Table of Contents
Can Babies Have Cheerios? Find Out!
When can babies have cheerios? You can start by introducing soft finger foods like Cheerios to your baby. Cheerios are a great food to introduce early as they are small enough for babies to grasp without frustration.
It is best not to introduce Cheerios too early, as young babies might not have the proper chewing skills to handle solid foods yet. If your baby is content to eat soft foods at the right time, they will be ready to try more solid foods in due course.
The safest time to introduce Cheerios to your baby is around 9 months. Make sure to check with your child’s specialist before introducing solid foods. While introducing a variety of first foods, focus on soft ones and wide varieties of textures. In addition, it will be best if your baby can sit upright and prop its head up. In addition, cheerios can help your baby develop motor coordination.
Cheerios are a popular breakfast cereal that both children and adults enjoy. However, because cereal appears to be a choking hazard—after all, it’s solid, compact, and round—many parents question when it’s OK to offer Cheerios to their newborn.
Cheerios, as it turns out, is safe for babies who reach specific developmental milestones, and they’re an excellent early snack because they’re devoid of common food allergens.
Aside from the fact that most of them will likely end up on the floor, here’s what you should know about when babies can have cheerios.
When can babies have Cheerios?
When can babies have cheerios: Cheerios are commonly introduced to babies when they are 9 months old or when they can pick up small food pieces with their fingers. There may be slight changes based on your baby’s development, as some babies gain this fine motor skill before 9 months and some after.
How to Know If Your Baby Is Ready to have Cheerios
When can babies have cheerios: Around 6 months, your baby may start reaching for the same foods you are eating. It’s because your baby is curious, but it’s also a sign that she’s ready to start eating solid foods and trying new things. But before you give in to your child’s wishes, make sure she can also:
- Make a chewing motion – Even if your little chomper doesn’t have teeth yet, she should still make a chewing motion with her mouth when she crushes food with her gums.
- Sit upright without support – Before you give your baby any solid finger foods, make sure your baby can sit up by herself and control her neck. If not, she may lean forward or to the side while eating, making her more likely to choke.
- Extrusion reflex has stopped – This reflex, also called the tongue-thrust reflex, is automatic and keeps babies from choking on their food or breathing it in. When you feed your baby, and they push the food out with their tongue, this is what happens. Your baby is ready for Cheerios when he or she starts to throw up.
- Use the pincer grasp to pick up small objects – The pincer grasp is the ability to grab and hold something with two fingers. It makes your baby put food in her mouth. Cheerios are easy for babies to hold because they have a hole in the middle. Even though the right way to pick up something is with the tips of the thumb and index finger, your baby may first use other types of grasps as she learns this skill.
Some of these are:
Raking grasp: With this method, your baby will use her fingers to slide the Cheerio (or another solid object) toward her palm. She will then cover the item with her hand, squeeze it into her fist, and put her fist to her mouth. Around 6 months, parents often start to see this kind of grasp.
Crude pincer grasp: Around 7 months, your baby may be getting closer to mastering the pincer grasp by grabbing things with the pads of her thumb and index finger.
Don’t worry if your baby doesn’t know how to use pincers. Each baby grows and learns at its own pace. You can still try giving her solid foods by spoon-feeding her infant cereal until she reaches this stage of development.
Are Cheerios healthy?
When can babies have cheerios: Cheerios are whole-grain oat cereals that have been iron-fortified. They also have folate, vitamins C and A, and 1 gram of sugar. They also have less salt than most other snack foods.
Are Cheerios Safe for My Baby?
When can babies have cheerios: Cheerios are one of the safest foods you can give your baby when they are ready (more on that later). Continue reading to learn why.
They’re Not a Choking Hazard
Cheerios melt when wet, like when they touch your baby’s tongue. It is similar to how many types of cereal get soggy when they sit in milk for too long. Because of this, they don’t pose a risk of choking.
You also don’t have to bother about stray Cheerios that your baby might find a few months after they roll under the couch. “Stale Cheerios are not a choking risk; they just don’t taste as good.”
They Probably Won’t Make Your Baby Sick
Eating finger food with dirty hands can introduce bacteria and viruses into the mouth. So, how concerned should you be about germs once your baby starts eating cereal with their hands, such as Cheerios? “Not too much,” especially if you wash your baby’s hands for 20 seconds with regular soap and water before serving their cereal.
They’re Free of Common Allergens
If you have allergies that scare you over a few germs, you don’t have to worry about the cereal making you sick. The most common allergens in babies are Wheat, peanuts, soy, shellfish, egg, milk, fish, and tree nuts.
Whole grain oats, which aren’t on the above list, are the main thing in Cheerios. Regular Cheerios do not contain any food allergens. Almonds are tree nuts, and honey is unsuitable for babies younger than 12 months. Honey Nut Cheerios have both almonds and honey.
All babies are different. Talk to a pediatrician if you have any queries about when babies can have cheerios.
Can babies be allergic to Cheerios?
When can babies have cheerios: Even though an allergic reaction can happen to any food, the chances that your baby is allergic to Cheerios are very low. It’s because the main thing in Cheerios is oats, which are not usually a problem for people with food allergies. The following foods are the cause of 90% of food allergies in children:
- Peanuts
- Tree nuts
- Wheat
- Eggs
- Soy
- Milk
Still, if you give your child something new to eat, it’s best to keep an eye on them in case of an allergic reaction. Reactions can be mild to severe and can happen minutes or hours after eating the offending food in any of the following ways:
- Diarrhea
- Wheezing
- Itching
- Swelling of the face, tongue, or lips
- Hives or skin rash
- Vomiting
You should call your doctor soon if you see mild allergy symptoms. If your baby is having severe symptoms, call 911 right away.
Benefits of Giving Your Baby Cheerios
When can babies have cheerios: Even though Cheerios aren’t the only breakfast or snack you can give a baby, many parents of young children keep them in their pantry at all times.
1. They’re Nutritious
Cheerios are a healthy choice because of their whole-grain content. They don’t have much sugar added to them since reducing your child’s sugar intake early on can help them start figuring out what they like to eat so they can choose healthier foods later.
2 They Help Babies Develop the Pincer Grasp
Cheerios can help babies learn how to eat on their own. Babies don’t know how to pick things up when they are born, so they need as much practice as possible. Every time a baby tries to get a Cheerios from the high chair tray to their mouth, it helps them develop the pincer grip, which they do by squeezing their thumb and index finger together.
The goal of early eating is to teach babies how to eat on their own. Cheerios are one food babies can eat on their own, as long as you don’t mind spending your child’s initial years picking up dropped O’s.
3. They’re Iron Fortified
Cheerios are iron-fortified, like most breakfast cereals. It’s good because young children can become iron-deficient, which can lead to anemia, a condition that makes the blood less able to carry oxygen. Babies’ weight doubles by four or five months and triples in a year. Their blood volume rises quickly, so they need iron to make new red blood cells.”
When is it OK for a baby to pick up small pieces?
When can babies have cheerios: Babies get a “pincer grasp” when they can pick up small things with their fingers. It usually happens around 9 months. (Before that, they didn’t have the fine motor skills and would use their whole hand to pick up things, which worked for bigger foods.)
It’s the right time to start giving your baby small pieces of early finger foods that are soft and easy to squash.
What type of Cheerios is best?
When can babies have cheerios: Plain, regular Original Cheerios are the best for babies because they lack the flavorings, honey, and added sugar in other varieties.
They are now gluten-free, which is useful if you have a gluten-sensitive family member.
Do babies need teeth to eat solids?
When can babies have cheerios: Most babies chew with their gums, which is good because molars don’t come in immediately. So, the number of teeth has nothing to do with what kinds of finger foods babies can eat when they’re young.
What are the ingredients in Cheerios?
Cheerios are made with whole grain oats, cornstarch, sugar, salt, dipotassium phosphate, and Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) to keep them from going bad.
They are also fortified with iron, zinc, calcium carbonate, and vitamins like vitamin A (palmitate), vitamin C (sodium ascorbate), vitamin B (niacinamide), vitamin B1 (thiamin mononitrate), vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B (folic acid), vitamin B12, and vitamin D3,
Are Cheerios a choking hazard?
When can babies have cheerios: In general, their O shape and the fact that they dissolve quickly keep babies from choking on them if given to them at the right time (around 9 months or older).
They don’t dissolve immediately, though, and dissolve more slowly than most puffs. If you’re worried, you can add a little nondairy unsweetened milk or water to them to help them dissolve.
Do I need to worry about GMOs and glyphosate?
When can babies have cheerios: Cheerios are not said to contain GMO substances. Still, the nutrition label says, “Trace amounts of genetically modified material may be present due to possible cross-contact during manufacturing and shipping.”
The glyphosate issue is less clear, mostly because most of the information about it online comes from groups that may or may not have been paid to take a certain position.
Glyphosate is a weed killer commonly found in Monsanto’s Roundup and is widely used in agriculture, particularly on cereals such as the oats in Cheerios.
The Environmental Working Group is the main group making news about this. They have decided that what they think is safe for children is much stricter than what the EPA says. They have a history of putting out reports that stir up trouble, often distort science, and scare the crap out of customers.
According to recent studies, it would take 12 servings of breakfast cereal to have more glyphosate than is considered safe.
If you’re worried, you can choose an organic O-style cereal, which won’t have been made with grains treated with Roundup because that’s not allowed under the organic program. The O’s from Cascadian Farms is one choice. (They cost about double what Cheerios do.)
Many organic O bowls of cereal, like this one from Nature Path, have more added sugars, so you could look at this part of the nutrition label to see your choices.
Also, remember that some brands may dissolve more easily than others.
When can babies have Honey Nut Cheerios?
When can babies have cheerios: No, babies younger than 12 months old can’t eat Honey Nut Cheerios or any other food with honey, cooked or not. Honey can have very dangerous bacteria for babies with weak immune systems.
What about other baby cereals?
When can babies have cheerios: Rice cereal and baby oatmeal are often recommended as good first foods for babies ready to start eating solids. People were told to feed rice cereal in the past because it doesn’t cause allergies very often.
Doctors used to tell people with allergies to avoid allergens until they were exposed. But now we have studies that show the opposite. To stop food allergies, you should introduce allergens early and often. Rice cereal isn’t very healthy, and we should give babies a wide range of foods as soon as possible. From a nutritional point of view, there is no reason to keep feeding your baby rice cereal for the first few weeks or months.
You should give your baby oatmeal instead of rice cereal because it is healthier. But it’s important to get them used to different tastes and textures as soon as possible. It’s fine to give your baby more than one new food at a meal or more than one new food in a day.
When can babies eat finger foods in general?
When can babies have cheerios: Around 6 months, babies are ready to eat with their fingers, which is why baby-led weaning works so well. So many people say you should wait until a certain age to try certain foods that it can be hard to keep track.
If you’re wondering when newborns can eat avocado, hummus, fruits like kiwis or raspberries, spaghetti, or any other foods, the answer is that they can begin eating them as early as 6 months old. So long as you keep them secure while serving them! Typically, this indicates that the food can be crushed between two fingers and is easy to grip.
Final words: When can babies have cheerios
When can babies have cheerios: In general, babies can eat the original Cheerios once they have learned to chew food, sit up on their own, and put finger foods in their mouths. Cheerios may not be the best first food for babies who have just switched from breast milk or formula to solid foods because of their making process. Still, you can talk to your pediatrician about anything about how your baby eats.
Cheerios are good for babies once they can sit up and put food in their mouths. You shouldn’t expect your baby to be ready before 9 months, though every baby grows and learns at a different pace.
FAQs: When can babies have cheerios
When can babies have cheerios?
When can babies have cheerios: Cheerios are good for babies once they can sit up and put food in their mouths. You shouldn’t expect your baby to be ready before 9 months, though every baby grows and learns differently. If you have questions about when or what to feed your baby, talk to his or her pediatrician.
Can a baby choke on Cheerios?
When can babies have cheerios: Are Cheerios a Choking Hazard? No. A Cheerio is a dissolvable food, requiring only a small amount of liquid (or saliva) to become a mushy texture, so there is little chewing or mashing needed to manipulate the food in the mouth before swallowing.
When can the baby have dry Cheerios?
When babies can have cheerios: Around 9 months, or when they can pick up small pieces of food with their fingers, they can usually start eating Cheerios. Some babies get this fine motor skill a little before 9 months and some a little after. It depends on how your baby is growing and developing.
Can babies eat Cheerios without teeth?
When can babies have cheerios: Cheerios should be broken up by a baby biting up and down (with or without teeth). It will break down over time, but usually not before a baby has tried to eat it. Because of this, babies can start eating cheerios between 9 and 12 months.
How do you serve Cheerios to a baby?
“Babies can suck on Cheerios until they get mushy, and they do not need teeth to chew them, “They’re fun for babies to pick up, and sometimes they don’t even make it to their mouths.”
What cereal Can I Give My 8-month-old?
When can babies have cheerios: First, it’s best to start with single-grain cereals like rice, oatmeal, or barley so that you can expose your baby to one ingredient at a time. (But don’t feed your baby rice all the time because it can give your baby too much arsenic.)
Can 9 month old have Honey Nut Cheerios?
When can babies have cheerios: Honey and foods with honey, like Honey Nut Cheerios, are not good for babies to eat. Honey can have bacteria that a baby’s immune system can’t handle. Avoid foods that can cause choking, like those with seeds, popcorn, or hard candy.
What foods should I avoid giving my 8-month-old?
8 Foods to Avoid Feeding Your Baby
- High-mercury fish.
- Unpasteurized foods.
- Smoked and cured meats.
- Refined grains.
- Honey.
- Cow’s milk.
- Fruit juice.
- Sugary treats.
