I don't understand baby rice

[lurcherlover]

DS is 20 weeks and I haven't started weaning yet. He watches us eat but doesn't seem particularly interested in grabbing food, and can't yet sit up comfortably on his own. I want to do BLW when he is ready.

But all I'm hearing from everyone is "have you given him baby rice yet?" as if it's some magical food, and I don't get it! To me, it seems a strange thing to give him - it looks bland and it doesn't seem very nutritious. I was planning on starting with sticks of cooked veg when DS seems ready. But is there something good about baby rice that means I should offer that first? And how is he meant to feed himself with it if I do?

It bulks up mashed fruit and veg a little.
It's fortified with vitamins.
It's more traditional than actually necessary.
THere are better things to give your child and there are far worse. It's kind of neutral.

Yup, boring and neutral. I used to use it to turn soup into something more baby-friendly.

I think some people like it because if you make it up with their usual milk then it tastes kind of familiar. We didn't bother with it.

Tradition has a lot to do with it. And if you wean earlier some babies prefer milky rice which tastes familiar. By 6m or so most of them seem to enjoy different tastes and won't need their food to be bland.

I've never given DD any, it isn't essential.

I didn't give it to any of mine as a meal but used it as a thickener if food was too runny.

Completely unnecessary if you're BLW. It's smooth and gloopy and designed for weaning babies onto purees.

People also seem to think filling babies up with stodgy rice will make them sleep through. Which is a load of old twoddle as far as I can make out

Stick with your plan of roast veg sticks once he's ready ;)

Ds1 was never really keen but ds2 loved it. It isn't essential and I only used it for the first few weeks of weaning. If you are going down the finger food only route I can't see how baby rice fits in with that.

I don't either, most people I know seem to start wit it because "it's what you do". I haven't bothered with it.

never bothered with Baby Rice for DD2 and DD3. Makes good wallpaper paste though!

I used it with dd1, because she was weaned early on paed's advice and I wanted to avoid anything related to allergies (ground/flaked rice is blandest and easiest to digest of all the grains).

I blw-ed dd2 and didn't bother with it.

Ds will only take the runniest/milkiest of purees, and baby rice seems to be the only thing that thickens it just enough, and doesn't 'clag' in his mouth. I'm actually on my second packet!

I've only ever used it to thicken fruit purees as they can go a bit watery.
DD won't eat it on its own.

It doesn't contain gluten. So, shouldn't cause a problem allergy-wise as a first food. Bland but easily mixed with fruit or veg to bulk them out and be a 'filling' food.

Someone had given us some (in a big baby shower basket!) and we used it the first time we offered Baby food, just to see how she would get on (I was nervous about weaning!). We used it twice, and haven't used it since. I did try and mix it with mashed fruit once for a pudding, but she refused it.