Babies do not need rice cereal

Babies do not need rice cereal.

Repeat.

Babies do not need rice cereal.

Rice cereal was a way of getting extra iron into formula fed babies back in the day. Back when they started "solids" so early, they weren't actually solid at all, just thickened liquids. Rice cereal is starch, fortified by a token of iron. It looks like glue because back in the day, they also made their own glue with flour and water!

Babies deserve better! What an appalling entry into the wonderful world of food 🤢

Breastfed babies get all the iron they need from breastmilk for 6-9 months. When cutting the umbilical cord is delayed and the reserve of infant blood in the placenta returns to their body, they have maximum iron stores onboard.

When babies are learning to eat from six months, they top up their iron stores from the same iron-rich foods we do: red meat, chicken, fish, beans and other legumes, leafy green vegetables. Which can all be eaten by your baby from the beginning of #babyledweaning by serving in shapes they can grasp in their hand. There is no need for purees, "baby food " or fortified anything.

Cereals and grains can be part of their diet too: oats, rice, wheat, corn ... whole foods prepared however your family eats them.

Real food, right from the start.

(FTR: I fed my first child rice cereal and my mother gave it to me. If you're not convinced, eat some before you subject your child to it!)