Iron-fortified grain cereal is often still a leading recommendation for starting solids across the globe. Here in New Zealand, one of the first foods recommended to start on by Plunket and the Ministry of Health is iron-fortified infant cereal or baby rice.

In fact, it comes at the top of the list on both websites above anything else. However, what we know about grain cereal, is that it is infact very difficult for our babies to digest.

Rice cereal is actually stripped of its nutrients and fibre and it’s highly glycemic, meaning it causes blood sugar spikes for our babies. It’s also very bland tasting, which doesn’t set the stage for adventurous eating - which is what we want to support as they grow older!

Although it’s promoted as being rich in iron, it isn’t naturally rich in this necessary nutrient. So the rice cereal has been fortified with a poor quality version, which is not only synthetic but a leading cause of constipation in babies and other digestive complications.

Furthermore, baby rice cereal lacks the top essential nutrients a baby needs such as healthy fat, calcium, vitamin D, choline & naturally occurring iron.

So what do we offer our babies instead?

I’m so pleased you asked. Whole, real foods naturally rich in iron and all of the nutrients babies need. I’ll be covering this and so, so much more in my new offer coming soon. You can join the waitlist for first information once it’s ready below.