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When Going to Solids, Timing Is Everything

Introducing Cereal to Baby

By Lisa A. Goldstein

• Ability to sit up on own.
• Showing interest in food.
• Disappearance of the tongue thrust (which causes young babies to push food back out of their mouths with their tongues).
• Doubled birth weight.
• Still hungry after breastfeeding eight to 10 times a day or eating about 32 ounces of formula a day (this must be combined with other signs of readiness, as sometimes younger babies seem hungry but need more breastmilk or formula, not solid foods).

Rethore adds a few more signs of readiness, such as Baby's ability to close his/her mouth around the spoon and the ability to turn her head away to indicate she is full.

Introducing cereal to your baby will hopefully mean a little more of a break for you. "It will fill Baby up so he will drink slightly less breastmilk or formula, which is why it is important to choose a baby cereal that has been fortified with iron and to mix it with breastmilk or formula," Johnson says.

Around 6 months of age, infants' iron needs increase, and the increased calories also found in cereals will aid in growth and development, Rethore says.

Rice cereal is the one recommended to start with as it's less allergenic than wheat and other grains, is bland and tends to be more easily tolerated. It is also typically fortified with iron.

Cereal should be introduced by spoon and not in Baby's bottle, Rethore says. Not only is there a risk of the infant choking while in a reclining position, but feedinga baby cereal in a bottle also interferes with the infant's developing sense of self-regulation regarding food intake.

Want to see more?

• Ready or Not? The Real Scoop on Solids
• Celiac Disease: Understanding This
  Autoimmune Disorder
• Baby's First Cookie: Making Homemade
  Teething Biscuits
• Check out our Article Library.
• Talk about it!

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