Guest guest Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 The first cereal I gave my first child at 5 months was fortified organic brown rice cereal. I never gave him formula, just breastmilk. I was wondering if it is necessary to give my second child who is 5 months the commercially prepared baby cereals that are fortified if I am breastfeeding him. I would like to just grind up some organic brown rice and cook it for him. I would like to avoid processed foods if at all possible. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 The first cereal I gave my first child at 5 months was fortified organic brown rice cereal. I never gave him formula, just breastmilk. I was wondering if it is necessary to give my second child who is 5 months the commercially prepared baby cereals that are fortified if I am breastfeeding him. I would like to just grind up some organic brown rice and cook it for him. I would like to avoid processed foods if at all possible. Some of the following suggestions come from personal experience and most from my son's wholistic pediatrician who is also a nutritionist who is very supportive of vegan lifestyles. She reccomends waiting to feed grains till after many veggies and fruits are given. She has seen more allergies develop as a result of starting grains too early. Also she has seen a tendancy toward constipation in older children and adults who were started on grains as a first food. Grains take much more energy to digest than fruits and veggies. With that in mind, I waited till my child took an intrest in food before offering him first fruits and veggies one at a time. He does not have any allergies and eats widely. I feed brown rice as well as some whole grain cereals that I ate. That was after we introduced several different veggies and fruits. Hope this helps. Peace, Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 3, 2003 Report Share Posted November 3, 2003 I know many families that puree all their own food. These children have all grown up to be very healthy children and teens. I myself did not, because, I was just not thinking the way I think now! Peace, Tracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted November 4, 2003 Report Share Posted November 4, 2003 , <admartin@e...> wrote: > I was wondering if it is necessary to give my second child who is 5 months the commercially prepared baby cereals that are fortified if I am breastfeeding him. I would like to just grind up some organic brown rice and cook it for him. I would like to avoid processed foods if at all possible. Thanks! How are your iron levels? I know the main reason pediatricians recommend that fortified rice cereal is it has additional iron (which is generally more of an issue for formula-fed babies anyhow, by the way). If you are not anemic at all (and weren't during your pregnancy) then you are most likely to be giving the baby enough iron through your breastmilk at this point. Dr. Jack Newman in his fabulous book _The Breastfeeding Book of Answers_ says there is really no need for these baby cereals and when you start solids just start on real food. He says babies shouldn't require additional iron until after 6 months of age, when meat is the best source (he goes onto say that iron-enriched cereals aren't great anyhow). Since I assume you don't want to be feeding your baby meat, you should choose non-choking, easily-digestible iron sources for later (tofu is a good one, for example). But the brown rice should be fine for a starter food. Hope that helps! Rebecca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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