How old can baby rice cereal be eaten?

Rice cereal is a high-quality complementary food. At 4 months old, babies can no longer meet their daily nutritional needs by just drinking milk or formula. At the same time, the requirements for rice cereal vary from month to month. Let's learn more about it below.

How old can babies eat rice cereal?

1. Babies over 4 months old

Start with the first stage of infant nutrition rice cereal made from a single grain. This type of rice cereal is easy to digest and absorb, and is the basic type of rice cereal, suitable for babies in the early stages of complementary food addition. When babies first start adding complementary foods, it is generally recommended to start with iron-fortified rice cereal.

2. Babies over 6 months old

After the baby has been eating the first stage of infant nutritional rice cereal for 2 months, he can try rice cereal with vegetable and fruit flavors. The way to add rice cereal with vegetable and fruit flavors is the same as that of nutritional rice cereal, from single flavor to multiple flavors, and from small amount to large amount. When adding rice cereal to the baby for the first time, it is still better to use pure rice cereal. After the baby adapts, you can gradually add egg yolk puree, vegetable puree, lean meat paste, fish puree, pork liver puree, chicken liver puree and other iron-rich and easily absorbed foods, which can be directly added to the rice cereal.

3. Babies aged 8 to 10 months and above

You can try adding meat and more mixed flavors of rice cereal. But don't just buy one flavor for your baby because he prefers it. It's better to choose rice cereal with more flavors according to the age of your baby so that your baby can develop good eating habits from an early age.

How to choose baby rice cereal

1. Choose branded products. It is recommended to choose products from big brands with good reputation, as their quality is relatively more guaranteed.

2. Check the product labels. Check whether the labels that normal products should have are complete, and whether the special logos and instructions for baby products are printed on the packaging.

3. Check the nutrition facts table to see if the specific nutrients and their contents are within a reasonable range.

4. Check the packaging instructions. Check whether there are any instructions on the outer packaging, such as supplementary food during the weaning period.

5. Look at the color and smell. It is off-white, uniform in size, pure in fragrance, exudes the unique fragrance of rice noodles, and has no other odor.

6. Check the texture and consistency. It should be loose and free of lumps, and should be a paste after mixing.

7. Identify the types of rice flour. Choose the type of rice flour according to your baby's needs. Determine whether the rice flour ingredients are close to breast milk rice flour or breast milk supplement rice flour. Check whether it is the rice flour that your baby should eat during the weaning period.

How to eat baby rice cereal

1. First, prepare warm water. Baby rice cereal needs to be prepared with warm water, because most rice cereals contain probiotics, vitamins and other nutrients, so mothers should avoid using overly hot water to prepare rice cereal for babies, so as not to lose all the nutrients, which is not good for the baby.

2. Use a cup or bowl with a scale to brew the rice noodles according to the proportion. If you brew it properly, the baby will not feel that it is too thin or too thick. When brewing rice noodles, mothers should remember to stir while pouring the rice noodles, so that the rice noodles can be mixed evenly and will not clump. When feeding rice noodles to babies, use a spoon to scoop from the surface layer by layer. This way, the baby will eat it deliciously.

How to store baby rice cereal

1. Infant formula milk powder, baby rice cereal, etc. should not be stored in the refrigerator after opening. Putting them in the refrigerator and taking them out again and again, the temperature and humidity differences inside and outside the refrigerator can easily cause deliquescence, agglomeration and deterioration. Opened infant milk powder and rice cereal can usually be stored at room temperature, away from light, in a dry and cool place.

2. For canned baby milk powder and rice flour, be sure to cover the plastic cover tightly after each opening. For bagged baby milk powder and rice flour, tie the bag tightly after each use. For easy storage and removal, it is best to store them in clean and sealed containers in batches after opening. The container must be clean and dry before use, and no water should be brought into it.

3. There are regulations on the use time of infant milk powder and rice flour after opening. Most of the packages have clear regulations that they should be used up within one month after opening. If it exceeds one month after opening, it should be discarded. It is worth reminding that the expiration date on the package is the date when it is unopened and stored in appropriate conditions. Once opened, this date cannot be used.

4. Baby milk powder may clump within the specified use date. Normal milk powder should be loose and soft. After opening, the baby milk powder may be damp and hygroscopic due to moisture in the air or a small amount of water droplets inevitably introduced during the preparation of the baby milk powder, which may cause the milk powder to clump easily. However, if the clumps are large, hard, and cannot be crushed, it means that the quality of the baby milk powder is not good and should be discarded.