My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

AIBU?

To ask whats wrong with baby rice??

86 replies

havinhoops1974 · 11/10/2011 10:16

i've seen alot of hate for the old baby rice , I used a mixture of rice, mashed up food in a mini blender

I did get my wrist slapped by a HV for using rusks even though they are sold as ba by food aarrggh !

can someone fill me in whats so bad about them??

OP posts:
Report
cheekeymonster · 11/10/2011 10:18

Don't know what is wrong with Baby Rice, I was given some by HV?
Rusks are full of sugar and s**t, that is why they are bad.

Report
TimeWasting · 11/10/2011 10:19

It's gross, pointless and only needed if you wean baby earlier than necessary.

Report
ShatnersBassoon · 11/10/2011 10:20

I don't know what's wrong with baby rice. It is just very finely ground rice, nothing unpleasant or weird.

Report
cantspel · 11/10/2011 10:20

Baby rice is fine but i found if used alone did cause constipation.
But if i blended a bit os puree apple or apricot into it it was fine.

Report
CristinadellaPizza · 11/10/2011 10:20

Nothing intrinsically wrong with it if you wait until 6 months. But it's not necessary - babies that age don't need 'special food', they can eat proper food.

It's often used by some people earlier than 6 months in the mistaken belief that it will fill babies up quicker than milk which is rubbish so that could be it?

Report
ShatnersBassoon · 11/10/2011 10:21

I love ground rice pudding, so baby rice is actually quite an appealing prospect. It really isn't awful, just rice in a very easy to swallow form.

Report
notso · 11/10/2011 10:21

Mmmm Rusks
They are very sugary though so that is probably why the HV told you off.

I used baby rice as a thickener when was forced by HV to wean DD at 16 weeks, but with my other two who were weaned at 6.5 and 6 months, I had no use for it, they can cope with chunks easily by then.

Report
lisaneedsarest · 11/10/2011 10:22

I don't see anything wrong with baby rice - I used it as a first taste and then mixed with stronger tastes to get the baby used to them - that may or may not have been pointless but it worked for me!!

Report
worraliberty · 11/10/2011 10:23

It's not so much it fills them up quicker, it tends to keep them fuller and more satisfied for longer.

Or it did in my experience when it was recommended to me by my HV and GP.

Anyway, a good sprinkle of salt and a squirt of Ketchup livens it up no end Grin

Report
CogitoErgoSometimes · 11/10/2011 10:23

Possible explanations.... Baby rice used to be added to bottles to thicken up milk for hungry babies - not recommended now. It was a starter food when babies were weaned at 12 - 16 weeks - and now that practice fallen out of favour. There's nothing intriniscally 'wrong' with the product, more that its uses are now out of step with the current advice. I used to use it as a thickener with purees... helped them stay on the spoon!!

Report
CaptainNancy · 11/10/2011 10:23

baby rice doesn't really have any nutrients particularly- if you want to give carbs, you could go for something like quinoa which has protein in too, otherwise I'd start a baby weaning on pear, carrot, apple, parsnip- they are all fairly inert intolerance-wise, and contain vitamins.

Rusks are loaded with sugar. Better to get baby used to unadulterated food first.

Good luck!
a nice website to check out is babyledweaning btw- loads of ideas on there for first foods.

Report
TimeWasting · 11/10/2011 10:23

Real food is easy to swallow if you're developmentally ready for it.

Report
DrinkFeckArseGirls · 11/10/2011 10:24

Just because the manufacturers say something, it doesn't mean it's true. They also sell jars to wean at 4 months, when the advice for the last several years have been 6 months for weaning.

Rusks are full of sugar plus when given to a baby with teeth, they stick to them and can lead to tooth decay over time.

Do your own research (like you're doing now) and make your own informed choices.

Report
TimothyClaypoleLover · 11/10/2011 10:24

It is unnecessary and just another thing to waste your money on. And as CristinadellaPizza said, babies if weaned at the correct age can eat normal proper food.

Report
ScaredBear · 11/10/2011 10:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CaptainNancy · 11/10/2011 10:27

worral- you could just use baby porridge for that though! there is a nice plum baby 4 grain porridge (that I used as a thickener for pureed blueberries etc) that has arananth (?sp) and millet, which have protein as well as carbohydrate.

Report
TimeWasting · 11/10/2011 10:28

You could just use normal porridge, which is cheaper.

Report
worraliberty · 11/10/2011 10:31

True Captain but then again, you could just use baby rice.

The baby will get everything they need from the milk anyway so rice is simply the filler.

It's one of those things I'm totally non fussed about and I don't see why so many people get worked up about it.

In a few years time when the guidelines change again people will look back and wonder why they spent so much time discussing the way other people feed their babies.

Report
starrywillow · 11/10/2011 10:49

I use baby rice and mix it with milk and pure fruit purees for breakfast. That satisfies my daughter. For dinner she usually has veg with mash. Just do what you think is right. With my first daughter I fussed and worried and got myself into a real tiz over weaning, how much to give and when etc. This time round I'm just giving her what she's happy with and stopping when she's full.

Baby rice is good as the first food because it's just thickener for milk and so gets the baby used to a different texture without adding a new taste.

Report
TheRealMrsHannigan · 11/10/2011 10:51

Nothing wrong with it at all, if you like the taste and consistency of wallpaper paste.

Report
naturalbaby · 11/10/2011 11:06

depends how old your baby is. if you're pouring it into a 2month old to make it sleep through the night then it's a big no. i'm pouring it into my 8month old to make him sleep through the night Grin (not working btw)
am using it as a thickener for fruit and milk etc as well as porrige and weetabix.

Report
CaptainNancy · 11/10/2011 11:07

But why would you want to use a filler? Confused it's a baby, not a pitted wall.

pear or apple make perfectly good fillers too, and have nutrients in. First food is for tastes really, not filling- that's what milk is for.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

CaptainNancy · 11/10/2011 11:08

sorry naturalbaby- that was a x-post, and directed towards worral's comment, not your comment.

Report
CogitoErgoSometimes · 11/10/2011 11:09

Why use a filler? Why add flour to a sauce? Why put a potato in a soup or gelatine in a dessert? It just makes the texture more manageable.

Report
worraliberty · 11/10/2011 11:10

Because we were told to use it as a filler if our babies needed weaning early. That way they became full up but wouldn't dislike the taste because mixed with their milk...there was no taste.

'First food' and tastes came later on back then.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.