How Soon Can You Feed a Baby Rice Cereal?

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Andrea Orta Mashburn, and today, I'm going to talk to you about how soon to feed a baby rice cereal. Feeding your child or your infant rice cereal is one of the first introductory stages in getting your child to eat solid foods. Many individuals will start beginning to feed rice cereal at approximately six months of age, anywhere between six and nine months. The most important thing to remember before feeding your child rice cereal is one, that you've discussed it with your doctor; two, that you feel comfortable giving your child a rice cereal, and three, your child has begun a very strong swallowing motion. If you're uncertain if your child is ready to try rice cereal you can simply create one small bowl of rice cereal. Typically, rice cereal can be found in many different brands. Choose the brand that you feel confident in and comfortable with in serving to your child. Once you get the rice cereal it's going to ask that you either add water, juice, or milk. Because your child is not fully one year yet I would hesitate, be hesitant in feeding them rice cereal with milk. You may use juice, pear juice, or any of the juices that you've introduced so far in their diet, along with water. Once you follow the directions, and add either water or juice to the rice simple cereal, simply stir it until the consistency is mushy and easy enough for your child to swallow. Put the spoon to your child's mouth, and gently place it on their lips. Have them take just a little bit of it at a time so that you can see if they are properly going to swallow it or not. Putting too much on the spoon can possibly cause your child to choke, so make sure that you're just giving your child about a quarter of the spoon, or anywhere from a quarter to a half of the spoon with cereal. If your child successfully takes the quarter to the half a spoon of cereal and is able to swallow it you can start by giving him additional half to, quarter to a half spoonfuls of cereal. If your child has difficulty swallowing the cereal then I would be hesitant in feeding the rice cereal any further than this. Wait a couple more weeks, or even a possibly a couple of months and try again. So remember, be patient, be safe, and always put your baby's needs first."