Cereal, take 2

Contrary to popular myth, baby cereal should not be the staple of an infant's diet. The American Academy of Pediatrics has published new research that proves giving baby cereal to babies causes all kinds of health problems, obesity and diabetes to name just a couple. Check out this article for more information. That is why the basis of Buttercup's diet has always been fresh fruits and veggies. For her occasional cereal she gets plain old breakfast cereal. Her favorite is Multigrain Cheerios, which is a good thing since it happens to be among the healthiest cereals out there.


With all the snow we've gotten lately, I have regressed to my childhood "snow day" breakfast of Cream of Wheat, and I thought it would be fun to share the experience with Buttercup. I cooked it the way I always do, then set some aside to cool and set. When it was semi-solid I cut it into chunks. The first time we had this Buttercup wasn't such a fan. She liked it a lot more the second time around, though. It's always best to keep trying a new food -sometimes babies just aren't in the mood to try new things, but they later learn to love the new food. 


I would definitely consider Cream of Wheat to be a special treat breakfast since it is a "white" food, but as part of a balanced diet it is a-okay. 


PROS: another breakfast option, loaded with iron
CONS: white food, use sparingly

Oatmeal

I've said it before, but baby cereal really should not be a baby's first food. In fact, I don't think baby cereal should play any role in an infant's diet. It's full of empty non-nutritious calories, develops a taste for refined starches, increases the possibility of diabetes, causes constipation, and tastes disgusting. Not convinced? Check out this article in USA Today vilifying baby cereal. Also, see the BLS FAQ's for more information on baby cereal. 


So, what kind of cereal  does one feed their baby-led solids baby? How about oatmeal? Oatmeal is a whole grain, easy to digest, and high in protein, vitamins and minerals, and fiber. I have been hesitant to give Buttercup much "solid" breakfast because I am usually pretty engorged in the morning and want her to nurse really well. But, recently I decided to try oatmeal.


A great way to serve oatmeal to your self-feeding baby is to cook it with less water than usual, then allow it to cool. It is then thick enough that you can roll it into baby fist-sized balls (good for pre-pincer grasp babies) or break it into little chunks.


The first time we tried this, Buttercup ate a good amount of oatmeal. The second time I gave it to her I made the mistake of also giving her blueberries, which are her favorite.  The oatmeal was shunned. I don't think oatmeal will ever replace Buttercup's love affair with multi-grain Cheerios, but it is a great healthy morning option. 


PROS: surprisingly not messy, nutritious
CONS: none

Avocado, take 2

I finally got around to trying the Cheerio-dust-covered-avocado trick. I've been seeing that tip floating around the various forums I am a part of, but haven't really needed to try it. Well, we seem to have hit a wall with avocado. Buttercup has been rejecting her once favorite food. I thought maybe she just didn't like picking it up in the big long slices like she used to, as she has been favoring smaller pieces she can pick up with her forefinger and thumb. I tried cutting small pieces of avocado, but they were too slippery for her. So, I rolled them in multi-grain Cheerios. They were definitely easier for her to pick up. The problem was that she kept sucking the Cheerio dust off then discarding the avocado.

I know that babies can reject a food and then later fall back in love with it. The key is to keep occasionally trying and stay calm (that advice could be helpful in so many aspects of life!)

Breakfast Cereal

I've been putting Buttercup in her exersaucer to play while I eat my breakfast and clean the kitchen in the mornings. The past few days I've put a handful of breakfast cereal in the "dog bowl" section (as Hubby and I call it). I didn't really expect Buttercup to be able to pick them up and eat them, but I thought she could kind of play with them and work on her pincer skills. Well, she surprised me - she did eat them! Although she can't pick them up with her index finger and thumb, she worked out a method where she rakes them up into her fist, then sticks her whole fist in her mouth. Clever girl! All in all Buttercup probably eats 15-20 pieces in a sitting now.

Buttercup is so in love with cereal. It makes me glad that it wasn't one of her first foods, because I'm convinced she would be a carb addict. She whines like a puppy when there's no cereal in her bowl. So far she's had Kix (43% RDA iron) and Multigrain Cheerios (109% RDA iron). I love that Kix was my baby's first cereal. So much more fun than shoveling awful-tasting mush into her mouth. For more information on commercial baby cereal check out the BLS FAQ's.

PROS: high in iron, easy snack-type food, non-messy

CONS: difficult for younger babies to handle