Baby cereal in the US?

Question

We just moved to the US with our 7 months old daughter. From nutritional guidelines in Germany we are advised to not only feed rice cereal but also millet and spelt. I prefer the wholegrain/organic variety.
As it turns out, I haven't been able to find these anywhere, all I could find was rice cereal and oatmeal, wheat and barley. All varieties that I would use later or not at all (wheat, bec it is supposed to be allergenic).
Do you have any suggestions for me or is that just how you do it?

Answer 1

You can get millet and spelt at any bulk food store. I also recommend oatbran. As for organic you would have to go to a whole food store, or sometimes a store that sell mainly vitamins will have a small organic section. The names of whole foods store vary completely from location to location.

Personally I never feed my baby that commerical baby cereal, it's crap. Its full of oils, sugars, and chemicals. It also isn't necessary at ALL.

"Cereal is not at all necessary, particularly the baby cereals. Regular (whole grain) oatmeal is more nutritious for your baby. "
http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/solids/first-foods.html

"The truth is, there is nothing special about these foods that makes them better to start out with. Babies don't actually even need rice cereal."
http://askdrsears.com/faq/ci2.asp

My son never really ate anything mushy at all until recently (14 months). So I would bake things out of whole oats and/or spelt. You can also puree cooked brown rice which is more nutritious than the rice cereals. Some blenders can handle pureeing uncooked rice, and that works too.

As for organic you are going to have to figure out what the local stores are, it can be tough. Check the phone book and see if you have a naturopath or homeopath, the nurse/receptionist should know the names of local organic stores. It's the easier to look up homeopaths than organic stores in most yellow pages. Good luck!

Answer 2

making your own cereal is really really easy, I reccomend the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron, she has recipes for spelt and millet cereal. While looking through the book I could only find the recipe for the millet porridge, here it is.....

Place a cup of water on the stove to boil and while it's heating, put 3 tablespoons of millet into the blender. Grind for 2 minutes or less. When the water begins to boil on the stove, turn the heat down to the lowest setting. Sprinkle the ground millet into the water while stirring briskly with a wire whisk. Cover the pot and keep it over low heat for about 10 minutes. Stir frequently with the whisk to prevent scorching on the bottom and to remove lumps. You will have to stir more frequently at first, when the pot is still very hot, than after it's had a few minutes to cool.

If it is too thick simply thin with formula or breastmilk or water. If it is too thin you can add an age appropriate thickener such as wheat germ, ground oatmeal or powdered baby cereal.

Refrigerate the cereal immediately, it will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Answer 3

I think thats just how we do it! I have never heard of the others you mentioned, millet and spelt. Perhaps you could visit a local health food store or go on line to order the other varieties. I gave all my children the mixed and it was fine. You can find organic cereal in your local stores.

Answer 4

Hi, my doctor recommends to start w/ a little rice cereal at 4 months and start introducing veggies and fruit at 5 months and meats at six months. He said not to use the mixed grains until later in case of allergies. Its strange how the guidelines are different. I have never even heard of spelt... Good luck!

Answer 5

In the US we start our babies with Rice cereal, then move up to barley, oatmeal and mixed grains.

I don't know what millet or spelt is.

I am a nutrition instructor

Answer 6

you might want to check organic food stores or international food stores for what you are looking for.

i fed wheat, it was fine. i would not advise it if you or the babys father have wheat allergies though.

hope i helped.

Answer 7

have you tried a health food store or whole foods market? whatever you find in a supermarket is what US babies get fed.