Q: Is there an advantage to starting with a whole grain cereal?

A: Many parents would say yes. The advantage with starting with a whole grain cereal is that firstly, most are iron-fortified and this is important because a baby's iron stores start to become depleted at the 6-7 month point. In addition, cereals are often easier to introduce because their taste is much blander than fruit or vegetables, which tend to be very flavorful and therefore jolting to babies who have been fed breast milk or formula for the last 6 months. Because cereals can be watered down with breast milk or formula, parents can manipulate the consistency to create a similar texture to the milk the baby is used to.