6 Month Old Will Not Eat Cereal

I wouldn't worry to much about it, he's only 6 months old. My kids wouldn't eat cereal either, if you tasted it you probably wouldn't want to eat it either. Try mashed bananas it's a great first food for a baby. If he eats that then try mixing in a little cereal with the mashed banana.

Don't feel too worried about the whole cereal thing, my six month old who was born in october also, does the exact same thing, if i try to continue to feed more she starts gagging on it. I actually went and asked my pharmicist and he told me that it was okay beacuse she is getting all the vitamins she needs in her formula and that cereal is just basically made up of carbs, just tryin to fattin them up, so really they dont need it. He also told me since she wont eat the cereal that after she is weened from formula to start her on a multivitamin. hope that helps, good luck!

Try to put just a little cereal in a bottle with the formula (or breast milk) and see if he will eat it that way. Baby food companies also make many different flavors of cereal like banana, maybe try that. But put it in the bottle for now until he gets used to it. Just make the nipple hole a little bigger. good luck

Don't force it - you could set your baby up for a lifetime of eating issues. Listen to your baby, not an arbitrary eating timetable that is not based on actually research or science. That gagging is your baby's body telling you he's not ready yet. Wait a few weeks and try again.

Skip the cereal as a first food - it can cause allergies to appear for some babies. First, mash up some banana or avocado. If he doesn't want either of those, don't push it. If you make an issue out of it, he is less likely to learn that eating is a social event for health. Not a contest of will powers.

Dr. Sears has great information on feeding babies. www.askdrsears.com. There is also a great book on making your own baby food (it's a lot easier than you think and less expensive) - The Super Babyfood Book by Ruth Yaron. It's in bookstores or online.

Best wishes!
J.

And don't bother asking your pediatrician. They spend pretty much zero time in med school on babyfood.

My advice is to NOT push it. Believe it or not, 6 months is still relatively young for "solid" foods. We started my daughter right at 6 months, but it took a couple weeks before we even got her on a regular schedule with it. At 10 months, she was still gagging on anything that was chunky/lumpy (stage 3 foods).

Your baby will learn to eat the ceral, and probably even like it :-), in time. There's no need to rush the solids. He'll eat it when he's ready.

Good luck!

My daughter (who is now 18 months old) would not eat cereal or any mushy foods at all. She rejected all commercial baby foods, yogurt and applesauce when she was first trying foods. She would still breastfeed and take her bottle (I was supplementing with formula because she was born 8 weeks premature). The developmental occupational therapist we were working with suggested that we let her use a graham cracker and dip it in the yogurt or applesauce and let her suck the mushy food off the graham cracker. This seemed to help. She just recently (within the last 3 months) has decided to eat yogurt and applesauce from a spoon. We think it was a texture thing. As long as the baby is getting enough from breast or bottle, they don't NEED baby food for nutrition. Good luck.

A few things... take what you like, leave the rest (as always!):

1) Whole, mashed or pureed foods are the healthiest choices for first foods - stuff like bananas, avocados, cooked sweet potato, steamed pears or apples, carrots, etc. Cereal is actually not the best 1st food, but it's pushed because of the extra iron that's added to it (but formula and breastmilk both have adequate iron, so cereal's not really needed). Cereal as the 1st food is *much* more of a cultural habit than anything! Also, have you tasted those cereals? I think they taste pretty horrid. I don't blame babies for not liking them! :)

2) Don't rush the whole solids thing - 6 months really is the *earliest* that parents should even consider starting (most) babies on solid foods. And it's really just a fun experiment at this point - a little food on the tip of your finger for them to taste. Not "you need to finish this bowl of food, baby!" Follow your baby's signs, and the gagging is a BIG sign that it's probably too early. Check this list of developmental signs of readiness:
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/solids-when.html...

3) While I'm sure your pediatrician is a nice person, a pediatrician's medical training is *not* focused on the latest in nutrition, so educate yourself & do your own research when it comes to introducing solids to see how your pediatrician's advice matches up to what the current, independent (meaning, not paid for by baby food companies) research studies show is most healthy. Some pediatricians are well informed, others are WAY behind the times. One pediatrician who I think "gets it right" when it comes to solids has this info on starting solids: http://askdrsears.com/html/3/T032000.asp

Congratulations on becoming a mom to a sweet little boy - they grow up sooo fast! :)

A.,
I don't feel you have anything to worry about. I am 26 with three children 2,4,and 6. My children were never into cereal. Once in a while I could trick them by putting fruits or veges in it but even at that they didn't like it. I don't think that it is necessary for a child to eat cereal. Just start exploring with your fruits and veges.

My daughter (who is now a very healthy nine year old) absolutely refused to eat cereal or any baby food for that matter. She got teeth really early, so I started her on soft foods at about five months. She essentially went from formula to table food. She would eat some of the Gerber Graduate meals, but nothing else in the way of baby food. I would guess that your son is old enough now to begin giving him stuff like that.

I'm with M and Jennifer D...cereal is completely unnecessary in the breastfed infant, and minimally necessary in the formula fed infant. The big benefit of cereal is the Iron--breastmilk doesnt' have much iron, but the little it DOES have is highly absorbable...the formula has more iron, but it is less absorbable than the breastmilk. Cereal kicks a little extra iron in there (can cause constipation)...but the negatives to cereal are great...more likely chance of an allergy showing up and also hard on the little tummy. I personally didn't give ANY solids to my daughter until 11mo. She was breastfed throughout (and beyond) those 11mo and didn't have any lack of nutrients. She also 'learned' to eat just fine...she started on solids off my plate too! (albeit mashed, or tiny pieces) Never spent a dime on baby food etc. Breastmilk is a complete food...and a baby can truly live on it for a long long long time. FWIW, my daughter is a great eatter--not only did she 'learn to eat' (one reason people give to start solids early--if they don't they won't learn right! ahhahha), but she is a great eatter--will try anything, and likes almost everything. Veggies, fruits, dairy, meats, fish, shrimp, steak, even collard greens (we're from NC)...
So...ignore all of the 'must do' milestones...and watch your baby--he will let you know when he is ready!

Cereal has little nutritional value and I wouldn't waste my time!

When I started my little ones on cereal I was told to mix a little bit of apple or pear baby food with it... but if you don't want to mix in the fruit - that is up to you. But when I first started I made sure it was almost a liquid... the runnier the better and slowly worked it up to be thicker and how the box said to mix it. They seemed to do better with it at first when it was closer to liquid. But formula and breastmilk has all the stuff the baby need till it is a year old... so if your little one isn't ready - he will start to eat before he gets to the year mark. The more you push the less he will want it... give it time!

Hi A.! I wouldn't stress about your baby's desire to not eat. Breast milk or formula is enough to sustain a baby for the first year of his life. I would let it be for now, and reintroduce in a week or so. Good luck!

My daughter is 7 months old and doesn't eat cereal. She loves her fruit and refuses veggies. They suggest starting with Fruit b/c it is easier for babies to digest. So now I mix veggies with her fruit. I say try giving him regular fruit or veggies, he might not like the cereal, the taste or textures. Best of luck.

hi! I would try not to stress about it. Keep offering it to him and when he's ready, he'll eat it. My son is 17m/o and he still won't eat real veggies. We continue to offer them to him, but he gets the majority of his veggies from baby food. I've talked to my pedi about it and when he's ready for more texture, he'll eat them. It's so hard being a Mom because you want to follow what the recommendations are, but sometimes our little ones have other ideas. He'll eat one of these days!

Just add pureed (sp?) fruit in it to sweeten it up and I bet your son will eat it. I rarely ever mixed cereal with breastmilk/formula... I usually added fruit or even veggies for added nutrition... plus it was more convenient!

Does he drink juice yet? Maybe a little of that mixed in will help.
I would even try mixing in some veggies...my youngest hated the cereal, so I'd mix sweeter veggies like sweet potatoes or carrots. The cereal doesn't have much flavor, so it probably wouldn't matter if you mixed in green veggies.
If he's gagging on it, have you tried making it thinner, more runny?
Otherwise, all I can advise is don't push it. As long as he's normally healthy otherwise, it may just take some time and there's nothing to worry about.

my daughter only ate cereal for about a month. i tried different types. she would get to where she would actually take a breath in and sniff what was on her spoon and if it was cereal, she refused to open her mouth.

dont sweat it, start him on veggies if you are ready. i was bottle feeding my daughter and her formula had iron in it, and apparently thats one of the reasons doctors suggest the cereal. ask your doctor about alternative things and looks like there were lots of good responses on here.

my daughter is 2 1/2 almost and the pickest eater in the world. i used to get so upset about it, but i've decided just to let it go. i still offer her new things and if she doesnt eat a lot at a meal, i dont sweat it. what she does eat she gets a good amount of nutrients from so i've learned to not let it stress me out.
good luck

I used fruit with my daughter first she loved it then went to veggies. I think u should wait to ask his doctor but i don't see a problem with trying the fruit first. good luck

Trying mixing with juice. That is how my daughter will eat it. But, we mastered fruits before cereal. The whole process took about 7 days.

Hi Ahsley,
I was not able to read all of the responses you recieved, I am sure they are all great but I still thought I would provide my input and experience. 1) I mixed my sons cereal with breast milk in the beginning once he was used to it I then began to mix it with room tempature bottled water. Also I know many people will disagree with this but it is okay to mix the cereal with some fruit. It is believed that if you introduce fruit first your child will not eat his veggies, however, that is an old wives tale and may be true for some babies maybe even yours but we do not know that. My son eats his vegtables just fine he is nine months old now and thriving. 2) I did start my son on cereal at four months and we did not really commit to it until six but six months is still young, my peditrician told me if he does not like it one day wait days to a week and then try again and try mixing it with some fruit I promise this will not ruin his veggie eating habits for life. Also as stated in some other responses your milk is the best thing for your son so dont feel bad if he is not eating the cereal. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions!!

Hi A.,

I have a daughter who is 11 months old today, and when I first introduced cereal at about 6 months, she threw up every time. I had been using the powdered cereal, and after trying rice first, we switched to oatmeal and the same thing happened. I ended up trying the jarred cereal by Gerber and Delmonte and she has done fine with those. It's definitely more expensive that way, but the vitamins and nutrients in cereal are so important ... and well worth every penny to make sure she gets them. If you haven't already tried the prepared cereal in the jars, I would suggest that.

Good luck!

I wouldn't worry about it. My daughter now grown up - refused to eat cereal - or any baby food. To this day she doesn't like to eat anything mushy. She is fine - even though she had formula for almost a year and a half, then went straight to solid food.

My son liked to have a little bit of applesauce or mushed up banana mixed in to his cereal.

A.,

If you don't want to put in fruit then put a green veggie in it. Put the same one in it the whole week. That's what I always have done. I hope this helps.

Hi A.:
We started introducing organic rice cereal at around 51/2 months. I'm severely anemic so we wanted to give our baby more iron. We mixed a teaspoon or two with breastmilk to a watery consistency and fed it to her in her bottle once a night. I know a lot of people say not to do that, but it really worked well for us. As she got older, we thickened the mixture for a few weeks. I think this helped her get used to the taste before the texture was introduced. We started mixing with fruits and feeding by a spoon around 61/2 months. Now we also use the organic oats -- and apple/oats are her favorite thing to eat in the morning. Good luck!

I agree with the previous poster that said that the nutritional value of cereal is negligible and I wouldn't worry about it. Cereals have the tendency to cause constipation. The main reasons doctors want you to offer it as a first food are because it contains a lot of iron (if your son doesn't have any issues with anemia, I wouldn't worry about that), and it's a simple food with only one grain. You can achieve the same results with iron-rich veggies. My daughter wouldn't take it, either, nor would she take baby foods at any regularity. I started steaming vegetables until they were really soft and mushy and offering them as finger foods. She didn't really start taking even those until 9 months, either.

I know that alot of people are against them, but they make bottles with "plungers" that you can mix the cereal in with formula, and he can suck it up. I used one for my son. Actually, we ended up using it for fruits and veggies, too. They work fine. There really isn't anything wrong with using them. Your little guy might not want to eat off of a spoon yet. My son is 11 now, and my daughter is 4. I hope this helps you!
Kim

hello. don't try to force it. he wont be hurt or lack any vitamins without the cereal. It's basically a tool to teach him how to eat. Try oatmeal, and a little bit of sugar or fruit juice in the cereal for taste.

What do you mix the cereal with? Both of my children refused to eat cereal when mixed with formula, which is what they recommend on the box. I tried mixing it with water instead, and that was sucessful for both kids.

my daughter did the same thing. it's simple, he doesn't like it. seems crazy huh?! go ahead and try the fruit with it. she really liked it when I had a whole jar of fruit and just a little cereal. it also might be the texture. some babies can't handle certain textures. my daughter always threw up and gaged on mashed potatoes. it turned out she couldn't handle the texture. good luck!!

Hi A.,
If you don't want to put fruit in his cereal, or even some veggies, I would just wait to talk to his pediatrician. My son turned 6 months old last week and he has been on veggies and fruit for 2 months so I'm not sure why your son's doctor hasn't started him on those yet. However, he does like his cereal plain. I would say to try some cream of wheat but again, I would talk to your pediatrician first.

A.,
Stop trying to rush things! If he is fussy and gagging, he is just not ready. I nursed exclusively and my boys never got any solid food of any sort until they were 10 months old. It is recommended that babies not be given solids until 9 months, and this has shown a significant reduction in babies developing food allergies.
Best wishes,
K.

hi A.!

my sister just told me that taste buds renew every week, so your baby might like it at another time. ha!

I have two kids I fed when they were babies. I always mixed cereal in with their baby food. I tried to give it to them separately, but it takes disgusting - have you tried it?!? well, I believe that the goal is to introduce new foods and also to get them to eat as much as possible, so their development of their brains is not hindered. Mine did not like flavored cereal and I only used rice or oats or the mixed grain one.

I would just put a little spoonful in their other food and they would eat it. At first you put so little in, that you can hardly tell it's there, but eventually add more, so the babyfood is thicker and it helps in cutting down on how messy the feedings will be.

My doctor was fine with the way i fed them. I am sure your doctor and children will be fine as well. Some kids eat thicker food faster than others. If they have a problem swallowing, then you need to get help for them, but it sounds like they just don't like the stuff. lol

lots of luck,
B. g