Homemade Rice Cereal for Infants

Most people believe rice cereal to be the standard first food for infants.  I highly disagree with grains as a first food due to the fact that grains have a lot of potential for creating digestive disturbances or allergies.  Babies do not produce the enzymes to handle cereals and especially not wheat.  A Swedish study suggested that infants given substantial amounts of cereal, suffered from low concentrations of zinc and reduced calcium absorption.  It is best to wait until a baby is one year old to introduce grains.  When introducing grains it is best to use whole grains and make cereal (or congee) from scratch. The reason for this is vital nutrients!

Rice and other whole grains (millet, buckwheat, groats, etc.) are extremely wholesome when in their natural state.  If one can imagine a grain as a seed, then you can see all the potential life force that lies within it.  The problem with baby rice cereal or even processed oats is that the process that has made them quicker to cook and easier to digest has also denatured them.  It has taken away the vitality that lay dormant in the grain.

Because infants digestive systems are so immature it is not a good idea to serve them a bowl of rice.  Not to mention they would have a hard time getting it down. In order to make the grain digestible for them, yet keep the vitality, one must prepare them properly.

Homemade baby rice cereal takes about 12 hours to make start to finish.  That's because you want to soak the grains overnight.  This allows for the protected sheath (phytic acid) to dissolve.  This makes it easier for your baby (or anyone for that matter) to digest the grains.  If you soak it in water with a little yogurt that's even better! The acidicness of the yogurt will help predigest the grains.

Once you have your presoaked your grains, you want to cook it on a low temperature for a long period of time until it becomes a mush (or congee).  If you're busy, using a crock pot might be your best bet.

During the winter time when colds are more prevelant, adding a little ginger and cinnamon to the cereal will be great for your baby's digestion and immune system.  The digestive system needs to be warm to function optimally.  Feeding warm cereal in the morning with a little bit of warming spices will help to strengthen the immature stomach.  This will also decrease phlegm production which in turn will reduce belly aches and chances for colds.

After your grains have been cooked to nice mush, add a tiny amount of either smashed banana or maple syrup to sweeten.  Remember you only need a tiny amount of sweetner, your baby has never tasted these flavors so less is better.

Homemade Baby Rice Cereal
1/2 cup of presoaked rice
1 cups of water
1 cup milk of your choice (since I didn't offer dairy till after a year I chose a small amt. of canned coconut milk w/ more water since it's so rich)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger

Bring everything to a boil and then simmer.  You may need to add more liquid.  You want the end result to be mush.  Cook time pprx: 1 hr.

Viola!  Homemade baby cereal and a happy baby!

Do you have any warm cereal recipes to share?  If so please comment below!


With so much love,

xoxo

Nancy



Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation Health Journal.  Winter 1999, 23(4):5-8)