what to mix cereal with?

[evinleemom]

I am a working Mom... the precious breastmilk I so diligently pump is just the right amount for my 5 mo. DS to drink at daycare, so as I'm introducing cereal w/ a spoon, do i need to mix it with EBM? I've never supplemented, so would it be silly to mix with formula? Or should I just use bottled water if I don't have enough extra EBM? TIA!

-traci

[@llli*maranda.lee]

You don't need to mix it with EBM, but many people start that way so that the taste is familiar. I did it for a long time just b/c my LO isn't gaining well and I wanted to jam as many calories in one meal as possible. Commercial baby cereal is fortified, so you can just mix it with water. Some people use boiled water, but most experts agree that if you have municipal (or regularly tested) water that isn't necessary.

[carpentergirl]

Hi mama!
Welcome to the forum.
Tell us what you think of other high fat foods such as avocado as a first food? Sadly, cereal is blatantly missing many nutritious minerals and other things. It is fortified because when they process it they strip everything out first, so then they have to fortify it in order for it to be anything but cardboard. What's left is difficult for baby to turn into fuel, fortified or not.

Here is another article to read as I see you are contemplating solids at 5 months: http://www.llli.org/FAQ/solids.html

[evinleemom]

thanks for the link, carpentergirl! Evin is actually 22 wks. and sooo curious about what mommy & daddy are eating, so that is why we're contemplating solids right now. I'm not giving up any nursing sessions, tho. He's had cereal in his EBM bottles because of reflux, so he is familiar with that-- but like another mom's post on here, I'm a little hesitant to introduce *real* solids for fear of choking!

The avacado sounds interesting and I hadn't thought of that. I think we'll try that next week. We had banana puree this week, but not a real banana in pieces. The baby-led feeding is intriguing me!

[carpentergirl]

A small infant has a well established tongue thrust which essentially helps baby massage the milk out of the nipple. When introducing foods really early you may notice they are not quite ready for it. They just push the food out of the mouth. As they get older and more ready for solids the tongue thrusting goes away, and they are able to roll the solids around in their mouth. The gag reflex will start to be less sensitive as the time for solids draws near.

[@llli*maranda.lee]

I offered avacado (mixed with EMB at first) as a first food and my DS loved it. Very nutritious, lots of calories and so easy to prepare. He's almost a year now and eats it pretty much every day. Good healthy snack for milk makin' mommies too

[@llli*desertmama]

You could also try pears - they are a good first food as well.