[CrunchyChristianMama]

I refuse to give my DD infant rice cereal. It goes against everything I know about food. But my DH's grandma is relentless in her pursuit to have me give it to her. I've just politely declined in the past, but I told my DH it is really getting to me that they second guess all my parenting choices and I'm going to start sticking up for myself instead of just being nice all the time. He said he's sick of it too and would back me up.

Now I need to know my stuff because this woman is tough as nails. I have several reasons why I don't want to do the cereal, but am wondering if I'm missing anything. So, feel free to add in why you think rice cereal is dumb and even harmful.

#1 - We don't eat processed foods because the processing deteriorates the nutritional content, so why would I have her first foods be a processed food.

#2 - 96% of the iron they put in it is completely indigestible and is very hard on their little systems.

#3 - She doesn't even make amylase yet, so she can't digest grains.

#4 - I don't want to fill her tummy up with something that's almost completely devoid of nutrition when I would rather put breastmilk in there or healthy fruits or veggies.

 

[BetsyPage]

Because you're her mom, and you make the decisions, lol!

Seriously though... is she breastfed? The iron is breastmilk is very bio-available, and adding iron-fortified foods actually interferes with the absorption of the iron in breastmilk.

 

[Ruthla]

I'm not sure it's worth trying to convince Grandma of your reasoning. It might be time to change tactics- let her know that YOU are the parents, not her, and she doesn't get to make any decisions for this baby. By engaging in arguments with her, you're giving the impression that the subject is up for debate.

I would state the 4 points you've already made, then let her know that it's NOT up for debate. Or maybe simplify it down to two points: it's highly processed and she's not ready for grains yet.

Also, chances are that Great-Grandma mostly wants a chance to feed the baby. She may think that pre-packaged baby rice cereal is the only way to feed a baby, but what she REALLY wants is a chance to spoon-feed the baby, not a chance to specifically feed rice cereal.

She might be satisfied if you handed her a jar of organic squash baby food and a baby spoon, and put the baby in a high chair with a bib. Even if you're planning on doing baby-led solids, and not spoon feeding, I don't think it's harmful for Great-Granny to feed her a jar of mush once in a while.

 

[UUMom]

Hey, cute blog and baby, OP.

Love the chubby legs! I saw your recipe for quiona chicken soup. Maybe let grannie know that quiona is really ancient & healthy and she can give the baby/watch the baby eat that?

There is also an organic brown rice baby cereal without iron. Just fyi, & not an endorsement. I've seen lots of babies your dd's age go crazy with brown rice on the high chair as well. I can't tell how old the baby is, but she does look like she likes food. lol That's so cute.

 

[CrunchyChristianMama]

Thanks, we think she's pretty cute too.

Gma's reasoning is that she needs sedated to sleep through the night and that it is necessary for babies to have rice cereal to accomplish that. She just can't handle that my DD isn't on a solid food diet yet. She's eaten maybe a 1/2 tsp of solids in the last month of letting her play with them and attempt eating them. She just coughs everything back up that she tries to swallow.

: oh well.

 

[UUMom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evie's Mama Thanks, we think she's pretty cute too. Gma's reasoning is that she needs sedated to sleep through the night and that it is necessary for babies to have rice cereal to accomplish that. She just can't handle that my DD isn't on a solid food diet yet. She's eaten maybe a 1/2 tsp of solids in the last month of letting her play with them and attempt eating them. She just coughs everything back up that she tries to swallow. : oh well.

Ah, the old "She'll Sleep Through The Night" argument. It's not even true! lol
Next time she asks I'd say the baby does sleep well (through/whatever) at night.

 

[dogmom327]

I'd go with "I'm the mom" but I know that's hard with family. How about telling her that they are finding that because infants don't have the digestive enzymes to break down grains, it's very hard on their body to process grains which takes away blood and energy from doing other things (like growing!). Also, if your body has a hard time breaking something down, it will be more likely to develop an allergy to it. Or something like that. Not sure it's all 100% accurate but I'm just throwing it out there as an option

 

[TzippityDoulah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by UUMom Ah, the old "She'll Sleep Through The Night" argument. It's not even true! lol Next time she asks I'd say the baby does sleep well (through/whatever) at night.

if this where true my first two would have slept through the night!!!

(I didn't know better back then

)

seriously my first didn't sleep through the night til he was past a yr and the second... on my... way longer than that! so I'm living proof that at best it does nothing. and worst it's terrible for their gut!

 

[velcromom]

I didn't introduce grains til one year and my first response was your #3, that usually worked if anyone asked why. Add to that, "and indigestion never helped anyone sleep!"

The sttn thing, ewww... I throw stats at that one, if only to get their eyes to glaze over and they automatically change the subject, lol. "Studies show the central nervous system's sleep centers mature between two and three years and that is when most children naturally begin to require less parenting during the night". By the third word of that sentence most people have checked out and you are off the hook. Til next time.

 

[tessie]

How about the fact that it tastes foul? Food should taste good. (Although my bubs loves it.

)

Your decision, but I'd keep on offering solids that you deem suitable as there is a window of opportunity between 6 and 8 months for introducing solids. Of course they can be introduced after this time but babies may not take so readily to them. The actions involved in chewing and swallowing are also important for speech development.

 

[FernG]

As a speech pathologist specializing in early intervention, I have not seen any convincing research that introducing solids (or purees) by a certain time influences speech development. All we know is that breast feeding reduces the incidence of speech/language/disphagia delays/disorders and orthodontic problems.

I allowed my DD to self-feed. She started at 10 months. Then she "regressed" and ate almost nothing until close to 12 months. She even went back to EBF poop. Now at a little over a year, she eats an unbelievable variety of tastes and textures. She even loves raw onions. She doesn't need food cut into chunks because she knows just how much to bite off. This is purely anecdotal and does not prove anything, but I don't really believe in the "window of opportunity" theory.