Cereal for Infants
Your baby is ready for infant cereal when he:
- sits with help
- turns his head away when full
- can swallow cereal and not choke
- doesn’t push food out of his mouth with his tongue
- is between 4 and 6 months of age
Tips for feeding cereal:
- Start your baby on plain rice cereal.
- Feed cereal from a bowl with a small spoon.
- Don’t put cereal in a bottle, unless told to do so by your doctor
- Never add honey to cereal. It can make your baby very sick.
How to make infant cereal:
1. Measure 1 tablespoon of cereal into bowl.
2. Add about 4 tablespoons of breastmilk or formula.
3. Stir.
Too thin? Add more cereal.
Too thick? Add more breastmilk or formula.
- Give your baby thin cereal at first. Thicken the cereal as your baby gets older and becomes better at eating.
Your baby will eat the amount of cereal he needs.
Don’t force him to eat more than he wants.
- At first, offer your baby 1 tablespoon of cereal once or twice a day.
- At 6-8 months, offer your baby 2-3 tablespoons of cereal about two times a day.