As requested, here is some information and recipes on homemade baby cereals.  Also, check out this previous post on making your own baby foods.

A few things to note about making your own baby cereal:

• You will not be able to “fortify” homemade cereals like the commercial brands.  However, you can add things to give homemade cereal a boost such as: iron from breastmilk, wheat germ or brewer’s yeast; Vitamin C from fruits and vegetables (if already introduced).
• The easiest way to make cereals are to grind up the whole grains on your own into a powder, cooking it with water until it is a thin, soupy consistency.
• Homemade baby cereal must be cooked.
• Cinnamon or other mild spices may be added.
• Quick cook grains are processed with enzymes that give them the ability to be quick cooked.  You do not want to use this variety when first introducing cereals to baby.
• You can store the uncooked, ground grains in an air tight container in a cool, dry place (or refrigerator is your home is warm) and use as you go.
• Homemade baby cereal may be frozen (ice cube tray method works great) but when thawing, it sometimes becomes rubbery and reconstituting might work better with adding breastmilk.  I always found mixing the cereal cubes with mashed banana made a great consistency and texture.
• Short-grain brown rice is the ideal type of rice to use when making rice cereal.  Short-grain rice cooks up softer than medium-grain rice but also sometimes becomes sticky or pasty when pureed (if cooking rice whole and not using ground grains).
• Also try brown jasmine , plain brown and basmati (or combinations) for different varieties of rice cereal.
• If cereal is cooking up too sticky or too thick, add water while cooking.
• You can also puree the cooked ground grain cereals for a smoother consistency.

Barley Cereal

1/4 cup ground barley

1 cup water

Bring liquid to a boil.  Add the barley powder and simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly.  Mix in breastmilk or juice and add fruits if desired.  Serve warm.

Rice Cereal

1/4 cup rice powder

1 cup water

Bring liquid to a boil.  Add the rice powder while stirring constantly.  Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly.  Mix in breastmilk or juice and add fruits if desired.  Serve warm.

Oat Cereal

1/4 cup ground oats (do NOT use instant or quick cooking)

3/4 cup water

Bring liquid to a boil.  Add the oat powder while stirring constantly.  Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly.  Mix in breastmilk or juice and add fruits if desired.  Serve warm.