Baby Allergic To Rice Cereal?

by Kim Nice
(Illinois)

We decided to use Thanksgiving to start our 4 1/2 month old on cereal.. She loved it (or the game of it) and then became fussy (nap time), so I took her upstairs to change her and breast feed her and put her down (our routine).

When I unzipped her sleeper, waiting for me was a nice rash all over her torso... Next day the rash was still there and the Doctor said no cereal till 6 mos... and maybe never!!!

I am a little frustrated because Barrett is a healthy eater and solids would help me not feel like a milk cow.. The Doctor said we could let the hives go away and try one more time (I also ate pumpkin night before this) to make sure rice is the culprit... I have been scanning the web for rice cereal reactions and nothing!

I guess more to be told after 2nd try....

Read about the alternatives to rice cereal as a first food for baby

Comments for
Baby Allergic To Rice Cereal?

Click here to add your own comments

Dec 20, 2011

VERY allergic to Rice Flour NEW
by: Anonymous

I wish I had seen an article like this 8 years ago when my daughter was a baby. I started her on rice cereal at about 5 months. She was fine the first few times, then one day stated vomiting non-stop after eating. I took her to the ER and they said it was a virus. The next time I gave her the rice cereal, the same thing happened. I looked all over the internet and couldn't find anything about allergies to rice flour - everything said that it was very safe. A few times, my husband accidentally gave her baby food with rice flour in it and she threw up almost instantly. 8 years later, she can eat rice and rice flour, but is allergic to peanuts and all tree nuts.

Dec 01, 2011

rice cereal caused severe eczema flare up! NEW
by: Anonymous

My 4mth old son, who is solely BF, was introduced to Rice Cereal(Gerber Brand) last week. Ped.recommended I mix it in a bottle with the breastmilk, to thicken the milk to hopefully help with his Acid reflux. WELL, it helped the acid, but caused my babies eczema to flare up and become red and inflamed! It was HORRIBLE!!! While being examined by his GI for his acid, the GI was so concerned about his skin that he made hime an emergency derm/allergist appt! Come to find out the rice has Soybean in the ingredient! I stopped giving it to him about 4 days ago and the red inflammation is gone! What are these food industries doing to our kids!!! :(

Nov 17, 2011

You could make your own baby food! NEW
by: Anonymous

You could always just start making her baby food, you don't have to start out with Rice Cereal. I had to do that with my daughter b/c she broke out in hives, the pediatrician said it was totally fine to give her pureed carrots/peas/sweet potatoes. Your the mom, you know best!

Nov 15, 2011

Upset tummy NEW
by: Christine (Editor)

It really does sound as if it is not agreeing with her - I would recommend discussing this with your doctor for further investigation and to rule out any other cause.

Nov 15, 2011

diarrhea after eating rice cereal NEW
by: Anonymous

My baby just turned 6months and I have been giving her rice cereal for only 3 days. She only get 4tsp at night. The next day she will have bad diarrhea. Is she allergic or her stomach will get used to it after a while?

Oct 13, 2011

Same problem.
by: Anonymous

My son had the same problem as a baby. Anything with Rice flour in it made him throw up. I went with Oatmeal and all was well. He did outgrow it for a while but it started again when he was 3. He is not 4 and can not even have a bite of somthign with rice flour it he gets a belly ache. I read everything and make sure I pack all his snacks to make sure he does not have anything he should not. Good luck it does get easier and when they can tell people it is the best.

Sep 09, 2011

My poor grand-daughter who's allergic to both kinds of flour
by: Anonymous

my grand-daughter is only 10 mths. old and when she was 6 mths. my daughter and
I decided to start her on rice cereal. Guess what - as soon as 2 hrs. were up she would vomit until she had nothing left and then for 3 days she would have very bad diarrhea. Then she would be alright again. Told her doctor and he said to wait a few more months, so we did. This time her doctor suggested we try oatmeal cereal and see if she has the same reaction. You guessed it - she had the same symptoms, only this time we watched her get sicker.

Aug 23, 2011

The truth about when and why to introduce solids (NOTE FROM EDITOR - this a submission from a visitor and does not constitute medical advice)
by: Anonymous

i was told that somewhere between 4 months and 6 months your babies digestive sytem with fully develop a coating that matures their system strong enough to handle other foods rather than just breast milk or formula. because it happens somewhere between 4 months and 6 months it is best to wait til the baby is 6 months just to be safe before introducing them to other foods other than their bottles. introducing too early before their digestive track is fully ready can cause food allergies early on and possibly perminantely. Because every baby is different some babies digestive systems are ready at 4 months or 5 months and some not til 6 months, but by 6 months all babies are fully developed ebough internaly.this is why some kids do ok and others dont. my suggestion just wait! all the baby needs is milk until 6 months and then start 1 veggie the same veggie for 10 days if not allergies introduce another veggie foer 10 days and repeat... that way if ther is a reaction u know which food it is coming from.(by 7 months old if you started this at 6 months)your baby wil be eating all the food groups :) dont rush!!

Aug 18, 2011

ME TOO!
by: Jessika

I just fed my 4 month old baby rice cereal today and she seemed to enjoy it so much! She was herself for most of the day, happy as a clam. Then when I went to bathe her before bed her torso and underneath her chin and her neck were COVERED IN HIVES! I'm mortified!! I feel like this is all my fault and I did something horribly wrong...they do tell most people to wait until 6 months before trying any solids! Some babies do good right away and some don't I guess....I'm going to wait until she is 6 months old before I try the rice cereal again....hopefully it will be okay :(

Aug 11, 2011

Thanks Guys
by: Anonymous

I took your advice and gave her some mashed up banana's today and guess what no hives:) I guess it will be fruit/veg. purees until I see that pediatrician in October! Thanks for all your advice!

Aug 10, 2011

What do I feed
by: Staying away from rice/flour

I'd just go to purée fruits and not worry with the cereal. That's what I did and she did fine with it. Try one at a time for a few days and then add another. For example apples for 3 days and if she does fine then maybe bananas next and so on.. U can thin them out with bmilk or formula if needed.

Aug 10, 2011

What else do I feed her
by: Staying away from rice - flour

My little one just had breast milk and Formula until we started baby foods. According to my ped he said that was fine. We then started her with fruits and then veggies. She ate those with no problems. Steer clear of casserole baby foods as they usually have some type of filler to make them thicker (rice flour, wheat flour) also the ones with meat had these same ingredients. We just read labels and stay away from grains. Also most baby cookies or treats had these ingredients as well. I found that my little one could have corn so we stocked up on the little crunchies Snacks. I know ur little one may not be to that level but just as an FYI. I would try apple sauce first since it is thinner. Hope this helps.

Aug 10, 2011

Christine
by: Anonymous

This is how I feel too, that October is way to long. I tried calling around but a lot of other pediatricians are booked till NOVEMBER AND they said there was no way they would see me without a family Drs. Referral! Tonight I tried Oatmeal b/c I read online that that can be used as an alternative and got much of the same reaction but to a less degree partially b/c I only fed her a few spoon fulls(maybe 5 or 6)and I could see the red starting so I just stopped and she just got a few hives. Should I just be sticking with puree fruits and veggies?

Aug 10, 2011

To the writer of the message on Aug 10
by: Christine (editor)

The link immediately above these comments takes you to a page suggesting some alternative first foods. BUT... is there not another pediatrician you can see before October? It is completely unreasonable that you should have to wait until then to discuss your little one's situation.

Aug 10, 2011

HELP--what else do I feed her.
by: Anonymous

This is my first baby, she is 6 months on the 13th. Yesterday I fed her rice cereal for her very fist time(just the Nestle brand)and shes only been breast fed. I only gave her 2.5tbsp. and she started getting red swelling around her face where ever the cereal had touched, and not 15 min. later she had hives all over her face and chest. I rushed her to the clinic and by the time we actually saw the Dr. close to 2 hours later, she was completely clear. The Dr. told me to exclusively breast fed until I see a pediatrician....But today I received my appt. time and it isn't till Oct 14 this year. I was hoping to make my own baby food, but what is an alternative to rice cereal so their stomach first adjusts to food. I'm scared to try anything now b/c as I've read on the forum, they can even be allergic to other grains! Any suggestions?

Jun 29, 2011

allergic to rice?
by: Anonymous

I'm soo glad and so sorry to hear that so many mom's are going through the same thing that I have been going through lately. My son is 4 months old and I also have a teenage daughter. My son is a very big eater and is always hungry, I took him to the dr's a few weeks ago and told him about my son being so hungry and he said that it was ok to start him on rice cereal. Things seemed to be going fine and my son was very happy. Then I started noticing what looked like mosquito bites all over his face, ears, head, and shoulders. So I went out and bought mosquito netting to hang around his crib, and re washed all his bedding. The bites seemed to clear up but I also hadn't given him any cereal for a few days. I then took my son to the dr for his 4 month needles a few days ago and the dr said that I could start my son on baby food. So I started mixing his rice cereal with a little bit of fruit for breakfast and WHAM his poor little face is covered in what looks like mosquito bites again. I'm sure it's the rice cereal.. I don't know what's causing this in our babies I'm wondering if it isn't the rice itself but the chemicals and pesticides they put in it?

Jun 02, 2011

Allergy
by: Staying away from rice - flour

We actually saw an allergist to find out it is a condition called FPIES. Try to google this. I hope it helps. They do seem to outgrow it usually.

Jun 02, 2011

10 years later
by: Anonymous

i was looking this up because my grandson reacts the same way to rice cereal and my daughter who is 10 years old had the same problem but more severe she would have to go to the hospital because she would vomit so much she would dehydrate later to find out that her intestines would spasm causing blockage due to the reaction she did finally grow out of it i'm still wondering "WHY" but no answer yet. nice to know that she isn't the only one 10 years later

Apr 10, 2011

Update
by: Staying away from rice cereal

Well we accidentally tried mangos and had the same reaction as earlier. After looking at the ingred we noticed it had rice flour. My guess is that it was used as a thickening agent. So we r def going to stay away from rice flour and wheat flour. We haven't experimented with any foods due to being scared. I really want her to be able to have snacks such as mum mums or puffs. Has anyone with these issues tried these that are made of corn?

Apr 10, 2011

Thank you!
by: Anonymous

I want others to know that my baby girl did exactly the same thing any time she has rice/flour products. It started at 6 months when we first started feeding her rice cereal, she was strictly breastfed, and and sure enough two hours later she projectile vomited ALL of it out for every fifteen minutes. Our doctor advised us to wait a few months and try again . We did try 2 months later and same issue. Two hours on the dot. So we avoided it until now (10 months) and by accident gave her the sweet potato puffs- which we didn't think would upset er allergy and just like the other times, she reacted with violen throwing up until it was out of her system. Main ingredient was rice flour. But I do want to add she never had any other symptoms, just the vomiting. Hopes this helps others!

Mar 25, 2011

Rice cereal=vomit!
by: Anonymous

I waited until 6 mos. to feed my baby rice cereal. The first several times there were no problems. A week ago I fed her, and a couple hours later she threw up a ton. I didn't know her little tummy could hold that much. Every fifteen minutes or so, she would throw up more, until there was nothing left. Then she dry heaved a lot. After a good nights rest though, she was just fine. I didn't know what the issue was.
Well, I fed her rice cereal again today, for the first time since the incident, and, you guessed it. Vomitting and dry heaving. I always thought rice cereal was supposed to be safe. I'm glad I found this though, so I can see that others have dealt with the same issue, and so I know that it isn't food poisoning or something, but an actual allergy.

Mar 15, 2011

Allergy to cereal
by: Staying away from flour - rice

My daughter was breastfed only until 4 mths when we tried gerber rice cereal mixed in her bottle. 2 hrs afterwards she started vomiting projectile style until there was nothing left except bile then dry heaving, very clammy, lethargic, eyes rolling back in her little head, and diarrhea. We called into the after hours clinic and were informed to give pedialite through the night. After sleeping it off 3-5 hrs she was back to normal. We thought maybe we overfed her and maybe she just wasnt ready for it and she seemed ok so we went on without the cereal. At 5 mths we decided to try again and got the same reaction and decided no more rice cereal. At 6 mths we decided to try oatmeal cereal mixed in her fruit. Given the past I made sure to measure how much I was giving her and it was 1 tablespoon. I put her down for a nap and again 2 hrs in she woke with the same symptoms. After a trip to dr again they advised no grains. All has been well. She eats all baby fruits and veggies with no problems until today. We tried mangos and you guessed it. I looked at the ingred list and it showed rice flour. At this point we are staying away from grains and all four products. Especially rice flour. I posted this as I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem. If anyone has had the same issues and has found out what the problem is I would love to hear you out.

Oct 15, 2010

allergy to rice
by: kk

my baby's allergic to rice cereal, also! we just got back from an allergy-scratch test at the pediatric allergist. the only thing he reacted to was rice! weird - one in a million, i guess. the dr said to start barley or wheat baby cereal instead!

Sep 20, 2010

Our advice...
by: Christine (Editor)

Kassi, I'm sorry to hear that your little one has reacted like that. Whilst I understand your reservations about seeing a different doctor, I still think that you should go ahead and get your daughter checked out. It's important to establish whether or not the vomiting actually IS caused by food or something else... and only a doctor confirm if she is actually allergic to rice and advise you how to proceed from this point with introducing other foods. Please let us know how you get on.

Sep 19, 2010

allergy to rice cereal
by: Kassi

My daughter is breastfed and we have recently started cereal, she is 5 months. She has had it 7 times now and the past 2 times she has violently vomited. This past thursday and then I tried again today and within 2 hours the same things happened. She is my 3rd child and nothing like this has ever happened. Its horrible and I am not sure what to do, our doctor is on maternity leave and I dont want to just see some other doctor. Do you think she will always have this problem and should I try other foods?

Sep 18, 2010

Rice cereal and rice flour allergies
by: maria

My daughter gave us a very hard time at the beginning. She got sick at 3 weeks old. She had fever and we took her to the hospital. They did every kind of test to see why she had fever at this early age and all her tests came back normal. She had diarrhea too, so we had to stay in the hospital for a week till they stopped her diarrhea. So they tried every thing and it didn't work so they said they were going to try rice cereal in her formula to make it thicker so she can stop having diarrhea and it did settle down a lil bit.

So we got to go home. We gave her rice cereal in every bottle she gets and a week later she got really sick she had diarrhea and threw up all the time and she was pale, so we went back to the hospital. They said it was a stomach virus so we stayed there another 10 days till she felt better and they said stop the rice cereal, so we did, then we went home and a week later she got really sick again so we went back to the childrens hospital and they kept trying diffrent kinds of formulas till they found this very special formula. Its called Pregestimil and it did work for her, she did very good with it. She stopped having soft stools and she never threw up on it and they said now u can go home on that formula and she will do good on it we went home and she was doing verry good on it. We were so glad we found something cuz we were really tired of it and very worried...

So at 4 months old her doctor said u should start feeding her rice cereal. I gave her a little bit and then put her to sleep. An hour later I went to check on her and I found out she threw up all over and I was thinking like what caused her to throw up? I was really worried that she's sick again so I waited a little bit and she's started getting pale and having diarrhea. So I called her gi doctor and she said stop the rice cereal for now and give her pedialyte for tonight till she stops the diarrhea. So I did and by the morning she was fine so I knew that she had allergies to rice cereal. So when she was 6 months I gave her regular rice that I cooked at home and had the same reaction so I knew she can't have any kind of rice and once I fed her baby food that had rice flour in it and she had the same reaction. So I never feed her anything that has rice or rice flour in it and now she's one and I'm not really sure if she's going to take the regular milk not the special formula. I'm scared to try it. I'm going to see what the doctor says about it. I hope she can take it or otherwise she'll have to stay on fomula for a little longer...

Aug 30, 2010

Boy Allergic to Rice and anything with Rice Flour
by: Anonymous

He throws up about 30 min. to an 1 hr. after eating rice cereal or anything with rice flour in it. Tried @ 3 mo., 4 mo, and 7 mo. Same reaction. The gerber cereal melts contained rice flour and I didn't even think to check the label, and he got sick. I felt horrible. NO MORE RICE ANYTHING FOR HIM.

Aug 12, 2010

rice ceral and vomit
by: Lori Cooke

I first gave my baby rice cereal around 4 mos to get him more full to hopefully sleep thru the night. The first 5-10 times he was fine with it. Then I stopped giving it to him because he was starting to sleep thru the night and I wanted him just on breast milk. Well now that he is 6 mos, I introduced the rice cereal again. He has had it 3 times and has vomited everytime. The vomiting isn't immediate, it is usually about 4-5 hours afterwards and it just comes puring out everywhere. I night he did it and started choking on it and it scared me to death.

Jul 15, 2010

My baby has the Rice Flour allergy
by: Jenncat

Oh my gosh, Ke ke, my 10 month old daughter has the same reaction with anything with riceflour in it. We have had allergy testing done and it said she wasn't allergic to rice. But I know something in the rice flour itself is making her very sick. She vomits massively, gets really pale and lethargic...it is quite scary. This started when she was around 5 months, and we have had about 5 incidences since. (It took us a couple of tries to figure out it was rice flour, then a couple more times to realize that there was a lot of rice flour in A LOT of baby foods). I am currently searching the web and talking to anybody I can to figure just what is in the rice flour that would cause this reaction. She also has other allergies.(Has been tested twice).... Wheat (low and getting better), milk (low and getting better), peanuts (not getting better), egg (getting worse), and the mystery rice flour ingredient. It makes it very hard to find things to feed her. Almost every allergy free product has rice flour in it. Anybody else who is going through this I would LOVE to talk to you.

Jun 03, 2010

allergic to rice cereal
by: ke ke

The first time i gave my daughter rice cereal she was 4 months and she threw up all over the place. She vomit until nothing else was in her little stomach.This wasn't like a regular spit up you get from babies after they burp. This vomiting scared me.She was making this kind of noise I can't explain. She would cry her face would look pail. All those symptoms gave me a reason to take her to the hospital.They told me she had a stomach virus. But I knew she didn't get sick until I gave her that cereal.When she was 6 months old gave it to her again same thing happen. Took her to her pediatrician they said try another kind, did that same thing happened again.Now shes 8 months old I stop the cereal all together and just give her jar foods.One time I gave her the mango smoothie from gerber stage 2 food. She had the same throwing up spell she had with the rice cereal.I looked at the ingredients and it had rice flour in it.Most of the food have rice flour in it so I mainly stick with the fruits and vegetables.

Jan 22, 2010

Rice cereal reactions
by: Anonymous

Just to give some advice. I introduced the cereal to my 4 1/2 month old daughter. I found one that has no milk powder in it. Just plain fortified rice cereal that allows you to choose what you use. Water, breast milk or formula. The problem with cereals is that at 4 months, baby is still intolerant to cows milk and the powder used is derived from cows milk.
Hope it helps!

Jan 06, 2010

Rice cereal allergy
by: Anonymous

tried y 6 month old daughter on rice cereal as a first solid food (she is breast feed only). same rash an her face and rear end. excessive gas and diarrhea. stopped the rice cereal and will stick to trying fruits and veggies. no need to bother with cereals/grains as they act like a filler. she will be better source of iron from my breastmilk.

Nov 18, 2009

No rush but not happy
by: Anonymous

We tryed to start our baby on Rice Ceral at 4 months. We gave it to her for about 4 days and 2 hours after she would just get so upset we could not settle down. So we stopped and everything went back to normal, I thought maybe she just wasn't ready yet. So now she is 6 months and I tryed it again, yesterday and She was upset again. But i just thought it was because she wasn't sleeping. But We gave it to her today and same thing. She isn't breaking out in a rash but she is VERY upset 2 hours after eatting it. So i think we are just going to Jump right into veggies and fruits.. I hope it works...

Mar 25, 2009

Rice Cereal Reaction and Avocado Reaction
by: Anonymous

I wanted to provide an update on my posting in January. I did wait until 5 months before trying any other solids again. I started with baby Oatmeal this time and only once a day for about a week and my son didn't have any reaction this time. I introduced a few other fruits and vegetables first and then tried rice cereal again around six months and did not get a reaction again. I did want to add that I tried Avocado the other day now that my son is almost seven months old and it didn't go well at all. He actually threw it all back up within the first minute of eating it. I will be waiting on Avocado again for quite a bit as it definitely didn't agree with him for some reason. Hope this helps.

Mar 25, 2009

ME TOO
by: Clara

i am a first time mom and just introduced rice cereal two days ago (she just turned 4 months old)and noticed the same kind of rash!!! I will definetly be waiting for it to go away and trying the cereal again to see if this is the reason for her rash...thanks for writing about this though i thought i was alone...lol. If it is the reason for the rash i dont mind waiting another month trying again, and if it happens again, wait another month then see....and of course see what her dr says.

Jan 14, 2009

Introducing Rice Cereal
by: Leisha

I read you comments and have had a similar reaction with my 4 month old son. We introduced rice cereal and he too developed a rash on his torso, but it was on the second day we fed it to him that he developed it I believe. I stopped feeding him the cereal after I realized what was likely causing this. I too thought maybe it was heat rash at first from being too bundled at night. It seems to be going away now very slowly after not having it for four days. My doctor said to wait until it goes away and try to rechallenge with the cereal, but I may wait another month or so before trying anything. He's still small enough that we can certainly wait to introduce any more solids.

Dec 18, 2008

Rice cereal allergy
by: Shirley

My baby will be 6 months on the 28 of December. He is indeed allergic to rice cereal. The first thing I gave him was rice cereal and did not think of any allergic reactions. That evening, his cheeks were covered in a horrible rash. It was raised and painful looking. I blamed it on the fleece blanket he was holding, so I kept giving him thee cereal and the rash got worse and took forever to go away. I still did not think he was allergic. I introduced peaches and indeed he is allergic to those, same reaction as the rice cereal. Still not knowing about the rice, after his face cleared from the peaches, I gave him the cereal and he had the same reaction. Like I said he is almost 6 months, so the other day I bought those graduate puffs that dissolve in their mouths and the first ingredient is rice flour, so I just gave it a try and what do you know, he is allergic to those as well. He got the rash and his eyes got red and swollen and very watery. So for now he has bananas and sweet potatoes, but is showing interest in our food, so I know he wants to try other baby foods, but seems to be allergic to everything.

Dec 10, 2008

Reacting to Rice Cerael
by: Kelly

Hi, I am a first time mother and I first fed my son Domanic at about 4 months of age. I started with the rice cerael that comes as free samples in the mail from Nestle. Domanic had the same reaction as your little one. It was painful for him. The rash went aways after a couple of days. I waited a couple of weeks and tried again. I reread the instructions on the package for preparing the cerael. It said to add water, I added the cerael to Domanics bottle at bedtime first. I now mix it with water and it seems to be fine with him now. He has had problems in the past with Enfamil, a type of formula, it was too rich for him. He was allergic to it. I am very careful now to make sure I mix everything by the instructions and to not over add anything to make it too strong and he seems to be fine. Your baby might be having the same reactions Domanic has. Maybe your little one is sensitive. With you breastfeeding you are giving your baby the best choice so theres no telling if the cerael might be too strong like it was for Domanic at first. I would just try again and see if there is any reaction. When I tried again I started with only feeding a couple of spoons once a day and then so on if no rash occurred.
Good luck!
Kelly

Nov 29, 2008

Sorry to hear this
by: Christine (editor)

Kim, I'm so sorry that you got off to such a bad start with introducing solids to your little one! Thank you so much for sharing your experience - although reactions to infant rice cereal are unusual, this does show that they CAN happen (unless, of course, it transpires that your baby was reacting to the pumpkin you had eaten rather than the cereal itself).

Please do let us know what happens if you do decide to try rice cereal a second time.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How?
Simply click here to return to Best First Food For Baby

Return to top

Baby Allergic To Rice Cereal?

Comments for Baby Allergic To Rice Cereal?

Comments for
Baby Allergic To Rice Cereal?