Starting solid Hi I am starting solid for my baby in two months' time. I heard from various online sources that rice cereal is not good. Can you advise? Can I give rice cereal or other solids first?

I have also read a number of articles that have highlighted concerns about giving rice cereal to babies younger than one year old. Personally, I think there is no real harm if it is given as part of a variety of food to introduce to a baby (and not the only type of food). A lot of my friends have given their babies rice cereal when they first started solids and none have observed any detrimental effects to their babies' health. Especially since most are still breastfeeding and were simply trying to get their babies accustomed to having some solids. In general, rice cereal was just part of the list of food they tried giving their little ones. Other common food are fruits (such as bananas, apples, pears - could be steamed and softened/pureed), vegetables, pumpkin, sweet potato, oatmeal etc. They usually try to have a different mix of texture (but still retaining a smooth consistency) and taste. As a start, they would mix small amount of mashed/soft food with breast milk. Therefore, rice cereal was one of the choices for many of my friends. You will probably need to trial and error as your baby may have certain preference for taste and texture. Hope this helps! :)

From personal experience, I had the same concerns as you, so we tried giving my daughter steamed veggies first, but she didn't like it. So we made homemade rice cereal by grinding then pounding uncooked brown rice, then when it was powder-like in consistency, cooked it in breastmilk. This, she liked. After 3-5 days of this, we did a white rice version, which she also liked. After that, we moved to steamed veggies, and this was acceptable to her already. We figured, it's okay to give rice cereal, since we don't want her to be allergic to it in the future and she'll be eating it later on anyway. We just made sure to go the homemade route so we know what goes in it! :)

Hi dazzle, this is very useful! What tool do U use to grind and pound the uncooked brown rice? Is it possible to cook the rice first and then smash it? I heard rice cereal has fortified iron in it. Will home made rice cereal also have the same ingredient?

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I seldom gave rice cereal. Instead i stick to. Vegetables and fruits. Steam fish with potatoes and carrots Spinach with peas Chicken with potatoes and mushroom Tofu with egg and fish All steamed and pureed.

Hi. You may find this article useful: https://sg.theasianparent.com/getting-started-on-solid-food-with-infant-cereals

I see. Thank you very much. It seems like a lot of effort to make the rice cereal at home

Those rice cereal which u get outside is iron fortified ... gd for bm babies

hopes this will helps.