Nestle Cerelac Mixed Fruits & Wheat (7m+) – 400G

Product Overview

Cerelac Mixed Fruits & Wheat is Nestle’s stage 2 infant cereal, meant for babies from seven months — the point at which most babies have managed a plain first cereal and are ready for more flavour and a slightly less smooth texture.

The base is wheat cereal with mixed fruit. Nestle fortifies it with iron, zinc, calcium and vitamins A and C, and adds BIFIDUS BL, the live cultures the brand uses across the range. The 400g pack is the standard everyday size.

Before You Start Solids

Breast milk is the best food for a baby, and for the first six months it is the only food a baby needs. WHO and Bangladesh’s national infant-feeding guidance both recommend exclusive breastfeeding for six months, then breastfeeding alongside solid food up to two years and beyond.

Complementary food is an addition to milk at around six months, not a replacement for it. Starting solids does not mean stopping breastfeeding.

If your baby is under six months, or was born early, or is not gaining weight as expected, talk to a doctor or a health worker before starting any solid food. They can look at your baby; a packet cannot.

This Is Not a Milk Replacement

An infant cereal is a complementary food. It is fed in addition to breast milk or formula, in small amounts, once or twice a day to begin with. Milk stays the main source of nutrition for the whole of the first year.

Filling a baby up on cereal so they take less milk is a common and serious mistake. If your baby is drinking noticeably less milk after starting solids, cut the solids back and speak to a health worker.

Why Fortified Cereal Is Recommended

From about six months a baby’s own iron stores start to run low, and breast milk alone no longer covers what they need. That is the main reason infant cereals are fortified with iron, usually alongside zinc and a set of vitamins.

Fortification is useful. It is not magic, and it is not a treatment — if you think your child is anaemic, that is a question for a doctor, not for a cereal packet.

Key Features

• 400g pack, Cerelac stage 2
• For babies from 7 months
• Wheat cereal with mixed fruits
• Fortified with iron, zinc, calcium and vitamins A and C
• Contains BIFIDUS BL cultures
• Introduces new flavours after a plain first cereal

How to Prepare It Safely

1. Wash your hands. Wash the bowl and spoon in clean water and let them dry, or sterilise them for a young baby.
2. Boil drinking water and let it cool to about lukewarm before mixing. Water straight off the boil destroys some of the added vitamins and, more importantly, scalds.
3. Measure the powder and the water as the pack instructs. More powder does not make it more nourishing; it makes it too thick for a small baby to swallow comfortably.
4. Stir until smooth, with no dry lumps.
5. Test the temperature on the inside of your wrist before it goes anywhere near your baby. It should feel barely warm, not hot.
6. Feed with a spoon. Feed it fresh — within about two hours of mixing.
7. Throw away whatever is left in the bowl. Saliva from the spoon gets into the food, and reheating it does not make it safe again.

Introducing a New Food

• Start with one or two teaspoons once a day and build up over a week or two.
• Introduce one new food at a time and wait about three days before adding another. If something disagrees with your baby you then know what it was.
• A baby refusing a new food the first few times is normal, not a verdict. It often takes several tries.
• Watch for a rash, swelling around the mouth, vomiting, diarrhoea or wheezing. Stop the food and get medical help if any of these appear, urgently if there is any difficulty breathing.
• Never leave a baby alone while eating, and always feed sitting upright.

An Honest Word on Sugar

Fruit-flavoured and “yogurt” infant cereals usually taste sweeter than plain ones, and some carry added sugar as well as the sugar that comes with the fruit or milk. Babies do not need added sugar, and a strong preference for sweet food is learned early.

Plain rice, wheat or oat varieties are the better everyday choice. Keep the sweeter ones for variety rather than for every meal, and read the ingredient list on the pack — it tells you more than the picture on the front does.

Storage

• Store the pack somewhere cool and dry, out of direct sunlight. Do not refrigerate the dry powder — moisture ruins it.
• Close it tightly after every use, or move it into a clean airtight container.
• Use a dry spoon every time. One damp spoon turns the whole tin lumpy.
• Once opened, most infant cereals are meant to be finished within two to four weeks — check the pack, and do not keep an opened pack to the printed expiry date.
• If the powder smells off, looks discoloured or has hardened, throw it away.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does stage 2 mean?

Stage 1 is a plain first cereal for around six months. Stage 2 comes after it — more flavour, a slightly thicker texture, and aimed at seven months and up. Move on when your baby is comfortably managing stage 1, not on a date.

My baby is six months. Should I start here?

A plain rice or wheat cereal is the usual first step. Wheat is one of the common allergens, so introduce it on its own for a few days before mixing it with anything new.

What should I mix it with?

Cooled boiled water, or expressed breast milk or made-up formula if the pack allows it. Mix it to the consistency the pack describes and never make it thicker to “fill the baby up”.

What if my baby reacts to it?

Stop feeding it and speak to a doctor. Get help urgently if there is swelling around the mouth, a spreading rash, repeated vomiting or any difficulty breathing. Introducing one new food at a time makes it much easier to tell what caused a reaction.

How should I store it after opening?

Tightly closed, somewhere cool and dry, and used within the two to four weeks the pack states. Always use a dry spoon. Do not put the dry powder in the fridge.