is white bread better for weaning than brown/granary/wholemeal?

[misdee]

am sure i saw a reference for it being better for young uns than the brown/healthy option.

somethign to do with calcium?

[BarbaraWoodlouse]

I think it's to do with fibre.

Babies/toddlers can't cope with the bulk and therefore feel full before they've got enough nutrients into them?

[Unicornvomit]

i think it is also to do with the amount of fibre too

can't quite remember the reasoning, but i do remember white bread being better for starting weaning than brown

[Sidge]

Young children (esp babies) shouldn't have wholemeal bread as it's more fibrous, so will fill them up and they won't be hungry for more nutritious food.

Having said that under one's food is not so much about nutrition and 'eating', more about tastes and exploration so the odd taste of a toast finger shouldn't make much difference really! It's not like they tend to eat much of it.

From about 2 mine have had the 50-50 stuff.

[misdee]

fabby.

[feels less guilty]

dd4 is having much fun with a white bread turkey sarnie.

[misdee]

the floor and highchair got fed as well

blw is funny.

loved the gusto with which she attacked it

[Montifer]

I give DS the seedy granary stuff that we eat. Usually no more than a slice a day as I think bread has quite a bit of salt in. It doesn't seem to fill him up too much, he wolfs down everything else on offer

[edam]

agree for babies and toddlers the issue is fibre but also worth knowing white bread contains more calcium (a top doc I was interviewing for a piece on osteoporosis told me he is amused when people give him disapproving looks for eating white bread sandwiches at lunch time).

[misdee]

oh good re:the calcium.

the bread contains no milk, i checked (dd4 has a mlk allergy) so the calcium thing is reassuring.

[CherryChoc]

Misdee what a great word to describe BLW, "gusto"! DS had chili for the first time last night and veered wildly between gusto and horror

[edam]

Oh yes, I remember you posting about poor dd's allergies - think your other girls are also affected?

[misdee]

they dont have milk allergies,. they have other allergies. i am keeping piriton going lol.

am thinking banning all dairy in the house, but am unsure if thats too harsh on the other dd's.

[Overmydeadbody]

Yep, it is just to do with the amount of fibe. Babies and young children do not need the high fibre diets recommended to adults, and a lot of fibre in their guts absorbs vital nutrients that they need, perhaps calcium is effected this way? (I think Iron is).

The odd bit of brown/wholemeal bread won't harm them obviously, it's more about their overall diet not containing too much.

[hairtwiddler]

I only found out about this when DD was 3 and didn't know what white bread was . No harm done though!

[Overmydeadbody]

hairtwiddler me too!

DS was weaned on brown bread, brown rice, wholemeal pasta, loads of dried fruit, grains, vegetables and fuit

Luckily he hasn't suffered

[ChocOrange05]

Interesting - I had no idea about this and have been giving DS brown bread since we started weaning 3 weeks ago. He has been having it once a day - I just wanted to give him the healthiest bread which I thought was brown.

So how much is too much? If I give him white bread won't it be difficult to then get him to eat brown bread in future? Is 50/50 a good option?

Sorry for hijacking misdee, hope you can forgive me but I am surprised by this and would like to know more. Thanks!

[Overmydeadbody]

I don't think white bread should be viewed as the less healthy option, it isn't necessarily always more unhealthy than brown bread. Some fesh white bread form the bakery or your own oven will be far superior to the long-life presliced brown bread you can buy in supermarkets

I tihnk you'll be fine if you just offer variety, sometimes white, sometimes brown, pitta bread, soda bread, granary, home made, bought, baguettes, rolls, wraps, naan bread etc etc etc

[spicemonster]

I have always given my DS wholemeal bread - on the basis that he doesn't eat masses of it anyone (once a day at most) and because so many children I know refuse to eat it once they have had white.

It does create dreadful poos though!

[edam]

Food Standards Agency says it's better not to give a baby]] brown rice, wholemeal pasta or bran-enriched breakfast cereals until they are older, although you can give some brown bread.

For toddlers, they say: 'If you tend to eat high fibre foods, remember that young children's stomachs can't cope with foods such as wholemeal pasta and brown rice. Also, too much fibre can sometimes reduce the amount of minerals they can absorb, such as calcium and iron.'

[misdee]

i grew up on white bread, but love love love seeded, granary, bittie bread as dh calls it.

if it has extras like nuts and seeds, then i'll munch it.

[LadyAga]

We bought a bread-maker for about £35 and make our own due to the amount of salt and e-numbers in shop bought bread.

It's great because we can make lots of different types of bread to to expanding DC's palate.

I highly recommend it as its really simple and you know exactly what they're eating.

White bread does have added calcium but all the other nutrients are destroyed in the bleaching and processing of the flour.

We add a crushed calcium supplement to our recipe's.

[misdee]

my white bread recipie for the breadmaker contains milk...

[shrugs]

[misdee]

sorry, that comea across badly. i cant find a white bread recipie for the machine that doesnt contain milk. as dd4 is very allergic to milk, then i cant use it.

[sparkle12mar08]

misdee - google "vegan breadmaker reipes" et voila! I would love a breadmaker but just know that dh will veto it. Sigh.

[goingnowherefast]

Oh dear. DD always had wholemeal pasta (she's 13 months now, but has it at least twice a week and has done since about 7 months). Will I have done her any harm?
Also we tend to alternate between wholemeal and white bread.

[goingnowherefast]

Should I switch to white pasta totally now for her or alternate?
Thanks.