{"id":16303,"date":"2020-10-26T10:00:14","date_gmt":"2020-10-26T14:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=16303"},"modified":"2020-10-07T13:12:48","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T17:12:48","slug":"off-to-a-good-start-with-baby-cereal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2020\/10\/26\/off-to-a-good-start-with-baby-cereal\/","title":{"rendered":"Off to a Good Start with Baby Cereal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first 6 months or so after birth, babies don\u2019t need any food\nother than breast milk (ideally) or a commercial infant formula or a\ncombination of breast milk and infant formula. But, around age 6 months, most\nbabies are showing the signs of being ready to start eating solid foods. They\ncan sit independently which gives them the ability to lean forward if they want\nfood or to move back if they don\u2019t. They are showing an interest in what others\nare eating. They can move food from the front to the back of the mouth, where\nit can be swallowed more easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     An often-recommended first\nfood is a single ingredient baby cereal, meaning it only contains one cereal\ngrain. Since it has only one ingredient, it\u2019s easy to know what the baby is\nreacting to if the baby has a reaction. It can be thinned with breast milk or\nformula to a good consistency \u2013 first a thin consistency, with a gradual\nincrease in thickness. If it is made with breast milk or the baby\u2019s formula, it\nwill have a taste the baby is familiar with. Many baby cereals are fortified\nwith iron and some also have added zinc and vitamin B12.  Once the baby tolerates single ingredient\ncereals, cereals with several grains can be introduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     You may have heard about\nconcerns about the arsenic levels in baby rice cereal. Arsenic can be harmful\nto the baby\u2019s brain (1). Once these elevated levels of arsenic were discovered,\nbaby food companies worked to reduce the amount of arsenic in their products. The\nFDA has recently reported that 76% of samples of baby rice cereals did not\ncontain excess arsenic, compared to 47% of samples tested in 2014 and 36% of\nsamples tested between 2011-2013. (2). Other infant cereals, including those\nmade with oats, barley, and multi-grains, are lower in arsenic; use of a\nvariety of cereals is recommended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Some parents and caregivers\nmay prefer to make baby cereals. Uncooked oats, barley, or rice can be\nprocessed in a blender until finely ground and then cooked until smooth. These\ncereals don\u2019t have the iron that is usually added to commercial baby cereals.\nIf parents or caregivers make their own baby cereals, use of an iron supplement\nshould be discussed with the baby\u2019s doctor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Baby cereals can be fed from\na spoon and should not be fed from a bottle. If your little one likes to\nself-feed, make the baby cereal fairly thick, chill it, and cut it into small\nbites. It can also be spread onto small pieces of toast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a nutritional comparison of several brands of organic baby cereals that are fortified with iron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Product
Serving
Size<\/strong><\/td>		 Iron
(m<\/strong>g)<\/td>		 Zinc <\/strong>
(mg)<\/strong><\/td>		Vitamin
B12 <\/strong>
(mcg)<\/strong><\/td>		Comments<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Beech-Nut
Oatmeal,
1\/4 cup dry<\/td>		 6.8<\/td> 0.8<\/td>0.13<\/td>
Has added B- vitamins and
calcium.
Contains
vitamin D3
apparently
from a
non-vegan
source.

<\/td><\/tr>
Gerber
Rice,
1\/4 cup dry<\/td>		 6.75<\/td> 1<\/td>0.125<\/td>Has added
calcium,
vitamin C
and B-
vitamins

<\/td><\/tr>
Gerber
Oatmeal,
1\/4 cup dry
<\/td>		 6.75<\/td> 1<\/td>0.125<\/td>Has added
calcium,
vitamin C
and B-
vitamins

<\/td><\/tr>
Gerber
Oatmeal-
Millet-
Quinoa,
1\/4 cup dry<\/td>		6.75<\/td>1<\/td>0.125<\/td>Has added
calcium,
vitamin C
and B-
vitamins

<\/td><\/tr>
Earth’s
Best Rice,
1\/4 cup dry

<\/td>		6.3<\/td>—<\/td>—<\/td>


<\/td><\/tr>
Earth’s
Best
Oatmeal,
1\/4 cup dry

<\/td>		6.3<\/td>—<\/td>—<\/td>



<\/td><\/tr>
Earth’s
Best
Multi-
Grain,
1\/4 cup dry

<\/td>		6.3<\/td>—<\/td>—<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Happy
Baby
Oatmeal,
3 TB dry

<\/td>		5<\/td>—<\/td>—<\/td><\/td><\/tr>
Happy
Baby
Oats &
Quinoa,
3 TB dry
<\/td>		5<\/td>—<\/td>—<\/td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutritional information from manufacturers\u2019 websites and package labels, October, 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. European Food Safety Authority Panel on Contaminants in\nthe Food Chain. Scientific opinion on arsenic in food: EFSA panel on\ncontaminants in the food chain (CONTAM). Eur Food Safe Auth J. <\/em>2009;7(10):1-199.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. U.S. Food and\nDrug Administration. FDA Issues Final Guidance for Industry on Action Level for\nInorganic Arsenic in Infant Rice Cereals. https:\/\/www.fda.gov\/food\/cfsan-constituent-updates\/fda-issues-final-guidance-industry-action-level-inorganic-arsenic-infant-rice-cereals<\/a>\nPublished August 5, 2020. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD For the first 6 months or so after birth, babies don\u2019t need any food other than breast milk (ideally) or a commercial infant formula or a combination of breast milk and infant formula. But, around age 6 months, most babies are showing the signs of being ready to start eating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16303"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16340,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16303\/revisions\/16340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}