Baby Rice Cereal, and Why it’s the Perfect First Solid Food For Your Baby

on August 16, 2021

Who doesn’t love cereal? It’s the best way to get a quick and satisfying breakfast for your baby, and there are just so many options to choose from, no matter what your baby's taste preferences are.

But, did you know about baby rice cereal? It’s a great option to introduce your baby to solid foods when your baby is ready. Sweetpea baby food is a way of introducing new tastes and textures.

Sweetpea Foods has a wide range of baby cereals with all kinds of fruit, veggies and grains, as we want your baby to be spoiled for choice just as much as you do. Our baby cereals are gently drum dried and milled into a fine flake with no artificial colours or flavours added.

The pureed raw ingredients of our baby rice cereals are placed on a large metal cylinder to be dried using an elaborate drum drying process. In this process, condensed steam heats up the cylinder, which removes liquid from the ingredients, converting them to a dry fine powder. This gives them thickness while making them easy to eat.

Not only is our full range of baby rice cereals easy to eat, but they are fortified with iron to replace the iron your baby is not getting from breastfeeding.

Why is Sweetpea a great first food for your baby?

We think the real question is why wouldn’t it be?

Our Range

Sweetpea Meals comes with a wide range of flavours; from banana porridge, to mushy spuds mixed with corn and peas, baked beans and even pumpkin risotto (now that’s fancy). After a few months of only liquids, imagine being a baby and stepping up to the slightly thicker texture of dried baby rice and meals.

Our Process

And hey, maybe you’re worried that this food might be too good to be true. Perhaps it tastes good but isn’t as healthy. Well, as we previously mentioned, our foods are prepared using a process that retains the baby foods’ nutritional value. Our baby rice cereal is fortified with iron, and contains a variety of grains, fruits and veggies.

Easy to Prepare

But what if these baby rice cereals take too long to make? We understand that you suddenly become very busy when you’re a parent, and you might not have time to prepare baby rice cereal. But, we mean it when we say you don’t need to worry. Not only are our baby rice cereals tasty and healthy, but all you need to make them is some warm water.

When can you start feeding a baby rice cereal?

We get it, you’re probably excited to introduce your baby to baby rice cereal, but you should wait until your baby is ready.

By about 6 months, a baby’s iron stores are low and extra foods will be needed to maintain healthy growth and prevent nutritional problems (such as iron deficiency).  Start to introduce solid foods (solids) around 6 months – when your baby shows an interest in food.

You’ll know when that is because your baby will start to do the following:

  • Being able to stay steady in a sitting upright position when supported
  • Demonstrating good head and neck control
  • Reaching out for your food
  • Showing an interest in food (i.e. looking at people’s plates, etc.)
  • Swallowing their food instead of spitting it back out
  • Opening their mouth when you offer them food on a spoon

How do I introduce rice cereal to my baby?

The answer is really easy. Simply take your pouch of the Sweetpea Foods baby rice cereal of choice and mix about 10g of it with about 5-6 tablespoons of warm water.

Once you’re sure it’s not too hot for your baby, simply sit them upright and feed it to them with a small spoon once or twice a day. As your baby gets used to it:

  • You can use less water to give the cereal a slightly thicker texture
  • Using hands and smearing over face for your baby is optional

When feeding any solids to your baby, it is strongly recommended that you do the following:

  • Be calm and relaxed when you begin.
  • Make sure they sit comfortably and are not too hungry.
  • Be patient. They may only take a spoonful at first, but this will increase with time and practice.
  • Be prepared for a mess – all babies will do this when they learn to eat.
  • Stay with your baby while eating to encourage social interaction and to avoid any accidents (such as choking).
  • Try again in a day or so if your baby refuses the first time.
  • Offer foods on a small, infant-sized spoon.

Can a 3 month old have baby rice cereal?

Sweetpea Foods are manufactured to Australian Food Standards which mandate that infant cereal is not suitable for infants under 4 months of age.

If you’re looking for a wide range of baby rice cereal with many different flavours look no further than Sweetpea Foods. Our foods are nutritious, Aussie grown, easy to prepare and, most importantly, very tasty.

Nutritionist, Claire Power, wishes that Sweetpea’s products had been around when her children were starting solids.

Claire Power Nutritionist

“It can be overwhelming for new parents with so many options and different styles with purees or baby led weaning. From 4 to 6 months old I recommend starting with smooth purees and increasing texture and flavours rapidly. Vegetables and fruits should be some of the first foods babies try along with an iron-fortified meal such as in the Sweetpea mixes, because iron is a very important mineral for little ones to have a healthy development,” says Claire.

“Full of good stuff, made in Australia and with no nasties, Sweetpea’s baby meals are the ideal first foods for babies. I especially like that they’re a dry food that only requires warm water to instantly become a convenient, delicious and nutritious plant-based meal with wholegrains, protein and iron.”

Adds Claire: “The Sweetpea range is also great for including different tastes and textures which is important for babies to be exposed to. As a mum and nutritionist, their banana porridge, baked beans, mushy veg and pumpkin risotto are the perfect healthy and quick snack for little ones starting solids that are also ideal for busy parents.”

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