to not understand the point of rusks?

[greyhairsahead]

I was talking to friend recently who'd started weaning her DS with the usual carrot puree etc, and is giving him rusks too. I know that loads of people will give their DC's rusks. I remember having them when I was a child. But surely they are just sugary biscuits, no? My mum allowed my GF to dip my dummy in the cream from his cream cake and pop it in my mouth, so I don't think the rusks are to blame to the bucketloads of sweets and choc that I scoff now!

But, why is a biscuit that is 30% sugar (I know as I checked the box in the supermarket the other day, I'm that sad!) seen as a good weaning food? Finger foods, lovely, I'm a BLW'er myself. But there are lots and lots of things that are better finger foods than a rusk would be. I'm sure that a mum giving their baby a standard biscuit would raise a few eyebrows, but rusks are actually designed to be a weaning food.

AIBU is thinking that it's a bit odd and not particularly good for babies?

Rusks are just the first in a long line of finger foods or biscuits aimed at babys

They're a hangover from ye olden times. I was given a box for my (at the time) 4 week old. They're in the cupboard and she ain't getting them because they're miiiiiiiiiiine

Why bother with them? Wouldn't it be better to just go posh and give biscotti?

Their point is for my MIL to want to feed them to 10mo DD ALL OF THE TIME!

Yes, it's irritating. We only see her once a week, sometimes I can get out of the rusk feeding frenzy, other times I have to give in.

Ooooh I want one now. I might buy a box tomorrow and put it in the cupboard that DS doesn't know about that contains all the biscuits, chocolate and a jar of Nutella

My man said put rusk in ds bottle, never understood them myself

That nan not man grrrrrr

oh i love a rusk or two!! they are morish

Rusks Farley's Original ones that is are a parent's reward for all those 3am feeds!
And now I want one too - I haven't had one foryears
Bibkipegs are the tools of the devil, one of my DCs managed to get one wedged, longways, between his tongue and the roof of his mouth and you have never seen anything like the screaming hysteria that was me trying to get it out nasty things that they are!

If the three little pigs had built their houses out of bickiepegs the wolf would have given up and gone to McDonalds. They're bloody indestructible.

YANBU - there is more sugar in a rusk than in a rich tea biscuit. I know this because I bought some for DS and then ate them all myself during a biscuit drought.

They make a great substitute for plaster of Paris and/or polyfilla.

They are delicious and thanks to this thread im going to buy some today!

My 15 yr old recently rediscovered them and ate a whole box a few months ago.

Rusks are yummy but probably aren't great for babies but nor are the bucketloads of sweets and choc you eat OP good for you either

Surely rusks are things you pretend to buy for baby and then eat yourself?

That's what happened with mine anyway, quite a few years ago now.

Don't think we had them growing up, but in my mum's Cranks cookbook (lentil weaving 70's hippy parent alert) there was a recipe for home made rusks which seemed to be pieces of bread with crusts cut off put in the oven & dried out. Or is that Melba toast? Either way there was definitely a rusk recipe.

Ivan I am the biggest food hypocrite when it comes to my DS's I'm afraid! It's partly because my mum, bless her, used to feed me utter crap when I was growing up (a cream cake and at least one chocolate bar EVERY DAY!) so I now have a terrible sweet tooth that I can't shake off. So I don't want my babies to end up addicted like me hence the "secret stash". I keep telling myself that once they are old enough to rifle through the cupboards up high I'll stop eating it all.... .

marshmallow I remember eating rusks for the pre-dawn breakfast we had when I was on safari in South Africa. They were a sort of bready-buscuit type thing that you dipped in your coffee and it kept you going for a few hours. They were yum!

Don't they have as much sugar/fat in as a doughnut or something?

I didn't think anyone gave rusks anymore.
Ricecakes are the new rusks.

i dont buy them for my son and instead went for ellas kitchen biscuits as they have no added sugar.

With my PFB I read that rusks were full of sugar and therefore not good for baby (probably annabel karmel or something). I therefore gave her dry mini Weetabix to snack on (definitely my most PFB moment!).

With no.2 she was eating bourbons by 6 months.

Never tried a rusk, they sound worth a go for me.

My dd3 liked them crumbled up in yogurt, as a previous poster said they were great for keeping her occupied while in the buggy. My older dds wouldn't entertain them at all. I wouldn't say I used it as a weaning food but certainly she had the odd one.

I could never see the point of Rusks although admittedly, ds1 & 2 were born in the Dark Days of Baby Rice in Bottles and other horrors so rusks were very popular. Bikipegs were OK but I used to make my own rusky sort of biscuits very cheaply and also had the huge benefit of knowing what was in them.

Brilliant. I knew I didn't want to give psb DD rusks for her teething. I cited gluten, but the sugar content is an excellent reason, too!

Thanks for starting this, greyhairsahead!

lola I get Ellas Kitchen biscuits for DS too but he's not too keen, they don't actually taste that nice so I don't blame him! He's happy with the flavoured rice cakes though.

Thinking about the snacky things available for babies now, pretty much all of them emphasise how little sugar they have in them (and what is is usually cited as "natural" sugars, so from fruit etc, which I know at the end of the day is still sugar but it's still a fairly small amount). So it's a bit surprising that Rusks are still there, bold as brass, in the baby ailse.

I think this is my most successful AIBU ever!