How to introduce baby rice

[jumblejam]

I'm just about to start our 5 1/2 month olds on baby rice, but I'm not sure how to do it as everyone seems to say different things!
GF advocates offering them their bottle at 11, then the baby rice. My Mum says the other way around. The HV says offer them the milk, then the baby rice an hour later.
What to do?
GF also suggests switching this to 6pm once the rice is being taken well. This seems quite late to me as it'd mean I'm plonking them straight into their bath after feeding...and I like the bed time bottle.
And tips, please. What worked for you? Thanks x

Personally I wouldnt let GF, who has never met your baby, dictate how and when you feed it. Have you tasted baby rice? Why not start on carrot instead?

W+hatever you feed them, I found milk, then food an hour later worked best. Milk is still the main source of nutrition and food should be for playing with at this age.

Saying that, I never bothered with baby rice, its vile. I went straight to letting the boy nick green beans off my plate and let him muck about with well cooked soft food. If mush is your weaning food of choice, give them some pear or carrot puree.

And I would start with just lunch for a week or so and increase from there according to how your child seems with food.

Open the packet, mix with a little water or bm and then apply to the wallpaper in an even paste. Hang quickly before it dries.

I started with gluten free porridge but not near feeding time, I.e. I offered it about 2 hours after the morning bottle. After a few days I offered fruit puree instead, then a few days later veg.

I only ever used baby rice as a thickener for fruit and veg purees, but Tbh the BLW is the way to go!

Agree with others - forget baby rice, start on fruit and veg. Sweet potato, carrot, parsnip, butternut squash all good to start with. I think GFmakes it much more complicated than it needs to be.

I used to give DD a quick 'half' BF then lunch then the rest of the BF after. That way she wasn't so hungry she would be frustrated and not eat, but equally not so full that she wasn't interested.

Have you ever tasted baby rice? I did, and swore never to give it again. It mings. :o Try porridge (or puree fruit or BLW) instead. :)

Sod the baby rice or puréed carrot.

Make your lunch. Give some to baby. Job done.

Have just tasted baby rice and I agree, it's gruesome!
Having said that, I also tried SMA milk and that is even worse. Revolting stuff!
Thanks for all your advice. I think I'll try giving the bottle, then the mush a little later.
I'm reluctant to even start thinking about weaning as they've just started to go through the night and I've a feeling messing around with food - if I get it wrong - could send us hurtling back to multiple night time wake ups and an extremely frazzled mummy!

I started at lunchtime, giving milk then baby rice an hour later. Generally I gave milk an hour before solids to make sure she got enough milk. I loosely followed GF feeding times but adapted it slightly to fit around DD's natural sleeping pattern. I don't think that introducing solids will increase night waking.

Thanks Munro. Can you remember your times, roughly? And can you put them straight down for a nap after they've had baby rice? If I left an hour, there'd be 15 minutes til their nap. Is this ok? (I know, I worry too much!!)
Thanks

Hi junblejam. My DTs are 6 1/2 months so have been on solids for a few weeks. I roughly followed GF but am kind of doing my own thing now, and I decided to start with breakfast then add tea later. Rough routine for week one was:
7am bf
8am baby porridge mixed with some fruit purée. So far pear, mango, raspberry and peach have been well received!
9am nap
11am bf + bottle
12pm nap
3pm bf + bottle
5pm cat nap
6pm bath, 630pm bottle and then bed

Week 2 I added tea at 4pm. Started with puréed root veg such as sweet potato, carrot, butternut squash etc.

Week 3 I added lunch immediately after the 11am bf, then gave bottle afterwards which they only take a few ounces. I am giving protein at lunchtimes.

I'm only in week 4 but it's going ok and no night wakings yet so must be working ok!

If you are going the puréed root I recommend a babycook steamer/liquidisers. I have puréed and frozen lots of individual pots of ingredients and I am then combining them rather than making recipes eg sweet potato with salmon etc

Good luck!

Theanks, ceeveebee.
That is brill. It gives me a really good idea. I've never been able to follow GFs times exactly but the thought of coping with two and not having a routine just doen't bear thinking about! Thanks x

I gave Will baby rice straight after his bottle at lunchtime. I am reading GF at the moment and do give food at lunchtime as he is less tired and more alert to new things at that time. Also, I made it with his milk. It is just thick milk. I am puzzled how people can say it is vile considering it is mixed with milk. Does that mean their milk is vile? Will on aptamil and his is very sweet (according to my taste buds!)

It's not vile IMO, just tasteless, if you are going to give them a different texture its nice to add a bit of flavour, that's why I started with porridge, it has a different taste to the milk, or a nice fruit puree...or a bit of toast :o

I gave my DD baby rice around lunchtime when she was that age, an hour or so after morning bottle and before nap. Then again around 5pm - about 2 hours after afternoon bottle and an hour and a half before bedtime.

She loved it - the rice is about texture for them - it tastes the same as their milk and you can make it as thick or as runny as you like. IMO it gets them used to food. I only used it for a week or so before moving on to other things but worked well for us.

Do what works for you and your baby - you know best as you are mummy!

I think baby rice is pointless but that's just my opinion. It seems another con for new parents to buy. I don't follow GF, and my DD doesn't seem harmed that I didn't give baby rice for a week to ease her into solid food. But then I'm mean, and she ate NHS chicken nuggets and roast potatoes at 7mo (when she was admitted with bronchiolitis). That's the only thing they serve in the childrens ward, and everyone was wowing and wooing over a 7mo eating the food instead of baby rice and jars.

Btw, the NHS chicken and pototes are vile . Probably move vile than baby rice.

I think people who wean earlier than 6 months use it, at 6 months my baby was eating toast, sticks of cheese and rice cakes...they amaze you at how capable they are!