bump for lidushka

lidushka, it isn't a british thing it's a World Health Organisation 'thing' backed up by tons of peer reviewed studies which I am more than happy to send you the information regarding should you wish to view it. Exclusive BF up to 6 months and beyond reduces the risk of:

For baby:
Cot death
Obesity and overweight
High blood pressure
High cholesterol level
Eczema
Diabetes
Leukaemia
Asthma

For mum:

Breast cancer
Ovarian cancer
Type 2 diabetes
Postnatal depression

And that's just what I can remember off the top of my head. It's cheap and it's safe.

However, it is every parents choice what they should feed their child after considering the facts.

dxx

I just came across this thread as I am approaching weaning. It is interesting how heated up this debate was. I lived on the Continent until ten years ago and Iam familiar with different practices re child rearing. Why do we Brits assume that we know best? Personally I am more prone to trust German standards of food and cosmmetics both baby food and general) than British and I am not even German. Millions of babies thrive on practices condemned in this thread and altough it would be helpful to ammend the instructions on packaging to reflect the advice in this country, I do not think why such a fuss over it. Let's just get over it.

Would the FSA do anything though? I could forward them all the emails and a copy of the instructions from the website - not paying £2.95 for a packet of it!

AnarchyAunt, why don't you contact the FOod Standards Agency yourself? Get hold of a packet of this crap and circle the relevant information?
I don't think you will get a positive response from the company.

Another update on this saga - Waitrose have still not got back to me on my last email, two months later. The cereal is still on sale in the local branch with the same instructions to make up as a bottle feed from four months.

I am going to email them again to see what they are intending to do.

Well done you! It's very encouraging that they are going to change the packaging - I wonder will that happen to all foods that say suitable from 4 months? It gives out a very confusing message I think. Good for you for following up teh choking thing as well - v worrying!
In response to Angelika's letter:
"To start feeding complementary food (and not
exclusively breast feed) does not mean to wean a baby. "
Sorry Angelika but it does! Weaning starts as soon as the baby starts to take anything other than breastmilk.

Just sent this back to them

'Thank you for your reply, however I feel I must draw your attention to the detail of my complaint which was as follows -

"I have noticed that my local branch (xxxxx) has started to stock Holle Baby cereals/porridges. On the packet these state that they are suitable as a bottle feed for babies from four months, and give instructions to mix with fresh milk and sugar to give in a bottle.

I would like to draw your attention to the serious risk of choking if anything other than milk is fed from a bottle. This is well known and is the advice of the NHS, Food Standards Agency, Dept of Health and many other organisations, including every other baby food company that retails in the UK. To feed cereals in a bottle could result in the death of a baby "

I appreciate your decision to change the packaging to reflect the current age recommendations but the main issue that to feed cereals in a bottle can lead to choking has not been addressed. Will the instructions to feed in a bottle be removed? I feel that as a responsible retailer Waitrose has a duty to its customers to avoid tacit endorsement of practices that have documented risks associated, particularly where babies are concerned.'

Oh yes

They seem to have totally ignored my point in the original complaint, ie the choking risk.

That's a good response re changing the packaging to 6mo, but they haven't said if they are going to address the bit about adding it to a bottle.

Are you going to go back to them on that point?

Well done AnarchyAunt!

"Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your enquiry whilst we investigated your concerns with the manufacturer.

The buyer and Technologist had a meeting with the supplier ( Holle Baby Food ) and
expressed our concerns about your enquiry and the bottom line is that we have found that we need to change the packaging accordingly.

The Department of Health in the UK stipulates a minimum age of 6 months on the packaging where the EU stipulates 4 months and this is where the problem has originated from. There is obviously a conflict here in terms of agreement of what should go
on pack depending on where the product is sold.

We have agreed with the supplier that because the products are being sold in the UK, they must carry a minimum age warning of 6 months and the packaging will be changed accordingly from Feb 09 onwards"

This is the reply I have had today from Waitrose.

My mil used to chidmind, and the mum of one baby she loked after wanted all kinds of stuff aded to his bottle (including rice)MIL says she couldn't do that to a child so used to put the rice down the sink at each feed!

Dear all,

I'm going to post and run, as I have to be home from work soon, but please do ponder this one ladies! I have had this reply from Holle, in response to my email, which is at the bottom. I have read as far as "WHO deals with developing countries, blah, blah."

Could anyone help me out with a reply? I'll be back this evening, or hopefully this afternoon.

Did anyone else get a reply>

Annner

Dear Annner,

Thank you for your Mail and your opinion.

The WHO recommendation is to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months and to
start feeding complementary food at the beginning of the 7th month. Some
European institutions e.g. the Department of Health in the UK orientate
strictly on the WHO recommendations, others don’t.

The recommendation of the WHO is generally good but it does not meet the
needs of all infants. If breastfeeding alone is not enough, an additional
feeding of formula or complementary food is necessary. In Switzerland,
Germany and other European countries the official recommendations are not as
strict as by the WHO. This is because the WHO recommendations where primary
made for developing countries where often there is no access to clean
potable water. In areas where potable water is not available, the early
feeding of infant formula or prepared complementary foods is a serious
health risks for infants. This reason is not given in countries with high
hygiene standards as the European countries.

In Article 8 of the Commission Directive 2006/125/EC on processed
cereal-based foods and baby foods for infants and young children, the
earliest age for baby food, others than infant formulas, is clearly defined:
“The stated age (for infant foods) shall not be less than four months for
any product.” This European regulation is revised in 2006 with impact from
the latest scientific knowledge. This regulation is superior in countries of
the European Union than the varying advices by national institutions.

Complementary feeding should be started in the period, when a child is
between 5 - 7 months old (from 4 months - from 6 months), depending on the
babies individual needs. With 7 months, usually the quantity of energy and
some micronutrients e.g. iron are deficient if breast milk or infant formula
is feed alone. But children are not standardised (length and weight vary in
a big scale) also appetite and hunger and the skill of eating do not always
occur as feeding schedules tell us. Some children are well nourished with
breast milk alone, within the age of 8 or 9 months; others need
complementary food before they are 6 months old. Since not all children are
satisfied being feed only milk in the first half year of life, many European
institutions, providing information’s of infant nutrition and also the new
EU regulations give a soft time target for the introduction of complementary
foods. Hence, the early feeding age “after 4 months”, as it is in many
countries, is reasonable. Attached to this mail I send you a time table
published by the German Society of Nutrition (Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Ernährung (DGE)) and Research Institute for Children Nutrition in Dortmund
(Germany) (Forschungsinstitut für Kinderernährung in Dortmund (FKE)) Please
also read the recommendations of the European Society for Prediatric
Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) written to the EU
Commission regarding the revision of directive 91/321/EEC; attached to this
mail. These recommendations are based on the latest scientific data's (in
European countries) and are much younger than the WHO recommendation (for
developing countries) which exists since decades.

At this time there are no scientific data's available which give a hint to
negative health effects when feeding complementary food from 4 months on
compared with the feeding from 6 months on. Regarding allergies and the
occurrence of the celiac syndrome some studies even indicate that the
feeding of complementary food (containing gluten) from 4 months on and
breastfeeding at the same time, seems to be most beneficial. Breast feeding
is the best for a baby. To start feeding complementary food (and not
exclusively breast feed) does not mean to wean a baby.

Nutritional guidelines do change from time to time according to the latest
knowledge. Unfortunately, often old and new guidelines are available at the
same time and some guidelines have a special background which is not
considered or even known. If you have further questions, please feel free to
contact me directly.

With best regards
Viele Grüsse

Angelika Welz
Qualitätsmanagement

Holle baby food GmbH
Baselstrasse 11, 4125 Riehen
Schweiz / Switzerland

Tel.: +41 (0)61 64596 07
Fax: +41 (0)61 64596 09
Mail: awelz@holle.ch

www.holle.ch - www.babyclub.de - www.biolini.de
Handelsregister Kanton Basel-Stadt, CH-270.4.001.683-6
Geschaeftsfuehrer: Peter Kropf, Udo Fischer

-----Original Message-----
From: Annner
To: enquiries@organics4kids.com
Cc: customer_service@waitrose.co.uk
Subject: HOLLE ORGANIC 3 GRAIN PORRIDGE

Re: HOLLE ORGANIC 3 GRAIN PORRIDGE

Dear Sirs,

I was horrified to see the following on your web site:

"Therefore, Holle recommends exclusive breastfeeding during the first 4-6
months"

The WHO, which bases its recommendations on the best research-based medical
knowledge, recommends exclusive breastfeeting during the first 6 months. You
as a manufacturer do not have any right to make recommendations to parents,
particularly when they have no legitimate basis other than your sales
targets. That people have used this type of product for young babies in the
past does not make it an advisable habit.

A small number of babies may be ready for solids before then, and certainly
not before 17 weeks, but they do not reflect the norm.

THere are risks associated with early weaning and you have a duty to point
these out. Moreover, your product contains gluten, which is expressly
advised as being unsuitable for babies younger than six months.

Please reassure me that you will be amending the information provided on
your weaning foods.

Yours faithfully,

Annner
CC Waitrose - stockists of your products in the UK

I tried a Holle oat cereal for DS in an attempt to avoid Nestle, or cereals with added sugar or chocolate, which is the norm here in Spain. Despite being very expensive brand here, and only available in health food shops, I was disappointed, it was utterly utterly revolting stuff.

DS agreed.

Ah clearly been given dodgy info- although its casein (protein) that mine react to- its an intol but a severe one (if you saynintol people think oh no just a heqadache; potentially it could be fatal due to the diarrhoea etc in the baby, iyswim)

I use Holle cereals for my DD and did notice a while ago that there were instructions on the back of the box for adding to bottles. i just ignored it as my DD is breastfed anyway and assumed it must be the done thing in Germany ( where it says it's made on the box). This isnt an isolated case though. Ive also got another box of organic cereal by a brand called Biobim ( a dutch company) that has instuctions on the back for adding to bottles. So its obviously widely done in other european countries.

If a child is old enough to eat cereal (which I don't think at 4mo they are!), surely they're old enough to take it from a spoon . You may as well liquidise all foods for children and plug them into a drip. If they're not ready for a spoon then then they're not ready for 'food' IMHO.

Peachy, there's defo lactose in your breastmilk. It's milk sugar - it's in the milk from all mammals. You make it - you don't get it from ingesting milk products. (It's normally milk proteins, not sugars, that babies are allergic to - problems with lactose are generally intolerance, manifesting with gut issues, around the age of 7.)

There's no 'cow's milk lactose'. There's just lactose. Sugar. We digest the sugar we get from cow's milk, we make our own sugar for our milk.

Beforesunrise, have never cooked semolina for hours . I heat milk in the microwave, to boiling point, then add the very fine semolina, bring back to boil, have to watch like a hawk it does not boil over, simmer for a minute or so and then let cool off to heat.
I only do it that way because I'm too lazy to wash/scrape saucepans with milky puddings. We had semolina pudding sometimes before bedtime <<nostalgia icon needed>>

No alctose in my breastmilk (<<sob>>- I cant have any casein until I stop bf- one smidge of butter and he screams for 4 hours)

But- I thought the cows milk lactose didnt pass through so much, but casein did? Hs that changed then as advice?

To clarify - lactose is sugar. Milk sugar. Lactulose is a different thing, a fibre given to ease constipation. They're different.

And re: adding sugar to the cereal and cow's milk ... actually, lactose is the least problematic ingredient here - it's something that's actually in breast milk (in large quantities! have you tasted that stuff!).

Cereal in bottles is gross and weird - choking risk and obesity risk. I'm just making sure people are freaking out relevantly ...

Bienchen- not sure whether the fact that Hipp is german as opposed to Swiss makes it very different from Holle? though i do agree that they have better translators LOL

as many others have said- in almost every european country it is standard practice to add cereal to bottles after 6 months. recognising that the Uk is always ahead and better etc etc perhaps (perhaps) it would be good to give 90% of other europeans the benefit of the doubt and not automatically label them as baby poisoners???

it's just very smooth and they have interesting cereals such as millet (whcih is gluten free), and a 3 cereals mix which sounds v good too. also they do a semolina porridge which is very handy when you don't want to cook semolina for hours.

The thing is, so many people on this thread have waxed lyrical about the Holle cereals that now my curiosity is aroused and I may have to try offering them to DS for breakfast, since he's not very impressed with the Organix porridge (which is hardly surprising, given its resemblance to wallpaper paste).

So, Holle fans, what is that you really like about the cereal?

(Sorry OP, still recognising that the advice on the packet is erroneous and possibly dangerous but just ever-so-slightly curious about its potential as a weaning food for 7 month old)

Beforesunrise, Hipp is a German company, albeit with a distribution office in Berkshire (and decent translators).

Hipp Goodnight milk is 75% formula powder and 25% cereals. They came on the market between my two and I was really shocked as the advice not to add your own cereal to bottles did not seem to have changed.

i am glad i am not the only one who thinks Holle is a great brand! can't you just IGNORE these stupid instructions and use their trully very very good porridges as you would baby rice or ready brek?? it does seem to me that we are perhaps getting slightly too exercised about this.

moreover i have now noticed that Hipp and someone else are selling "good night formula" which is formula with added cereals (i think?), those are british brands how come they are allowed to do it?

personally i say use your common sense. i wouldn't add cereal to my baby's bottle at 4m but i probably would at 10 or 14 or whatever. and before you all jump out at me- my dd is almost exclusively bf (with only couple oz formula at night over the past 2 weeks) and she is now 24 weeks.

Just picking up on the value Sausage comments..

Waitrose does sell value Sausages (frozen ones) and actually they are good..

(I shop there - but didn't use any baby food items for my last 2 so its a moot point for me)

Hunker, lactose used to be (and may still be but I don't know as I don't live abroad anymore and my kids are older now, so I wouldn't look for this) recommended to help with digestion, ie constipation. There are breastfed babies with constipation and mixed fed babies with constipation, so I would not simply assume that constipation is caused by the cereal.

Lactose is not normally given automatically and I hope this is not what came across in my post.

I think it is a good idea to make Waitrose aware of the issue as feeding practices vary so much from country to country.

That's true Anna (and having had babies over the last decade have done it myself); what worries me is geneally four month old foods in this country are gluten free- its the six month ones you have to check (not exclusivel;y but often- as a Mum of a GF baby am well used to it!)- this isn't gluten free and when we used to wean at 4 months we (at least the advice was, and I did) avoided gluten. Now they say 6 months that advice isn't as well disseminated, iyswim?

I agree that fresh milk and sugar are not suitable nutrients for babies.

But there are masses of foods available in supermarkets (even Waitrose) that I don't think are suitable nutrients for humans. We all have to use our judgement every day to purchase food that we think is nutritious - the rules and regulations governing what may be on sale are pretty loose.

No I know, and have said on this thread several times that its not the 'from four months' bit I am bothering with - all the baby food companies do that and they aren't going to stop any time soon.

Its the detailed instructions on mixing with *fresh milk* and sugar, then feeding to a 4mth old from a bottle, that I think are appalling.

There is nothing illegal about weaning onto solids at four months.

Yes all Waitrose need to do is stick a sticker on it if they want to keep selling it. They'll only do it if they are made aware of the issue though!

Bienchen, is lactose added to help prevent constipation that would otherwise not have occurred if the baby wasn't being given cereal in their bottles?

Blimey, I do sound like I have an axe to grind, don't I?

Littleducks - the vit enrichment is totally unecessary, better to get vits from real food than fake biscuits, plus if your DD is eating a varied diet she'll have those vits already, but I'm sure you know that. The reduced sugar thing is misleading because a) there is always far too much added sugar in baby foods anyway and b) they still taste sweet which is encouraging a sweet tooth anyway. Also, iirc they replace some of the "sugar" with grape juice or something, which is essentially the same thing. Much better a breadstick. Less fun for you but a baby knows no better and it's cheaper.

re the Semolina, you can get ground semolina/semolina flour which is pretty instant, or even the more common "normal" semolina which you cook up with milk (memories of childhood puddings, do they still sell the stuff?). It's a bit like you can buy normal rice flour instead of spending money on "baby" rice. Or even grind up normal rice you have in your larder.

Lol at the olive oil with extra vitamins that's on the same page. These vitamins are only necessary if you feed your poor child on nothing but Plasmon products.

Sorry about the rant, I really hate the way these food companies play on the anxieties of new parents to sell their products. None of these products are actually necessary. It's all a total con imo and a way of grooming your child's tastte buds for the next generation of processed crap made by the same company.

Yes, but the <ahem> uninformed people wouldn't necessarily go for the posh foreign stuff

aye - not when you could pop a bit of rusk / weetabix in the bottle and get same effect

I qould have thought waitrose just need to stick a sticjker, like on imported coke etc, the ingrediants are put on a sticker in English

my dd is two she loves those plasmon biscuits (as do i tbh) i havent got the packet here but i thought they were vit enriched and less sweet than 'adult' biscuits, have i been had?

i also bought this for ds, tell me now is it cr*p, i though mixed with milk and some mashed banana it was a quite nice

Yes, but the <ahem> uninformed people wouldn't necessarily go for the posh foreign stuff. Or do Waitrose not stock Heinz/Cow and Gate/whatever brand is the rage at the mo?

Well, where I live Waitrose is the only supermarket in town apart from a glorified convenience store type Somerfield.

So everyone goes to Waitrose, even the stupid uninformed poor people <<shudder>>

Must be v v galling for those who shop there by choice.

...quite clued up about nutrition I meant to write.

My hands can't keep up with my gallopping thoughts, so it seems. Either that or my reflexes are slowing...

I would have thought that people who shell out on the stuff in Waitrose would not be the most uninformed, non? Or am I makiing sweeping generalistaions about the intelligence of the average Waitrose shopper? I used to buy this in a health food supermarket and most people who go in there tend to be quite clued up, so would just disregard the "quaint" instructions.

Maybe getting Waitrose to apply a sticker over the offending instructions might be a solution? Or asking Holle to omit those instructions completely? Boh.

agree Brange. I did buy the plum one cos it was there in a real touchy shop but the Holle stuff much better and cheaper. Be a shame to campaign it out the shops

DD used to love Holle's millet porridge, as well as their spelt. I never bought any other cereals.

Plasmon is as much sugary shite as any other biscuit. I have always assiduously avoided that brand as they tout their wares as being nutritious when they are nothing but refined sugar and a bit of flour.

its a really good porridge tho

I bought them from Holland over the internet for dd - only place I could get gluten free baby cereals then.

Was dead chuffed I could buy them from ocodo for ds when I started weaning him in the spring. TBH I just ignored the bottle feeding instructions - thought twas a bit odd and didn't occurred to me to do it. Thought it just reflected practices in country of origin

And plenty of babies do have thickened milk here for reflux /dysphagia

I used this stuff when weaning DD and noticed the instructions about boiling it up with cow's milk on the back. Was a bit especially as we're told here in Italy not to intoduce cow's milk in any form till 12mo, but then I put it down to Holle being a quaint Swiss/German co and maybe the packaging hadn't changed from the 50s. It does look a bit like something from a Heidi film tbh.

It's a shame as their cereals are excellent products, much better than the standard baby food cereals, and were the only "baby" foods I bought.

It's true that here there are baby biscuits that crumble and are supposed to be mixed with milk, but no one I know here has ever put any in a bottle, or at least in recent years. My cousins used to live off the stuff but always had it out of a bowl. Actually, I do know one person who did this but she only started when her baby was 8-9mo and that was a few years ago now. Maybe the custom does still exist but I've not seen anyone admit it and we're always being told in health centres to only use biscuits as finger foods (and rarely as it is sugary shite whatever the name).

as well as milk it contains gluten

bloody awful people

plasmon is what i buy, no idea it was a heinz brand!

If your having to add lactose to a product to avoid constipation, isn't that kind of a sign that it might not be the best food choice?

A friend of mine with a weight problem is convinced that her metabolism was screwed up by her nanny adding 'extra' to her formula bottle when she was a small baby.

Biscuits plain & chocolate and powdered biscuit for bottles freely available and used in Italy.

Plasmon a Heinz Brand!

Maybe people on the continent do give their babies cereal in bottles from 2 months - perhaps people on the continent should be asking themselves why they are doing this. It is completely unnecessary.

I'm very surprised that Waitrose are selling this pap.

i agree it is common in Europe, i knew a polish woman trying to wean her baby like this and my lovely italian deli sells italian baby biscuits (like heinz biscotti ones but better) which i buy for dd and ds (as finger food) which give a 'serving suggestion' of dissolving in a bottle of milk

everyone is very anti it here and i think it is just a slip up on waitrose part as it is a foreign product

Fine, whatever, lets all ignore the choking risk that lots of reputable organisations warn about, because other people in other places do it

Fact is its very very obviously not the physiological norm for babies as you can't add cereal to to your breasts. And before anyone starts, thats not a pop at FFers, its an observation that breasts do not have teats of which you can change the size, or a lid you can remove to add things to the milk, thus meaning that all a baby can get out of them is milk, and so its a reasonable inference that all they are meant to have from a milk feed is, er, milk.

The thing you have to ask is WHY do people add things to bottle feeds. Not for nutrition - everything a baby needs is in breast milk or formula. It will be because the baby is 'hungry' and needs more 'heavy' food to sit in the baby's stomach.

It should also be noted that the instructions recommend adding something called 'lactose sugar'. Do Waitrose sell that I wonder? It doesn't explain why this is needed or what would happen if you didn't add it.

AA, it isn't a goopy cereal. It is rather runny and you use a slightly bigger teat with it. Just about every country on the continent uses it and the babies seem to be fine with it.

It would be a different case to use normal cereals as you buy them here. I don't think there are more babies on the Continent dying from choking?

Lactose is sometimes added to help constipation and has been done so for generations.

When I moved to England, I found it rather odd not to have cereals in bottles, there you go. Oh and I and most kids of my generation got weaned at 2 months!

Just about everyone (NHS, Food Standards, Dept of Health, Bounty, other babyfood companies yada yada) agrees it is a choking risk actually.

Babies are designed to be able to breathe and swallow liquid at the same time. Not thick goopy cereal.

I don't agree with putting cereals in bottles, but it's not really a choking risk.. it's just ready brek/baby rice-type powdered cereals.

It's very common here in Spain too.. where weaning is recommended at 4 months. Full fat cows milk not recommended till a year though.

There are loads of cereals/biscuits for bottles on sale here.

second what wobblypig say - was just over in france and ALL the early weaning cereal is designed for bottle use..

This really sucks (no pun intended).

Even the Bounty guide warns against adding cereal to babies' bottle feeds, FFS!

There may be demand but its due to ignorance about the dangers.

100 years ago there was demand for laudanum based tonics/syrups for babies to knock 'em out - now we know its dangerous and so they are not sold anymore.

As I said, no other baby foods company in the UK advocate putting cereal in a bottle - it really is a choking risk and any HV who suggests it is a dangerous loon who should be reported.

My health visitor (now retired) advised me to add baby rice to my 2 month old's bottles and cut part of the teat off to make sure it got through. This was less than 5 years ago. If first time parents are being given advice like this then perhaps there is demand for cereal additions to bottles.

"For the preparation of the Milk porridge and the Bottle feeds after 4 months we recommend to add 1 teaspoon of sunflower oil."

? Apparently you also need to add 'lactose sugar' if you want to add it to a bottle feed, which Ocado don't seem to sell.

I'll share their response, don't worry.

In fact I think I can probably share it before I even get it... <<reads tea leaves>> "we are sorry to hear you are unhappy blah blah well established company blah high quality product blah rigourously tested blah blah guidelines not law so we'll sell wtf we like blah" or somesuch. If previous experiences are anything to go by anyway.

Would be really interested to see what response you get from Waitrose, would you keep us posted AA?

Wobblypig- I'm speechless at the pureed courgette-in-bottlefeed

I have emailed Waitrose. Will be copying to Holle and to IBFAN in a tic.

I give up on the 4m issue but to recommend feeding in a bottle.... terrible.

Very common in other countries includign France to start babies on stuff such as cereal or pureed vegetables as additions to the bottle feeds. I've seen a friend of mine do it in France - on midwife's advice she added pureed courgette - raw and with skin - into the bottlefeed.

contact baby milk action/ IBFAN?

My brother and his wife used to put porridge into their son's bottle.  I told them it was a bad idea and they said it was ok, the porridge was fine from 4 months and could be given in a bottle.  They shopped at Waitrose so now I know why they thought it was ok.  They are perfectly educated bright people but at the end of the day it is not unreasonable to rely on packaging in determining whether something is ok for your child.  Clearly a complaint to Waitrose is in order.

that was meant to be

:O!

"Bottle feeds after 4 months
Boil 100ml water together with 100ml full cream milk and cool to approximately 50ºC. Add 2 teaspoons lactose sugar and 2-3 tablespoons of Organic 3-Gran Porridge (approx. 13g) and stir. Pour into the feeding bottle and allow to cool to approx. 37ºC."

Well indeed, but they are based in Switzerland (I think) and Waitrose have chosen to import this brand (not widely available) so should be made aware of it surely?

I am going to email manufacturer too. But have given up hope of getting baby food companies to take any notice at all of WHO recommendations etc, and I can't imagine one based elsewhere in Europe will be any different (I have heard that in parts of Europe its common advice to give cereal in a bottle, even from doctors).

Agree that it seems pretty dubious advice, goes against anything that I have ever understood to be good for your baby.

Available at Ocado and has the instructions that AA has referred to.

surely this should be taken up with the manufacturer rather than Waitrose??

Its just occurred to me that not even the big formula/baby food companies in the UK (ie SMA, Aptamil etc) advise giving any food in a bottle, in fact their websites all advice against it, citing choking risk. If it's legal to sell cereals as 'suitable for bottle feeding', why aren't they all at it?

From AA's link:

"Can be used as bottle feed, fresh milk porridge or as a milk free fruit or vegetable porridge. Instead of using fresh milk, the three corn porridge can also be mixed with Holle Organic Follow On Formula"

You can't see the instructions on the website. On the back of the packet there are ways of serving listed, and at the top comes, "As a bottle feed".

And people may think "well it comes from Waitrose" - respectable shop etc

It does say it can be added to a bottle! It gives instructions on how to do it.

Its dangerous, its a choking risk, and its irresponsible. Its not so much the 4 months thing I am concerned about, its the recommendation that it be fed in a bottle mixed with full fat cow's milk.

i states it can be eaten from 4 months - debatable obviously but some folk do wean at 4 motnhs.

it does not advocate filling a bottle with cows milk and porridge and giving to a 4 month old.

i suspect someone who shops at waitrose and buys organic porridge for their child is unlikely to misuse.

I can't find any law against it on the internet, it seems in fact to have been recommended by some paediatricians in the past to help with the baby's energy needs. It may well be legal, although undoubtedly dangerous. It's rather irresponsible of Waitrose to sell this.

it's a pity because holle is actually a fabulous brand. their baby jars (only available online in the uk) is miles better than anything else around.

Last message on this thread should help.

This just gets better and better. Read their blurb

www.holle.com.au/babysdiet.html

I am going to complain vociforusly, but actual law/regulations to wave would be helpful. I have a card with infant formula legislation on but I'm not sure it covers this?

That's just bizarre, plus won't it have gluten in it so really really not a good idea for pre-6 month babies regardless of how they ingest it?

With full fat milk? At 4mths?

it is dangerous and advice is never to add anything to a baby's bottle due to choking risks

am sure someone will be along soon to advise you on the best thing to do

in WAITROSE whatever next, value sausage rolls.

Added to a bottle!!

Its this stuff and the packet carries instructions on making up a bottle feed of cereal mixed with full fat milk, from four months.

What do I quote to the manager when I go in there to complain later? Or is it technically legal despite being v v dangerous?