My Daughter Refuses to Eat Her Rice Cereal.....???

My daughter absolutely refused to eat the rice cereal but LOVED oatmeal...you may just wanna try something new.

Dear S.,

First, let me say that you are doing a wonderful job as a mom! Keep it up. The one thing that stuck out of your note was that you say she needs her grains. At five months old, this is not really true. Lots of babies thrive on mom's milk or formula later into their first year. My suggestion is to stop offering it for a while. Try again in a month or two. If she still doesn't like it, that's okay too. Some babies are just picky at times and some babies don't like to eat so much in the morning. Your doctor will continue to monitor her growth and development and will advise you if there is a concern for her nutition. Keep the fruit and vegies going and don't stress so much. You were right that there really is no point in fighting her. Being a newly married woman and a mom can be exhausting. I hope you have a women's support group, play group or Bible study group you can go to for support. Hang in there.

Theresa

Have you tried spicing it up a little? My daughter absolutely LOVED it when I put a dash of cinnamon in her cereal. I also used some pumpkin spice, and she really liked that too. I used to spice up all her baby food. Onion powder, garlic powder, curry, etc. It helps them get a taste for different flavors, and I think it really helped her transition to table food.

You might also want to try switching to baby oatmeal or barley cereal. Before you do that though, you might want to ask your pediatrician... she is a little young to be eating solids.

My daughter hated rice cereal too. In fact she really didn't eat any solid food until around 8 months (coincidentally around the same time as her first tooth). At 5 months, I would say that it is a bit early to introduce solids. You just might want to try holding off for a while and introducing them later. Once we started on breakfast foods, her favorite thing was eggs. (I typically would fry an egg and feed her the yolk, and I would eat the whites.) You can safely do this until your dr. says that the whole egg is fine, since egg-whites can be an allergen. Once the whites became safe for her, we started eating scrambled eggs, and it is still her favorite food! As far as grains, when your daughter gets teeth, try the soft part of wheat toast with a little butter. Or Cheerios are always good. Until she is ready for certain foods, I learned that it is a battle that isn't worth fighting. I think the best thing you can do is try to avoid a battle around food, and hopefully she will eventually see that mealtime is fun and interesting, and not a source of anxiety. Good luck to you!

wow, lots of responses! My immediate thought (after reading the posts)...do what seems best for you & your child. Don't pay any attention to the responses knocking you for feeding your child foods! As long as there is no concern over allergies or digestive issues, then keep going....you'll know if your daughter is not ready. Guidelines are meant to be guidelines, not "written in stone" & every child is different. Both of my sons were put on cereal B4 1 month at their pediatrician's request. They both thrived & loved it. Good luck trying new options!

Aside from the fact, that at her age, she really doesn't need it. Have you tasted it? Try it, and come back and tell me you'd want to eat it.

It seems your daughter is a little young to be eating solids 3 meals a day. The AAP now recommends waiting until 6 months to introduce solids. Also, you don't have to feed her rice cereal at all. At this point in a baby's development they are only eating solids to acquire new tastes. They should not be eating for nutrition at this point.

Hi there, when our pediatrician told us to start feeding our baby (at 6 months old), he told us not to expect him to eat more than a couple of teaspoons or so a couple of times a day. They still should be getting the majority of their nutrition from breastmilk or formula, so perhaps it's too early for 3 meals a day (some toddlers won't even follow that schedule, simply eating snacks throughout the day). However, if doing the 3 meal a day thing works for you and your baby, you could just try to substitute different types of food instead of the rice cereal- like mashed banana, or mashed papaya or mashed avacado. Mix it up a little. You're just trying to get their palates to adapt to different tastes at this point anyhow, so maybe she's just getting bored of the same thing?!

I don't see any reason she has to have it. Have you tried just giving her the fruit with no cereal? If that is still refused, I would give her just a bottle in the mornings. Why does she need cereal at every meal? I have tried giving my 6 month old whole grain brown rice cereal, and so far he doesn't seem to like it, but I attribute it to the fact that until about 4 days ago, he has only been breatfed and now trying the cereal it is bland with no flavor. Breast milk is sweet tasting, and I think that could attribute to his not liking it. I mix the breast milk with the cereal, but I think it really detracts from the flavor. So I skipped it, and went straight to giving him sweet potatoes, and he takes about a tablespoon worth for lunch and dinner, and then gets breast fed. I don't give him anything but breast milk for breakfast. Or better yet jump to trying oatmeal, barley, or mixed cereals. Not every baby starts with rice, nor do all like everything you give them. I heard to try everything at least 15 different times too, to help them acquire a taste for it, so don't give up yet, unless she is already getting it in other meals. Rice cereal is just the easiest to start with, but is by no means required. I hope this helps.

Don't have to be so strict to a diet. Give her baby banana, baby vanilla pudding they make all kinds of different foods. She's tired of eating the same thing.

Both of my children went through this phase, and they both were remedied very differently. When my oldest refused to eat her cereal, her daycare suggested mixing it with juice rather than formula. It worked like a charm, she preferred the Gerber White Grape juice and she would only eat her cereal with juice. My son, on the other hand, it didn't matter what I mixed with it, he wasn't going to eat it. A lady at work suggested trying a different flavor of cereal or flavored oatmeal. I had a really hard time finding it, but my son loves the Gerber Rice Cereal with Apples, I ended up finding it in a small box at the super Wal-Marts. But, you can also try giving her adult flavored oatmeal, it is pretty much the same thing and then she would have a choice of a flavor that she might like. I was giving my daughter adult oatmeal at 5 months and my pediatrician said that it was fine, especially since it is such a basic food, not a lot of added junk. Hopefully this helps. It could be worse, both of my children refuse to eat meat so I am constantly trying to find ways to either sneak meat into their food or finding other sources of protein for them, not very easy, and it's also very stange because me and my husband are both big into having meat in our diets.

Hey, try spreading the 1/4 cup of cereal or whatever the amt she needs out all day. Give her fruit for breakfast, with a tiny bit of cereal, so that it's mostly fruit, it also mixes well with the veggies, so you can do that for lunch and dinner too. My sister-in-law did that with my niece and it seemed to work very well for her. That way, she gets her cereal that she needs but hopefully there'll be less of a fight at meal times. Also, maybe she's just not very hungry in the mornings. When my son was younger, he wouldn't eat until he'd been up for an hour or so, he would just refuse his cereal first thing in the morning, but if I waited, he ate it later. Good luck, hope this advice helps.

5 months is really early to be eating food 3 times a day. I wouldn't push it. Maybe try some variety...sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, or even some fruits. Though, they say to introduce fruits last or thats all they will want.

I didn't read all your responses so I am not sure if anyone has suggested this yet or not. My baby boy who is 7 months now hates cereal. I tried cereal at 4 months and he wouldn't eat it and then again at 5 months and he wouldn't eat it. So then at 6 months I tried it again and he still wouldn't eat it. (I would try it for a week each time and he would get so mad at me and would spit it all back out) So I remembered that my girls loved that Yo Baby Yogurt (I can only find it at Target) so I tried that and he just loved it and was opening his mouth up for more and would get mad at me if I couldn't feed him fast enough. They make some with cereal already in it and then I add some more cereal to it and he just loves it. That way he gets his cereal in without such a fight. For awhile there I just thought he didn't know how to move it to the back of this mouth and swallow because he did the same thing with vegetables but after I tried the yogurt I realized he was just being stubborn. I think he is going to be my picky eater. My girls loved cereal and vegetables. He only wants yogurt and fruit. I still make him eat vegetables and he is getting better about it but it is still a fight.

FYI Oh and I think the latest study shows that it didn't really help to start solids at 6 months in order to reduce allergies, asthma, and other problems. So I think the AAP has changed there stance on that.

Good Luck.

M.

Have you ever tasted the Rice cereal? It is rather yucky. I would suggest trying one of the other kinds of cereal. I don't know if she is allergic or not, but if putting fruit in the rice cereal doesn't work, I would try one of the other ones.

What kind of fruit are you putting in her cereal, do applesauce first and put very little. Mix it in. See how that works.

S.,
I would try mixing it with a little juice or applesauce. It might even help if it is heated. I have 3 kids but 2 of them were picky little eaters. Rice cereal has really no taste so it helps if you sweeten it just a bit. I would cut down the juice half and half. Half water and half juice so it doesn't upset her tummy. Good luck

Our son hated his rice cereal, too. We switched to oatmeal, and he's been fine! The pediatrician said it was okay because most of the vitamins and minerals are the same. They are both fortified.

Maybe she would prefer a different grain. My daughter rejected baby cereals, but loved regular plain oatmeal. It could be that the rice cereal is upsetting her system. You may want to just back off a bit and try again in a few weeks. She will continue to get the majority of her calories from breast milk or formula for most of her first year. Solids at this point are just a learning experience for her.

Have you tried mixing it with a little juice, apple always works. Dont make it to thick it is hard to swallow then.

Have you bought any of the jars with the cereal in them? I think the texture is different in the jars vs from the box. Most babies I've had in the daycare turn their nose up at the box cereal but like the jars just fine.

Suzi

Try oatmeal. None of my kids liked rice cereal, so I switched to oatmeal. It actually won't constipate them as much either.
Good Luck,
M.

Stop feeding her it.. Sit her up in high chair.. try giving her dry cereal on her tray, let her feed herself.
Mine loved Kix and Cheerios. (they gum them up pretty quick) Fun food teaches dexterity too. If she not ready for it yet... dont worry she will be soon :) Try the fruit seperate..