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

No it's not a good idea and it won't help her sleep either. Even when a baby strays weaning at 6 months baby rice is no longer recommend. It is empty calories

Don’t wean till 6 months.

Hi OP, lots of good advice here. I really recommend the book 'How to wean your baby' by Charlotte Stirling-Reed. Lots of advice about baby led weaning, allergies and meal ideas. Also the first steps nutrition website.

Knowledge is power. If you read into gagging vs choking and how to safely introduce allergens then you'll feel a lot more confident.

Weaning is fun but it is extra work! Enjoy not having that extra thing while you can!

You could just boil and then blend veggies, but I don't think midwives recommend solids under 6 months unless there's a particular reason. Sometimes babies just want to suck their fists because they've just discovered them. Do you have a big baby?

Bloody hell. No way. This is so irresponsible. Do a weaning course and find out why.

Just to say that years ago it was quite normal to wean at three months and neither of my DC have any food allergies. They were hungry and they needed food.

They will have invisible long term effects from this such as increased bowel and gastric risk factors for various diseases. We have more awareness now of this than ever before.

I'd wait until 6...when I checked with HV and labels on food saying 4+ months she said they should really do that and to wait until 6 months or as close to 6 months as possible!

In 1995 my GP recommended I offer ds a little puree. He was 12 weeks, large and insatiable. 3.5 years later, dd was the same. With both I lost 9lb between 10 weeks and 12 weeks, just trying to keep up with them. At the time guidance was 4 months. None of their friends are riddled with gut problems and neither are they.

Advice changes. Much of the issue is that research is blanket advice that does not acknowledge differences. My advice would be to read the research and interpret it. I have found most nurses and hv's focus on the leaflet and cannot answer any searching question or provide more detailed information.

My children are in their thirties( normal weight, no bowel issues), and I followed the NHS advice at the time which was to introduce baby rice at 12 weeks( first one)which had become at 16 weeks for the second one. I knew people who were giving solids at 8 weeks but that was against recommendations. You should follow the NHS/WHO guidelines for best current practice.

I started giving my dd baby rice and other food just before she turned 4 months. She's now nearly 13, perfectly healthy and happy. Do what's right for your baby

I was (and still am) just like you. Terrified of weaning but just take it slow.

When, and only when, baby is ready, start with a bit of puree. My partner wasn't comfortable with baby led weaning straight away and I would never do anything with my baby that her dad wasn't comfortable with. So we started on puréed carrots (from the supermarket so I knew it was the right consistency!).

They don't need very much at all to start with, just a couple of teaspoons max if they can handle it.

We also recently did a baby first aid course because we were worried about choking and it was so worth while!

A baby's gag reflex is a lot closer to their lips than an adults, call it a built in safety feature!! Read up on it a bit as it will ease your anxiety. And take it a little bit at a time, there's to rush to be feeding them 3 meals a day!!! It's actually quite enjoyable once they realise they like a food. My daughter can't get enough of carrot and her face is adorable when she smacks her lips together tasting it.

It's a very long time since weaning at 3 months was recommend. My eldest is about to turn 26 and the official guidance when she was a baby was "4-6 months" having changed from plain "4 months" a few years earlier. The UK adopted the WHO recommendation of 6 months in 2003. From pretty much the day that guidance was published I have been reading internet posts from people claiming " they change these things all the time" and "there's new research coming out that milk change it back soon". And maybe one day there will be. But it hasn't happened in the last twenty one years and the trend has been for later weaning for much longer than that.My eldest niece was weaned at 3-4 months I think and she is 40 this year. I think it's unlikely that the entire body of scientific work done on the subject is wrong and if there really was strong evidence to reverse the guidance we'd probably have seen it by now, especially when you consider the huge commercial interests in getting babies eating solids sooner. That is of course why companies label their products "suitable from 4-6 months". The guidance is not law so there's nothing to stop them doing so and the more babies who are weaned earlier the more money they make.
Personally, I don't think that anything magic happens overnight as a baby turns 6 months and some babies are probably ready a bit sooner and some not til a bit later. I think that "around the middle of the first year" actually makes more sense but understand that might be open to too wide a range of interpretations for it to be the official guidance. But anyway, 3 months is nowhere near the middle of the first year and it is too soon. It may, or may not harm an individual baby - nobody can tell. But it's unlikely to be necessary or helpful.
OP, your baby sounds like an absolutely normal, healthy 3 month old who is doing what 3 month old babies do don't worry.

The problem is there's no knowing if it's right because things like IBS and crohns come along much later than even 13yo. And you can't turn back the clock.

@Julias21 You mentioned wind pain in one of your posts I believe, do you use colic meds? I used dentinox in my sons milk and OMG the difference it made was amazing. Also baby massage really helps as well.

@1stTimeMummy2021 it’s only really at night I believe cause she’s taking so much more now during day and a quick burp or rock she’s fine again so it’s not major issue atm I used infacol when she was a few weeks old she used to be really bad !

Why on earth would you ?!

It’s because it’s illegal to advertise it as suitable for children younger. Baby food manufacturers just like all companies just want to make money.

Yes smooth peanut butter is perfect. Tiny bit on a finger of toast or rice cake, she'll only lick it at first, just like all her foods. There's usually a couple of months of playing with food before actually eating anything substantial if you do baby led weaning. She'll touch, lick, bring to mouth, put in, take out, and won't swallow much if anything. That's fine- she's still being exposed to the allergen. Give it regularly, 3 times a week, if you want to be absolutely certain you're giving her the best chance to avoid an allergy developing later.
Please do read about weaning in the book I mentioned earlier and attend your HV class if there is one. Weaning doesn't need to be scary and it can be really lovely seeing your baby encounter and enjoy new tastes. Don't forget that babies take many times of trying something new before they know if they like it- offer it 10 times. Spitting it out immediately is just a reaction to it being new and doesn't mean she doesn't like it.

Its very normal for 3 month old babies to chew hands - its a good thing as its a 3 mouth developmental mile stone and will help them self sooth.