When Can Babies Eat Real Rice (Full Grain)?

Updated on June 10, 2010
S.S. asks from Los Angeles, CA
10 answers

I've been feeding rice cereal but am wondering if I can switch my 1 year old to real rice. He has two bottom teeth if that matters..thanks!

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K.E.

answers from Spokane on

I would say wait until he has his molars in. My daughter still has a hard time with it, and she's almost 5. It would be difficult to chew without teeth! And I find that it gets stuck in her throat if she's not careful.

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R.A.

answers from Minneapolis on

My 10 month old has been eating real rice since we started solids at 6 months. Initially I made it pretty mushy and sticky, he would just pick up globs with his hands. Not much chewing required. He had no teeth then.
Now I cook it the way I would cook it for adults, he has never had any problems with it. I have to add though that we have been doing Baby Led Weaning, we started right with finger foods and skipped the whole puree stage (he's always hated purees and spoonfeeding). Because of this, he may have been ready for rice before most other babies.

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A.J.

answers from St. Louis on

Real rice still needs some degree of chewing so you might want to hold off on that until your child has a few more teeth.

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D.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

I probably would have already done it at this point in time if it were my child. Rice is one of the most gentle foods on the GI system, so the real issue is the ability to chew.

I'd probably offer it via spoon (you feeding vs. them using it) and see how it goes in small quantities.

When in doubt, ask your pediatrician. The American Academy of Pediatrics currently recommends that any food can be given at any age as long as it's not a known family food allergen or a choking hazard.

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D.G.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hello,
According to the website my ped recommends, 10 - 12 months is good, but for my 9 month old I blend the rice with some chicken broth in the cuisinart and give it to him that way - he really likes it.

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D.S.

answers from Charleston on

My oldest son started eating it when he was about 14 months or so and had several teeth. I think only having 2 teeth you might want to hold off a lil longer but he did fine when he ate it. I think he had probably at least 8 teeth though.

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N.K.

answers from Madison on

Is he eating any other solids that require some kind of mashing/chewing with gums yet? If so, you can cook the rice real soft (use a little bit more water than usual) and he should be able to eat it without any problems.
At that age, they should be able to handle food that requires some chewing even without many teeth, and be able to eat most table food (prepared appropriately and cut up into small pieces if needed).
You can try very small amounts and see how he likes it.

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C.L.

answers from Fresno on

A 1 year old should be able to eat just about anything with the exception of maybe peanut butter or some types of seafood. The teeth thing really doesn't matter- they use their gums to mash food.

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J.L.

answers from San Diego on

Hi S.S. it depends on the child. I have a 5 month old in my day care who's mom tried him on some kind of rice she was eating, he has no teeth, she said he loved it. I have a 15 month old as well who have been giving her spanish rice since she was 9 months, she loves all kind of rice. Rice can be gummy and sticky, use complete supervision. J.

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G.B.

answers from Tulsa on

Most professional people who tell parents what guidelines are say that any child under 3 years old can choke on many things. I don't think I would feed rice to an infant or toddler, even if they had teeth. If you mash it up or put it in a food processor then you could make the paste as runny or thick as you want.

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