As you would when introducing any new food, start by offering a small quantity of rice for the first few servings. If there is no adverse reaction, gradually increase the serving size over future meals.
No! Rice cereal is not a necessary food for babies, and even the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says rice cereal doesn't have to be a first food.
Mix 1 tablespoon of a single-grain, iron-fortified baby cereal with 4 tablespoons (60 milliliters) of breast milk or formula. Don't serve it from a bottle. Instead, help your baby sit upright and offer the cereal with a small spoon once or twice a day after a bottle- or breast-feeding.
When your little one is just starting on solids, spoon-feed your baby a small amount of infant cereal once or twice a day, ideally just after he's been bottle-fed or breastfed. Start with one or two teaspoons of cereal so that your baby can get accustomed to this new food.
Stir a little of a good first fruit, such as pureed applesauce or pears, into the cereal. The added flavor and texture may induce her to open wide. Or try another type of baby cereal — some adventurous palates prefer the more pronounced taste of barley or oats to the milky mildness of rice.
Your baby may gag when you introduce solid foods – this is totally normal. It happens because they are learning to regulate the amount of food they can chew and swallow at one time.
Rice cereal was traditionally offered as an easily digestible food for young infants. However, if you wait until babies are developmentally ready to start solids, which is around 6 months of age, you don't have to worry about choosing foods that are easy to digest. Baby will be more ready for a variety of foods!
It was once thought that adding rice cereal to a baby's bottle at night would help them sleep longer without waking up to feed during the night. Recent studies now show that there is no reason to believe that this is true.
A good time to try out baby cereal is when your baby is sitting up, alert and a little hungry – usually after you have given them their milk (breast or bottle).
Because rice is grown in water, any arsenic in the water supply binds to the rice as it grows. A known carcinogen, arsenic can influence risk of cardiovascular, immune and other diseases, and research has shown that even low levels can have a negative impact on babies' neurodevelopment.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Rice contains a high amount of arsenic. A natural element, arsenic is found in water, air and soil. It is linked to skin, lung, liver, kidney and bladder cancer. Arsenic exposure also may cause problems during pregnancy and developmental problems at birth.”
Once your baby has eaten cereal for 4-7 days, you can to start introducing vegetables or fruits as well, but it doesn't matter with which you start. Infants in this age range only need to have 1 to 2 meals of solids per day and are still getting virtually all of their calories from breast milk or formula.
The good news is, you're totally fine to just never use rice cereal (or any other baby cereal!). In fact, there's plenty of reasons (including toxic chemicals) to avoid it. If you want, you can skip rice cereal and go straight to baby food.
4 to 6 months:
24 to 36 ounces of formula or milk over 24 hours (or five to eight nursing sessions a day) 1 to 4 tablespoons of cereal once or twice a day. 1 to 4 tablespoons each of a fruit and vegetable once or twice a day.
Most babies' first food is iron-fortified infant single-grain cereal mixed with breast milk or formula. Place the spoon near your baby's lips, and let the baby smell and taste it.
Introducing solids before 4 months of age can increase the risk of choking and cause your infant to drink less than the needed amount of breast milk. But introducing solids too late can increase the risk of your child developing allergies.
Rice cereal is also a source of iron for babies, which is important for baby brain development. In fact, studies show that iron-fortified rice cereal (and other fortified grain-based cereals) prevent the occurrence of iron deficiency and anemia in babies. [Listen to the podcast]: World-renowned iron researcher, Dr.
Because of the possible arsenic exposure with rice cereal, experts believe oatmeal is the safer choice.
For decades, parents have used infant rice cereal as baby's first food. And why not? It's mild in flavour, fortified with iron, easy to digest and takes just a few seconds to prepare. But rice cereal has fallen out of favour with dietitians and paediatricians as an ideal first food for babies.
Food allergy symptoms generally appear within minutes of eating the problematic food. Anaphylaxis can occur within a two-hour window. Severe allergies are a medical emergency that warrant calling 911.
Symptoms and signs
Some rice proteins are regarded as the causes of allergy in people. People allergic to rice might experience sneezing, runny nose, itching, asthma, stomachache, hives, sores in the mouth, or eczema after they eat rice.
Symptoms may involve the skin, gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular system, and respiratory tract, and may include one or more of the following: Abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps. Hives (allergic urticaria), itching, eczema. Wheezing, nasal congestion, shortness of breath, repetitive cough.