How long can babies eat rice cereal?

Simply put, baby rice cereal is a kind of complementary food, which is not much different from homemade fruit puree or other foods. In order to suit children's taste, it is made to be similar to milk powder. When the baby is old enough to start eating complementary foods, he can start eating infant rice cereal. For the baby's health, many infant rice cereal products on the market now have different customized products according to the different stages of the baby.

1. When should babies eat rice cereal?

When the baby is 6 months old, complementary foods should be added in a timely and scientific manner, among which baby rice cereal is very important. For babies who are eating complementary foods, baby rice cereal is equivalent to the staple food we adults eat. Its main nutrient is carbohydrates, which is the main source of energy needed for a day.

Babies eat rice noodles, just like we adults eat, to eliminate hunger and replenish energy. Mothers should be reminded that while adding baby rice cereal, they should still insist on breastfeeding or formula feeding. Both forms of food are equally important at this stage.

Generally speaking, you can start adding rice cereal to your baby's diet when he is 6 months old, gradually increasing the amount. There is no specific rule on how long the baby can eat rice noodles. Once the baby's teeth grow out and he can eat porridge and noodles, he can stop eating rice noodles.

2. The classification of rice noodles is divided into stages according to the baby's month

The first stage is 6-month-old baby rice cereal. The rice cereal at this stage is added and fortified with vegetables and fruits (some also add some egg yolks), rather than meat, which is beneficial for the baby's digestion.

The second stage is after 6 months, when some fish, liver paste, beef, pork, etc. are often added to baby rice cereal, and the nutritional spectrum is broader. When mothers choose rice noodles, they can choose rice noodles with different formulas according to the baby's month. Of course, in addition to paying attention to the month, mothers can also choose rice noodles with different formulas according to the needs of their children, such as alternating between feeding rice noodles with carrot formula and egg yolk formula, so that the child can eat more balanced and comprehensive.

Many brands of baby rice cereal on the market now add a variety of vitamins and minerals that babies are prone to lacking. For the more regular baby rice cereal brands on the market, mothers can feed their babies according to the instructions without worrying about any side effects. However, if it is an unqualified product, preservatives and other ingredients that are not good for the baby's health may be added, so mothers must pay attention to the market credibility of the product when purchasing it.

3. Precautions for infants eating infant milk powder

In the first three months after birth, babies have very few salivary glands, and the amylase contained in the salivary glands and the amylase in the digestive tract are also quite small. If you feed the baby rice cereal at this time, it will be difficult for the baby to digest. It is not advisable to add rice cereal to the baby's diet during the first 3 months. There is no exact data on the ratio of rice flour to water. It depends entirely on the baby's age and adaptability. When your baby first starts to eat rice cereal, you can make it thinner, and then gradually make it thicker.

If the water temperature for making rice noodles is too high, the nutrients in the rice noodles will easily be lost; if the water temperature is too low, the rice noodles will not dissolve and will clump together, causing indigestion for babies.

The more suitable water temperature is 70 to 80 degrees Celsius. The hot water from the water dispenser used in ordinary households should be enough to soak rice noodles. Please note that mothers do not need to cook the prepared rice noodles again, otherwise the water-soluble nutrients in the rice noodles will be easily destroyed. The suitable water temperature for preparing rice noodles is 70℃～80℃. If your baby has just started eating rice cereal and is not used to being fed with a spoon, you can feed him with a bottle first.