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?

Cripes I did not have the time for that when getting out of the house to nursery and work.

porridge in the winter sometimes but no time for cooking in the mornings.

Not the point, I know, but a lot of people refer to squash as ‘juice’.

Depends on the school. You could take any drink at my DCs school in a water bottle, they don’t check them.

I agree with you about the baby rice but there’s nothing wrong with cornflakes.

this is my second child but my older one is almost a decade older I did baby rice mixed with milk as first food for him too then moved onto mashed up veggies. Watching this thread with interest because the ingredients is literally just rice (albeit finely ground)

I do wfh so am very lucky in that respect...

Agree. They ought to be advising not to introduce juice at all, its not healthy and it can lead to children refusing to drink water which will cause issues when they start school. In my country the advice is water or milk only for drinks and for breakfast porridge or bread/toast with ham or cheese or similar and some lettuce/slice of tomato/bit of cucumber. Same food they serve at breakfast in nursery and breakfast clubs.

Aside from juice it looks great, and a realistic way of getting stuff into kids.

OP, you’re off your rocker!

are there some suggestions here I might not personally choose (eg Rice Krispies & juice)? Yes.

However, it’s not terrible nutritional advice, and as part of a balanced diet throughout a day, it’s fine, and manageable for many parents, who for various reasons, may struggle around suitable nutrition.

No advice should be looked at in isolation.

And no diet is perfect - I’m fairly big on home-cooked meals, very little processed or prepared food (for example, we never get takeaways, I really hate them, but I accept that’s my own oddity, and that it’s quite normal for people to have them occasionally) but we like our sweet food, I bake, I buy chocolate bars, kids have daily treats.

My kids are now 18, 16 & 14 so diet is different but even when they were small, they got regular treats.

Well, exactly, whereas lots of parents are in a rush to drop their kids at childcare or breakfast club and need something quick and that their kids are guaranteed to eat.

Drinking water with meals dilutes your stomach acid, and can give you stomach pains.

The other drink my dentist was utterly scathing about was milk alternatives for kids... said it was wrecking teeth. Added sugar being an issue but also lack of calcium.

A child who lived on this diet would absolutely thrive. There's nothing whatsoever wrong with juice at mealtimes as long as the rest of the diet is balanced and healthy.

I get the message re. teeth brushing. At least 30 minute gap here.

I'm curious though as people keep referring to packet cereals as expensive - a box of rice krispies is 95p (the supermarket version). Porridge oats are more expensive (especially with toppings), bagels & cream cheese definitely more expensive. I'll take the UPF argument but they're not more expensive!

(Not that my children don't eat cereal sometimes but I wish I had never introduced it, and I mostly encourage them to have toast or porridge in the morning, youngest often has rye bread with cheese and gherkins)

Yes, it’s shit advice. Basically encouraging UPFs from the get go.
My DD never touched baby rice. Whole foods from the start, mashed banana, cooked apple, homemade foods. Porridge for something more substantive.

And this is why you shouldn’t go to the NHS and state bodies looking for nutrition advice. They’ve probably had an organisation like Heinz pay to be included.

But surely there is water in food?

Of course there are better breakfast but government advice needs to appeal to the majority.

I mean, bread / toast can be really low in nutritional value depending on quality. Regular sliced pan is nutritionally poor tho no harm occasionally.

Rice Krispies / cornflakes will ensure milk intake, likely more so than porridge.

Every choice has pro / cons

Porridge is definitely cheaper than cereal where I am, and a little goes a lot further than cereal - 100ml of oats plus 200ml of liquid is enough porridge for an adult let alone a child whereas 100ml of cereal won't fill anyone up.

I always find threads like this funny because mumsnet love competitive under eating and who can eat the least UPFs. I weaned my first child the ‘right’ way and at age 9 he’s the fussiest person in our house. The second who I weaned ‘wrong’ eats everything and anything and chooses fruit and veg over most foods. Milk is awful for teeth too.

Peanut butter on brown toast and a banana is better than cereal. And a glass of water or milk takes no longer time to pour than juice.

The thing is, we have to be careful not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Anyone working in a school, particularly in deprived areas, knows that no breakfast at all, or very high sugar breakfasts (eg breakfast bars), or ‘grab bits from yesterday’s cold McD’s takeaway), are really really common. Cooking may well be impossible for time, capability or logistical reasons (shared kitchens, no money for gas, no kitchen at all, insecure food storage for high value protein options, very limited shopping options)

Giving a ‘good enough’ option that is accessible to everyone, and palatable to those whose exposure to varied tastes is limited, will on average be helpful. The fact that those who are already interested in nutrition, who have time and access to cooking facilities etc, will want to do something ‘even better’ is fine - they do not need to ‘adjust down’.

One glass of 150ml juice a day is one of your five a day but should be limited to this, which they have. Cereals and cereal products (as in grains) are an important source of protein and carbohydrate in the UK. So long as free/added sugars are limited I don’t see the issue with these choices. Children need energy and therefore carbs.

Bread tends to be dark more nutritional breads here, not white sliced, and porridge can be made with milk so provides plenty of milk.

Exactly this.
But this kind of thread is catnip to the orthorexics.
I have brought my kids up with an everything in moderation, nothing in excess approach.