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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask what's the problem with baby rice?

40 replies

Teachtolive · 28/03/2018 11:23

Keep seeing references on here and other sites about how bad baby rice is but no reasons given as to why it's the baby food devil. I gave little bits of it to dc1 for first intro to solid food or alongside veg puree. Why is it now considered so bad?

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Sashkin · 28/03/2018 13:31

Not sure why you found that patronising. There’s a big difference in the arsenic content of rice milk (high) and rice crispies (not high).

If you had said you didn’t give your child rice milk, I wouldn’t have commented on it (though in a ten year old it’s probably still fine, they are much bigger relative to the amount of milk they drink). But you said rice crispies, and there is no evidence to back avoiding rice crispies.

It’s up to you what you give your own child, but if you are advising other parents not to give their children any rice products “because they’ll get arsenic poisoning”, don’t be surprised when other posters correct that advice.

The comment about polenta was aimed at the classist “why not baby led wean instead, on a nice piece of avocado” comments that pop up on EVERY baby rice thread. Including that wildly biased analytical armadillo link above, which is either completely scientifically illiterate, or deliberately scaremongering.

Baby rice is treated like it is literally poisonous on here, and while it’s a bit boring it is not going to do your baby any more harm as a weaning adjunct than stewed apple or pear will.

Mightymucks · 28/03/2018 13:35

Mashed potato mixed with whatever milk they had serves the same purpose and is nicer.

Mightymucks · 28/03/2018 13:39

OP, if you are weaning now the advice I would give is if it’s ready made/mix then taste it before you give it. If it tasted horrible I didn’t give it. Baby rice and all Heinz and Cow & Gate were out for me because they tasted like slip.

Mightymucks · 28/03/2018 13:39

*slop

Bambamber · 28/03/2018 13:39

I don't feed my baby anything I wouldn't eat myself. That includes the way it's served.

Ultimately it's all down to opinion. Plenty of people give it to their babies and have happy babies. Plenty of people don't give it to their babies and have happy babies. I would always recommend reading current guidelines when it comes to weaning though, to ensure you're making educated decisions that could potentially have long term impacts

Passportto · 28/03/2018 13:39

Oh dear another thing I got wrong (following the advice of the day). He had baby rice everyday from 4months Shock until he was switched to wheat at 6 months

Poor DS1 is now 6'3" and studying for his Alevels, imagine what he could have done if I'd got everything right Grin

trixymalixy · 28/03/2018 13:54

Where did i say they would get "arsenic poisoning"? Please don't try to put words in my mouth.

Nothing I said needed to be corrected. Rice krispies exceeded proposed EU limits for arsenic a few years ago, which was a cause for alarm for us so we decided to cut back.

Teachtolive · 28/03/2018 15:32

Wow, I never thought a baby rice thread would cause so much friction! As @chowmum (love #babynotchoking :) ) said I gave it to dc1 as a bland food to introduce texture and the spoon before moving on to other fruit and veg. I wonder would I be just as well with Ready Brek?

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trixymalixy · 28/03/2018 15:51

Just check the salt content in Ready brek. I think it may have changed recently, but it used to have too much salt in to give to babies.

Thundercracker · 28/03/2018 15:58

Ingredients of Ready Brek:

•Wholegrain Rolled Oats (60%),
•Wholegrain Oat Flour (38%),
•Calcium,
•Niacin,
•Iron,
•Riboflavin (B2),
•Vitamin B6,
•Thiamin (B1)

There was no salt in it 10 years ago either but not sure how far back you're thinking?

Chowmum · 28/03/2018 16:04

Main problem with ready brek is that oats are not as easily digested as rice (not hypoallergenic). I thought it used to contain wheat flour, but it's oat flour now, and there's no salt in current recipe.

TBH, most people wouldn't need more than one packet of baby rice, it's really only for those first few days, assuming at the 6month point. Then you can switch to ready brek or other appropriately mushy cereal of your choice.

throwcushions · 28/03/2018 16:09

The Ready Brek salt thing I think is a myth based on the story of the baby who died. The papers said it was due to ready brek but actually his parents were giving him actual ready made adult food like smash and that was the real issue. Also because he was very young when weaning started.

PaulDacreRimsGeese · 28/03/2018 16:15

YY sashkin I can't imagine what the Analytical Armadillo was thinking with that piece of crap. I know she has her own agenda and she was probably high on the BLW crack, but that was really no excuse.

The ready brek baby was about 20 years ago now, and yes it was because the parents were giving him food with a high salt content. And far too early as well, before 3 months. They thought they were ok because they didn't add salt to food. Tragic miscommunication all round.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/1999/jul/28/familyandrelationships.features101

trixymalixy · 28/03/2018 16:23

It was the advice of a dietician when my DS was diagnosed with his dairy allergy that Ready brek wasn't suitable for babies because of salt. I never used it as we did BLW hence saying to double check.

Teachtolive · 28/03/2018 16:51

TBH, most people wouldn't need more than one packet of baby rice, it's really only for those first few days, assuming at the 6month point. Then you can switch to ready brek or other appropriately mushy cereal of your choice.

That's exactly what I did last time round.

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