Parents often look forward to each month of their baby’s life with excitement and anticipation. They look at charts and articles that spell out what the typical baby will be able to accomplish each week or month of his life. Moms and dads around the world cheer wildly when their brilliant baby reaches the next big milestone: smiling, supporting the head, rolling over, or sitting up for the first time. Parents go on treasure hunts in their children’s mouths, hoping to feel the sharpness of the first tooth.
One “first” that many parents look forward to – at least first-time parents – is the first bite of solid food. Some look forward to it so much that they start giving solids when their baby is four months old, ignoring the recommendation that babies have only breast milk or formula the first six months of life.
The vast majority of parents I know begin the adventure of eating solids with single grain rice cereal. I always thought my husband and I would do the same when we finally got around to starting solids with our daughter. However, a comment from my La Leche League leader made me question this decision, and dig deeper to find out whether rice cereal was the best first food.
A little research on my part opened my eyes to some surprising facts about rice cereal.
I’ll start with what’s good about rice cereal. It’s very bland, and therefore unlikely to offend little taste buds. Babies aren’t used to the taste of anything besides formula or breast milk, and rice cereal provides a gentle segueway between the worlds of liquids and solids. Parents can begin with rice cereal mixed with formula or breast milk, then slowly mix the cereal with vegetables or fruits. Rice cereal is also fortified with vitamins and nutrients that are needed by babies.
Next, I’ll tell you why we’re not going to feed our baby rice cereal. For starters, the rice in most rice baby cereals has been refined. That means that essentially any part of the rice that has nutritional value has been removed, leaving only the endosperm. Why do baby food manufacturers do this? It’s simple: it increases the shelf life of the cereal. The baby food companies add vitamins and nutrients back in at the end of the refining process, but they are not absorbed by the baby as well as the vitamins and nutrients that are found naturally in foods (in the part of the rice they removed in the refining process). Rice cereal has little to no nutritional value, and is basically an empty carb. Babies’ developing brains and bodies require nutrient-dense food, and rice cereal is the exact opposite.
Another issue we have with rice cereal is its uncanny ability to cause constipation in infants. I have enough to worry about without adding my child’s poop habits to the list.
Are you harming your baby if you give him rice cereal? Probably not. Are there superior, more nutrient-dense foods out there that would be a better choice for your baby’s first food? I definitely think so.