Which One Is Better Oat or Rice Cereal as Baby's First Solid Food?

I have always started with rice cereal it is easier on the stomache, all cereals have the chance of causing constipation at first becaus they are not use to foods yet. All the pediatritions I have talked to have always said to do the rice cereal mixed with the gerber apple juice, the apple will help it digest smoothly with out the constipation.

Hi M.,

I have to say that your baby is kind of young for solid foods. Is he sitting up yet? Teeth? Those are some signs that he can be ready for food.
About your question: I would try neither. They are constipating. So is banana, squash, and apple sauce. Try mashed avocado, carrots, green veggies, sweet potatoes, pumpkin squash, and winter squash. These are fabulous choices for first foods.

Hi M.,

I never did Rice cereal with my kids. I always did oat cereal and it was always fine. If you find that your baby won't eat the plain oat cereal, try the oat with fruit. My girls wouldn't eat the oat cereal if it was plain. I don't blame them, it tastes awful. But we would get the Oat mixed with banana or apple and they ate it just fine.

It depends on who you ask, obviously. Rice can be constipating- which means adding more water to baby's diet, but Oat contains gluten which a lot of babies have a reaction to- it's more difficult to digest than rice. Rice is probably the easiest to digest of all baby cereals, so I started with rice mixed with breast milk and my little guy loved it. I think the breast milk helped with the constipation factor too. Good luck!

Hi M.. Ive read some of the other responses, and really its a matter of what is more comfortable for you. I have a daughter and a son. When they were babies I started them both on small amounts of rice cereal at about 2 months old. Both times I made the pediatrician aware I was starting cereal, and neither Dr. discouraged it. At about 4 months old I started introducing fruits, veggies, and juices and so on. You do want to make sure you try one new food for a complete week to make sure there are no allergic reactions. My daughter is now 11 and my son is 5, and even though I started them out the same, as far as fruits and veggies are concerned--- they are like night and day when it comes to eating! My daughter will eat any vegetable or fruit thats put in front of her, and prefers them after school before any other sweet snack. My son on the other hand, he will eat fruit but getting him to eat vegetables is like pulling teeth! Kids are just different. Go with what you as a mom thinks your little one can handle. Mother always knows best!

My vote is for oat. The rice is refined and all of the good stuff removed to make it look nice and white. Oat is yummier. My son loved oat more than rice. However, he loved fruits the most probably because it was sweet. I would scrape and mush a fruit for him.

I have a baby food book, that says to introduce oat first as well, but when I asked my pediatrician, he said nothing should be introduced before Rice, and to make sure that you are not homemaking the rice cereal yourself. He says it is the best for their still small and sensitive stomachs. I am sure you will get many different opinions, but i just wanted to tell you what one of the best Pediatricians in San Diego County (literally he has been labeled this)has said.

hi,
my preference is oat. I think it is less starchy and has more bulk than rice. Patti

on my pediatrician's suggestion - we totally skipped cereal! we went straight to veggies (started with things like sweet potatoes, squash) and then to fruit such as pears. my pediatrician thinks the cereal is more filler than anything else - so why not give them the nutrition from veggies and fruit? we were breastfeeding which was his primary food - and didn't start solids until at least 6 months. (3 1/2 months is still really young for digesting food.) my son was a big boy - healthy and a huge appetite. he has been a good eater when it comes to veggies and i can't help but wonder if it was b/c his palette got a taste for them early on.
J.
ps - here's an email from a friend of mine from a long time ago which is similar to my feelings.
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Constipation at the start of solids is TOTALLY normal. Stay away from "binding" foods though -- rice cereals, bananas, oatmeal etc (we NEVER did rice cereal. There is virtually no nutritional value to the stuff, according to our ped.). Stick with greens (those NOT mixed with rice) and fresh fruit.

Also wanted to point out -- if you start your kids on fresh, Delicious fruits and veggies instead of bland starches (such as rice cereal), in addition to better aiding their digestion -- they will develop a life-long LOVE of them. My 20 month old and 4 year old eat fresh steamed broccoli. spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes almost daily -- and actually LOVE these foods. I am convinced it is because I started their palates with them.

I started my DD on rice when she was 4.5 months old, but it was too constipating; I switched her over to oatmeal and she loved it! I also made sure to buy the organic, whole-grain type oatmeal...I'm sure that's why she didn't have any trouble :)

Every child handles food differently. From my experience rice is usually the first. I guess now a days doctors are suggesting giving babies all 4 cereals rice, barely, wheat and oat in 1 week increments. I guess this is for allergy reasons???? I run a daycare and some parents do it and some don't. All the cereals are great nutrition for your child so you will need to choose. Don't worry about it too much.

M.

Hi M.,

Both are good for your baby. It is really a preference of which one the baby likes too. I used rice when my boy was 4 months old and he loved it. It did not cause him to be constipated at all. Also talk to your childs peditrican to see what he or she recommends as well. I know a lot of them will tell you rice or oats. Either way they need to be at least 4 months old and should only be given one cereal at a time for at least a week to make sure they have no allergy to it.