[*mylittleprince*]

Is it possible to make your own baby rice cereal and add iron?

I have friends who have a thermomix so think you can grind the rice in there but not sure how you could add iron?

[tick]

Why do you want to add iron? I wouldn't! I wouldn't do rice cereal either mind you ..... If you're looking for a organic/brown rice cereal though they are certainly available from some of the healthfood type stores or the more fancy supermarkets.

[~chiquita~]

Most baby rice cereals have added iron in them.

[ChunkyChook]

My mum is celiac and just grinds hers in a coffee grinder and puts it in a pot on the stove to make her 'porridge' for breaky.

[Sinister Bonnet]

Why start with rice? It is not a high nutrient food and I've never understood why it is such a popular first food.

You'd have to be careful grinding the rice in the tmx as you could easily end up with flour and how that would translate to porridge I'm not sure.

[pratique]

I'm with Balzac. Rice is high gi and not particularly nutritious on its own.

It would start with some pureed veges that are relatively mild in taste.

[tick]

Why start with rice? It is not a high nutrient food and I've never understood why it is such a popular first food.

Totally agree! It's high GI, low everything else .....

I'm into baby-led solids but if I were mush-feeding I'd probably start with avocado or banana or something, mixed with some breastmilk if needed to make it a bit more runny.

ETA: actually probably pureed pumpkin or something might be a better starting place. I dunno! But vegies have much more going for them than rice

This post has been edited by tick: 29/12/2012, 05:30 PM

[lucky 2]

http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/vitamins.html
Perhaps look to food sources of iron, ie breast milk, the iron is the most bioavailable, it continues to be present in breast milk but as baby starts to eat more and more, you can add iron rich food sources, ie meat, egg yolks.
I used a lot of legumes in the early months before introducing red meat. Whilst continuing to breast feed.
Of course formula contains iron, in higher amounts because it is not easily absorbed compared to the iron in breast milk.
All the best.

re brown rice, I cant see anything wrong with it, that's what I used (well cooked and added to other foods, this was in the days before blw was promoted), it may be high GI but it is nutrient rich and has a role to play in a normal diet if you want.
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/recipes/...-porridge/50583
That porridge sounds yummy and very nutritious.
I used to serve dd quinoa porridge or oats, rice cereal or cooked rice.

[namie]

I started with rice cereal with DS1 and it caused constipation so we moved straight on to mushy vegies.

I didn't bother with rice cereal at all with DS1 and couldn't even be bothered mushing vegies, we just loosely followed baby led weaning. It may just be an age thing, but DS2 is a much better eater than DS1. He's less fussy and has better utensil control than DS1 did at the same age.

When we have a third, I'm going to skip the mush and rice cereal again and go with baby led weaning.

[AvadaKedavra]

I'm with Balzac. Rice is high gi and not particularly nutritious on its own.

Tell that to the billions of people who eat it (and little else) daily and thrive!

ETA (because the above is not useful to the OP) - in many rice eating countries, the family rice is just boiled until its a bit softer and then mushed between a mothers fingers before being fed to baby by hand (often with some veggies/lentils/meat stirred through). You don't need to buy commercial rice cereal, and only babies whose mothers were nutrient deprived in pregnancy benefit from additional supplemental iron in things like rice cereal.

This post has been edited by MsN: 29/12/2012, 05:53 PM