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! :)