLL

has info on this on their website. (Probably www.lalecheleague.org but I

haven't checked. A quick search will turn it up.)

 

As for the iron. Many breastfed babies (vegetarian or not) register in the

lower-end of the scale (where " acceptable " hemoglobin count is 10 to, I

think 14 or 15, many babies are 10.5-11), but that is still acceptable.

Only if the count is noticeably lower should supplementation be considered.

The hemoglobin scale is itself controversial, as many think the " low " end is

set a bit high to promote sales of iron-fortified foods, or to not miss any

borderline patients.

 

But controversial scales aside, here are two points where your information

may be off. Babies iron stores usually last up to 6 months or more, not 3-4

months, if you were not anemic while pregnant and your baby was born

full-term. Check out LLL's website on this. Also, breastmilk provides iron.

It's in small doses, but it's much more accessible, much more digestible,

than " extrisic " (supplemented) iron. Iron kept in it's " whole food " source,

including the whole food of breastmilk, is more available to the body.

 

Okay, so let me add one more thought about iron. I'm speaking of Standard

American Diets here ... If iron comes mostly from animal flesh, then why

isn't the recommendation to start babies first on ground up meat? After

all, that's the highest source of iron and lower on the allergen scale (some

would argue that, but again, I'm talking about American standards and

typical recommendations.) Why do we start our children with cereal?

 

Which brings me to.... There's no rule that you have to start with cereal.

[see quotes below] It's just easy and mild. If you want to prepare your

own, boil some oatmeal and then puree it. No seasonings. Mix in breastmilk

to a babyfood consistency. Or boil some rice, puree it, and add breastmilk.

 

Use an iron pan to increase the iron content. Feed it to your dd with a

bit of citrus juice to enhance the body's absorption.

 

Do you or your dh have many allergens? Allergies are often inheritted.

Once your child is able to take a spoon (has lost the tongue thrust reflex),

you are not bound to avoid certain foods if you don't have reason to believe

that your dd will be allergic. [see quotes, below] Maybe, but who knows

what it'll be? After all, *some* people are allergic to rice. *Some*

babies react horribly to white potatoes. But both are common first foods.

If I'd avoided typical allergens for my ds, what would I have fed him?

Beats me. He survived on Farina blended with strawberries, avocadoes

pureed with bananas, various nuts pureed with various veggies and fruits....

I have no allergies - his father has a few.

 

2 good (not great) books are

The Vegetarian Mother and Baby Book (Rose Elliot) for recipes,

and The New Vegetarian Baby (Sharon Yntema) for nutritional information and

a few recipes.

 

Sharon Yntema wrote this, about starting her son on solids at (with

hesitation) 6 months:

" I am still relying greatly on nursing for Nikolas to get the nutrients he

needs. I am introducing foods now, mostly to see what he thinks of the

taste. He seems to like everything ... So far he has tasted yogurt, apple

juice, orange juice, prune juice, nectarines, oatmeal, rice, bananas,

peaches, and avocados. "

At 7 months she tried an iron-fortified cereal, even though her pediatrician

told her not to worry. her son rejected it outright.

At 8 months, she wrote this:

" Foods that he has tried so far (I haven't been as careful about allergies

as the books say to, partly because I figure I started feeding him pretty

late, sot hat alleries are less likely to happen): yogurt, cheese, banana,

apple, pear, mago, papaya, avocado, peacehs, figs, prune juice, orange

juice, carrots, yellow squash, zucchini, green beans, peas, corn, lima

beans, brown rice, millet, barley, oatmeal, tofu, egg yolk, wheat germ,

coconut, lentils. "

 

So, that's probably more than you bargained for!

~Doh

[Guest guest]

I've read that it's a good one to start with, but I'm violently allergic to

it as well, so my kids don't get it. But I think it's pretty rare. If I

wasn't allergic, I'd have introduced them to it fairly early in the game

(which isn't so early, since we delay solids)

 

Sandra

 

> I thought avocado would be great as well. But, in

> line at Quizno's a few weeks back there was a woman

> there who was deathly allergic to avocado. I have

> since met others who are as well. So, I would say

> wait till at least a year for that one, too.

> Heather

[Guest guest]

.. At about 5- 6 months my son

started to grab food off my plate. As far as where to start

 

That isn't always and indicator of when to start solids, my almost seven month

old, who isn't on solids yet, will grab for a pen, that doesn't mean that he is

ready to write. With solids, the longer you wait, the better.

 

Sara

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Brian Shaughnessy <ApMama2boys wrote:. At about 5- 6 months my

son

started to grab food off my plate. As far as where to start

 

That isn't always and indicator of when to start solids, my almost seven month

old, who isn't on solids yet, will grab for a pen, that doesn't mean that he is

ready to write. With solids, the longer you wait, the better.

 

Sara