Rice Cereal, Then What?

After 2 weeks it is all right to introduce the next food. I am so proud of you for going to vegetables next. Do not start with the sweet vegetables, however, start with green beans, spinach, or beets. They will love the sweet veggies and not want the other ones and you will have more problems with the veggies later if you start with sweet potatoes, carrots or peas.
After a month on rice cereal (or at the end of the box) I would go to oatmeal with veggies that are all ready established.
Good luck!

We did rice, barley, oatmeal, mixed cereal. Then started with green veggies. I was told not to do the sweeter stuff first b/c then that would be what they wanted and wouldn't like the others. You really only need to keep it to one new thing for 3 days before starting something else. I think I did a week at a time just b/c then it was easier for me to keep track. Have fun!

Hello- Just wanted to give you some advise- I am glad your baby is doing well on cereal- however I found out about a year ago- not to give cereal to a baby that is breastfed. Becasue of the iron in it- is different than breastmilk( it is more like formula). I was told it could upset their stomachs and bowels. I would go right to the vegetables- organic sweet potatoes. I am a mother of four children- the first two we gave cereal to.- I did not know that about the ceral with them. And my third we never gave the cereal to her. My youngest is almost 6 months old- and we are planning on not giving her cereal at all- just starting with sweet potatoes- hopefully around 7- 7 1/2 months old. Hope this helps-

A little about me: Stay at home mom of 4 children- ages 8,7,2 and almost 6 months

Your son is old enough to start on the stage 1 foods. Just introduce one new food to him at a time. If he still has the tongue reflex where he pushes the food back out, wait a week or two and then try again. I have read that the tongue reflex is a natural indicator of the baby being ready for more advanced food (not sure if it's true, but it was true in our case).

follow the childs lead.... my kids ate baby food for about 3 weeks and then went directly to table food in tiny pieces and none of them are picky eatters due to the exposure at a young age to many flavors. Baby food has no flavor and if your kiddo is looking at your food and drooling or staring let him try it. It saves money and is better for him anyway....but to answer your question sweet potatoes, any sort of veggie in stage one.... ignore the fruit and desserts as long as you can they really are just sugar and kids of course prefer that the longer exposure to veggies the better... aslso don;t just feed one color ie carrots and seet potatoes.... your kids skin can turn orange! variety my friend variety and if he is ready to move on go for it,..,,,

Hi K.! I would go ahead and start veggies, but I would start with the green ones first, like green beans, peas, stuff like that. Leave the sweet stuff for later. Good luck!

I am a mom of 6, ages range from 9wks to 23 yrs old. With every one of them I started with rice cereal the night they came home from the hospital with, not in, their last bottle. They all ate off a spoon at 1 wk! At about a month and a half we switched to oatmeal and at about the same time they started getting veggies for lunch and continued the cereal at night before bed. My 9 wk old has had all the 1st food veggies and in about a wk will be starting on fruit with his cereal at night. I know that this is not what is normal these days but I am an old-school mom that just does it her own way. I will tell you though, GREEN veggies first! They are easier to digest and give your son the same veggie for 3 days in a row. If he is going to have a reaction to it you will know which veggie it happened with. Once you have made it through them all, then you can give different ones every day, if you would like. GOOD LUCK and if you have any questions and want to contact me please feel free!

We also followed the 3 day rule given to us by our pediatrician and started with the 'yellow' vegetables: sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash. Just follow your child's lead!

K. - I would cover all of your single grains first (rice, barley, oatmeal). Then I would do the mixed cereal and introduce veggies. I alternated veggies (introduce for a few days to make sure there were no allergies and moved on to the next one). A piece of advice, don't do all the orange veggies together (alternate orange, green, etc.) ... otherwise your little guy will get an orange tint to his skin. I also introduced veggies before I introduced fruits (some people say this is good b/c the kids will like fruits better b/c of their sweetness and never want to eat the veggies). That is totally up to you. Good luck!!!

I never tried any of the other cereal types. I say go for the sweet potatoes. My ped also recommended the 3-4 day rule before adding a new item to watch for allergies and sentivities - plus I think they sometimes need a day or two to get used to everything. Good luck!

I did the cereal thing for awhile it seems like. I know my dd was on rice, then barley, then oatmeal, then the mixed. I didn't wait more than a day or two in between cereal types. I started with veggies after that. I think I started with peas, and she HATED them...LOL :D I didn't know about starting with the sweeter veggies first! I don't really know that it matters. I know some people say not to start w/ fruit cause that's all they'll want. We started with all the veggies, and my dd HATES them to this day! So, take that for what it's worth! :D

Our ped always told us to try one food for 3-4 days in case of allergy, then move on. I tried the different cereals, simply because my kids didn't like that most 2nd foods are so thin. Once we got past all the cereals, I used these to thicken up the foods.

FEED ME I'M YOURS by Lansky.......you'll want to own a copy!

As you can see from the myriad of responses, every mom has a different idea of what is best. All that means is that every mom that responded found what worked for their child and did that. So, that is my advice. Follow your child's lead. In the long run it probably won't matter if you stayed on cereal for another week or not. If you try veggies and see no adverse reaction than you can keep on them. If he gets constipated or sick or breaks out than you probably will want to consult the pediatrician or try a new type. Every child reacts differently to solids. My son (now 8) never had a problem with any kind of solids (cereal or otherwise). My 11 month old daughter, however, could never eat rice/oatmeal/barley cereal. They made her all constipated. She, however, really enjoys her baby food and we have never had a problem with any of it. As far as what I have heard from the "experts" (like Gerber)...a child's digestive system is ready to start solids and baby foods around six months and if you choose to do so then you should start with the cereal and then move to the yellow-orange veggies b/c they are easier to digest. To sum up, just watch your little guy for digestive issues or allergic reactions. If you don't see anything wrong than follow his lead and enjoy watching his reactions to this new world of flavors! Good luck and God bless!

We started with avocado before cereal, and our baby loved it. Avocado has tons of good vitamins, etc. and she eats it every day (she's now 11 months). Just mash a ripe avocado and mix it with breastmilk into the consistency of thick soup. Eventually you can decrease the liquid, as he starts getting used to thicker food. I think of it as the superfood for our baby because she loves it and it's really good for her developing brain and body.

Most sources say to wait 4-7 days before trying a new food. So you should be fine introducing something new now. People I know advised me to start by going through all the fruits and veggies, then grains (rice, oats, millet, not wheat yet), then legumes around 10 months, then animal proteins. That's pretty much what we've done. She seems to prefer orange veggies to green ones, generally--but the green ones are pretty bitter, in some cases. Just keep trying different things so he gets a good sample over time.

I really like the book Super Baby Food (more info here: http://www.superbabyfood.com/) so you might want to look for that, too. Good luck!

Our first baby was always hungry even though he ate like a horse literally from day one. We added mashed banana to his cereal and he love it. The advice we had from our pediatrician was to add fruits before veggies. Of course that was many years ago. I'd ask your pediatrician to be sure what is best and what's reccomended these days. My oldest turns 27 next month, so you see, it has been a "few" years. : ) Good luck!

I just read many of the other responses that were sent to you and wanted to add that my son did not have any trouble going to veggies after having fruit. He always did and still does really like many veggies. Enjoy your baby and exploring his emerging identity and tastes.
Carol B

What I did was this - started with Rice Cereal for about 2-3 weeks. Then moved on to the other cereals. We went for Barley next (since my mom a Pediatric Nurse) said it was easier on digestion than oatmeal. Then went to Oatmeal, then Mixed Grain. Each had about a 2-3 week time period. But it kept her interested and then we did one kind AM, and Rice at night(easiest to digest). After the cereals, we started with Veggies per our doctor. He said that almost all children love fruit since it has sugar, so go for veggies first. We started with all GREEN veggies since I wanted her to like those in the future, then moved on to the others. Then fruits. We introduced a new one every 4 days to be sure we were okay. Then, after we had some variety - we went for cereal in AM, Fruit at lunch, veggie for dinner and cereal at bedtime. Worked out great and started her on more of a real schedule like ours. It takes awhile, but now our daughter eats EVERYTHING!!!

Actually, there's no point to cereal when you wait until 6 months, especially with an EBF baby. You can immediately start stages 2s or make your own soft foods. The best things to start with are high-calorie and good-fat things like sweet potatoes and avacado. Have fun:) Babies only need the jarred purees and cereal if you start too early (4-5 months) and they still have a tongue-reflex so you are teaching them to swallow. Also, all the experts agree that breastmilk is sweet, so waiting on fruits doesn't have any advantage like it does for formula-freds.

I always do a month or so between cereal and jar foods, but I also start my babies on cereal at around 4 months (with pediatrician's ok). I have figured out through my own experiences however, that its best to start with green vegies. Think the worse they taste, the earlier to start them on. This way they get a taste for them before they learn to like the sweeter stuff. If you want the details on how I came to this conclusion, I'd be happy to share, just send me a personal message.

I met with a Pediatric Dietician during a regular pediatric appt. She was very informative and helpful. If you could do the same i would recommend it.

I work with infants everyday and we have a list of foods to introduce them to. WE start at 4 months old with rice cereal for 5 days. 5 days gives them time to see if they have any allergies or reactions to the food. You do all foods for 5 days. After rice is oatmeal, barley, mixed cereal, then vegetables. Vegetables should be second because they are kind of plain where fruit tastes sweet (the best) and they won't want to have vegetables. So the order of veggies we do is green beans, peas, spinach, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, then we start fruits. The order of fruits is bananas, applesauce, pears, peaches, apricots, and prunes. By the time they are 8 months old, you can start them on meat. We do beef, chicken, turkey, ham, and veal. AT 8 months, we also start giving them baby snacks. Some babies are ready for snack at 6 or 7 months.

i started my kids out with rice cereal 1st, then waited a couple weeks and introduced veggies one at a time. the only thing you have to look out for with the sweet potatoes is that they can cause the poopers if you give them too much. and with the veggies i gave them the ones with the most vitamins and calories.

We did oatmeal for a few days, then barley for a few days, then mixed for a few days. Then started with the green veggies.