Customer Reviews

HAPPYBELLIES Organic Super Cereals, DHA, pre & Probiotics + Choline, Organic Brown Rice Cereal, 7-Ounce Canisters (Pack of 6)

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Parents, before buying this stuff, do quick Google search for The Cornucopia Institute's report entitled "Replacing Mother - Imitating Human Breast Milk in the Laboratory" or follow this link: [...]

This Happy Bellies rice cereal contains Martek Corporation's laboratory-produced oils containing DHA and ARA. As we all know by now, DHA and ARA are considered important nutrients for rapidly developing infants. But laboratory-produced DHASCO and ARASCO (Martek's names for their proprietary oils) are materially different from the fats found in a mother's breast milk. Martek's products are extracted from fermented algae and fungus, with the use of the synthetic solvent hexane, a neurotoxic chemical. They contain only 40 to 50% DHA and ARA, with the balance being sunflower oil, diglycerides, and nonsaponifiable materials.

These components are not found in human breast milk, and the triglycerides carrying DHA and ARA are not identical to
those found in human breast milk, and have never been part of the diet for human infants. Most frighteningly, neurotoxic chemicals -- which are NOT organic in any way -- are used to manufacture these oils. These oils are not organic, are not regulated or approved by the USDA or FDA, and are added in violation of federal organic regulation.

The authors of the report investigated how a toxic chemical is used as processing agents in the manufacturing process, the inadequate testing for safety, and most importantly, how some infants are experiencing serious adverse reactions from consuming formula and foods supplemented with these oils.

"This report presents a disturbing look at the addition of novel ingredients into infant formula," says Marsha Walker, Executive Director of the National Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy. "The FDA has received scores of reports on the adverse effects of these ingredients, but, to date, the public's only access to these is through Cornucopia's Freedom of Information Act request. This report will help alert the health care community and federal agencies to some of the adverse effects of added DHA and ARA in infant formulas."

The full report can be viewed on The Cornucopia Institute's web page. [...]

This was the first solid food I fed my then 4-month old baby and from the first time, he loved it. I initially mixed it with breast milk (1 tsp cereal and 4 tsp of breast milk for the first feeding, then less liquid to make it less messy to feed) but now, I mix it with some hot water or other food (vegetable or fruit purees). Whenever I introduce a new vegetable that I suspect my son might not like right away, I mix 1 tbsp or more of rice cereal and it usually works like a charm. Zucchini puree by itself = spit up. Zucchini puree mixed in with HappyBellies rice cereal = happy baby.
Granted that I haven't tried other brands, except for the Gerber Barley cereal, the line of HappyBellies cereals has been fantastic for us. My son loves it and he's never had any stomach problems since he's on it.
The empty containers can be recycled, or used as toys for your baby. I usually but a few (unbreakable) items inside. My son loves shaking it and playing drums on it.

I also love the convenience of Amazon shopping, especially since this brand can be sometime hard to find in stores.

I love that these products are gluten free. My first child got a terrible rash on her face from her "first cereals" and it was hard to find out what was causing it. The baby cereals that are out there "may contain traces of wheat" while they are supposed to be the best first food. Not true fir those with gluten and wheat sensitivities and/or allergies. Way to go Happy Baby.

I am so happy to feed my baby organic food. I used to mix a probiotic into the food but with this product, it's already in there so it is much more convenient. My baby likes this especially when I mix it with a veggie or fruit puree. As an added benefit, this rice cereal doesn't 'bind' up my baby the way Earth's Best does, so the form of iron in this cereal must be better for him. I used to think it was the rice that was binding him, but as soon as we changed to this brand, he was all better.

I decided to try this cereal for my 5 month old, who really enjoys eating solid food but was often not happy afterwards on another brand of brown rice cereal. Since starting on this cereal, he has no more gas or constipation, and seems to have not any tummy discomfort at all. More amazing, his poop (sorry for TMI, but I figure we're all moms here, and interested in exactly this topic!!) is like newborn breastmilk poop, even with 2 feedings of fruit and cereal a day! I think the probiotics make a huge difference in helping him digest things properly. This cereal is a little bit expensive but totally worth it, and will be part of my son's diet as long as possible.

I used to love this brown rice cereal. My daughter has been eating this rice cereal for 3 months and we are very satisfied with its quality. Recently we bought a few cans of this rice cereals and noticed that its appearance (it used to look like snowflakes and now it's like powder) and spell (now it smells like some stale grains) changed. And I even noticed some brown lumps (about 2-3mm diameter), which look like dirt, in the cereal. When I mixed the rice cereal with water, I found even more smaller brown stuff in it!! My daughter has been having diarrhea since she had this new batch of rice cereal, and since she only ate breast milk and this rice cereal recently, I am suspecting that this rice cereal caused her diarrhea.
I am so disappointed with this product and now is searching for new brand of rice cereal for my daughter.

I tried another brand of organic brown rice and the babies didn't like it much and became constipated. Then I tried this brand of oatmeal and they loved it. Next I tried this brand of rice and found they love it too, and this one agrees with them. I mix it with water and they gobble it up.

This is the first cereal my 6 month old has been given and he really LOVES it. I drove my self crazy doing all kinds of research for a safe, BPA free cereal, then drove myself crazy looking at all the research on DHA, and so on. Finally I decided to go ahead and give this a try. Unfortunately there is no perfect baby cereal on the market at this time, but this product is pretty close. And my baby seems to really enjoy it. I will say my local target is currently selling it for only $3.19 a can, which is a little cheaper than amazons current price.

This was the first time I ordered this brand. All six cans were rancid. I returned them right away and canceled my subscription. You would think baby food products have a better quality control but I guess some companies do not care.

I wasn't sure I'd use 6 cans of these but now after a couple of months, I'm already down to 2! I mix these w/my baby's stage 2 baby foods to thicken the texture up. It's worked really great and my baby has taken to these really well.