https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 11 May 2026 09:24:26 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal/page/2#post-2492546 Fri, 11 Mar 2016 19:09:07 +0000 BSB 2492546@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So DH &amp; MIL asked our pediatrician at their 6 month well visit today, she said...</p> <p>-Babies are growing well enough now (they are off the preemie chart! :grin: ) and we can try feeding them things other than just formula.<br /> -Since they are not sitting up yet, she said she prefers purees (veggies, fruits and cereal) over chunky foods. We can start chunky foods once they start sitting up on their own.<br /> -Start on rice cereal before oats &amp; quinoa. (Need to ask or look up why... I'm going to guess that rice is easier to digest than oats and quinoa. Or maybe it's the gluten concern.)<br /> -Arsenic in rice is no longer a concern, since they took care of the arsenic issue last year. </p> <p>If I'm worried about the processed rice cereal, I wonder if I can cook up plain white rice and puree it and feed it to them. </p> <p>Oh, I forgot to ask about the sugars in processed cereals. </p> <p>Since they had their 6 months shots, I'm so eager to start solids but I'm going to wait a few days to make sure they don't have any reactions to the vaccines today. I have to be a bit more patient. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal/page/2#post-2486420 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 14:11:18 +0000 GoGoSnoGirl 2486420@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We use the Earth's Best multigrain, but did start with their rice cereal. Other than her first couple of servings prepared with breast milk, all have been mixed with fruit purees, often apple &amp;/or prunes. We use it as one source of iron since LO is bf. She's eating a good variety of fruit &amp; veggie purees, soft chunks, &amp; cheese, yogurt, so it's just a small proportion of her daily meals. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal/page/2#post-2486397 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 13:57:15 +0000 BSB 2486397@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Boogs: Oh, wow. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal/page/2#post-2486383 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 13:53:08 +0000 Boogs 2486383@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bluestriped bee: He's not! No food allergies that we know of. It was the weirdest thing. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal/page/2#post-2486377 Mon, 07 Mar 2016 13:49:14 +0000 BSB 2486377@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Boogs: Oh, wow! Is he allergic to gluten? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2485574 Sun, 06 Mar 2016 11:23:14 +0000 Boogs 2485574@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bluestriped bee: My oldest had a horrible reaction to that one, instantly started making him vomit. So we tossed it and went with BLW and didn't bother to even try with LO2 and went straight to BLW. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2485503 Sun, 06 Mar 2016 07:10:51 +0000 MrsSK 2485503@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did oatmeal with breastmilk and it worked well for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2485500 Sun, 06 Mar 2016 07:04:06 +0000 Alba4 2485500@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our pediatrician recommended we start with green veggies, then orange veggies, then eventually fruit. We also introduced egg yolks early. I think we gave him oatmeal eventually! We never fed him rice cereal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2485343 Sat, 05 Mar 2016 20:27:55 +0000 808love 2485343@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did cereal the very first time...after that a bunch of veggie purees. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484932 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 23:08:19 +0000 birdofafeather 2484932@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did mostly whole food purées and BLW kinda but also ground oatmeal mixed with breastmilk. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484427 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 13:04:47 +0000 hellobeeboston 2484427@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Torchwood: there are theories out there that suggest introducing gluten while still breastfeeding is beneficial if celiac runs in the family..... Pediatricians seem to have differing opinions on it. Nothing definitive in the research I've done, but there seem to be two camps: Start the gluten early; or wait. Also, gluten free oats are safe for celiacs. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484370 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 12:21:37 +0000 peachykeen 2484370@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We started with vegetables and primarily did baby-led weaning, but we did give oatmeal at times as a breakfast food. I just ground up regular rolled oats in the food processor (blender works too) and cooked them as usual. No need to buy specialty products unless you just want to. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484365 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 12:17:40 +0000 MrsBrewer 2484365@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did Oatmeal cereal first! Our Ped suggested we stay away from rice cereal because it may cause constipation. But still strongly encouraged us to start with cereal, because it's an easy transition food from breastmilk, and is easy for their tiny tummys to digest. Plus you can add a lot of breast milk or formula to the cereal so it's a similar flavor for your baby to get used to. I am pro-cereal! :-) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484361 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 12:13:57 +0000 Mommy Finger 2484361@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>With DS1, we skipped cereal of any kind and went to veggies. However, DS2 has been a lot more difficult in regards to solids so I had to change my mindset to figuring out what worked for him. I was also worried about iron levels so we started with oatmeal. We worked up to being able to add it to puree and now he likes it with his greek yogurt and puree mix that he gets in the morning. We also use it to thicken up some purees. We used the Earth's Best brand </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484326 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 11:58:46 +0000 sapphire 2484326@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Torchwood: I think it's bit of a stretch to say there are no benefits to cereals. Understandly, there are concerns, such as the arsenic issue. But for one thing, they are strongly iron fortified. It's esp important for breast fed babies to get extra iron by 6 months since the iron stores they were born with are waning at this point. It can be hard to get enough iron through complementary foods for the beginning eater, so the cereals work really well for some babies. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484317 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 11:53:28 +0000 Autumnmama79 2484317@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@bluestriped bee: There's a lot of cereal hate on this thread! I'd say go for it :grin: Its a fun transition food from milk to solids and theres no reason you can't BLW or something other approach after the cereal. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484314 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 11:51:52 +0000 Mrs. Oatmeal 2484314@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Rice cereal caused big constipation issues for my kids, so we stopped quickly and avoided grains for K. We give M oatmeal sometimes because it seems to be the only thing that really helps when he is constipated. I've heard that whole grains are better and that white rice cereal is the worst, but then again...I'm sure the advice is constantly changing and grains might be off the table all together. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484249 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 10:56:38 +0000 autumnlove 2484249@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I bought some recently to thicken up my runny homemade purées! I think it was happy baby brand from target. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484240 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 10:52:11 +0000 travellingbee 2484240@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we occasionally did the earth's best oatmeal </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484199 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 10:04:05 +0000 ShootingStar 2484199@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did a little bit of baby oatmeal for a while because our ped said it would help with his horrible constipation. I'd mix it with baby prunes and breastmilk. </p> <p>I tend to think rice cereal is pretty useless though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484187 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 09:54:47 +0000 autumnleaves 2484187@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We gave LO the Earth's Best Whole Grain rice cereal, oatmeal, and multi-grain cereals for breakfast - it worked well for us. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484067 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 08:17:04 +0000 sleepybear 2484067@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I started with fruits/veggies but ended up doing oatmeal cereal pretty regularly for some iron. By 10 months or so I switched to normal oatmeal, which DS still has for breakfast almost everyday. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484012 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 05:14:28 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2484012@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>we used some oatmeal but mostly started on realt fruits and veggies. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2484001 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 03:41:32 +0000 dc yoga bee 2484001@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are one of the rarity with rice cereal I guess! My ped had us do rice cereal. When I asked her about the whole "no nutritional value," she said, "well, it does have iron in it to start. So, there's that." So, it has some nutritional value, and it's easy on baby's stomach. DD was on Zantac for months for her reflux, and the cereal worked for us. We used single grain. DDis just now taking to solids at 8.5-9months, doesn't like any purées, and gets about a bowl of cereal a day. Good luck! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2483988 Fri, 04 Mar 2016 00:42:45 +0000 sarac 2483988@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>No reason to, in my opinion. My 7 month old already eats three meals a day of fruit/veggie purees, yogurts, and soft foods like pasta and beans. I see upthread that some people used them to transition between milk and food, which makes sense. But as a food, I can't really see the point. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2483975 Thu, 03 Mar 2016 23:53:57 +0000 Portboston 2483975@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Another one for BLW. LOs first food was avocado. Our ped told us that if we are worried about any certain food allergies, to take a little bit of that food and put it in the back of his neck or back to see if he has a reaction. So far he hasn't had any issues. I had a friend try that and her DD turned out to have a reaction to eggs. It's a cool &amp; quick little test to ease your mind! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2483971 Thu, 03 Mar 2016 23:40:48 +0000 MoonMoon 2483971@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I did mostly blw, but included fortified oat and multi grain cereal, because we're vegetarian and I wanted to be sure LO got iron. It was only a few spoonfuls a day and his iron levels were great, so I think cereals have a place. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2483962 Thu, 03 Mar 2016 23:24:41 +0000 2littlepumpkins 2483962@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My pediatrician starts with the cereals not for nutrition, because when you start they're barely eating anyway, but to check for allergies one by one. We then move to veggies and finally fruits. I see why people think it's unnecessary but really all "food before one is just for fun," for the most part. I don't mind doing the allergy checks. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2483957 Thu, 03 Mar 2016 23:08:28 +0000 Dahlia 2483957@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Oh yeah, and we did the whole grain oatmeal with the green label in your picture. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/what-about-whole-grain-rice-cereal#post-2483956 Thu, 03 Mar 2016 23:07:37 +0000 Dahlia 2483956@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We did just fruits and veggies from 5.5-7 months, then added oatmeal. She really likes it and I worried that she wasn't getting enough iron otherwise since so far she refuses all meat. She was born a month premature and the pediatrician said she'd be at higher risk of anemia since iron stores are built in the last part of gestation. She gets a few tablespoons a day, but still eats mostly fruits and veggies.</p> <p>We haven't given her rice because of the arsenic concerns and because it's supposed to be constipating and she had enough trouble with the transition to solids! </p>