Oatmeal for Babies: An Ultimate Guide + Recipes
Oatmeal is one of the most widely eaten foods by babies and toddlers around the world. For most babies, it’s one of their first foods.
It’s a food used as breakfast and the base for baby-led weaning and toddler meals like muffins, pancakes, etc.
Before feeding your baby oatmeal, you may have some questions that need answers.
In this article, I’ve put together a comprehensive guide to feeding oatmeal to babies as their first food.
This guide answers questions on the benefits of oatmeal, how to properly serve it, recipes, and some common frequently asked questions.
Keep reading to learn more!
Benefits of Oatmeal For Babies?
Oatmeal has many health benefits for babies and toddlers. They are loaded with fiber, protein, calcium, B Vitamins, magnesium, and antioxidants.
The antioxidants In oatmeal help clean out your baby’s body and remove toxins.
The good fiber that oatmeal contains helps regulate your baby’s blood sugar levels by helping your baby feel full longer while the protein and carbohydrates help give your baby energy (source)
Can babies eat regular oatmeal?
Babies can eat regular oatmeal made from any common oat type, including old-fashioned rolled oats, quick-cooking oats, instant oats, and steel-cut oats.
Just make sure that you don’t include any added sugar. You also want to avoid the flavored store-bought instant oatmeals because those have tons of sugar added.
One thing to note is that steel-cut oats will take much longer to cook than quick-cooking or instant oatmeal. The time it takes to prepare oatmeal depends on which type you use.
Are quick oats good for babies?
Quick oats, also called instant oatmeal are good for babies just like other types of oatmeal.
According to the USDA, quick oats are whole grains and contain the same nutrient profile as quick-cooking oats or other forms of oats.
This means they are perfectly good for your baby, as long as there is no added sugar in the instant oatmeal you buy (source).
Oatmeal Recipes For Babies
3-Ingredients Banana Oat Pancake For Baby (No Flour)
Simple Baby Oat Muffins with apples (No Banana)
Easiest Peanut Butter Oat Pancakes For Baby + No Egg Option
Delicious Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal Bar For Baby
Simple Avocado Oatmeal For Baby-led Weaning (3-ingredients)
Apple Blueberry Oat Pancake For Baby (no flour)
Easy BLW Oatmeal With Blueberries & Apples
Simple Oatmeal Fingers For Baby-led Weaning – 2 Ways
How To Serve Oats For A Baby
Knowing how to properly serve oatmeal to your baby will help ensure a safe and enjoyable feeding experience.
Below is how to serve oats to your baby.
How To Prepare Oatmeal For 6-7-Month-Olds
Babies between 6-7 months old are still getting used to eating solids. You can serve them oatmeal in the form of cooked oatmeal.
You can choose to add fruits or vegetables to make it more nutritious. Just make sure they are properly cooked until soft enough to squish between your fingers.
Another good oatmeal recipe to try for a baby around 6-7 months old is oat fingers. They are easy to hold so that babies can feed themselves.
How To Prepare Oatmeal For Babies 8 to 12 Months Old
As your baby gets older you can experiment with other methods of feeding them oatmeal.
Around 8-10 months old, most babies will be able to pick up smaller chunks of food to feed themselves, so consider serving oats in the form of oat muffins, oat balls, etc.
As babies get closer to 1 year old, they’ll be able to self-feed with a spoon so make sure to give them lots of practice.
Feeding Oats To 12 Month Olds And Above
Once a baby reaches 1 year old, You can feed them oatmeal as you would prepare it for yourself.
FAQs About Oats for Babies
Is Quaker oatmeal safe for babies?
Quaker Oats are safe for babies because they’re whole grains. Babies can eat any type of oats that are cooked properly.
For babies doing baby-led weaning, you can cook Quaker Oats until it’s soft, and let them scoop it with their hands to feed themselves.
What can I add to baby oatmeal?
You can add fruits and vegetables to baby oatmeal to make it more nutritious. Make sure the fruits and vegetables are cooked soft enough for a baby to chew easily.
What kind of oatmeal is best for babies?
Babies can eat all the common types of oatmeal because they’re all whole grains. Just make sure you don’t add sugar when preparing it for babies less than 12 months of age.
If you buy store-bought instant oatmeal, make sure there’s no added sugar. Plain oatmeal is better.
Rolled oats, steel-cut oats, quick-cooking oats, and instant oatmeal all have the same nutritional value according to the USDA.
Is it okay to feed a baby oatmeal every day?
It’s okay to feed your baby oatmeal every day as long as it’s part of a balanced diet.
Oatmeal should be accompanied by something else that provides them with the right amount of vitamins and minerals they need to grow.
You should also vary the oatmeal recipe so that they get exposed to different textures and tastes. Feeding babies the same thing every time can get boring.
Is baby oatmeal the same as regular oatmeal?
Baby oatmeal is exactly the same as regular oatmeal. Baby oatmeal is just rolled oats that have been ground into a fine powder.
You can make your own baby oatmeal by grinding rolled oats into fine oat flour (oat powder).
How do I prepare Quaker Oats for my baby?
Quaker Oats can be prepared in multiple different ways for your baby. You can cook it into oatmeal with some fruits added, you can also use Quaker Oats to make oat muffins.
Other options for using Quaker Oats include oatmeal cookies, oat pancakes, etc.
Below are some oats recipes for your baby
How do I give my baby oatmeal for the first time?
To give your baby oatmeal for the first time, make sure they’re developmentally ready for solids, decide whether you want to use the baby-led weaning method or purée, and choose an oatmeal recipe that you’re comfortable cooking.
Signs your baby is developmentally ready for solids
This means they can support their own head uprise, sit up unsupported, bring things to their mouths, and show significant interest in food.
Baby-led weaning method or purée
Baby-led weaning simply means teaching your baby to feed themselves independently. This is achieved by providing them with a safe weaning environment (I.e the proper high chair, utensils, and plates).
When doing baby-led weaning, you need to cook food soft enough for your baby to chew, and cut them appropriately for their age.
When feeding Purée
The focus of purée is mashing food for your baby so that it’s easily swallowed. Note that experts recommend baby-led weaning because it reduces picky eating as your baby grows.
Do you need to blend oats for a baby?
You don’t need to blend oats for babies. Babies have the ability to eat cooked oats in their natural form.
It’s more common for those who give purée to their babies to blend the oats. Those who do baby-led weaning believe that food should be given to kids in as natural a form as possible.
Can you add water to baby oatmeal instead of milk?
You can add water to baby oatmeal instead of milk but it is not recommended. Milk contains protein, calcium, and other nutrients that babies need to grow, so when possible, you should use milk instead of water.
Other things you can use to make oatmeal for your baby include breastmilk and other plant-based milk alternatives.
What fruits taste best in oatmeal?
Fruits that taste best in oatmeal are those that are naturally sweet. Sweet fruits you can add you your oatmeal include blueberries, bananas, and apples.
What can you put in oatmeal besides fruits?
You can add vegetables to your oatmeal instead of fruits. Sweet vegetables like carrots, beetroot, sweet potatoes, peas, etc are all vegetables that will go well with oatmeal.
How do you sweeten oatmeal without sugar?
The most common way of sweetening oatmeal without sugar is by using fruits and vegetables that taste sweet. You can puree these vegetables before adding them to the oatmeal, or you can chop them up.
Some people also use natural sweeteners like stevia, monk fruit, agave, and maple syrup. All these sugar alternatives will work for oatmeal.
Can you mix purées with oatmeal?
You can mix puree with oatmeal to increase the nutritional value. Pureed fruits and vegetables can be added to oatmeal to help enhance the flavor and increase nutrition.
Do you put fruits before or after oatmeal?
Typically, you make the oatmeal before adding fruits into it but it really doesn’t matter what order you add the fruits to the oatmeal.
How to make oatmeal taste good without fruits
You can make oatmeal taste good without fruits by adding vegetables that are naturally sweet. Vegetables like sweet potatoes, beetroot, carrots, etc will all help you sweeten your oatmeal without fruits.
You can also use natural sweeteners like stevia, monk fruit, and agave.
Finals Thoughts About Oatmeal For Babies
Oatmeal is a versatile food that can be served on its own or added to other foods to make delicious recipes.
I hope this article has given you all you need to know about feeding oatmeal to your baby.
