What the Baby Ate Wednesday- Grains for Baby?

So... I've been a little ambivalent about starting grains.

You'd think that as someone who writes a blog about teaching kids to be good eaters and who has even written a post about how to feed babies so that they learn to be good eaters, that I would have it all figured out...

Far from it. And my biggest area of confusion has to do with grains.

Baby #1 hated rice cereal and it caused her to be majorly constipated. She had very few grains at the early stages except for all oat (no wheat) "O" cereal which was her introduction to finger foods.

Baby #2 liked EVERYTHING and ate so much food that I fed him baby cereals with his other food to help fill him up so that he didn't eat us out of house and home.

Baby #3 hmm.... I honestly don't remember, but I think I did a little bit of baby cereal because I felt like I should, but then really didn't stick with it.

I wasn't sure what I was going to do with #4. I knew that I didn't want to start with rice cereal for a few reasons. First of all, I wanted his first food to have flavor. Secondly, I was concerned with constipation. Thirdly, I am allergic rice (which is very uncommon, but so is my brother) so, in my family, rice could be an allergy concern.

After starting foods only a few weeks ago, my little guy is starting to consume large quantities of food! This is a bit of a concern for me...

It's simply not in me to make big batches of baby food, freeze them and then thaw them (though I think it's a fabulous idea if you do have it "in you.") Therefore, I rarely have "homemade" baby food on hand.

Buying lots of baby food is very expensive... so- I decided to give grains a try in an effort to fill him up cheaply (don't judge!) I bought Plum Organics Baby Oatmeal.

Then, I remembered another reason why I don't like baby cereal... this stuff looks like fish food, smells like cardboard....

and when you mix it up, it looks like paste.

Now, I will admit... I didn't try to increase it's desirability by adding breast milk. I intended to mix it with fruits and vegetables. But I tried it on its own (mixed with water) as an experiment.

He ate two bites without "comment" and then gagged on the third.

I then added some smashed banana and he ate a few more bites and he stopped opening his mouth.

At this point, I think I may be  done with baby cereal- I'll need to find another way to fill up my baby!

I gave him a little bit of sweet potato which I had baked, scooped, and smashed the night before...

I added a little bit of warm water to both "heat" and thin the mixture. it

Later he "snacked" on some Plum Organics Super Puffs (these do contain rice, but he's only eating a small bit.)

My goal is to get my babies to finger foods as early as possible and these are part of my "training." They're fairly easy to pick up (though I don't think he can do it yet) and they dissolve easily in their mouths. I start by putting one in his mouth and holding it until it starts to dissolve (to peak his interest), then I put some on the try and let him try to get them.

It also kept him busy long enough for me to get some work done!

Lunch was some more sweet potato along with a little bit of avocado.

I was out running errands when my little guy woke up from his nap and was fussy so my husband gave him a carrot and apple "squeeze pack" for dinner.

He ended up really constipated that evening, which I'm attributing (perhaps legitimately perhaps due to my bias) to the cereal. He was crying in pain- poor guy.

What are your experiences with babies and grains? Did you feed your babies "baby" cereal? Did you give your child grains in another form? If so, at what age. If not, how did you fill your baby up? (And what about the "iron," concern?)