Why rice cereal for first food?

[blessedatlast]

So, it's almost time for my baby to start solids!! I am planning to do a mix of baby led and puree, purely because I want him to start gaining enough weight to get rid of his NG tube and if I just do baby led it will take longer for him to actually eat the food. Anyway...

Ds's dietician has told me to start him on rice cereal, but nearly everyone one I know said their babies either didn't like it, or got constipated from it.. Does anyone know why rice cereal is recommended for a first food?

What did you start your baby on and why?

[PumpkinZulu]

I assume it's recommended because nobody has bothered to update their information on the subject in decades. It's empty, crappy, gross stuff and I wouldn't give a virgin gut something like that if I could help it. I tried it and it was nasty, not just the taste but the bland consistency. Not for us!

I read Baby Led Weaning and started DD on sweet potato. Then a week later broccoli, then avocado. Eventually we started giving her bits of our meals when I thought she could handle that dish (not too oily, or spicy). We just slowly built up. Now she eats everything we eat. Like you, we started BLS straight and once my milk went, we started mixing BLS and spoon feeding her which has worked very well for her intake

[Phteven]

DS1 started on rice cereal because that's what I was told to do. He's a fussy eater who likes bland foods.
DS2 started on whatever he could swipe off my plate because I was too exhausted to make mush for him. He tries everything once and loves all sorts of odd foods.

[Sagres]

My understanding on the recommendation is that rice is a very 'safe' food allergy wise so it is suggested you start with something pretty unlikely to cause a reaction, then add other foods one at a time so you can have an idea of what caused it IF there was a reaction. I think pear is probably another pretty 'safe' food (i.e. not many people are allergic to pear) so that could be used in a similar way. But this isn't the only way to approach solids, you may not consider that point all that important.

[MummyNaomi]

I think that rice cereal has been around for donkeys, pretty sure Mum told me it was the first food she gave us kids

It was the first thing I tried DS on - not because of the taste or nutritional value, but more because I was testing is ability to actually eat it (and swallow it properly) and thought it was a very low choking risk. He ate it fine, but wasn't at all a fan taste wise. We quickly moved to fruits and veg

[Ryatha]

DD1 started on rice cereal an we did the slow intro of foods, she's fussy and wants to only eat the same things all the time.

DD2 had a strawberry as her first food as she swiped it out of the punnet I was putting the strawberries I was picking, she was in a sling on my chest. She then attacked my spag Bol the next night so I let her eat from my plate. She now loves butter chicken and eats everything.

DS is eating veggies and fruit that has been cooked and mashed with a fork, rice, wheetbix and rice cereal. He seems to love it by the way he grabs the spoon and tries to feed himself. He'll also suk on bread til it's soft and eat that too

[OceanPrincess]

DS1 started on rice cereal because that's what I was told to do. He's a fussy eater who likes bland foods.
DS2 started on whatever he could swipe off my plate because I was too exhausted to make mush for him. He tries everything once and loves all sorts of odd foods.

Pretty much exactly that except with DD and then DS!

[meow]

I think it's because it's mush and is a low allergen food. Never mind that babies shouldn't be eating solids before they're ready to eat something that isn't sloppy mush, or that starting out on a starchy grain is not a good thing for your gut health.

[Heaven]

Yuck. Don't bother with it!

Neither of my girls have had rice cereal and they are great eaters.

[HotI]

Analytical Armadillo wrote an article on why not to use baby rice

Analytical Armadillo - The Booby Whisperer: Baby Rice

[chody47]

I started DD on that because that was what was recommended.... Within a few days we started on mushed up fruits and veggies and went to lumpy not long after. DD is an amazing eater. She eats everything, although she prefers stronger flavours and spiciness if it's available. She's our flavour baby lol.

[Nai]

I thought because it was basically tasteless and low-allergenic and could be mixed with breast milk - so basically just like thickened breastmilk to see if they are ready to eat Both my DD's had it as a first food and then I added fruit and veg to it. They then moved on to other foods pretty quickly so they probably had it a few times plain and then mixed with cooked mashed pear.

[Babyluv]

I started my dd on mashed pumpkin mixed with breast milk then heard that avocado was the closest food to breast milk so started giving her that and introduced other veg and fruit. We did a combination of bls and mashes. Dd has pretty much always eaten what we eat and now eats anything!

[beansbeans!]

We started both our big girls on a japanese rice porridge. Which is basically way over cooked rice, passed through a seive. It looks just like starch and its pretty plain although its still a popular brekky in japan. For the big kids they just add a topping, so a lot like oats porridge.
We choose this after talking to a lot of people in know about the best way to start solids that was natural. And the girls still enjoy it now, we've just added toppings like stewed fruit or whatever.

[sloane]

i thought it was the low-allergy & easy to eat but by the time my ds started on solids my mchn recommended bls anyway. ds had bread as his first food because that's what he pinched from my plate. i think the allergy recommendations are changing (for those without a family history of them) to not delay the introduction of foods other than honey & a cpl of others.

fwiw my ds did bls, was given anything & everything & is still a picky/fussy eater. with him though i think it's personality & age though!

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[onthefly]

because it is marketed as such

DS started on what we ate, though carefully delivered to his high chair tray
DD just had whatever she could get

[blessedatlast]

I have heard that it's high iron, low allergy and a good bland food to start, but I was a bit confused why the dietician would want me to start hiom on such starchy food? She specifically said that starchy food was recommended.. I would have thought the opposite.. I might try him on it but I'll buy some organic rice and make my own, then we'll move onto veges quickly after

ETA: Maybe she wants me to start him on starchy food for calories?

[meow]

If you're after calories and iron then meat and egg yolks are great.

FWIW, my youngest son has been on a low starch diet his entire life and has never eaten any grains or potato and is doing awesome. I can't think of any nutritional benefit to starch.