Mothers' milk enhances the acceptance of cereal during weaning

Although baby food manufacturers and child care manuals often advise parents to prepare their infant's cereal with water or either mother's milk or formula, depending on the feeding regimen of the infant, little is known about the infant's acceptance of differently flavored cereals. The present study demonstrates that breast-fed infants, who had been fed cereal for approximately 2 wk but had experienced cereal prepared only with water, consumed more of the cereal-mother's milk mixture compared with cereal water mixture and displayed a series of behaviors signaling their preferences for the former. Moreover, the infants' willingness to accept the flavored cereal is correlated with their mothers' reported willingness to try novel foods and flavors.