Can I skip the baby cereal and just go straight to real oatmeal?

7 Comments to “Can I skip the baby cereal and just go straight to real oatmeal?”

1. Cindy D says:

   May 20, 2009 at 12:59 pm

   No, the texture is not the same.
2. apple juice says:

   May 22, 2009 at 10:39 pm

   NO he cannot digest regular oatmeal. Baby cereal, and then baby oatmeal, NOT regular oatmeal!
3. Abigail's Mommy says:

   May 24, 2009 at 11:55 am

   That is exactly what I did! I make my babies oatmeal for her! She hated rice cereal.

   Oatmeal Cereal

   Ingredients:

   1/4 cup of ground oats (do NOT use instant or Quick Cook), ground in blender or food processor
   3/4 cup - 1 cup water

   Directions:

   1. Bring liquid to boil in saucepan. Add the oatmeal powder while stirring constantly.
   3. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly, mix in formula or breast milk and fruits if desired
   3. Serve warm.
4. Julian D says:

   May 27, 2009 at 4:46 pm

   No. Oats is harder to digest than rice. Rice should be the first food unless your doctor says otherwise. My doctor said that solids, even fruits and veggies are really only for socialization and “table training”. Formula or breast milk is where the nutrition comes from until after 12mon.
5. Rebecca: Aka :Calebs Momma! says:

   May 30, 2009 at 10:47 am

   That’s what I’ve done, I skipped rice cereal all together, my son hates it and I don’t blame him…it tastes like nothing and is basically the equivalent to white bread nutritionally speaking. You can start him on baby oats and also try some fresh fruits and veggies. Get yourself a baby food processor (usually like 25 bucks at babies r us or walmart) and make fresh food. Last week my son had banannas, the week before that it was sweet potatoes and this week it’s avocado. Just work on trying some low allergen foods first, avocado and bananas are great and do about one a week then switch to a different to rule out allergies Hope this helps!
6. яєηєє is expecting #2 says:

   June 1, 2009 at 11:33 am

   you heard right, go right to the real stuff!
7. mystic_eye_cda says:

   June 2, 2009 at 7:52 pm

   Why not cereal?
   …
   Take rice cereal, for example. Under conventional American wisdom, it’s the best first food. But Butte says iron-rich meat — often one of the last foods American parents introduce — would be a better choice.

   Dr. David Ludwig of Children’s Hospital Boston, a specialist in pediatric nutrition, says some studies suggest rice and other highly processed grain cereals actually could be among the worst foods for infants.

   “These foods are in a certain sense no different from adding sugar to formula. They digest very rapidly in the body into sugar, raising blood sugar and insulin levels” and could contribute to later health problems, including obesity, he says.

   The lack of variety in the American approach also could be a problem. Exposing infants to more foods may help them adapt to different foods later, which Ludwig says may be key to getting older children to eat healthier.
   …
   Cereal is not at all necessary, particularly the baby cereals. Regular (whole grain) oatmeal is more nutritious for your baby.

   The truth is, there is nothing special about these foods that makes them better to start out with. Babies don’t actually even need rice cereal
   …
   Meat provides additional protein, zinc, B-vitamins, and other nutrients which may be in short supply when the decrease in breast milk occurs. A recent study from Sweden suggests that when infants are given substantial amounts of cereal, it may lead to low concentrations of zinc and reduced calcium absorption (Persson 1998). Dr. Nancy Krebs has shared preliminary results from a large infant growth study suggesting that breastfed infants who received pureed or strained meat as a primary weaning food beginning at four to five months, grow at a slightly faster rate. Dr. Krebs’ premise is that inadequate protein or zinc from complementary foods may limit the growth of some breastfed infants during the weaning period. Both protein and zinc levels were consistently higher in the diets of the infants who received meat (Krebs 1998). Thus the custom of providing large amounts of cereal products and excluding meat products before seven months of age may not meet the nutritional needs of all breastfed infants.
   Meat has also been recommended as an excellent source of iron in infancy. Heme iron (the form of iron found in meat) is better absorbed than iron from plant sources. In addition, the protein in meat helps the baby more easily absorb the iron from other foods. Two recent studies (Makrides 1998; Engelmann 1998) have examined iron status in breastfed infants who received meat earlier in the weaning period. These studies indicate that while there is not a measurable change in breastfed babies’ iron stores when they receive an increased amount of meat (or iron), the levels of hemoglobin circulating in the blood stream do increase when babies receive meat as one of their first foods.

   …
   Finally, respect the tiny, still-developing digestive system of your infant. Babies have limited enzyme production, which is necessary for the digestion of foods. In fact, it takes up to 28 months, just around the time when molar teeth are fully developed, for the big-gun carbohydrate enzymes (namely amylase) to fully kick into gear. Foods like cereals, grains and breads are very challenging for little ones to digest. Thus, these foods should be some of the last to be introduced. (One carbohydrate enzyme a baby’s small intestine does produce is lactase, for the digestion of lactose in milk.1)

   [...]

   Babies do produce functional enzymes (pepsin and proteolytic enzymes) and digestive juices (hydrochloric acid in the stomach) that work on proteins and fats.12 This makes perfect sense since the milk from a healthy mother has 50-60 percent of its energy as fat, which is critical for growth, energy and development.13 In addition, the cholesterol in human milk supplies an infant with close to six times the amount most adults consume from food.13 In some cultures, a new mother is encouraged to eat six to ten eggs a day and almost ten ounces of chicken and pork for at least a month after birth. This fat-rich diet ensures her breast milk will contain adequate healthy fats.14
   Thus, a baby’s earliest solid foods should be mostly animal foods since his digestive system, although immature, is better equipped to supply enzymes for digestion of fats and proteins rather than carbohydrates.1 This explains why current research is pointing to meat (including nutrient-dense organ meat) as being a nourishing early weaning food.
   …
   The results indicate that in a group of healthy, well growing 12-month-old Swedish infants one-quarter is iron-depleted, although iron deficiency anaemia is rare, and one-third may be zinc-depleted.