To give my 3 month old baby rice ?

[Julias21]

shes 3 months old , (2 weeks off 4 months) and she’s chewing her hands a lot and taking over 7oz sometimes every 3 hours . My sister gives her 3 month old (only just turned 3 months) one wee spoonful at night . Apparently it can help them sleep at night . Thoughts ? I got the organic aptimal rice as she’s on aptimal milk. Could she choke ? Could she have an allergic reaction ? Wouldn’t do it if it’s unsafe just one wee taste at night ! Thanks x

Absolutly wait until 6 months, milk only until then and fine to feed more milk per feed, don’t drop any feeds yet, they are babies only source of food.

save yourself a tonne of money and buy a £4 stick blender from Argos, then blend food to start your baby off weaning at 6 months. You could blend some potato, broccoli and cheese (with butter added), or apple and peas for example, (use the sold packets for ideas of mixtures and make your own at a fraction of the price) you could offer finger food such as streamed carrot, cucumber.

most will get thrown on the floor initially but thats normal.

unless you literally have money to burn there is no need to buy a pouch they are a marketing ploy

Thank you so much everyone , I’m just really scared to introduce solids incase of choking and scared of weaning incase of a severe allergy so I just wanna do what’s best and to avoid it 🥲 6 months it is !

OP what you've heard about early weaning and allergies is a specific situation- there is evidence to suggest that being introduced to peanut allergen in babies from 4-6 months can reduce the risk. This is done under medical supervision and with tiny tiny amounts of peanut, for babies at high risk eg strong family history of peanut allergy.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/peanut-allergies-could-fall-by-77-if-babies-weaned-early-on-peanut-products#:~:text=Previous%20research%20led%20by%20Professor,and%20help%20reverse%20this%20trend.
For an average baby without this high risk, it is safest to wait to introduce any solid food until 6 months and following the readiness guides as per the NHS link above.
Baby rice contains high levels of arsenic and is nutritionally useless- don't give it.
There is no need to give purees as you've seen you can buy, it's just marketing to try and make money. From 6 months give your baby actual food of many textures. If you would eat it puree consistency ie mashed banana or yoghurt, then give to baby the same. Look up Baby Led Weaning book by Gillian Rapley. Honestly don't waste your time pureeing fruit and veg and spooning it in, baby doesn't need that.
Do ensure you include peanut in the form of smooth peanut butter from 6 months to reduce the allergy risk, and as many other nuts as you can. I ground up nuts in a blender and added a spoonful to porridge regularly to make sure baby was getting enough exposure.

Whilst i agree on the baby rice, there is definitely evidence that 4-6m is the best time to introduce allergens.

When i was weaning (a few years ago but not a hugely long time ago), I read the WHO guidance on why they recommend just milk for 6m. It's a pretty long and comprehensive document, but gut readiness was not given as a reason at all. It's about the increase in risk of food poisoning compared with breast milk, it's about delaying period return and therefore better family spacing in poorer countries, it's about women loosing on average an extra pound of baby weight. Not gut readiness.

Remember, 6m is only the recommendation in the UK. In most of Europe it's 4-6m. They have access to the same research as us, so clearly there isn't a clear cut answer.

I know mums who gave their baby their first "foods" when they were 4 months old, I held off until 5.5 months and definitely would not have done it unless she wasn't interested.

Baby needs to be able to sit in chair upright properly, holding own head, no slouching and needs to be interested. This means, is baby watching you intently every time you eat or drink something? I noticed my baby follow my every move when I drank something (it's actually very cute 😊)

Hands in mouth is not a sign they are ready for solids, this happens for soooo many other reasons, their mouth is so sensitive and is how they explore things.

There is no rush to start your baby on solids and definitely don't on the basis of what other people do/did. They don't actually need food at this age, even when you start weaning it's all about getting used to tastes and textures, testing the gag reflex etc, it's not to fill them up.

It hard when you're a first time mum with so much conflicting information but just go with your gut instincts and when it's right for baby, that's all that matters 😊

Gut instincts don't matter in the case of weaning. Just evidence based science 😊

Wowwww Thanks @NKOTB4Life this is SO interesting

We waited until 6m just because I am not very imaginative/ was told too 😂😂 but this was illuminating!!!

You sound like you need to contact your health visiting team to ask for a weaning visit.

You don't sound certain about any of the guidelines or how to actually start with first foods. They're there to support you with this.

@Julias21 I don't know where you live but most areas the health visitors do "introduction to solid foods" classes either in person or online. Have a look or ask your health visitor about them. I wouldn't have known these existed but my friends were more switched on than me! It's worth looking it up now as in my area they are only a couple of times a month and get booked up so you could book on now to be prepared.

I did baby led weaning with my first (solid foods and self feeding - no purees or spoon feeding). It worked great. My second struggled to get the hang of it so I tried purées but he really didn't like being fed so I have just held off and he's finally getting into it now at 8 months. They really don't need food for quite a while so those early months (6-9 months or maybe even beyond) are just for practice. They can still survive on milk.

Best of luck x

Thank you il ask health visitor for support and Info when she’s close to 6 months .
sorry if I sounded silly for asking , I’m just not sure ! So much information out there. There isn’t a family history of nuts or anything I don’t think but for some reason I’m absolutely petrified to give her it cause it’s a really common allergy 😢 I sometimes use pure peanut butter ( nothing in it just blended peanuts) when time comes should I just try her with that ? So scary being a parent 🤣

Advice changes. Find a reputable, national, trustworthy reference and use that. But no you don't give a baby that young food.

When I say using peanut butter I meant for myself not baby

It's a complete myth that it helps them sleep through the night. Their tummies aren't ready for food until 6 months unless advised by a Dr.

Babies at that age have just found their hands and chew them like crazy, it's all very normal and not a sign that they want proper food.

My ridiculously competitive SiL does this. She seems to think that early weaning is a badge of honour. Just wait til 6 months as NHS suggests. At that point no rice is necessary, it's not even supposed to be very good for them!

I would hold off, we had the go ahead from the gp to do it earlier due to extreme reflux and tbh it didn't help at all and it definitely didn't help with sleep! Also if I was to have another I wouldn't be rushing to wean, its a messy process 😅

@Julias21 don't feel silly for asking. You can't know what you don't know.

Our local hospital has an ASDA on site. We went and parked, gave our baby a small spoon of peanut butter, did a shop while we observed her then went home as all was fine! Figured if anything happened we'd be next to A&E! 😂

There was loads I didn't know. Much of it might seem obvious to others but it wasn't to me.

Enjoy your little one x

Absolutely not. Do not do this. Hand chewing is a normal stage in her development, my daughter started doing this at around 2 months (she's now 5 months). The very earliest they say that you can begin to wean a baby onto solids is 17 weeks, even then it is not recommended for reasons previous posters have stated. Her body is not equipped for solid food yet. She needs to be able to sit up without support for a start, which at 3 months old a baby would not be able to do. There are a few other things you look out for before you even consider weaning. Hang on, I'll find a link. Please be careful. Feeding a baby of that age could definitely lead to choking.

As far as I'm aware the advice is not to give nuts until the age of 5. My youngest is nearly 10 so the guidance may have changed in the meantime. Definitely do some research on reputable websites like the nhs and WHO guidelines. And ask your health visitor for a visit, and if she can recommend any parenting sessions for advice and guidance on weaning.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/weaning-baby-foods-what-can-baby-eat/z4xfpg8?utmsource=google&utmmmedium=cpc&utmcampaign=weaning&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqsitBhDlARIsAGMR1Rhc2rgv66O3a7UFxe8b99dRwXfn9PqkAIeceuskfqzv0NsSURm8VUMaAhOEEALwwwcB

Milk is more calorific than baby rice, so I'm unsure why you think this would help.

The 6 month thing is an undisputed global benefit but only applies to breastmilk. If a baby is on formula they’re not seeing those benefits and there’s really good research done in the U.K. that shows weaning from 17 weeks has real benefits in reducing allergy. Given that we are in an allergy ‘epidemic’ in the west I would absolutely wean from 17 weeks but definitely not before.

My eldest is 11 and we were definitely encouraged to include nuts as part of weaning when she was small - but not whole ones as it could cause a choking hazard (along with whole cherry tomatoes and grapes). Is that perhaps what you're thinking of? AFAIK the evidence is that introducing a wide variety of foods at an appropriate time (mostly between 6-12 months) is the best route to take in most cases.

I would also still wean a breastfed baby slowly from 17 weeks and did with dc 2. They don’t appear to have any allergies, where as dc 1 weaned later does and is generally poorer health than dc2. Both EBF. Anecdotal of course but it seems to have worked.

4 months is only with GP/HV approval and guidance it is 6 months for everyone else which may be why it says 4-6 months. I remember my sister weaning her children 20 years ago when the guidance was 4 months. It's is definitely 6 months (but still must be sitting up unaided etc even at 6 months) don't risk it.

My MIL kept saying to me to put a rusk in their bottle which I ignored!

You're best speaking to your health visitor though.

This is true, no solid nuts until aged 5. Nut butters are fine from 6 months though. Obviously with some caution!