Does a 9 Month Old Need Cereal - Dislikes It

No!!! She needs what she takes in. If she is eating reasonably well - ie: eating at all - just quietly without fuss try again once a week or once every two weeks. They change so quickly, and their bodies constantly are changing what foods they need in what amounts, so i would relax about it.

J.,

I don't think I still used cereal once my older boys got to the stage 3 foods. Both the older ones were off baby food all together by about 10 months old.

L.

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NOPE,

baby cereal is for babies,

She obviously is ready to progress to big people foods, so don't hold her back,

Cheerios are great - give them to her for breakfast, and even add the milk, let her make a mess, or you could spoon it to her,

After that, give her fruit- if she is able to eat cheerios.then try some squishy fresh fruits like strawberries, bannana, very ripe cantalope, watermelon,Ect..

for lunch, you can feed her baked potatoe, sweet potatoe,
fresh over cooked broccoli, anything boiled,

stewed beef and chicken cut up, because its soft.

And if you have a food processor now is the time to start.

OF course SLOWLY, see how she likes it,

Good luck MOM

M

Cheerios is fine for the child to eat. They do eat it anytime but it is a cereal.

You can always try mixing the cereal into other foods such as her purees or yogurt, or even making her smoothies with it mixed in.

Cereal does not have to be a staple of her diet. If she doesn't like it - get rid of it. She will get plenty of nutrients from her fruits, veggies and formula or breastmilk. She is getting close to the age where she will be able to take a vitamin. I give my kids Isotonix. It is a powder that you mix with water and they drink it. Tastes like orange Soda! Plus it has probiotics to help keep a healthy digestive tract. You can buy it through www.mall-talk.com

Hey there. Pick up the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. I think that maybe if you grind some whole grains.... maybe oats or brown rice you might finds that works. Mash a ripe banana and add that to the cereal and you will have some kind of meal....... I always used a bit of cinnamon also.... does not hurt to get the taste buds going :)

S.

Hi J.,

I had similar issues with my son. He would not eat them no matter how I made it. My pediatrician told me to try the Barley. He loves it. I can now mix in the rice and oatmeal with the Barley and he will eat them all up. They say that the barley has the best taste of all.

Hope this help.
D.

Have you asked your doctor? I know it's full of vitamins, but if you can't hide a teaspoon of it in her pureed fruit or a little in her milk, or with flavored yogurt (I use Stonyfield O'Soy - vanilla, strawberry or blueberry - it's soy based not milk), ask your doc about getting a vitamin supplement. Try hiding it though. She shouldn't be able to taste a tablespoon in a 4 ounce container of soy yogurt. Good luck!

Try the jar cereal, My son was the same way until I introduced the bayfood cereal and friut mix that already made up. It is a little more expensive but he loved it!

It's not imperitive that your child eats the baby cereal. My 10month old has never had it and is very healthy. As long as she's eating a good variety and healthy, she'll be fine.

hi, i had a problem giving my daughter all the cereals too. one day i thought about the new quaker oatmeals, and how i myself refuse to eat oatmeal unless it's flavored...so i decided to flavor her cereals. the only difference is i didn't put any sugars (other then what was naturally in there) i would take the baby food puree fruits and pour about 1/2 of the cup into a bowl of her cereal, whether it was the rice or oatmeal (after it was warmed) and she started eating them with NO problems...though she still refused to eat the barley cereal (i really couldn't blame her, it smelled almost as bad as it tasted and no amount of fruits or sugar would help that). try some of the fruit puree, hopefully it helps. good luck.

Hi J.,
As long as your baby has a well rounded diet there is absolutely no need for cereal. In fact, HAPPYBABY's nutrition adviser started her first on pureed peaches because he didn't like cereals. Brown rice cereal is usually recommended as a first solid only because it it is virtually allergen free for everyone. But cereal is never necessary.

H.

Hi J.,
Talk to your pedi. If she has to have it try putting it in her formula. Also Try a little formula on the cheerios to feed to her. They also have the fruity cheerios now, my little guy loves them, and he didn't like the infant cereals either with or without fruit. Good luck and have fun

Cheerios are a whole grain cereal made with oats so they are a healthy breakfast choice. Remember that until a year old, they get the nutrients that they need from their breastmilk or formula, the food is just a supplement until a year so don't stress over baby not liking prepared cereals.

you could try farina with a little jelly or jam to sweeten it. my daughter never had a problem with cereal, but she would get bored with it. it's possible that with a little strawberry jam or orange marmalade she may just surprise you. :-)

HI, I started feeding my kids instant oatmeal around this age. You should ask your Dr. if that would be alright.

Hey J.!

My 11 month old stopped liking cereal at about 8 months. She refused to eat it no matter what. I recently discovered some yobaby yogurt that has fruit, cereal, and DHA in it. My daughter loves this stuff...you may want to try it... :-)

M.

J.
If she is eating well, which she seems to be doing, she doessn't need it. Yes it's always great to get some grains in there with her food, but if she isn't liking anything, I wouldn't worry about it. Cheerios is used as a snack but is indeed a cereal, so basically she is eating cereal...right? (smiles). Besides, oatmeal is very intimidating to kids, they always think it looks yucky. Keep on giving her the cheerios, they come in a variety now...Yogurt, Fruity, Multigrain, Honey Nut, Apple Cinnamon and original. So long as she eats one of them, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

J.,
My daughter is also 9 months old ans she is the same way. she stopped eating cereal as soon as I started giving her finger foods. She gets a little cereal in her yogurt (YoBaby Organic with Cereal & Fruit). She also eats Cheerios which are full ofthe grains found in the baby cereal. I really wouldn't worry about the actual baby cereal. At this point they really don't need it. As long as she is getting grain other ways she is not missing anything. Another thing my daughter loves is the Gerber Cereal Bars. I break them up for her and she will eat a whole one for breakfact with her fruit. good Luck!!

I think that you are probably fine without it. As long as she is eating fruits, veggies and formula or breast milk, Cheerios are probably fine to substitute. I would confirm with your pediatrician since he/she may suggest some other alternatives to try.

cheerios (as long as they aren't the sweetened kind) are a healthy alternative to her diet. She is obviously enjoying finger foods, don't fret and give her the cheerios.
A. t

Hi J.,

I think the main reason cereal is suggested is for its iron content. I think I would check with my pediatrician about how much iron a 9-month old needs. My daughter ate the baby cereals with breast milk and fruit up until a year and then wouldn't take a bite of it after that. She had Cheerios for breakfast almost exclusively from then on for the next 6 months.

Cheerios is a snack when they begin eating finger foods and pediatricians recommend it because it's easy to grab with the two pincer fingers (thumb and index) and it's nutritious.
By all means, I would give it to her as breakfast and just add fruit to her tray.

Just so you know, I'm a nurse, so I have read research on this and other topics. Didn't want you to think I was just making this stuff up : ) I'm 35 and have one daughter who is now 2 1/2.

Hope that helps.

Try the Gerber Organic Babyfood Banana Oatmeal Peach. It has oatmeal cereal in it, but tastes wonderful. When it first came out our now 7-year-old daughter, was a fanatic but it was hard to find and we used to have to travel from store to store to stock up on it. Or instead of mixing the ceral with milk, or formula use applesauce or some other fruit of veggie she likes.