Read the packet – you may think twice!
There is so much pressure out there to buy processed ‘baby cereals’… It makes me angry that company’s such as #nestle can get away selling this type of cereal and pressuring young mums to feed their babies this stuff. Most the baby cereals are promoted too parents from 4mo+ for babies to eat because ‘they need iron’. Half the ingredients I have never heard of before… I have had mums ask me “did you spoon feed your baby – baby cereal to fill them up just in case” …. So if you are interested to know we didn’t spoon feed & we never offered Ava ANY baby cereal, that is promoted for babies at 6mo+ this was our decision. We used other food sources of iron i.e. spinach, broccoli, meat to suck on, rice etc all have iron (along side breast milk feeds in the first year) OR we made our own baby cereal – oats or rice with breast milk or u can use formula. Our first foods consisted of broccoli, avocado, banana, sweet potato, meats etc they make great first foods for babies.
We preferred fruits and veggies first. We also tried to do our own research, it’s fascinating to see how minimal iron is actually put into these baby cereals vs natural foods and also took note that breast milk iron is absorbed much better than fortified iron found in baby cereal. ‘Rice cereal or baby cereal is a less than perfect choice for the first complementary food given to infants. Rice cereal is low in protein & high in carbohydrates. Although most brands of formula now have added iron, zinc & vitamins, iron is “poorly absorbed”—only about 7.8% of intake is actually incorporated into red blood cells.’ (Ref AAP, Dr. Frank Greer )
Many pediatric resources are acknowledging the fact that avocado, banana and sweet potato make great first foods for baby! So go crazy mums! Please note: There is no medical need to start baby out with cereals (ref AAP); unless your pediatrician has indicated your baby may need extra iron due to less than overall good health or due to being pre-term. Please ask your paediatrician about introducing your first foods, fruits & veggies instead of baby cereal u may also be surprised they may recommend to introduce meat to your baby’s diet to suck on as a great iron source.
Initially, when I saw the picture, I thought you were promoting this type of cereal. Phew, glad you’re not… I found fruit and veg to be ideal first foods for my four. When I wanted to bulk up purees like runny pear, I would simply grind oats to make ‘baby oats’ and use as a thickener.