You can introduce rice cereal into your baby’s diet any time between the age of 4 and 6 months. Rice cereal is a nutritional baby food that can provide essential nutrition such as protein and iron to your baby besides breast milk and infant formula milk. There are many flavors in the market.

You can start with rice cereal mixed with breast milk, infant formula milk or cool boiled water. Mix it until it is quite watery. Make the mixture quite runny to help you baby swallow it. Let your baby try it. He or she will tell you if he or she is ready for solid food or not.

Rice cereal provides the necessary iron levels when mixed with breast milk or iron rich infant formula milk in order to meet nutritional needs for baby aged six months and up. Most rice cereals provide the recommended daily amount of iron for your baby. The Maize Cereal and the Nestum are cereals that need to be mixed with either expressed breast milk or infant formula milk. The Cerelac is the cereal that is mixed with cooled boiled water.

The mixture of wholegrain and white rice in rice cereal contains all essential nutrients that your baby’s body needs for a slow and steady source of energy. The protein content in rice cereal helps in the stages of growth of your baby. The iron is added to rice cereal to avoid your baby suffered from iron-deficiency anemia.

Here are a few good reasons to breastfeed your newborn baby.

1. The high fat content in breast milk helps the baby to gain weight quickly and is not bad for babies like a high-fat diet might be for an adult. The fat also provides essential vitamin A, D & E to your baby.
2. The higher cholesterol levels in breast milk may help protect against high cholesterol issues later in life.
3. The proteins and fats in whole cow’s milk are more difficult for an infant to digest and absorb than the ones in breast milk.
4. Whole cow’s milk also contains excessive amounts of protein, sodium and potassium which may put a strain on an infant’s immature kidneys. In this case, breast milk contains water soluble vitamins and proteins which are good for your baby.
5. Mothers produce antibodies to whatever disease is present in their environment, making their milk custom-designed to fight the diseases their babies are exposed to as well. Breastfed babies are healthier as the milk contains antibodies which can reduce the ear infections and respiratory illnesses. Approximately eighty percent of the cells in breast milk contain macrophages, a special type of cell that kills bacteria, fungi and viruses.
6. One of the main benefits of breast milk is its high content of whey protein. Whey protein is an easily digestible energy source. It can provide the necessary energy required by a baby.
7. In addition to missing out on the immunological benefits of breast milk, formula fed infants are at higher risk for SIDS and developing chronic health problems like allergies, obesity and diabetes later on.
8. Your body burns about 500 calories a day when making breastfeeding. In this case, breastfeeding uses up those calories, making it easier to lose the weight you put on during pregnancy.
9. Breast milk is completely free and readily available. This helps you to reduce your family expenses for buying infant formula milk.
10. The bond between baby and you can also be strengthened during breastfeeding. Interestingly, at birth a baby can only focus on things between 12 and 18 inches away – precisely the distance between your face and your baby’s eyes during breast feeding.