Baby rice tips?!

[BR1007]

Hey everyone.
So my LO is 4 months old and formula fed. I picked up some 4-6m baby rice the other day but just feel lost on when/how to start introducing it!
I have seen that some people put it in the bottles, but others just do it with the bowl and spoon.
If anyone has done it via the bottle please can you give me some tips as to how much and how often?
I know you can read things online but i like to hear other parents experiences! :)
Thank you xx

I wouldn't give baby rice at all following the recent studies that found it contains high levels of arsenic.
Definitely don't put it in a bottle as it's a choking hazard.

I found baby rice to be utterly pointless tbh. And definitely not to put in bottles. We started with porridge at 5m with guidance from HV and paediatrics because my son was guzzling milk (no reflux) and wasn't getting enough food (apparenrtly). We moved onto a few puréed foods but we sort of went down the finger food route as my son was pretty good with his gag reflex and didn't struggle with lumps.

I'd see about waiting until your baby is 5m before considering solids though, four months is such a huge milestone with regressions, teething and development that adding food into the mix can sometimes make things worse.

Imo baby rice is polyfilla not baby filler.

100% don’t put it in the bottle as it’s a choking risk. Have you been advised from a medical professional to wean early? If not I’d just wait until 6 Months and start with fruit and veg.

Chuck it in the bin and make/buy some purée vegetables/fruit when the baby is 6 months old.

Bin it. It's nutritionally void and potentially dangerous. Wait till your baby is 6 months and read up on baby led weaning in the meantime.

Baby rice? Pointless. Utterly pointless. Wait until at least 6 months then just let baby suck, nibble and gnaw on whatever you are eating as a family. Do not feed baby anything other than milk before 6 months.

Thanks everyone. I am a FTM so sometimes its difficult to know whats what with everything.
Plus after being given advice from the HV to start giving him rice anytime now its all quite confusing....she has however been useless since my boy was born so something was telling me to check with other mums before taking her advice!
Thanks again ladies

Sounds like poor advice from your HV 👎 No solids before 6 months unless advised by your doctor (usually because of severe reflux), definitely no rice in the bottle, and preferably no rice at all.

What they said!

Be gentle everyone and read the update.

Op your children’s centre probably runs a weaning workshop book on to it there’s usually something free

It can be confusing so I’d recommend looking at some websites or books on weaning. Don’t trust info from companies looking to sell you things and don’t start before 6 months unless advised by a Dr (and not your HV who sounds appalling!)

Baby rice is utterly pointless, bland pap - I wouldn’t want to eat it and I wouldn’t inflict it on my baby. Fresh fruit and veg is best to start with, either puréed or used for baby-led weaning. I did BLW and it worked really well for us, if you are interested check out websites and books by Gill Rapley for some ideas.

Good luck, it’s a fun development stage!

Just to add, from what I’ve been reading it’s best to start with just individual vegetables, as that’s most likely to lead to them accepting vegetables when they’re older. Fruit shouldn’t be introduced until later so they get used to savoury flavours first.

I was recommended baby rice by my health visitor after a bit of a slow start to introducing solids at 6 months however as others have said it’s pretty horrible stuff and doesn’t taste very nice. I’m not sure what the point of it is really. Have a look at baby led weaning that’s what we went with in the end (DS decided that!) and wait a wee bit, 4 months is a bit young.

Shame your health visitor gave you that advice! Bin the baby rice and wait until your baby is ready or six months. NHS website is good:

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/Pages/solid-foods-weaning.aspx

I started my DS on cooked carrot sticks and chunks of banana at five months. Worked beautifully.

Are there any weaning workshops where you are?

I think some people are being a bit harsh here. It’s baby rice, not poison. I imagine most of us were probably weaned on it (and at 4 months, too).

OP, I used baby rice as a quick and easy meal for DS when he was weaning. If you mix it with milk, it’s a familiar taste for them and DS seemed to understand that it was food straight away - he had no idea what to do with mashed carrot. I just made some in a little bowl as per the instructions on the box. I gave it him on a spoon and he slurped it up. DS ate about a teaspoon of rice with three teaspoons of milk to start with, probably has about three times that amount when I give it him now. You don’t need much.

You can also mix in pureed fruit so it tastes nicer, or just use the rice as a thickener for anything else that’s a bit too liquidy (ie I add a bit to home-made soup to get it to the consistency of mashed potato, so he has to work a bit harder to eat it).

Current recommendation is to start weaning at 6 months - that’s a recent change and my DM definitely thought I should have started earlier!

One of my friends sent me this link, and I found it really useful:

www.firststepsnutrition.org/newpages/Infants/first_year_of_life.html

I’d also recommend any weaning workshops at our local children’s centre.

“Your” local children’s centre. I’d recommend the ones at ours too, but I’m not suggesting you travel.

The 6 month recommendation has been in for about 10 years. At least.

And baby rice isn't food. It's filler. (And arsenic is a poison, actually. It's found in rice.)

I'm surprised your HV suggested this. Bad advice to give a ftm who no doubt feels uncertain and will listen to a 'professional'.
I got a letter from my health visiting team the other day saying now my baby is 4m I might be thinking of weaning but to remember that guidance is around 6m.

Really you should wait longer by which point you can introduce a wider range of foods - veg, fruit, meat, fish, eggs and dairy. Baby rice is basically just rice flour with added vitamins, it's bizarre, barely even a food and will be converted to sugar in the body almost straight away. If you must crack on with feeding your baby a non-food, don't put it in the bottle!

Titty - definitely not 10 years - my DSS was weaned at 4m as was guidelines 8 years ago. I think it's more past 5.

It's ok to look into weaning at 4m and prepare yourself, but I found introducing fruit and veg puree to my son did nothing for the first few months apart from make him fart a lot

The biggest hurdle I found with weaning OP is how to start to gradually fit it all in - I was finding it so difficult among bottle and naps etc. Just start with one 'meal' first and branch out. DS didn't start three full meals until he was about 10m and even that was quite early because he had a slight head start. Babies will just push food away and muck about with it at first, so don't get hung up on how much they are or are not having. Food is fun until one as the saying goes. Personally my DS was on three full meals and 2 bottles a day by 11 months, but I think he was the exception than the rule - most of my antenatal friends are still feeding either bottle or breast more than 3 times

My DD is 7 and weaning guidelines 8 years ago were certainly 6 months.

Oh god yes, the farting! DS has to sleep with the bedroom door open now or it’s like entering a gas chamber by the time we go to bed (he’s still in with us). And the poos. Breastfed poo is like yoghurt, weaned poo is like poo.

Wean him when he’s older!

Interesting Titty - I think some of it is region dependent, judging by the difference in HV opinion perhaps?

FDA advice re: baby rice and arsenic:

www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm493677.htm

That won't necessarily be the same here. Our food manufacturing standards are different to the USA.