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

That’s true in general, however if you read the link you will see that the limits on this occasion are the same in both the EU and US.

The FSA has not yet made any recommendations re: baby rice. They don’t recommend rice-based milk substitutes for babies, but that’s as far as their advice goes.

www.food.gov.uk/science/arsenic-in-rice

Really don’t bother. And ignore the HV.

There’s certainly no suggestion that babies and children should never eat rice, and I’d be really interested to see any actual evidence you have to support that course of action.

The weaning guidance changed from between 4-6 months to 6 months in 2003 as Dd was a born then and the guidance changed when she was a baby. That is much longer than 5 or even 10 years ago.

I did start at 17 weeks with her as advised at the time and in hindsight it was too early. Ds was born in 2006 and I waited until around 23 weeks with him

https://www.nhs.uk/news/neurology/concerns-about-alleged-harmful-arsenic-levels-in-baby-rice-cakes/ also discusses arsenic in rice products

There’s certainly no suggestion that babies and children should never eat rice, and I’d be really interested to see any actual evidence you have to support that course of action

When did I say that?

Totally agree with everyone. Baby rice tastes if nothing and is nutritionally useless.
Put off weaning until your baby is ready. There is unlikely to be a medical reason to start( you can check) and if not I would genuinely wait until they can join in properly with meals ... my children varied a lot. DD was started at 4 maths as per guidelines 25 years ago and took no real interest until she discovered biscuits at 10 months. If she hadn’t been my first I would have realised that she wasn’t any where near ready and not bothered until at least 8 months.DS1 was started at 3 months as he was losing weight. He took to it like a duck to water, and was fully self feeding sandwiches etc by 6 months ( guidelines have changed and I wouldn’t recommend this) . DS2 was a baby under new guidelines( aged16 now) and I was very happy to stick with breast only until he was sitting in his chair or on my lap aged 7-8 months at which point he could just join in with the family: toast/ soup/ fruit/ pasta/ meat/fish / veg / yoghiurt etcetc.
I’m not boasting but just pointing out that children vary a lot but there seems no good reason for fiddling about with early weaning/ purées or baby rice.

Of course babies and children should eat rice as part of weaning. Good for practising pincer grip. But baby rice is pointless.

The way it was explained to me is that baby rice is nutritionally void, ie has nothing in it of any value. However it fill them meaning they potentially have less formula/bm which is full of nutrients. Therefore its not a great thing for a health visitor to be promoting.

I've never given it. Started with root veg purées and soft finger food at 6 months. Don't see the point in it

I found this book really helpful: m.johnlewis.com/baker-taylor-baby-led-weaning-guide-book/p3301051?sku=237040352&s_kwcid=2dx92700024903448598&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=CjwKCAjw7MDPBRAFEiwAppdF9Gr6nA07BY9NQLNHzGJSYevI-N2w70XQfBklGqOcJ10irFHsvnSq-RoCXSkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

We planned to start at six months as advised but at 5.5 months DC took food off my plate and ate it so we decided she was ready! We've never pureed anything and never bought pureed anything. We've never made special meals for our DC. DC has always eaten what me and DH are eating and almost always fed herself - first with her fingers and now, at nearly two, she uses a fork and spoon (we did do 'loaded spoons' for rice 'cos it's tricky to pick up with your fingers!)

All of this was HV recommended. My HV is of the opinion that all baby food - the jars, pouches etc should banned, not just baby rice, as hardly any of it is as healthy as it should be. I remember seeing Ella's Kitchen resdy made bolognese in the supermarket and wondering how it was different from my DH's homemade bolognese - the answer was in the ingredients it's list: it's full of crap you don't put in homemade bolognese!

^^ ditto

I'm always gobsmacked by the amount of sugar in rusks. One 17g Farleys original rusk has 4.9g of sugar - a 16.7g Mcvities chocolate digestive has the same amount!

The Farleys 'reduced sugar' rusk still has 3.4g sugar in per biscuit, whereas a plain Mcvities digestive has 2.4g