To be shocked by this government dietary advice for babies and children?

[fourfoxsakes]

from the government in Northern Ireland that is published online? Surely we don’t do these things any more such as mixing baby rice with milk and advising people to feed their very young children rice crispies and cornflakes for breakfast and advising people to give juice with meals! Surely this is bad advice, I am honestly surprised that the government have been allowed to publish this crap. I have no doubt people still do these things which is an individual parenting choice but surely the government shouldn’t be advocating for this?

This seems pretty judgemental. If he had surgery, presumably it was under GA, meaning no food or drink since the night before. So it's quite feasible this child hadn't had anything to eat or drink for 24hrs. As soon as they wake up from GA, they are encouraged by staff to eat and drink as soon as they are able - it's a requirement before they are able to go home. As for offering unhealthy food immediately after surgery - you offer whatever they will be tempted by. I bring cookies and a mini can of Sprite, as I know they won't be rejected. Happy to give you an alternative view so you can reassess your view of what's appropriate in these circumstances.

This made me laugh. This has not been a possibility in any of the 5 London hospitals I have experience of. Some stale, non brand rice crispies and a slice of bread (not toast, they won't toast the bread for you, I asked), if you're lucky.

I'm afraid I disagree with you here. I believe it's down to budget. Own brand rice crispies are significantly cheaper than other options and require less time and skill from staff. (There was a marked difference in food - and the availability of food - between GOSH, which has a ton of money, and my local hospital.)

Yeah someone else explained about the lack of catering facilities, which would make cereal the cheaper and easier option (with proper facilities porridge would be cheaper, its a very cheap food when made in mass quantities but requires proper facilities for that).
Its a real shame that there can be such a difference in food quality between different hospitals, food is so important to recovery when you're ill/injured so patients ought to have good quality food whatever hospital they're in.

er tinned tomatoes and a lot more than one spoon of curry powder was her curry….

i never ate it after the first time it gave me diarrhoea. I had plain rice instead.

There can even be a difference between wards in the same hospital too! One ward my son was on had its own chef funded by a charity so the menu was bigger (though still not particularly healthy) and they also had extra staff funded by the charity who would do things such as make the children milkshakes to order which my son loved, make parents teas/coffee and nip to the canteen for a cooked breakfast if that is what the child wanted to eat.

The other wards were just a smaller bog standard kiddie menu and definitely no special milkshakes!

Bang on.

But the orthorexics of Mumsnet prefer to apply their fanatical puritan logic around diet and nutrition as it helps convince them they are absolutely in the right.

Thank you. Avocado may be good for us but it is not good for the environment, sadly. I always think it tastes like soap.

It's very true that if you introduce foods at weaning DC will eat them. My DC were gently weaned onto very spicy food and like and eat it to this day (and so does DS' DC).

There's nothing judgemental about it, this child had had major surgery and the mother was trying to force a fizzy drink and mars bar down him, calling it a good breakfast. My DC have eaten/drank loads of crap, I'm not particularly bothered, especially when sick, but the nurses were even telling her he wasn't up to eating, and should start with clear liquids when he felt ready.

There are absolutely loads of foods that I introduced at weaning that my children won't eat now! Including, for one of them, the sainted bowl of porridge...

Snap, crackle and pop...fond memories of childhood.

Agree!!

I’m really surprised actually that so many people are saying it’s fine. Perhaps I have issues, but there is no way I’d feed my children cereal and juice as a typical breakfast.

I think porridge is an acquired taste and can be unacquired later on either taste or tecture grounds. But generally speaking DC will eat what you feed them if you feed it early (this probably doesn't include sprouts and green beans, however).

Nonsense. As previously stated the rest of Europe cheerfully send their children off to school on sweet pastries, cakes, bread and Nutella, biscuits and a glass of milk. Cereal and toast is not the evil Mnetters believe them to be.

Giving a page that does not in fact describe the process at all, to a biomedical scientist and ex medical researcher for a while, is an interesting approach.

Sugar is and always remains neutral. It is bacteria (a specific strain) in the mouth that metabolises the sugars and excretes acidic waste.

You also ignore how that page specifically gives a multiple risk grouping as a major issue, including brushing and fluoride on top together as one.

It's not like my comment said give them as much sugar as possible. It cleared up a myth from those who don't understand what happens, and was me saying being paranoid about any at all is silly if you are competent and practice good oral hygiene.

It’s a bit of puffed rice and apple juice, you’d think folk were giving their kids a morning fag and a wrap of cocaine.

I weaned my youngest on curries and other spicy food (food i don't like but I wanted to make an effort to give him a wider diet than me) and he absolutely loves spicy food, has been adding hot sauce to his meals himself since he was a toddler. Though he also went through the fussy toddler stage and for a long while pretty much all he ate was beetroot, porridge and ketchup! I kept offering foods though and he eventually started eating again though everything had to be served with ketchup, even pancakes

Parts of Europe do, plenty other parts do not and think both cereal and pastries/nutella/cake for breakfast are terrible for children.

Well just look at the number of NHS staff, whoare overweight or obese and draw your own conclusions.

😂😂😂

Why? What on earth do you think will happen if you do? 😂

we don’t advise against juice with meals. and one glass of juice a day isn’t contraindicated for sugars either

I agree they should not be suggesting juice at all! Water or fine, or at a push squash, not juice. Also - popcorn! Shouldn't be giving that to any child under 5 due to the safety concerns. Hope they've told them to quarter the grapes in that advice somewhere as well. Cereal everyday isn't ideal, could mix it up with some some scrambled eggs.

Me too. My son went through a phase of only eating crisps and cottage cheese, whatever I offered. Doctor said don't worry, he won't starve and dentist said at least it wasn't sweets. He eats widely now - but not sprouts or green beans (token ceremonial sprout at Christmas).

I think some of it is genetic. No amount of exposure would make one of my dcs like spice, despite me loving it.. The other one however loves it too! It is similar for me, no amount of trying sprouts would ever change my mind.