What bread is best for babies?

[SoLongAsItsHealthy]

I'd like to start giving DS toasted bread, can anyone tell me which is the best/healthiest loaf to buy? I don't have my own bread-maker(!) so will have to make do with shop-bought. I think I read somewhere that they shouldn't have granary/seeded breads to start with - is that right? Any help appreciated

[Goober]

White, straight forward sliced bread.
Anything seeded, grainy or wholemeal is just too rich.

[belindarose]

A nice man on our farmers' market bakes us salt-free loaves if we ask in advance. He slices them up and they freeze well.

[muslimah28]

i bought some warburtons milk roll the other day, has 0.2g salt per slice, lowest i found. Slices are a bit smaller than a normal loaf though. I wish iknew your farmers market baker belindarose :)

[dragonfruit]

think most shop bought bread is pretty much the same, lots of unnecessary stuff added to it, but it really isn't going to do much harm. you really don't need a breadmaker to bake bread yourself at home and it doesn't take long at all and is much cheaper. in my experience though, found sliced bread not best bread for baby as would just disintegrate in their hands. sth a little firmer like a bagel or ciabatta is better for chewing/sucking on.

[belindarose]

Probably worth asking at any farmers' market/ proper bakers. My friend and I just asked him if he could do it and he was delighted. I'm not so bothered now about bread as DD is 15 mo so can tolerate a little more salt - but she doesn't eat much bread now anyway. When she was 9 or 10 months she could have got through a whole loaf, hence the need for seeking out salt free!

[zebedeethezebra]

Don't give them that white crap. DS eats Hovis granary wholemeal and loves it. There's no problem with bits or seeds. You may find it easier just to give bread and butter before moving on to toast though, as toast can be a bit dry to start with.

[midnightexpress]

What zebedee says. Wholemeal is fine, and it does't have to have loads of seeds in it. If you only let them taste white processed crap then that's all they'll eat when they're older. Start as mean to go on!

[Seona1973]

I disagree - both mine started with white, moved to 50/50 and now both have wholemeal with no problems.

[babybouncer]

Any bread, is the answer. They may have a preference for brown or white or bagels or ciabatta, they may prefer toasted (as it's less mushy) or they may prefer just bread (because it's mushy). Although bread has salt in, it is unlikely to have too much in (assuming they are not simply eating lots of bread) so the easiest answer to start with is to just give them what you're eating and see if they like it.

[zebedeethezebra]

Seona - why start with white when you can just start with wholemeal and carry on that way?? For one thing it is pretty confusing for a child to be given white bread and then you have to persuade them to eat another type.

Honestly, don't give them the white stuff (unless that's all you eat yourself) - it is truely awful and has no nutrients whatsoever. Then they will be used to it and there will be no hassle trying to persuade them to eat something else later.

[Seona1973]

it is because it was advised not to give too much wholemeal foods to young babies as too much fibre is not good for them. I never had to persuade them - they ate it anyway

[TragicallyHip]

DS has had Wholemeal from 6 months,I wouldn't have given him white bread because I detest it and wouldn't eat it myself.

I think it is up to you what bread to use, just maybe not seeded until he is a few months older.

[SleepWhenImDead]

I really wouldn't give a baby something so high in fibre as granary or wholemeal bread. White is fine. Trying to find a link as I'm sure it is dangerous to have too much fibre as a baby, and this goes for pasta and bread. I bake my own bread in my breadmaker, and will do until DS2 is 1.

[SleepWhenImDead]

Low-fat, low-calorie and high-fibre
It isn?t a good idea to give ?low-fat?, ?low-calorie? or ?high-fibre? foods to babies.

Babies have small tummies, but are growing fast. They need foods that provide lots of calories and nutrients in a small amount of food, rather than bulky high-fibre foods.

Don?t give your baby high-fibre versions of foods, especially those with added bran. It stops babies from absorbing important minerals such as calcium and iron. It?s better not to give your baby brown rice, wholemeal pasta or bran-enriched breakfast cereals until they are older, although you can give some brown bread. link

[zebedeethezebra]

You're all talking bollocks you white bread people.

Where is the evidence to say that some fibre is bad for babies? Wholemeal bread is no different from, say, Weetabix. They won't eat much of it anyway and that link doesn't provide any proper evidence either.

Plus Annabel Karmel recommends wholemeal too.

Basically there is nothing banned for babies under 1 year except for honey, whole nuts, salt and anything in form that they can choke on.

[lizzyfish]

our ds loves milk roll. i know its white stuff but its low salt and gets him eating crusts and all kinds of fillings and toppings which is pretty helpful. soft on teething gums too.

[zebedeethezebra]

TBH, I would just buy whatever you normally buy, whatever that is.

[amyboo]

I'm with zebedee. DS had his first toast at my PIL 3 weeks ago (at 7 months) and it was Hovis thick sliced granary, spread with a bit of flora. He loved it. He's not getting white bread, because we don't eat it. If he's happy eating granary or wholemeal then it's a lot better for him anyway.

And ditto on the Annabel Karmel advice. She says they can have anything except honey, nuts and salt once they get past 6 months.

[Mae34]

I was told by a paediatric dietician at a recent weaning talk that theres no problem with giving wholemeal carbs its just the fibre fills their little tummies up and so they eat less of other stuff that would be more nutritious if that makes sense - I was surprised as I always eat wholegrains and expected that to be the healthy choice for babies, but thats what she said...

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

what *sleepwhenimdead" said...

The Food Standards agency say no high fibre etc and I assume that is evidence based.

[BookwormSW11]

FSA don't say no high fibre sorry. Wholemeal bread has more iron than white. We have an iron issue with DS and have been recommended to use wholemeal rather than white. If DC has a balanced diet then it will all be fine. If you're worried about them having enough calories while eating wholemeal bread, just give DC plenty of (good) fatty food at the same time. E.g. oily fish. Refined grains - i.e. white bread - are a relatively new invention. A diet using wholegrains is perfectly healthy, sufficient and nutritious. Provided you give them other things as well!

[BookwormSW11]

oh and white also fine too if that's what you eat at home by the way. Worth having wholegrains in other bits of diet though!

[sparkleshine]

I give my DS whatever bread is available at the time wherever we are.
We have White at home usually unless DP buys brown for himself ( I don't like brown), my mum and in laws use White and brown.
I think it's the amount of bread given that can make them feel full quicker and maybe not eat the rest of the meal which may have more nutrients in IYKWIM

[AngelDog]

DS's first bread was wholemeal, as that's what we eat, but he usually has white sliced as toast. He likes tiger bread as bread.

I tend to buy whatever bread is lowest in salt, as I think that's the biggest problem with it.

Sorry to repeat, but, Bookworm, the link to the FSA that SleepWhenI'mDead provided says:

"Don?t give your baby high-fibre versions of foods, especially those with added bran. It stops babies from absorbing important minerals such as calcium and iron. It?s better not to give your baby brown rice, wholemeal pasta or bran-enriched breakfast cereals until they are older, although you can give some brown bread."

Other sources I've read say the same thing too, and (I think) suggest age 5 is when you should change to mostly wholemeal foods.

[MaElsie]

actually, making your own bread (without breadmaker) is really easy. You just have to be around in the house for three short periods during the day - 15 mins to mix ingredients and knead, cover, then leave for four hours while you go out and enjoy yourself. Come back, knead for a few seconds, shape into a round, cover and leave again for an hour or two while you sort out the baby. Then shove it in the oven to cook for half an hour. And no nasty preservatives, etc.

It sounds a bit hippy-ish, but it's so worth it for the taste and texture if you've got the time. Check out your local library for cookery books with bread recipes in.