Hey Low Carbing Mommies,

I have a question. I will be starting my 5.5mo on solids in another month or so. I plan to feed only home prepared stuff (since I have the time/space/inclination), and I'm wondering about starting on cereals.

With my other DS (now age 6), I breast fed him to age 2, started him on rice cereal at 6 months, fed jarred baby food (although was conscious of sugar, starch, and other fillers), and never had an eating problem with him.

Knowing what I know now about how our bodies react to carbohydrates, I am reluctant to start this one on rice cereal. Yes, I'll consult with my ped on this, but I was also curious as to what you guys did/do? Or would do, if you could do it over again? Thanks!

My son hated "commercial" rice cereal, so I started him on some whole-grain kind I got from the healthfood store. I thinned it with breastmilk.

Honestly, as far as nutrition at that age is concerned, just be sure that you always BF him first. The breastmilk has way more nutrients and antibodies and the good things he needs, solids are still for practice at this point and certainly not an integral part of the diet. Plus, with BFing you know that he is getting exactly the perfect portion for him, which I believe creates a long-term sense of portion control that stays with the children long after they are weaned.

I would skip the rice cereal and go for more whole grain type of stuff if he will eat it. Sorry I can't remember the type of cereal I used - but it was recommended to me by the lady who owns the healthfood store.

I wouldn't worry about the baby cereal. I started both my kids on solids at what most people consider a late age (about the same as you are), a lot of people put babies as young as 3 months on cereal. They start the babies on rice because it is the cereal that causes the least allergies, and then you introduce the new foods one at a time to see if the baby is ok with it. Cereal is very bland, so the next food you introduce is vegetables, because they are stronger flavoured, and then fruits last because they are sweet and a baby that ate apricots is more likely to spit his carrots out if he'd never had a carrot before. Even if your baby has a lot of baby fat now, he will probably wear it off when he gets to be around 2, and by then you can really be making sure he/she eats lots of whole grains and vegetable/fruits. I bet you could cook some brown rice and puree it with some breast milk in a blender. I made my own baby food, but not the cereal.

Thanks, Karen and KoKo, you guys made some really good points. I completely agree re breastmilk......he'll be getting plenty of that. In addition to preventing allergies, rice cereal is recommended because of the digestibility. I was thinking about grinding rolled oats at home, into flour, and then adding breast milk. I'd prefer to skip rice and wheat altogether, just because I don't believe it offers much nutrition. But I might consider the cooked pureéd brown rice idea......hmmmmmm.

Remember that their digestive systems are still immature so that is why easy to digest foods are a priority at this time. Also, by 6 months, their iron stores are fairly depleted and they need a source of iron. The infant cereals are iron fortified whereas they are not getting this from breastmilk alone. I have my guy on cereal (since about 5 1/2 months). I will try meats within the next month, but I don't know if he will take them since he seems to hate most of the veggies and fruits that I have tried with him. Right now the cereals seem to be his best alternative.

Ah! I forgot about iron! Thanks, Jen, I will definitely discuss this with my ped before I start him on anything.