how do you start cheerios?

[peanut4us]

Sara is finally excited about eating solids... she's been doing it off and on, but not with lots of interest. This morning Dh was eating cereal in front of her and each time he opened his mouth, she opened hers as wide as she could. So, he put his cereal down, and fixed her some oatmeal and pears... which she snarfed down in record time! Hooray.

SHe's had all kinds of foods so far, but it has all been pureed. She can eat pretty thick cereal though. So I'm wondering when to try some cheerios on her? She's 7.5 months. Hasn't had any food allergies so far. What else?? I would like to have her eating stuff like cheerios before we go on our T-Day trip. Only if she likes it, of course.

She's got 2 bottom teeth and is currently cutting 4 more *sigh*. So is this a good time to try or is this premature? I'm worried about choking in general. Do you just give her one on her high chair tray to start? Whole, halved?

[Momof3Labs]

We started Colin on whole Cheerios (his first finger food) at about 8 months at a restaurant. We just wanted a nice meal without lots of fussing! It took him a while to figure out that these little things were FOOD but once he did, he snarfed them down. Colin was working on his pincer grip when he started Cheerios - they are hard (but definitely not impossible) to eat with a fist.

I'd say go ahead and offer them - you will know if she is ready or not! Colin has been loving finger foods ever since that day!

[C99]

If you are worried about her choking on it, soak it in a little EBM or water to soften it up -- it will make it hard for her to eat it as a finger food though. Nate has 4 teeth (2 top, 2 bottom) and has been eating O's successfully for at least a month. Of course, he is the ultimate lazy eater -- he understands that they're for eating, but thinks that we should put them in his mouth!

[s7714]

Sorry, I can't help to answer, but I wanted to add a question of my own... :7

My DD still doesn't have teeth (at 8 months); do they need teeth to "chew" the cheerios, or can a baby with no teeth eat them too? Just wondering if anyone has experience with giving O's to a baby who's still gummin' it!

Jennifer

Annalia 03/03/03

[Momof3Labs]

No teeth needed! Colin likes to crunch them once or twice on his front teeth ('cause it's fun!), but his back gums do most of the work.

[LD92599]

DS loves Cheerios! He's just starting to get them in his mouth by himself, thogh most of the ones on the high chair tray do end up on the floor. I now keep a baggie of Cheerios in my purse!

Laura
mom to William
3.5.2003

PS: Joey...i've been meaning to email you to see how everything's going! I will get to it! Just know I'm thinking about you!

[Jeanmick]

I started both my DD and DS on Gerber's "Fruit Wagon Wheels" when they began finger foods. The first time I fed this, both had their two bottom front teeth, with the upper front teeth starting to bud.

The wagon wheel looks a lot like a Honeycomb cereal, but slighly bigger, very easy to chew and melts in the mouth much quicker. When my kids became comfortable with eating this, I quickly switched to cheerios.

If you're uncomfortable with cheerios as his first finger food, consider buying a canister of this and try it out. Worked for us.

Just my two cents,

[heidi_timms]

I have another question. We gave DD one cheerio and she tried to swallow the whole thing without chewing it. It didn't get stuck, but I could tell she had a hard time getting it down. How do you get a baby to chew(or at least bite down with their gums)? I just started teething cookies because I thought that this might help....


~Heidi
Mom to Kailey Ashlin
4/27/03

[kransden]

Take the cheerio and break it into 3 or 4 pieces. My dd would choke on a whole one. She ate them like that for about a month before she could eat a whole one sucessfully. I keep a small tupperware container w/cheerios in my diaper bag at all times for this purpose. No need to soak them, babies have a lot of spit lol. No teeth needed either, my dd still has none.

Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[sunny2003]

Just echoing what Karin said - an lc who is an expert on feeding told my mommy group that the Cheerio will melt in the mouth - I have given dd Cheerios when she was 6 months with no teeth - but I make sure I watch her as she eats it. I have only tried it a couple of times - she is still not used to it but it does melt down in her mouth.

Viv
Mommy to Kayley born on 4/28/03

[cinrein]

Joey,

I would try the Cheerios. If Sara doesn't eat them at first, she will have fun pushing them around on her tray. Once she gets the hang of them she will love being able to feed herself.

My SIL uses those wagon wheels. I think they have wheat flour, which we haven't introduced yet, so be careful.

Another self-feeding favorite in our house is cheese. I cut them up in tiny cubes and Anna would eat cheese until the cows come home. I don't know if this would be constipating for Sara...we tend to have the opposite problem so a little cheese is a good thing. :)

I put a Cheerio in my own mouth to see how quickly it dissolves, and it is fast. I don't think I have as much saliva as Anna either, or maybe I do a better job of keeping it contained in my mouth. Anna usually bit her Cheerios into tiny bits, but if Sara doesn't do that and gags on a whole Cheerio, just break it for her.

Have fun! Cheerios are invaluable at buying you some additional time in the grocery store when the baby gets fussy!


Cindy and Anna 2/11/03

[peasprout]

Cheerios do dissolve quickly, so I wouldn't worry. Even if they have front teeth, they don't chew with them anyway,....they mash with their gums. (have you ever tried chewing food with just your front teeth? :) ) I gave some Cheerios to DD at 6 months. She's a year old now, still no teeth (!!), and she eats a lot of non-pureed food.

[AngelaS]

I start with KIX, they dissolve faster than Cheerios so my girls wouldn't choke.

[mattysmom]

We're still breaking up the cheerios - at least in half - for our 9 month old ds who has his 2 bottom teeth. my MIL gave us some puffed rice cereal which has been good too - it's smaller and dissolves faster. I think taking an infant CPR class has made dh and me more nervous about choking!