Rice or Oatmeal

[jd11365]

Someone told me to start with oatmeal instead of rice because the rice has a greater chance of binding/constipation. Anyone agree? Does it really matter?

Jamie :-)
Mommy to Kayla
5-1-03

[lizajane]

try rice first and get some prunes just in case. you can always mix the prunes with the cereal (after 4 days of cereal) to loosen things up.

i have a particularly sensitive child, but when i tried oatmeal he SCREAMED pretty soon after he ate. he coulnd't tolerate rice either, but oatmeal was worse. so i would recommend trying rice and if it goes ok, then try oatmeal.

[Rachels]

I'd never give rice cereal to a baby again. It's not particularly nutritious, and it can wreak havoc (and did with us). It's habit to give it as a first food, not a nutritional requirement or even necessarily a good idea.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

[mharling]

Our experience with oatmeal has been great. Lane didn't care for the rice. So far with oatmeal, he loves it and hasn't been constipated.

Mary & Lane 4/6/03
http://www.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=67b0de21b3524e54e42d - New 10/3

[C99]

I think it varies with child to child. I talked to one mom who said oatmeal bound her kids up, which I thought was really surprising. I started Nate on oatmeal and he *hated* it. But a few weeks later, he loved the rice cereal. I mixed both cereals with EBM and I think that b/c the rice had less of a taste on its own, more of the EBM taste came through, but who knows? At the moment, he won't take either -- he only wants food that mom & dad eat (too)!

[KimberleyDawn]

Oatmeal vote here! Rice was a *binding* nightmare for us.
Kim

[stillplayswithbarbies]

I plan on skipping cereal altogether and starting out with banana or avocado.

after she is older I will try the cereals, maybe after 9 or 10 months.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[ralu]

>Someone told me to start with oatmeal instead of rice because
>the rice has a greater chance of binding/constipation. Anyone
>agree? Does it really matter?

For my son both rice and oatmeal cereal produce constipation (the effect of rice being somewhat stronger). I still use oatmeal everyday, mainly to make sure that DS's iron requirements are fulfilled. To avoid constipation, I mix one tbs. of bran into the cereal (but I did that only after DS was 8 months old).

Raluca

[kaitlinsmommy]

I also think rice is constipating. We never did much cereal, just started with bananas & avacados. But I do mix the cereal in with her fruits & veggies for the iron.

[Jen in Chicago]

We have had 11 days of Rice Cereal without any issues. Last night I gave him Oatmeal and he gobbled it up just like the Rice. He has not had a BM yet, but I expect him too. We have never had any constipation issues to date.

Ped told me to start the cereals for 2 weeks, then move to the other stuff. This weekend we are going to start avocado!

[vpalmer]

We have been on rice cereal for about two weeks as well without any constipation issues. I have actually been wondering when to start oatmeal, so I am glad I found this post. Jen, I am inspired by your good luck with oatmeal and may try it this weekend.

Veronica
Mom to Eva 6-12-03

[amp]

We've only been feeding cereal for just under a month, but we have not noticed any difference in constipation with Rice or Oatmeal. Both make hsi poop more solid, but neither more than the other. And DS prefers the rice to the Oatmeal, which surprised me since so many babies prefer the Oatmeal. He has also had applesauce, bananas, pears and now peaches mixed in with his cereal. He's not a huge fan of any of them yet, but is interested and does eat when we sit him down to do so.