Why do people give rice cakes to their small children??

[moondog]

Is it for chewing practice or wot?
There are bugger all calories or goodness in them.

I always said that I'd NEVER give ds rice cakes!

but he had them all the time when he was littler.
they didn't disintegrate, he didn't end up with crumbs all over him and they didn't have sugar or salt added.

he had them as a little snack when out and about to keep him quiet

Organix ones with apple have been the naughtiest snack in the house for some months now, LOL. I schnuffle as many down as is reasonable to deprive dd of.

Have never tried them myself, take it they are nice then?

Don't know & think they are disgusting. I can smell them a mile off, think they smell vile - really gross. The stench lingers of people's breath afterwards too. Urgh.

mmmmmmmmmmm.

Consensusseems to be that they don't make a mess,shut them up temporarily and some mummies like 'em then??

I love the smell actually.
They're like herbal teas in that they smell awhole lot better than they taste.

Rice cakes smell? Of what? Rice? [nonplussed emoticon]

think that's pretty much it moondog!

Ooh yes,juslt like popcorn,which I make and eat precisely b ecause of the smell.

Corncakes??
I say,this adds a whole new dimension.
Never seen 'em.

They are with the big ricecakes in the supermarkets and health food shops - in a bright yellow packet.

They are sexy. Try them, moondog (glad to see you back to your lower case self btw - how's Turkey? OK?)

OOOh I'll try anything me!
Turkey great thanks GS. Warming up nicely and the cherryblossom out.
Lots of eating out,and loafing around the flat reading. Children very happy to be with daddy and vice versa.

sounds delightful moondog, especially the cherry blossom. My plum trees all came into blossom this week - beautiful

corncakes are much nicer than plain rice cakes (wholemeal or white) which taste like polystyrene in my opinion. DS tolerates the apple organix ricecakes which I actually quite like but won't touch the corncakes or oatcakes which I think are lovely.

In answer to the original question I gave ricecakes to my 7 month old ds as I was worried about choking and ricecakes are not likely to choke a child as they go to mush when they come into contact with saliva so even if a large bit was swallowed whole I reasoned that it would mush down before he choked on it.

Ds seemed to like them for a while hence I kept giving them - now he's not so keen but they are easy to carry around and if he is agitating for a snack too close to meal time he sometimes gets a flavoured rice cake (usually organix apple or spicy flavoured - if I can find them)

they make a horrible mess if you have a baby that sucks them until they dissolve then wipes the goo everywhere

and they smell of bottoms

thye are shite
giev em a sausage roll

or a biscuit fgs

Yes they do make a horrible mess, a horrible sticky mess!

Ahh but the peace and quiet..!

Anyway I justify by rice cakes being the only fingerfood that ds will put near his mouth, everything else gets examined in minute detail, waved around, offered back to me and then eventually ends up on the floor.

Ds managed to hold onto a cube of cheese for an hour yesterday, and not once did it come within spitting distance of his mouth :o

my dts are munching cheese ricecakes right now! They are a good alternative to bread all the time, mine often have them for lunch with cheese and fruit. I've never tried them, don't appeal to me, but dd, ds and dp all like them, so they can't be that bad.