Starting Cereal Questions?!?

[turtle]

My daughter just turned 6months and i'm getting ready to start her w/ some rice cereal...my question is...can i give it to her in her bottle?or do i have to give it to her w/ a bowl and spoon? ...i'm thinking bottle will be alot easier for now as she really still tries to suck at anything that goes in or near her mouth...also...what brand does everybody seem to like best? i can easily get : Gerber,Beech Nut,or Earth's Best.

Thanks in advance

[SnuggleBuggles]

Not in a bottle. The only reason to start solids before 12m is for practice, not nutrition. Cereal in a bottle can be a choking hazard too.

Current thoughts are to skip cereal and go straight to things like avocado or sweet potatoes. We owned a box of cereal (Earth's Best) and used it primarily to thicken other foods.

I chose EB b/c I preferred their farming practices and wanted to avoid pesticides and other things that might have been present with the more mainstream brands.

Beth

[JBaxter]

I bet all 4 of my boys put together didnt eat a box of infant cereal. Its gross tastes like paste. We started with fruits & veggies. Pears first then carrots. Pears is a very low allergen food and didnt cause constipation as infant cereal will do.

No dont give it in a bottle. If your little one cant sit and eat it off the spoon then they are not ready to start foods.

[maestramommy]

so sorry I posted in the wrong place!

[brittone2]

ITA that you definitely do not want to give it in a bottle. We did a tiny bit of rice cereal with DS but he wasn't into solids at all at that age. We ended up waiting until more like 8 months and went to veggies, fruits, etc. and skipped the rice cereal.

With DD I never bothered w/ rice cereal either, and like her brother, she wasn't into solids until she was more like 8+ months old.

[catsnkid]

My ped said not to worry about brand unless you care about organic. DS is working his way through a box of Earth's Best- had coupon, I bought a box of Beechnut for travel as it has a nice screw top, and some gerber in case i run out. DS gets Gerber at daycare.

[tropicalmom]

another one piping in for skipping the cereal and going for avocado and baked sweet potatoes. DD didn't do solids until 1 year and then we started on those. they are still her favorite foods and she's not into crackers like other kids and i think it's due to skipping the cereals at a young age. she eats very healthy now at almost three. prefer broccoli to a bowl of spaghetti and salad to pizza which makes me so happy for her future health. they're super easy to make and pack with you and much more nutritous.

[lchang25000]

We also skipped rice cereal by itself and started DS on sweet potatoes then other veggies/fruits. I only use the rice cereal to thicken up his baby food and to add texture.

[Kestrel]

We did rice cereal for a couple of weeks, and then went to oatmeal, which DS likes much better. The oatmeal is also nice for his breakfast with an ounce of fruit puree mixed in.

I make all of his fruits and veggies myself, but still use the rice cereal to thicken some foods. We like the earth's best, but at nearly 11 mo, he's still not finished with the one 8oz box of rice cereal I bought. However, we're about halfway through with his second oatmeal box. (He flatout refused the jarred cereal; must be a different texture.) Thought I'd mention that, so you don't stock up...

Good luck, new food....that was a fun time!