Cereal Allergy

Grains can be highly allergenic and difficult to digest. I don't plan to introduce them until after a year, and then only rice and oatmeal (anything with wheat/barley/rye is even more allergenic). It's actually better to introduce veggies, meats and good fats like avocado first, although many drs. don't recognize this. Hold off on the grains for now and give veggies a try in a few months.

my daughter went through the same thing. we are holding off on cereals. she is now 7 mon. i did a 1/2 tspn rice cereal last night, she did okay with it. but we are not ushing it!!! only fruits & veggies & breastmilk for now.
i would follow your little ones instincts.
good luck!

my newphew has a wheat allergy which presented it self with diarreah just after introducing ceareal don't mess around with it insist on seeing an allergist rashes usually indicate allergic reactions and food allergies can be very dangerous. fruit and veggies should not have the same reaction as there is no grains to react to. i have started all my children with cereal around that time with out issueskimd mother 13 11 8 and 18mths

HI R.,

I started all 3 of my kids on cereal at 6 months (especially since they were all born early). All 3 of my kids just seemed too young, mentally and physically, to take on cereals at 4 months. I suppose that some kids are ok with it at 4 months, but I just didn't want to chance it with mine. Maybe you should wait until 6 months too. By 6 months, baby will also have more teeth.

When you begin again, start slowly; use the same cereal for about 4 days to make sure there are no allergies, then switch off to another cereal for another 4 days. Once you've established that baby is not alergic, then you can begin combining or just giving both (or more) throughout the day. This is the same technique I used when it came time to feed veggies and fruit. I stuck with the same fruit or veggie for 4 days straight, then switched to a new fruit, once there wasn't any reaction to the previous. After about 2 weeks baby can eat about 4 different fruits and veggies.

Lastly, rule of thumb...begin with veggies ONLY for all of your preliminary 4-day-test-feedings. If you begin with fruit first, baby may not take veggies as easily, or at all.

Good luck!

Mari

Hi R.,
You seem to be getting a bit of mixed responses, but here's my opinion. My daughters pedi started her on cereals when she was three months old. She was fine with rice, but had a hard time with oatmeal. She also got a weird rash that made me really nervous. I even went to a specialist for a second and third opinion and they all said that it was a sensitivity which is different than an allergy. Usually they grow out of it and as long as there is no fever or other types of reactions with it, stop for a few weeks and try again. My daughter was even sensitive to peaches for a while. The best thing to do is to stick with the same food only for a couple of days to see if there is a reation or not then you will know exactly what it is that is causing the rash. The rash always goes away after a few days so make sure that after it disappears you try the same food a bit later that you think caused it. This way you know the cause versus the rash just going away on its own in case it is not the food at all. It could also be a new article of clothing or detergent that is irritating the skin or something else in the environment also. Good luck and let me know the outcome.
C.

An allergy to rice would be very unlikely same with oatmeal but I'm sure if you read the boxes they may say may contain traces of wheat which is more likely to be the reason for the rash. My son had a rash like you described and it turned out to be a milk allergy they say most babies that develope an eczema type rash have a milk allergy. Its normal to start feeding cereal at 4 months so don't beat yourself up if you are thinking that you did this. If yo ufeel strongly that your child has a food allergy request a referral to an allergist your ped. if a good one will not tell you know. They can test for the typical childhood food allergies. It took several months to find all the reasons my son's eczema was flaring up and was getting hives depending on where you live I know a wonderful pediatric allergist. We are on a strict milk, soy, and gluten free diet so if you need any info on anything please feel free to email me.
R.

There was someone else on here that experienced the same thing with oat cereal. Her baby started to have the worst sinus and cold like symptons (allergy) to grain cereal. She stopped feeding it to him or her (I can't remember) and the symptons went away. They say you shouldn't start oats or grains until at least 6 months when their GI tract starts producing the enzymes that can break down wheats and oats and grains. Most docs prefer you start out with rice cereal if you are going to start solids. I would stick with fruits and rice for now and introduce the other stuff later. 4 months is still really early for many babies.

My daughter had what seems to be the exact same experience. The rash ended up being caused by getting a new tooth which led to an excessive amount of drool. Keeping her neck and torso dry while she was teething/drooling was quite difficult. A friend suggested putting cloth bibs on her which helped. We also put some topical creme on the rash which also helped. We had been using a plastic bib for feeding and stopped that because the plastic seemed to be increasing the irritation. She's almost 7 months now and has been eating well since 4 months with no food allergies so far. I was nervous about starting her on cereal so early, but new evidence suggests that starting some foods early may actually help prevent allergies. The problem is that the scientific data on what does and does not cause allergies is mixed and inconclusive. I have allergies and spoke to my allergist who's also a pediatric allergist about it and he even said the data is mixed. Not serving nuts or peanuts or egg whites or honey right away seems to be standard, but the data on other foods seems mixed. The best you can do is make the choices that are right for you and your baby.

My niece got an allergic reaction/rash from oatmeal cereal when she started it. I would let the rash go away completely and then just introduce only one food at a time to weed out what might be bothering your baby. My pedi always said 1 new food per 4 or five days. Never give new foods all at once becuase if they have a reaction you won't know which is the culprit.

My son also started cereal at 4mos. with no problems. I think it's probably the drool from teething. My son had a raw chin & neck sometimes. But, worse case, he's only 4mos and doesn't need solid foods as his only diet. Removed the cereal and see if there is improvement. Keep in mind how much he is drooling as well. If things get better and the drool is the same, speak to his doctor again. Even if it is an allergy, you probably will not get the same reaction from veggies.

Oh sweetie.

He is way too young to have cereal :(

The risk of allergies if you feed solid foods before six months just skyrockets. Yeah, some babies get lucky, but too many do not.

He doesn't need solid foods at all, and they're clearly dangerous for him right now. Stop giving him ANY solids. Nothing, nada.

At six or seven months, skip the cereals and try some stuff like banana, avacado, or pureed organic meats. Take it slow and easy.

(Edited to add: i know the opening part sounded condescending, and I totally didn't mean it that way. I just meant I felt sorry that this was happening to you. I don't communicate these things so clearly sometimes. I'm sorry :( )

He is too young for cereal... if you are nursing you should hold off on all food until 6 months. If you give food too early he could develop food allergies that could last a long time. I waited until 6 months to start fruit and veggies with my son and I started cereals at 9 or 10 months. He's now 2.5 and he eats everything. I also stopped bringing him to the pediatrician at 1 year and haven't been back since. Lost faith in doctors a long time ago.

First of all they have changed the age from 4 months to 6 months to start feeding solids! So I would stop all solids and wait until 6 months of age.
I have very sensitive skin & so does my 2 year old. I have eczema & for years doctors including several dermatologists could not help me. I was sick & tired of western medicine doctors not being able to help me & basically saying I have to "live with it". So I went to a homeopathic doctor who told me I was sensative to yeast, wheat & dairy. Once I stopped eating yeast & wheat my eczema was gone. When I ate it again I broke out with the rash again. So yes the cereal may very well be causing your sons rash. So keep him off all solids until 6 months of age & then slowly try again one at a time & see if there is a change. If not then take away wheat first & see what happens I bet wheat or yeast is the cause!!!!
Interested in the homeopathic route? check out their website.
www.maxhealing.com Mark Mincolla, Phd in Cohasset, MA

He probably just isn't ready. My 11mo son just barely started being okay with even rice cereal - that's unusually late, but every kid is different. He was fine with fruit and veggies, although I didn't try feeding him them before 6 months. A lot of pediatricians say to wait until 6 months to start feeding solids, so if your son is having trouble I would just wait a couple months before trying grains, and probably even with fruits and veggies it's best to wait until his stomach is a bit more mature.

The rash doesn't necissarily mean an allergy it could be a teething rash. My daughter gets a rash sometimes when she is breaking a new tooth. I would probably wait until the rash is gone and then try the cereal again just to see. Both of my daughters ate rice or oatmeal(because one did not like rice) cereal and veggies at 4 months and their pedi thought it was fine.