So how long can or should a child eat infant cereal?

[egoldber]

Sarah adores her Earths Best infant cereal. She has a HUGE bowl of either the multi-grain or oatmeal cereal pretty much every day. I have tried to interest her in MY oatmeal, but she isn't real into it. I have thought about trying a dry cereal and milk, but that seems like such a mess that I have been avoiding it and she eats her infant cereal pretty neatly by herself with a spoon.

Is there any reason I shouldn't let her continue to eat this? It's pretty fortified and a good source of iron (especially the amount she eats, LOL!) and she eats everything else under the sun, so its not like she isn't eating other things. But I am beginning to wonder if she AND the new baby will be sharing cereal next year!

Thoughts?

[mam615]

You may have this book, but Ruth Yaron in Super Baby Foods talks about her sons who are I think 5 or maybe 10 years old who still beg for their "super porridge," which is a ground grain mixture. She makes it herself, with things like brown rice, lentils, wheat germ, brewers yeast, and says it is incredibly nutritious.

So this doesn't really answer your question, but it makes me think it's fine to continue the nutritious cereals as long as you want -- maybe enhance them a bit with additional grains, legumes, seeds, etc.

BTW, congratulations on the upcoming new arrival!

[starrynight]

It shouldn't matter how long she eats it, it won't harm her to continue eating it forever :). We actually thought Daria would eat it forever but suddenly when she was about 14 months she started refusing it. She won't eat adult oatmeal at all so we give her a cup of milk and dry cereal she can pick up with her fingers or something like waffles she can eat with a fork.

Congrats on the pregnancy :).

[brubeck]

As long as she likes it and she is eating other things, why not? But if you really do want to get her off of it you could try Cream of Wheat. It hs a much smoother texture than oatmeal.

A friend of a friend has kids who are 7 and 9. They often refuse to eat vegetables. Sometimes the Mom puts her foot down, but usually this results in sulks. The solution? Mom has a bunch of jars of baby food veggies. She tells them that they can skip the suppertime veggies if they eat a 'green jar' before dinner. And it works. This kids are getting the nutrients of vegetables, so Mom doesn't care, and I guess the kids prefer to eat something they can quickly swallow.

I think the answer here is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke, whatever working solution you find is great.

[dogmom]

I seem to remember being in middle school and still eating "baby cereal." Of course being that age there was a frosted glaze of sugar I spread all over it.

[COElizabeth]

Beth,

I certainly don't see any reason why she shouldn't eat the cereal, but I also think the dry cereal and milk might be worth a try just for the development experience. My niece is almost exactly Sarah's age (8 days younger), and eating her favorite cold cereal has really helped improve her spoon skills! We use a relatively small amount of milk.

Elizabeth
Mom to James
9-20-02

[emilyf]

Maybe she would like something like familia? It's similar in looks and consistency to baby cereal. I'm not sure of all the ingredients but I think you can buy it sugar free, although she might like the taste of the regular better.
Emily
mom of Charlie born 11/02