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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

My local Waitrose are selling baby cereal that says on the packet it can be added to bottles from four months

99 replies

AnarchyAunt · 30/10/2008 14:42

Its this stuff and the packet carries instructions on making up a bottle feed of cereal mixed with full fat milk, from four months.

What do I quote to the manager when I go in there to complain later? Or is it technically legal despite being v v dangerous?

OP posts:
Woooozle100 · 30/10/2008 22:22

its a really good porridge tho

I bought them from Holland over the internet for dd - only place I could get gluten free baby cereals then.

Was dead chuffed I could buy them from ocodo for ds when I started weaning him in the spring. TBH I just ignored the bottle feeding instructions - thought twas a bit odd and didn't occurred to me to do it. Thought it just reflected practices in country of origin

And plenty of babies do have thickened milk here for reflux /dysphagia

Brangelina · 30/10/2008 22:24

Plasmon is as much sugary shite as any other biscuit. I have always assiduously avoided that brand as they tout their wares as being nutritious when they are nothing but refined sugar and a bit of flour.

Brangelina · 30/10/2008 22:25

DD used to love Holle's millet porridge, as well as their spelt. I never bought any other cereals.

Woooozle100 · 30/10/2008 22:30

agree Brange. I did buy the plum one cos it was there in a real touchy shop but the Holle stuff much better and cheaper. Be a shame to campaign it out the shops

Brangelina · 30/10/2008 22:37

I would have thought that people who shell out on the stuff in Waitrose would not be the most uninformed, non? Or am I makiing sweeping generalistaions about the intelligence of the average Waitrose shopper? I used to buy this in a health food supermarket and most people who go in there tend to be quite clued up, so would just disregard the "quaint" instructions.

Maybe getting Waitrose to apply a sticker over the offending instructions might be a solution? Or asking Holle to omit those instructions completely? Boh.

Brangelina · 30/10/2008 22:39

...quite clued up about nutrition I meant to write.

My hands can't keep up with my gallopping thoughts, so it seems. Either that or my reflexes are slowing...

Original poster
AnarchyAunt · 30/10/2008 22:42

Well, where I live Waitrose is the only supermarket in town apart from a glorified convenience store type Somerfield.

So everyone goes to Waitrose, even the stupid uninformed poor people

Must be v v galling for those who shop there by choice.

OP posts:
Brangelina · 30/10/2008 22:47

Yes, but the uninformed people wouldn't necessarily go for the posh foreign stuff. Or do Waitrose not stock Heinz/Cow and Gate/whatever brand is the rage at the mo?

littleducks · 30/10/2008 22:53

my dd is two she loves those plasmon biscuits (as do i tbh) i havent got the packet here but i thought they were vit enriched and less sweet than 'adult' biscuits, have i been had?

i also bought this for ds, tell me now is it cr*p, i though mixed with milk and some mashed banana it was a quite nice

littleducks · 30/10/2008 22:55

I qould have thought waitrose just need to stick a sticjker, like on imported coke etc, the ingrediants are put on a sticker in English

Woooozle100 · 30/10/2008 23:02

Yes, but the uninformed people wouldn't necessarily go for the posh foreign stuff

aye - not when you could pop a bit of rusk / weetabix in the bottle and get same effect

Brangelina · 30/10/2008 23:07

Littleducks - the vit enrichment is totally unecessary, better to get vits from real food than fake biscuits, plus if your DD is eating a varied diet she'll have those vits already, but I'm sure you know that. The reduced sugar thing is misleading because a) there is always far too much added sugar in baby foods anyway and b) they still taste sweet which is encouraging a sweet tooth anyway. Also, iirc they replace some of the "sugar" with grape juice or something, which is essentially the same thing. Much better a breadstick. Less fun for you but a baby knows no better and it's cheaper.

re the Semolina, you can get ground semolina/semolina flour which is pretty instant, or even the more common "normal" semolina which you cook up with milk (memories of childhood puddings, do they still sell the stuff?). It's a bit like you can buy normal rice flour instead of spending money on "baby" rice. Or even grind up normal rice you have in your larder.

Lol at the olive oil with extra vitamins that's on the same page. These vitamins are only necessary if you feed your poor child on nothing but Plasmon products.

Sorry about the rant, I really hate the way these food companies play on the anxieties of new parents to sell their products. None of these products are actually necessary. It's all a total con imo and a way of grooming your child's tastte buds for the next generation of processed crap made by the same company.

Brangelina · 30/10/2008 23:09

Blimey, I do sound like I have an axe to grind, don't I?

hunkermunker · 30/10/2008 23:17

Bienchen, is lactose added to help prevent constipation that would otherwise not have occurred if the baby wasn't being given cereal in their bottles?

Original poster
AnarchyAunt · 31/10/2008 08:11

Yes all Waitrose need to do is stick a sticker on it if they want to keep selling it. They'll only do it if they are made aware of the issue though!

OP posts:
Anna8888 · 31/10/2008 08:14

There is nothing illegal about weaning onto solids at four months.

Original poster
AnarchyAunt · 31/10/2008 08:22

No I know, and have said on this thread several times that its not the 'from four months' bit I am bothering with - all the baby food companies do that and they aren't going to stop any time soon.

Its the detailed instructions on mixing with fresh milk and sugar, then feeding to a 4mth old from a bottle, that I think are appalling.

OP posts:
Anna8888 · 31/10/2008 08:25

I agree that fresh milk and sugar are not suitable nutrients for babies.

But there are masses of foods available in supermarkets (even Waitrose) that I don't think are suitable nutrients for humans. We all have to use our judgement every day to purchase food that we think is nutritious - the rules and regulations governing what may be on sale are pretty loose.

Peachy · 31/10/2008 09:36

That's true Anna (and having had babies over the last decade have done it myself); what worries me is geneally four month old foods in this country are gluten free- its the six month ones you have to check (not exclusivel;y but often- as a Mum of a GF baby am well used to it!)- this isn't gluten free and when we used to wean at 4 months we (at least the advice was, and I did) avoided gluten. Now they say 6 months that advice isn't as well disseminated, iyswim?

Bienchen · 31/10/2008 13:07

Hunker, lactose used to be (and may still be but I don't know as I don't live abroad anymore and my kids are older now, so I wouldn't look for this) recommended to help with digestion, ie constipation. There are breastfed babies with constipation and mixed fed babies with constipation, so I would not simply assume that constipation is caused by the cereal.

Lactose is not normally given automatically and I hope this is not what came across in my post.

I think it is a good idea to make Waitrose aware of the issue as feeding practices vary so much from country to country.

Lonnie · 31/10/2008 18:36

Just picking up on the value Sausage comments..

Waitrose does sell value Sausages (frozen ones) and actually they are good..

(I shop there - but didn't use any baby food items for my last 2 so its a moot point for me)

beforesunrise · 31/10/2008 19:27

i am glad i am not the only one who thinks Holle is a great brand! can't you just IGNORE these stupid instructions and use their trully very very good porridges as you would baby rice or ready brek?? it does seem to me that we are perhaps getting slightly too exercised about this.

moreover i have now noticed that Hipp and someone else are selling "good night formula" which is formula with added cereals (i think?), those are british brands how come they are allowed to do it?

personally i say use your common sense. i wouldn't add cereal to my baby's bottle at 4m but i probably would at 10 or 14 or whatever. and before you all jump out at me- my dd is almost exclusively bf (with only couple oz formula at night over the past 2 weeks) and she is now 24 weeks.

AccidentalMum · 31/10/2008 19:39

Hipp Goodnight milk is 75% formula powder and 25% cereals. They came on the market between my two and I was really shocked as the advice not to add your own cereal to bottles did not seem to have changed.

Bienchen · 31/10/2008 20:00

Beforesunrise, Hipp is a German company, albeit with a distribution office in Berkshire (and decent translators).

Olifin · 31/10/2008 21:20

The thing is, so many people on this thread have waxed lyrical about the Holle cereals that now my curiosity is aroused and I may have to try offering them to DS for breakfast, since he's not very impressed with the Organix porridge (which is hardly surprising, given its resemblance to wallpaper paste).

So, Holle fans, what is that you really like about the cereal?

(Sorry OP, still recognising that the advice on the packet is erroneous and possibly dangerous but just ever-so-slightly curious about its potential as a weaning food for 7 month old)