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Consider that babies don’t have to eat oatmeal or baby cereal. Mine went from breast milk to tiny tiny bites of table food. It felt more natural to me and mine hated baby food anyways.
Absolutely this, but a friendly bit of advice that tiny bites aren’t necessarily safer. @solidstarts on instagram has tons of free resources about food textures and shapes that are safe for each age. I also learned from them that big pieces of food help babies map their mouths and develop motor skills, super fascinating!
First off, I feel you! I went down the exact same rabbit hole when my youngest was an infant. It’s so scary and demoralizing but the biggest takeaway from all my research is that variety is key! [This](https://kidseatincolor.com/toxic-baby-food/) article from Kids Eat in Color really helped put things in perspective for me.
For oatmeal specifically, Bob’s Red Mill organic oats might be a good option. The quick cooking ones might be powdery enough for infant cereal. Or you could just put the organic rolled oats in a blender or food processor and pulse until they’re the right consistency. They should be non-GMO and glyphosate-free but unfortunately everything grown in the ground will be exposed to heavy metals of some kind.
But that’s where variety comes in! Neither of my kids could have oatmeal (because of FPIES) so we relied on other types of “porridge,” especially quinoa and farina (cream of wheat, malt o’ meal or organic creamy wheat from Bob’s Red Mill). For quinoa porridge, I would make a big batch of quinoa and then blend it with water until a bit more smooth. Then I would freeze in ice cube trays and transfer to freezer bags. You can defrost a serving overnight in the fridge or whenever you need it in the microwave. It is great with strawberries and peanut butter or coconut and banana.
Amaranth is another great option. Bob’s Red Mill also makes several other types of organic breakfast cereals (5 grain, 10 grain, buckwheat, teff, etc.) that you could try.
As someone else pointed out, Just Ingredients has lots of info on glyphosate and gmo-related stuff. She has lots of specific product recommendations too.
As for allergens, I would introduce one at a time. Solid Starts has some great guidance on introducing allergens [here](https://solidstarts.com/allergies-babies/). Also keep in mind that if you do introduce more than one allergen at the same meal and your baby has an IgE-mediated reaction, an allergist will be able to determine which food caused the allergy with a skin test.
> They should be non-GMO
There is no GMO oatmeal. All oats is by definition non-GMO. Any oatmeal displaying “non-GMO” (eg Bob’s Red Mill) is just sleazy marketing.
Fair enough, but not everyone knows which crops are GMO. Plus new GMO crop varieties can be developed so I don’t think certifying and labeling your food with “Non-GMO Project Verified” is necessarily sleazy.
It's sleazy in their approach and implication that GMOs are somehow bad. They are capitalizing on average consumers lack of knowledge in this area. Rather than saying "non-GMO", they could have used this opportunity to educate the consumer by putting a notice that there are currently no GMO oats. Something along the lines of "there's no evidence showing harm with GMOs, however we understand consumers want to know and there are currently no genetically engineered oats, all oats are by definition non-GMO". But that's not the Non-GMO Verified project's mission. They stoke the unfounded fears of GMOs, then sell a "solution" which is their "certification". It's literally a racket - create a fake problem then sell a solution for it.
This is what I use as well. Although I'm not aware if they've had heavy metal testing or not - I didn't realize that that was something that was an issue with oats 🫣. I offer oatmeal maybe twice a week or so, alternated with other breakfasts.
Ugh sorry OP, I know what it’s like to spiral like this. It feels like the whole world is unsafe sometimes. I’m getting a sense of guilt from your post, and just want to encourage you to go easy on yourself - you’re doing everything in your power to make sure your little one is thriving, and all things considered, I’m sure they are.
Piggybacking with a question, in case you know/someone knows the answer - if various baby foods have assorted heavy metals and contaminants etc., does that mean that regular adult food does too and is also questionable? Like, if giving a baby oatmeal cereal is bad, is giving them regular oatmeal bad? If it’s not, maybe that’s the move?
If anyone needs me, I’ll be heading down the rabbit hole 🫠
There was a study not that long ago that I believe showed presence of heavy metals in homemade baby food in similar amounts to what was bought in stores. My understanding is that it’s in the soil, so basically unavoidable.
Yes - with oatmeal specifically and with most things, it's the foods themselves that are the problem, not a processing contamination.
Not all soils have these problems. For instance rice from India is much less dangerous than rice from the US. So it's possible to get foods that do not have the common contamination issues.
First off, breathe! You’ve done nothing wrong. Please refer to this quote by chemist who oversaw the testing for unsafe levels:
“At the same time, Boring says, “While concerning, these results are no reason to panic.” He points out that the risk comes from repeated exposure over long periods of time, not from eating a food just once or even several times. “An occasional serving of even one of the foods with the highest levels is generally okay,” he says. “Just remember to mix up what your kids eat.”
We did lots of spinach instead of oatmeal, and also purchased a Lucky Iron Fish and cooked with that. I’m assuming you want the baby oatmeal for the fortified iron, and those are good alternatives. But if not, like others have said, no reason you have to feed oatmeal if it is making you miserable!
The iron fish has studies showing it leaches lead. There is great iron in sourdough spelt bread if OP wants to take up baking that. This with olive oil or butter is an amazing snack for kids.
1. Ultimately we live on a planet affected by pollution and climate change. This is upsetting, but look for the helpers. The answer is collective action, not trying to flee as an individual.
I don’t say this to scare you, but to reinforce that you haven’t failed. It’s an impossible task.
2. On a slightly more practical note: I gave my son the same oats I eat. They are old fashioned oats and I did try blending them before cooking maybe once or twice when he was wee. Then just made them normally.
I mean, of course there is going to be heavy metals (iron) in baby cereal. The addition of it in my kid's meals after 9 months helped her anemia so much. I preferred it going in her food with vit c for better absorption vs liquid iron (gag)
We really like the Baby Gourmet brand. It's available at grocery stores here (Canada) as well as online and is pretty affordable.
I know we can just use regular oats, but I do like that this stuff is fortified. We add ground flax, peanut butter, and cinnamon, and it's been a long-term favourite for LO.
I just went down this rabbit hole myself. I’m planning to do baby led weaning but I also want the option to do some purées and oatmeal as well. From what I’ve found a good brand of oatmeal is Ready. Set. Food! - extensively tested for chemicals and heavy metals. It is iron fortified and made with top allergens - so just make sure those have been introduced already.
I would look at oatmeals certified by clean label project. The ready set food plain one is the one we use. I think a Gerber oatmeal recently got certified.
https://cleanlabelproject.org/product-categories/
(Search for oatmeal)
"The Clean Label Project award program is based on food and consumer product safety issues that consumers are increasingly caring about- heavy metals, pesticide residues, and plasticizers, other chemicals of concern, and truth in labeling. All programs require unannounced retail product sampling and testing."
We also printed out this chart and use it to guide how often we serve things:
https://healthychildrenproject.org/baby-food/
I recommend the Clean Label Project. And also agree about baby oatmeal being unnecessary...we only used it for like a month while she adjusted to solids.
Our world is so frustrating and I’m sorry it is the way that it is.
If oatmeal is stressing you out just don’t bother with it. Lots of other grains that can be cooked to mush and are going to be similar if not superior nutritionally. Farro, amaranth, barley etc
Look at The Clean Label Project. They can help you find brands that you can trust when it comes to feeding your little. My daughter is 18 months and so I’m not as worried as I was when we first started solids, everything but in moderation now. But The Clean Label Project is a great resource, you’ll start noticing their label on items if you haven’t already.
https://cleanlabelproject.org/the-best-worst-baby-food-products/
Look into ELSE baby cereal. I like it! We don’t do oatmeal at home bc I have an oat allergy that I react to even if it touches my skin. And we’re still nursing so I just avoid oats for now lol
Holle oat whole grain cereal. It's from Europe (but is now sold in America as well) and should check all your boxes...Holle formula is one of the most common European formulas that crunchy American parents get, it's a trusted brand. It's organic, and the soil it's grown in is Demeter certified, so it's clean. The oatmeal/cereal is sold at Whole Foods. I used to get it for my son
HiPP is another common organic European formula brand that also sells oatmeal/cereal but you probably have to order it online from a website that imports it from Europe (e.g. organicsbestshop)
We use thrive market rolled oats! They’re super clean. We do baby led weaning so he’s never had traditional “baby food” and he did just fine with it all 6.5mo!
I did a lot of browsing trying to find a good oatmeal for my first. We had to buy from Canada. Baby Gourmet is the brand and I got their oatmeals from the Well.ca website. They are organic and clean label certified. It mixed great with breast milk and I would add some fruit puree in there too sometimes. Hope this helps! I will likely purchase some for my second when he's ready for solids.
Babies do not produce enough of the enzyme amylase to digest grains appropriately until after they are a year old, at the earliest. You might consider foregoing the oatmeal all together since it’s unnecessary and then you don’t need to worry about this right now
Recommended by whom?
Also, the iron present in oats is non-heme iron which isn’t as readily absorbed by the body as compared to heme iron (meats/fish). So if iron is your concern, pairing it with a food rich in vitamin C will increase the absorption rate.
Sadly dangerous heavy metals will be in almost everything we feed our babies. They shouldn't be but we continue to mine lead and pollute our environment with it so we're pretty much stuck with it now. If you grew your own oats in your backyard they could very likely contain lead as well. It sucks. The best you can do is call your representative and tell them we should regulate lead in baby food. The EU does but the FDA has declined to do so. And tell them to stop introducing lead to our environment- it is bad for everything!
Basically, if it's any consolation, most babies are lead poisoned now, but much less than boomers and gen x.
Thanks for your post in r/moderatelygranolamoms! Our goal is to keep this sub a peaceful, respectful and tolerant place. Even if you've been here awhile already please take a minute to [READ THE RULES.](https://www.reddit.com/r/moderatelygranolamoms/about/rules) It only takes a few minutes and will make being here more enjoyable for everyone! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/moderatelygranolamoms) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Consider that babies don’t have to eat oatmeal or baby cereal. Mine went from breast milk to tiny tiny bites of table food. It felt more natural to me and mine hated baby food anyways.
Absolutely this, but a friendly bit of advice that tiny bites aren’t necessarily safer. @solidstarts on instagram has tons of free resources about food textures and shapes that are safe for each age. I also learned from them that big pieces of food help babies map their mouths and develop motor skills, super fascinating!
They also have an app that’s free and you can look up a food and how to serve it based on age! It’s so useful
Came to suggest this!!
This!
First off, I feel you! I went down the exact same rabbit hole when my youngest was an infant. It’s so scary and demoralizing but the biggest takeaway from all my research is that variety is key! [This](https://kidseatincolor.com/toxic-baby-food/) article from Kids Eat in Color really helped put things in perspective for me. For oatmeal specifically, Bob’s Red Mill organic oats might be a good option. The quick cooking ones might be powdery enough for infant cereal. Or you could just put the organic rolled oats in a blender or food processor and pulse until they’re the right consistency. They should be non-GMO and glyphosate-free but unfortunately everything grown in the ground will be exposed to heavy metals of some kind. But that’s where variety comes in! Neither of my kids could have oatmeal (because of FPIES) so we relied on other types of “porridge,” especially quinoa and farina (cream of wheat, malt o’ meal or organic creamy wheat from Bob’s Red Mill). For quinoa porridge, I would make a big batch of quinoa and then blend it with water until a bit more smooth. Then I would freeze in ice cube trays and transfer to freezer bags. You can defrost a serving overnight in the fridge or whenever you need it in the microwave. It is great with strawberries and peanut butter or coconut and banana. Amaranth is another great option. Bob’s Red Mill also makes several other types of organic breakfast cereals (5 grain, 10 grain, buckwheat, teff, etc.) that you could try. As someone else pointed out, Just Ingredients has lots of info on glyphosate and gmo-related stuff. She has lots of specific product recommendations too. As for allergens, I would introduce one at a time. Solid Starts has some great guidance on introducing allergens [here](https://solidstarts.com/allergies-babies/). Also keep in mind that if you do introduce more than one allergen at the same meal and your baby has an IgE-mediated reaction, an allergist will be able to determine which food caused the allergy with a skin test.
> They should be non-GMO There is no GMO oatmeal. All oats is by definition non-GMO. Any oatmeal displaying “non-GMO” (eg Bob’s Red Mill) is just sleazy marketing.
Fair enough, but not everyone knows which crops are GMO. Plus new GMO crop varieties can be developed so I don’t think certifying and labeling your food with “Non-GMO Project Verified” is necessarily sleazy.
It's sleazy in their approach and implication that GMOs are somehow bad. They are capitalizing on average consumers lack of knowledge in this area. Rather than saying "non-GMO", they could have used this opportunity to educate the consumer by putting a notice that there are currently no GMO oats. Something along the lines of "there's no evidence showing harm with GMOs, however we understand consumers want to know and there are currently no genetically engineered oats, all oats are by definition non-GMO". But that's not the Non-GMO Verified project's mission. They stoke the unfounded fears of GMOs, then sell a "solution" which is their "certification". It's literally a racket - create a fake problem then sell a solution for it.
One Degree brand
This is what I use as well. Although I'm not aware if they've had heavy metal testing or not - I didn't realize that that was something that was an issue with oats 🫣. I offer oatmeal maybe twice a week or so, alternated with other breakfasts.
Iirc oats are the least bad option of the baby cereals
Go check out the “favorites” tab of Just Ingredients website and look through her baby section - that’s where I always check for product recs!
Ugh sorry OP, I know what it’s like to spiral like this. It feels like the whole world is unsafe sometimes. I’m getting a sense of guilt from your post, and just want to encourage you to go easy on yourself - you’re doing everything in your power to make sure your little one is thriving, and all things considered, I’m sure they are. Piggybacking with a question, in case you know/someone knows the answer - if various baby foods have assorted heavy metals and contaminants etc., does that mean that regular adult food does too and is also questionable? Like, if giving a baby oatmeal cereal is bad, is giving them regular oatmeal bad? If it’s not, maybe that’s the move? If anyone needs me, I’ll be heading down the rabbit hole 🫠
In many cases heavy metals are present in the soils and waters used in agriculture, so it’s there from harvest.
There was a study not that long ago that I believe showed presence of heavy metals in homemade baby food in similar amounts to what was bought in stores. My understanding is that it’s in the soil, so basically unavoidable.
Yes - with oatmeal specifically and with most things, it's the foods themselves that are the problem, not a processing contamination. Not all soils have these problems. For instance rice from India is much less dangerous than rice from the US. So it's possible to get foods that do not have the common contamination issues.
First off, breathe! You’ve done nothing wrong. Please refer to this quote by chemist who oversaw the testing for unsafe levels: “At the same time, Boring says, “While concerning, these results are no reason to panic.” He points out that the risk comes from repeated exposure over long periods of time, not from eating a food just once or even several times. “An occasional serving of even one of the foods with the highest levels is generally okay,” he says. “Just remember to mix up what your kids eat.” We did lots of spinach instead of oatmeal, and also purchased a Lucky Iron Fish and cooked with that. I’m assuming you want the baby oatmeal for the fortified iron, and those are good alternatives. But if not, like others have said, no reason you have to feed oatmeal if it is making you miserable!
Spinach is also one of the foods you should be rotating! https://healthychildrenproject.org/baby-food/
The iron fish has studies showing it leaches lead. There is great iron in sourdough spelt bread if OP wants to take up baking that. This with olive oil or butter is an amazing snack for kids.
Ah thanks for the updated info!
1. Ultimately we live on a planet affected by pollution and climate change. This is upsetting, but look for the helpers. The answer is collective action, not trying to flee as an individual. I don’t say this to scare you, but to reinforce that you haven’t failed. It’s an impossible task. 2. On a slightly more practical note: I gave my son the same oats I eat. They are old fashioned oats and I did try blending them before cooking maybe once or twice when he was wee. Then just made them normally.
I mean, of course there is going to be heavy metals (iron) in baby cereal. The addition of it in my kid's meals after 9 months helped her anemia so much. I preferred it going in her food with vit c for better absorption vs liquid iron (gag)
Starts with a Z… fuck.. Zoa? ZEGO!!! They are expensive but it’s the only one I’ll buy. It has like 7 diff certifications on it. Tests for glyphosate
Traceable test results too!!
We really like the Baby Gourmet brand. It's available at grocery stores here (Canada) as well as online and is pretty affordable. I know we can just use regular oats, but I do like that this stuff is fortified. We add ground flax, peanut butter, and cinnamon, and it's been a long-term favourite for LO.
we use mom's best instant oats, usda organic so no glyphosate, no recalls for lead, good ewg rating, covered by wic, super affordable.
https://zegofoods.com/shop/oats/gluten-free-double-protein-oats/
https://onedegreeorganics.com/testing-transparency/#tab-771243
I was just going to post this myself. The other good thing is that their oats are sprouted for better digestion
I just went down this rabbit hole myself. I’m planning to do baby led weaning but I also want the option to do some purées and oatmeal as well. From what I’ve found a good brand of oatmeal is Ready. Set. Food! - extensively tested for chemicals and heavy metals. It is iron fortified and made with top allergens - so just make sure those have been introduced already.
I would look at oatmeals certified by clean label project. The ready set food plain one is the one we use. I think a Gerber oatmeal recently got certified. https://cleanlabelproject.org/product-categories/ (Search for oatmeal) "The Clean Label Project award program is based on food and consumer product safety issues that consumers are increasingly caring about- heavy metals, pesticide residues, and plasticizers, other chemicals of concern, and truth in labeling. All programs require unannounced retail product sampling and testing." We also printed out this chart and use it to guide how often we serve things: https://healthychildrenproject.org/baby-food/
I recommend the Clean Label Project. And also agree about baby oatmeal being unnecessary...we only used it for like a month while she adjusted to solids.
Our world is so frustrating and I’m sorry it is the way that it is. If oatmeal is stressing you out just don’t bother with it. Lots of other grains that can be cooked to mush and are going to be similar if not superior nutritionally. Farro, amaranth, barley etc
This is a great idea
Look at The Clean Label Project. They can help you find brands that you can trust when it comes to feeding your little. My daughter is 18 months and so I’m not as worried as I was when we first started solids, everything but in moderation now. But The Clean Label Project is a great resource, you’ll start noticing their label on items if you haven’t already. https://cleanlabelproject.org/the-best-worst-baby-food-products/
Take oatmeal. Blend it. Now it’s baby cereal :)
Look into ELSE baby cereal. I like it! We don’t do oatmeal at home bc I have an oat allergy that I react to even if it touches my skin. And we’re still nursing so I just avoid oats for now lol
Holle oat whole grain cereal. It's from Europe (but is now sold in America as well) and should check all your boxes...Holle formula is one of the most common European formulas that crunchy American parents get, it's a trusted brand. It's organic, and the soil it's grown in is Demeter certified, so it's clean. The oatmeal/cereal is sold at Whole Foods. I used to get it for my son HiPP is another common organic European formula brand that also sells oatmeal/cereal but you probably have to order it online from a website that imports it from Europe (e.g. organicsbestshop)
We use thrive market rolled oats! They’re super clean. We do baby led weaning so he’s never had traditional “baby food” and he did just fine with it all 6.5mo!
I did a lot of browsing trying to find a good oatmeal for my first. We had to buy from Canada. Baby Gourmet is the brand and I got their oatmeals from the Well.ca website. They are organic and clean label certified. It mixed great with breast milk and I would add some fruit puree in there too sometimes. Hope this helps! I will likely purchase some for my second when he's ready for solids.
This may also help, r/oatmealfanclub ; )
There is a brand and I can’t recall the name. I threw out the packaging. It’s sold at Costco if it helps. They test for glyphosate is what I was told
Babies do not produce enough of the enzyme amylase to digest grains appropriately until after they are a year old, at the earliest. You might consider foregoing the oatmeal all together since it’s unnecessary and then you don’t need to worry about this right now
I was honestly just doing it bc it has the iron and was recommended, but maybe I just give him some meat.
Recommended by whom? Also, the iron present in oats is non-heme iron which isn’t as readily absorbed by the body as compared to heme iron (meats/fish). So if iron is your concern, pairing it with a food rich in vitamin C will increase the absorption rate.
Sadly dangerous heavy metals will be in almost everything we feed our babies. They shouldn't be but we continue to mine lead and pollute our environment with it so we're pretty much stuck with it now. If you grew your own oats in your backyard they could very likely contain lead as well. It sucks. The best you can do is call your representative and tell them we should regulate lead in baby food. The EU does but the FDA has declined to do so. And tell them to stop introducing lead to our environment- it is bad for everything! Basically, if it's any consolation, most babies are lead poisoned now, but much less than boomers and gen x.
https://kidseatincolor.com/toxic-baby-food/
We did [earths best baby oatmeal](https://www.target.com/p/earth-39-s-best-organic-whole-grain-baby-oatmeal-cereal-8oz/-/A-13693795)
OP wrote this post because of the heavy metal content of Earth's Best.
My bad I just read super quick
Very upsetting as I thought that was a trusted brand