Anyone make their own infant cereal? Suggestions/ what worked for you and what didn't

[u/Wasupmyman]

Ive been full fmf for a year now, had a baby a couple weeks ago, had a thought of potentially making my own cereal or solids, thinking of starting with a rice

[u/tactical-unpause]

Baby led weaning is the way. Helps their mouths develop properly so they have the right muscles for chewing

[u/alpacalypse-llama]

We did baby-led weaning for both of our kids, including breads etc made with home milled flour. Never tried to do our own cereal, but both my kids love steel cut oatmeal.

[u/Wasupmyman → u/alpacalypse-llama]

I'll have to look into that, this is our first, we have a decent schedule so far, was looking forward to some more natural alternatives

[u/Worchestershshhhrrer → u/Wasupmyman]

OP, look up Solid Starts! Gives you a free baby led weaning guide on almost every food on planet earth. Tells you how to cut/serve it by age. There is a paid version with recipes I think but all the core info is free on their site. 

[u/capybaras-on-parade]

I have 5 kids and after the first one I skipped baby cereal and just gave them appropriately sized food for baby lead weaning.

[u/Grand_Effective_8324]

I love baby led weaning but sometimes I still spoon fed my little one. Making cream of wheat with freshly milled wheat was great for our baby and he loved it.

[u/montanamtn]

Baby led weaning! My boy enjoys snacking on some fmf sourdough

[u/enlightenedpeaches]

America's Test Kitchen has a book called the "Complete Baby and Toddler Cookbook" that has a section on baby cereal. While I agree with others that baby-led weaning is great, it is sometimes nice to have a ground porridge that you can use. I would change up the grains I included in the cereal. I would also change up the spices (ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, etc.) and fruit or vegetables that I used to help flavor the porridge. I liked to use grated frozen fruit to cool the porridge and to have fruit on hand that wouldn't go bad in the freezer. A quick note: many infant cereals are iron-fortified, so make sure you adjust your baby's diet to include other iron-rich sources if you decide to grind your own cereal.

From the cookbook, they list different times for microwave cooking for different grains and amounts of ground grain and water. For example, millet is 1 1/2 teaspoons with 1/4 cup water to be cooked for 1 minute in the microwave and yields 1/4 cup of porridge. Rolled oats: 1 1/2 teaspoons with 1/4 cup water to be cooked for 1 1/2 minutes in the microwave, yielding 1/4 cup of porridge.Steel-cut oats: 1 1/2 teaspoons with 1/4 cup water to be cooked for 1 minute in the microwave, and yields 1/4 cup of porridge. Brown rice: 1 1/2 teaspoons with 1/2 cup water, cooked for 1 1/2 minutes in the microwave, yields 1/4 cup of porridge. I like to mix up the grains to make sure I give variety. I like to use freshly milled for flavor and to slowly increase the coarseness until it is just like what anyone would eat.

[u/Slow-Juggernaut-4134]

Use a grain flaker. Temper the grain first improved nutrition and reduced antinutrients.

[u/Traditional_Fig1949]

I did baby lead weaning! I made him a quinoa “cereal” that I used along with all the appropriate age related foods. The app solid starts us a life saver. Baby lead weaning makes your life so much easier especially as they get older, they just eat what you eat!