Starting a baby on rice cereal?
My son is 5 and a half months old, and to this point, he has been exclusively breastfed. 5 days ago, I started feeding him rice cereal (Beechnut brand) mixed with breast milk. I have made it very thin and runny. Every time I try to feed him (8 times we’ve tried), he gets very excited and opens wide for the spoon…..and when his tongue and lips touch the cereal, he makes a horrible face like it’s the most disgusting thing he’s ever tasted. How many more times should I try the cereal before I give up? I don’t want him to dislike eating or think that everything on a spoon tastes bad. I also don’t want to mix it with fruit because he needs to learn to eat things that aren’t sweet, right? Any advice would help. Thanks!
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13 comments a "Starting a baby on rice cereal?"
Do you ever pump and bottle feed? If you do, put the cereal in the bottle and make a bigger hole so it will go through bottle, He will take to it in no time – try it at night and he will probability sleep thought the night. If he experience gas, put a few gas relieving drop in the bottle for a few nights.
If your dr. gave you th OK to start him on cereal just keep trying it can take a long time for them to get used to eating. Other wise you might just want to wait a little bit longer.
yea u shold definitely keep trying because he can’t be breastfed 4ever…but all i can say is get some baby formula and add it to the rice cereal and keep trying because he has to eat it at some point or other
Maybe he would prefer the oatmeal. My son would never eat the rice cereal. Or maybe it’s the spoon. Is it metal or plastic coated? My nephew wouldn’t eat from a metal spoon when he first started eating cereal. Or you could mix a little bit of a vegetable in the cereal if you’re worried about him only liking sweets.
Personally, I waited till my kids were 7-8 months and while sitting in my or my husband’s lap during dinner started grabbing food off the dinner plate to try. They learned to mash food in their mouths, not automatically swallow anything in their mouth, and graduated to spoons and feeding themselves very early, so there was never a power issue (over who holds the spoon!). We were totally able to avoid the whole baby food nonsense … and have kids who love to try everything and eat pretty healthy, even as teens.
PS Never put baby cereal in a bottle to give to your child – your pediatrician will affirm this, BTW.
well you can mix it with fruit but start with vegatables first…i had to mix the veggies in with my sons cereal in order for him to eat it.
babies and children have thousands more tastebuds then adults so things taste more prominent to them and that is why they prefer sweet things to savoury things.
my son did this when he was first starting to eat cereal, he didnt take long before he loved it.
you can perhaps try using water instead of breastmilk to make the cereal perhaps that will be less prominent taste. or add the tinest amount of fruit.
remember that when babies are learning to eat solids they start with only being able to stick their tongue in and out of their mouth…with time and practice they learn to keep tongue in mouth and move the food around their mouth so they can swallow it. so this may be another reason he seems to not like eating it.
You perhaps can make it a bit thicker in its’ consistancy, if not just move onto the next cereal, which is Barley. I bet you’ll get a better reaction.
Don’t forget this is his first introduction to solids, he’s use to the yummy taste of breast milk… cereals are going to be pretty bland in comparison. The texture is really strange as well adn the whole experience of having to eat from a spoon.. so those are the reasons for the facial expressions.
Don’t give up, he’ll soon grow to love it! Good luck!
It might take him a while. My son didn’t like the texture change and it took awhile for him to get used to it. I would keep trying and if he absolutly hates it after another week or so you can try another type of first food. My sons pediatrician recommended yellow squash, it has a very smooth texture.
your baby doesnt need rice cereal, actually, trhere is really not much point to it. rice ceareal has hardly any nutritional value- if you want to start something use a little applesauce or something. you dont have to strat fruits or veggies- would you eat that rice cereal? i wouldn’t. the myth that you need to start with veggies is not true- they are going to like what they are going to like- in fact- i started with fruits and my son much rather have his sweet potatoes and green beans:) which are loaded with vitamins ratehr than rice cereal- plus why does everyone get the notion that furits are not as important as veggies anyway?
If you are breastfeeding, you don’t need to offer anything until your baby is one. Breastmilk offers everything he needs.
Why don’t you try the rice cereal and compare it to breastmilk? Your son is SMART!
Rice cereal has been compared to junk food by doctors. Some think it’s a main cause of carb addiction. You are actually better off to try veggies instead. At 6 months you can try other cereals. As for not preferring sweets by starting with veggies….old wives tale!!! While it can a learned taste to like sweets, most kids will like sweet things no matter what you start for solid food.
And toddlers that talk say that breastmilk is sweeter than any food
i heard not to try cereal until the tongue reflex that pushed out the bottle when they are not hungry stops.
baby is probably making a face at the texture… keep giving it to him so he will get used to it. If he doesn’t like it he won’t swallow it, in fact he will probably spit it out. keep going and if he still makes the face after a couple of feedings then try a different cereal, or try mixing it with water instead of breastmilk. It is much too soon to give up, he’s only a baby!
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