whole grains

[francesrivis]

Have just started weaning dd2 who is 6 mths, and keep reading that babies should have white bread, rice, pasta etc rather than whole grain versions. Anyone know the latest thinking on this, as I get the impression a lot of the weaning info available is out of date and/or a bit rubbish. TIA

[ThePinkOne]

I think the idea is that if they have wholegrain/brown versions it will fill them up more and they won't eat enough overall to get all the calories they need for energy. Doesn't necessarily mean they can't have wholemeal versions at all just make sure they're getting enough food.

But I'm afraid I don't know if that is current info or not!!

[Seona1973]

current info is not to give a fully wholegrain diet till the age of 5. You can give a mix of white, wholegrain though.

From babycentre:

A high-fibre diet is not suitable for babies or young children. Occasional use of wholemeal bread, pasta and grains is fine, but too many of them could fill up your child's tummy, not allowing room for other foods. Do not add bran to your baby's food since it prevents some important minerals from being absorbed. Do offer your child a variety of starchy foods, including wholegrain varieties, but don't use wholegrain foods exclusively until your child is five years old.

From Food Standards Agency:

But 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.

By the time they're five years old, young children should be eating family food, which is more bulky as it contains lots of starchy foods and plenty of fruit and vegetables. But make sure it doesn't contain too much saturated fat, which is found in butter, hard-fat spreads, cheese, fatty meat and meat products, biscuits, pastry and cakes

[MrsBadger]

we just used wholegrain bread - all rice, pasta, pastry etc was white. Because that's what we eat...

[cara2244]

I use a mixture of both.

[dingdong3]

I was not aware of this at all...my kids just get what we get but have to say that this is 80% wholegrain. We certainly never use white bread. They've all survived so far...I think the old adage of everything in moderation probably applies.

[Hopefully]

I guess if you're feeding your baby mostly on products like bread and they were a picky eater, it would be theoretically possible for them to fill up on wholegrain products and therefore not eat enough of the other things (and I know the thing about bran etc inhibiting absorbtion of other nutrients), but I think you'd have to be doing it a lot to create a problem.

DS has wholegrain most things (except wholemeal pasta, vile stuff), but it seems to make no difference whatsoever to how much he consumes. Mind you, he was on practically adult portions within about a week of starting BLW. His idea of self regulation of appetite is 'eat until there's none left, then demand milk'.