My son hates his cereal, HELP, any suggestions

Serena - posted on 04/02/2009

My daughter was the same way. She would literally spit it out across the kitchen. What finally worked for her was mixing in a couple baby spoonfuls of baby food. It didn't even matter if it was fruit or veggies. It worked wonders, the first day I tried it she ate a whole bowl full! Hope this helps.

Sofia - posted on 04/02/2009

My little one also hated cereal and I added a little carrot (which she loves) and now she eats it very well. I slowly started putting less and less carrot and now she eats it very well. Also sometimes the taste is different from one label to another, I noticed my LO prefers Earth's Best. Smart girl!

Camela - posted on 04/02/2009

Mine hates cereal too, so I have been mixing it with a little apple juice and sprinkling some cinnamon on top and now he gobbles it up!

Rebekah - posted on 04/01/2009

Instead of rice cereal, have you tried oatmeal? It actually has a taste.  Since your breastfeeding your baby may not like the blandness of the rice cereal since breastmilk is sweet.

Kelly - posted on 04/01/2009

Hi Ladies

Thanks for all your advice.

I started my son on veggies last week, we have tried squash and carrots so far. Tomorrow we are going to start peas (we are going to start fruit after veggies cause I don't want him to get a taste of the sweet and reject the veggies).

He loves his veggies, I try to sneak a little cereal in his evening meal of veggies, he seems non the wiser and gobbles it all down.

I keep trying to introduce cereals in the am, but I let him tell me if he wants it or not, he may take a spoon full or 2, but when he's had enough we stop. I keep positive and smile at him and let him know he is doing a good job regardless if he eats it all or not.

Thanks again for all your advice!

Teresa - posted on 04/01/2009

P.S. My son loves frozen banana in his mesh feeder.

Teresa - posted on 04/01/2009

If he doesn't like the cereal, why not try fruits or veggies (leaving at least 4 days in between each new thing you try) and if he doesn't like that either, he might not be ready. At that point, you can delay solids until he takes an interest. :)

Sarah - posted on 04/01/2009

I wouldn't worry too much about it. At this stage, food is really more about discovery and exploration as breast milk should be the main source of nutrition. Try veggies and then fruit once he is accustomed to that. Cereal isn't necessary and many babies don't like it (can you blame them? have you ever tasted rice cereal?) Veggies and fruit are fantastic foods to start with, natural and wholesome. I started both my girls with sweet potatoes mixed with breast milk to thin them out as well as give them a flavor they were familiar with. My eldest loved her food straight away and had an amazing appetite. My 6 month old has just started and isn't quite as enthusiastic. I just let her go at her own pace and after about a week seems to be liking it a bit more. I'll introduce apples or pears next week and see how she goes. Another thing to think about is not bothering too much with purees and just introducing foods they can hold and feed themselves. Some babies prefer this as they can be more independent with it and explore at their own pace.

Cynthia - posted on 03/31/2009

Make sure the temperature is warm vs cold. My first son would stop eating if it was cold. Sure it cools off while he eats it, but I found if I kept it inside another bowl of hot water and stirred it around it kept it warm enough throughout the feeding. Cold bad, warm good.

Sarah - posted on 03/31/2009

Ben will only eat the rice cereal if I mix it with babyfood fruit. I mix it up, add some water to make it less thick then give it to him in the morning for breakfast.

Kelly - posted on 03/15/2009

Thanks for all the advice ladies!

I tried it again at supper time, but this time i did not nurse him before, and changed from a plastic spoon to a metal spoon with rubber (he loved the spoon as it felt good on his gums). I gave him the barley cereal and he ate 5 more spoonfuls than he had earlier.

So i think tomorrow morning I and going to try to feed him his cereal before I nurse him again. Hopefully it will be better. If it doesn't work I will try adding veggies.

Good idea about putting the vitamin D drops in, I might try that as well.



Thanks again for all your help and support!!

Tammy - posted on 03/15/2009

Our baby has baby porridge mixed with his milk, he loves it and i have tried it and i think its much better than the baby rice lol.

Lora - posted on 03/15/2009

Also, we've found that Oliver likes his cereal on the thick side. He made a gagging face when it was thinner.

Lora - posted on 03/15/2009

Oliver didn't like the rice cereal at first. We then tried oatmeal, which took only a few feedings for him to like. I think the first hurdle was getting him to like eating because now he'll eat rice cereal. So far we have only used formula to mix in, as we're trying to avoide juice as long as possible.

Kristin - posted on 03/15/2009

I agree with the adding veggies to the cereal to give it a sweeter taste, another suggestion would be taking the Vitamin D drops and putting that in there because that is sweet too. My daughter didn't like it mixed with breast milk but didn't mind it after a while with a bit of veggies and water in it. Hope that works. I also heard about the nursing before or after and mine still does that depending how big her appetite is. I wouldn't suggest putting it in a bottle and have been advised by doctors and nurses alike not to do it.

Jennifer - posted on 03/15/2009

how about skipping the cereal?  You can start him on fruit or veggies first.  I'd try a sweet veggie like carrots or squash first.  My son loves carrots in his oatmeal

Angela - posted on 03/15/2009

Have you tried mixing it with fruit or Juice? My ped said to introduce it with fruit/veggies to combat constipation so it should be fine to just fix it up togather. Hope it helps...