Cereal and Baby Food at Four Months Old

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Whether it is your first child or your fifth, the act of introducing solid foods tin can be daunting to parents. Questions of what to start with, how much, and what technique to employ are just a few that may be running through your head.

The most common outset food in the Us is atomic number 26-fortified infant cereal. The options out there are endless—ranging from single-grain cereals, such as rice, oat, or barley, to multi-grain options that combine two or more than varieties. Having single-grain options to get-go out is important, equally the AAP recommends initiating one new food at a time every iii to 5 days. This will allow you to identify any potential allergic reactions. Once you have washed this, it is completely fine to have multi-ingredient, multi-grain options that include the ingredients yous accept already initiated with your infant.

One time yous are ready to choice the best cereal for your babe, information technology'south important to know what to look for. In general, seek out minimally processed options past prioritizing products with whole food ingredients, and feed your infant a variety of different cereals to make sure they are getting a balance of different nutrients. Look for products that take whole grains and fe listed on their ingredient lists.

"Fe is important for growth and development, then picking a cereal that is iron-fortified is crucial," says Annemarie Hofmeister, FNP. "I encourage families to look for cereals with only a few ingredients, organic if able, and to exist certain iron is listed as an added mineral."

Here, are our picks for the best infant cereals on the market place:

What Experts Say

"I recommend starting baby cereals between 4 and 6 months, when babies display acceptable head control and can safely eat and digest solid foods. I typically recommend fe-fortified cereals to aid increment—and sometimes replace—iron stores." —Daniel Sahm, Medico

Pros

• Fortified with fe and vitamin C

• Certified organic

• Resealable bag

Cons

• Pricier than other options

Happy Babe Oatmeal has 3 ingredients—oatmeal, vitamin C, and iron. The vitamin and mineral pairing is quite clever in this product, as vitamin C increases the absorption of iron. Given the importance of introducing iron at this age, having a production that is designed to support iron assimilation is fundamental. A single serving provides 45% of the daily value of iron.

Oatmeal is an excellent gluten-free whole grain option that contains cobweb and poly peptide, making it ideal for your growing infant's needs. Including oatmeal in your infant's diet helps them get plenty of the major edifice blocks necessary to support their growth and development.

An added bonus: Happy Baby Cereal comes in a resealable handbag, which is swell to maintain freshness and shelf life.

Age: 4-6+ months (Stage One) | Price per ounce: $0.47 | WIC Approved: No |Poly peptide per serving: 2g | Cobweb per serving: 1g | Iron per serving: 5mg (45% Daily Value)

What the Experts Say

"I recommend starting solids when the child is showing signs of interest in eating, such as watching a parent eat or grabbing at nutrient, and once they have adequate head control and sit supported. I personally fed my 3 boys Happy Baby make cereals as they but take three ingredients and a good amount of atomic number 26 per serving."—Annemarie Hofmeister, FNP

Pros

• Fabricated with quinoa (a complete poly peptide)

• Certified organic

• Single-serving packets

Cons

• Not fe-fortified

• Not suitable equally first food

WutsupBaby production line uses quinoa, a protein powerhouse ingredient. Quinoa is ane of the oldest crops in South America. It is hypoallergenic, gluten-free, and a complete poly peptide—meaning that information technology contains all nine essential amino acids. It is also naturally rich in cobweb, assisting with your infant'south digestion.

Note that WutsupBaby quinoa cereal is not iron-fortified. While there is some naturally-occurring fe in quinoa, it is not enough to meet a child's needs. If you are introducing this around 6 months of age and your child has no other added source of atomic number 26, nosotros recommend an iron supplement or iron-rich alternative. Nosotros would recommend discussing this with your kid's wellness care provider. Note that this product too contains beets equally the 2nd ingredient. Exist sure to trial beets with your child separately to ensure tolerance.

WutsupBaby is great for on-the-go families with a pre-portioned bundle that volition fit right in your diaper pocketbook, purse, or fifty-fifty back pocket.

Historic period: 4-six+ months (Stage 1) |Price per ounce: $1.73 | WIC Canonical: No |Protein per serving: 2g | Cobweb per serving: 2g | Iron per serving: 1mg (4% Daily Value)

Pros

• Iron-fortified

• Certified organic
  

• Trusted make

Cons

• Rice is college in arsenic than other grains

• Pricier than non-organic options

When it comes to selecting the best rice cereal for your infant, try to prioritize both variety and organic options. We recommend including a variety of grains and cereals, and then, if you cull to include rice in your child's nutrition, remember to switch it up by including other tolerated options on different days, such as oatmeal, quinoa, or a multigrain cereal.

When selecting a rice cereal, organic choices inherently have lower levels of heavy metals. Rice is most at risk of beingness contaminated with arsenic due to its production method, the soil information technology is grown in, and the water rinsing process. Both organic and not-organic baby rice cereal will comprise some arsenic, though organic picks contain lower levels of the heavy metal. Keep in mind that feeding your babe rice cereal is a adept selection, simply it should be one of a variety of baby cereals your baby consumes.

World's Best Organic Rice Cereal is a trusted production that is not-GMO and iron-fortified.

Age: four-half-dozen+ months (Stage one) |Price per ounce: $0.59 | WIC Approved: Yes |Poly peptide per serving: 1g | Fiber per serving: 0g | Iron per serving: 5mg (45% Daily Value)

What to Know About Arsenic in Rice

A business concern that has been raised almost baby rice cereal is the detection of arsenic. Arsenic is a naturally occurring mineral found in soil and water—one that cannot be eliminated. Rice, in item, absorbs arsenic from the soil and water used to abound information technology. In 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) first released a warning about the level of inorganic arsenic present in rice products, including popular infant cereals. Understandably, this led to business among parents. A 2020 follow-up from the FDA released guidance for industry on an acceptable level of arsenic, consistent with the AAPs recommendation. The FDA is continuing to test and monitor arsenic levels in diverse baby foods available on the marketplace. Of annotation, the FDA however recommends fe-fortified rice cereal as a proficient option for your infant, every bit long as you are also feeding your infant a multifariousness of other foods.

Pros

• Likely already in your pantry

• Inexpensive

• Naturally contains zinc

Cons

• Not iron-fortified

• Requires a blender or nutrient processor

Oatmeal—an affordable, family unit-favorite pantry staple—can be a neat option for your baby. Just melt the oats equally you normally practice, toss the oatmeal into a blender, pulse several times until you lot achieve the smooth consistency your babe requires, and there you lot take it—baby cereal. Oatmeal is a wonderful whole grain containing poly peptide, fiber, and minerals, including phosphorus and zinc. Like fe, zinc becomes insufficient in maternal chest milk at six months. Therefore, if exclusively breastfeeding, including an oatmeal-based cereal is a dandy addition.

Go along in mind that it is not atomic number 26-fortified, so you may want to accompany information technology with a supplement or an atomic number 26-fortified option. Talk to your healthcare provider to come up with the best programme for ensuring your baby meets their iron requirements.

Old Fashioned Quaker Oats is a budget-friendly selection that the whole family can enjoy. Yous can simply modify the consistency when serving information technology to your baby. It may just have a few boosted steps compared to other baby cereal options.

Age: 4+ months (composite to desired consistency) | Price per ounce: $0.18 | WIC Approved: Yes | Poly peptide per serving: 2g | Cobweb per serving: 2g | Iron per serving: 2mg (10% Daily Value)

Pros

• Multigrain to promote multifariousness

• Twist-acme with measuring cup built in

• Iron-fortified

Cons

• Not suitable as offset food

Beech-Nut Multigrain baby cereal contains oat, wheat, and rice flours. It is iron-fortified, meeting 60% of the daily value of iron per serving. Unique to Beech-Nut is their twist-superlative canister with a measuring cup built into the lid. This added feature allows yous to measure on-the-become if you lot have the ability to take the canister with you lot.

While it is important to include a variety of grains, the AAP does recommend introducing new single ingredients every three-5 days. Therefore, this multigrain cereal will not be your best selection equally a first cereal being that it is a combination of three single grains (oat, wheat, and rice). Multi-grain cereals become a great option once you lot know your baby can tolerate each private grain. Once all are tolerated, the variety helps ensure your infant has an array of vital nutrients.

Age: 4-6+ months (Stage Ane) |Cost per ounce: $0.28 | WIC Approved: Yes | Protein per serving: 2g | Fiber per serving: 1g | Iron per serving: 5mg (45% Daily Value)

Good to Know

You lot may have noticed infant foods making the news in early February 2021. A Subcommittee within the U.South. House of Representatives reported that toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, cadmium, and mercury were found in some infant foods.

This is not new information. Low levels of toxic heavy metals take been present in the global food supply forever, equally they are naturally nowadays in water and soil. Factors such equally growth weather condition, industrialization, and farming practices can increase heavy metals concentration in plant-based foods.

This certificate referred to very specific pureed and prepared infant foods beyond four production lines. The data reported was collected between 2017 and 2019, prior to August 2020, when the FDA provided finalized guidelines for inorganic arsenic levels in babe foods. It is worth noting that these companies take confirmed they are currently compliant with these 2020 guidelines.

Ultimately, most pediatric health intendance providers volition concur on the aforementioned discussion—variety. Having a variety of foods from various sources and manufacturers ensures that fifty-fifty if a single ingredient is loftier in toxic metals, that single ingredient will not be loftier in your child's diet. It is important to note, the principal products impacted by these findings are pureed baby foods and rice-containing products.

Pros

• Unmarried ingredient whole grain

• Fortified with iron, vitamins C and E, zinc, calcium, and B vitamins

• Not-GMO

Cons

• Extensive ingredient list due to fortification

• Added preservative

Gerber is one of the few brands that makes a single-ingredient whole wheat cereal. This is notably important as it is recommended to introduce 1 new food at a time. Wheat is considered a major allergen, then introducing a whole wheat unmarried-ingredient production can help establish whether or non your baby has a food allergy early.

Earlier, we mentioned that the simpler the ingredient list, the better. Gerber is extensively fortified when compared to some others on this list. The Gerber Whole Wheat cereal is fortified with iron, vitamins C and E, zinc, calcium, and six different B vitamins on its ingredient listing.

When because a baby food that is a unmarried ingredient production, it is important to remember that supplemental atomic number 26 should be prioritized and vitamin C is an added bonus to assistance in iron absorption. Fortifications on top of those two are helpful to some but not necessary as your infant will besides exist consuming either breast milk or formula every bit their main nutrition source.

Frequently, additives are supplemented in food products to extend their shelf life. Some experts feel that sure additives, such as potassium phosphate, should exist avoided when information technology comes to baby foods. If you are comfortable with this additive, Gerber Whole Wheat makes for a great whole grain choice when choosing infant cereals.

Age: 4-6+ months (Stage One) | Price per ounce: $0.33 | WIC Approved: Yeah | Protein per serving: 1g | Fiber per serving: 1g | Iron per serving: 5mg (45% Daily Value)

Pros

• Single ingredient and multigrain options

• Fortified with iron, vitamins C and Eastward, zinc, calcium, and B vitamins

• Non-GMO

Cons

• Extensive ingredient listing due to fortification

• Added preservative

Rounding out the list is Gerber's variety cereal pack. Gerber is the original in the baby food manufacture. Its products are high-quality, consistent, and readily available to consumers.

Every bit discussed, providing various single whole grains, followed past multigrain products, is the safest and smartest way to introduce complementary foods to your piddling i. The Gerber multifariousness pack contains four products: rice, oatmeal, whole wheat, and a multigrain option.

One drawback to this multifariousness pack is that it does not come up in an organic version. Organic vs. not-organic is no unlike from a nutrition perspective, but there is a risk of pesticide residue exposure and higher arsenic levels in not-organic rice cereals specifically. If you are alternating different cereals to ensure variety, according to the AAP, y'all practise not need to worry virtually arsenic levels in your infant's rice cereal.

Age: 0-6+ months | Price per ounce: $1.33 | WIC Canonical: Yes |Protein per serving: i-2g | Fiber per serving: 0-1g | Fe per serving: 6.75mg (60% Daily Value)

Last Verdict

Happy Baby Oatmeal (view at Amazon) is our all-time overall selection for babe cereal. With just three ingredients—oatmeal, vitamin C, and fe—your infant is getting only what you want them to take. It takes the pick for simplicity, whole ingredients and fortification.

How We Selected

Lauren Cohen, MS, RD, LDN and Brittany Scanniello, RD consulted with trusted peers in the pediatric healthcare organisation and referenced multiple studies and papers. They looked to the American Academy of Pediatrics for infant feeding guidelines and recommendations and the Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and Centers for Affliction Control for updates on food handling and practices. They used their feel in clinical practice equally pediatric dietitians to inform their category-specific choices and further researched babe cereal ingredients by diving deeper into published clinical research.

What to Look for in a Baby Cereal

Variety

Once you know your babe tolerates a diverseness of different grains, be sure to mix information technology upwardly! Rotate through various whole grains and even rotate through product lines. Each brand of baby cereal is made with different grains (oats, rice, quinoa, barley, etc.). Each grain has different nutrient ratios, making it even more of import to introduce variety. Not simply volition this increase your child's exposure to unlike tastes and textures, but it will also provide a variety of nutrients and subtract exposure to various heavy metals.

Simplicity

The fewer ingredients in a product, the ameliorate. Babies exercise not demand the states to increase food's palatability with added ingredients and preservatives. They need whole foods in their most natural country. This is an example where more is non necessarily better.

Ever modify up your grains. Rotate through various whole grains and even rotate through product lines. Not merely will this increase your child's exposure to different tastes and textures, only information technology will also provide a variety of nutrients and decrease exposure to diverse heavy metals.

Ideally, these products would have only three ingredients—grains, fe, and vitamin C.

Primal Nutrients

It is important to look for iron-fortified cereal, as a baby's atomic number 26 stores start to deplete at 6 months of age. Other nice-to-have ingredients include vitamin C, to aid in total iron absorption, likewise as vitamin D (if exclusively breastfeeding). Formula-fed infants will likely be receiving enough vitamin D from their fortified infant formula.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Should baby cereal be an infant'due south outset food?

  Baby cereal can certainly be a slap-up offset food for your infant, but it doesn't have to be. You can start with whatever age-appropriate food y'all cull, whether it exist baby cereal, purees of fruits or veggies, or soft fruits and vegetables.

• When can babies have cereal?

  The American University of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends starting solids around half dozen months of age. Information technology is besides of import to ensure ample head control and that your kid is able to sit supported. You as well might want to look for your kid showing interest in eating, such as watching a parent eat or grabbing at food. Work with your child'south healthcare provider to make up one's mind the all-time time to starting time solids based on your baby's growth, development, and needs.
  

• How should infant cereal be introduced?

  Once you lot have chosen which unmarried ingredient product of choice to introduce first, start with 1-2 tablespoons and mix with either chest milk or formula to the desired consistency. This is typically a thicker milk-like texture. Begin introducing one to two times per twenty-four hour period as tolerated. Later iii to five days of your first single-ingredient cereal, you can introduce a unlike grain or food. Continue this design to provide a multifariousness of tastes, textures, and nutrients. This technique allows yous to identify any allergies if 1 were to ascend besides as ensure your baby an assortment of vital nutrients.

• Tin can I put cereal in my baby's bottle?

  It is non recommended to add cereal to your infant'southward bottle unless brash past your pediatrician or some other healthcare provider. Historically, providers would recommend adding cereal to a baby's canteen to help with reflux or fussiness. The AAP no longer recommends this practice, as information technology can increment the take chances of choking or cause an increased rate of weight gain. Ane exception would exist if advised by a Speech Pathologist to thicken feeds if a infant has trouble swallowing sparse liquids.

• When can babies have rice cereal?

  Rice is a staple in many cultures and is often affordable and user-friendly. Rice cereal is safety to consume during the early stages of introducing solid food equally part of a varied, healthy diet. Since rice has a higher run a risk of arsenic contamination than other grains, it is important to ensure it is not the only food your baby is eating.

  When starting solids, infants are generally consuming less than 3 tablespoons per day. Having a multifariousness of foods from various sources and manufacturers ensures that even if a single ingredient is higher in toxic metals, that single ingredient volition non exist loftier in your kid's diet.

Why Trust Verywell Family unit

Lauren Cohen, MS, RD, LDN is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with her chief'southward degree in Clinical Nutrition from New York Academy and a specialization in pediatric diet. She works equally a clinical dietitian at Nemours/A.I duPont Hospital for Children and is a regular correspondent to KidsHealth.com and the Nemours Hope Weblog through Nemours Children Health System.

Boosted reporting past Brittany Scanniello.

As a Registered Dietitian, Brittany Scanniello uses her clinical expertise to cut through marketing claims and become straight to the science. These are all products that she has researched, vetted, and would recommend to her ain clients in private practice too as include in the nutrition of her ii young daughters.

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Source: https://www.verywellfamily.com/best-baby-cereals-5112693

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