Rusks, yoghurts with sugar - really so bad?

[MissDuffy]

Rusks and sugary stuff are bad because we don't want our babies to develop a taste for sugar, right? But didn't our mums feed us rusks? I didn't have a sweet tooth as a child and now eat healthily as an adult.

Just wondering because my 6 month old likes rusks more than anything else I have given him and rejects spoon-feeding except when I have offered him some of my (sugar added) yoghurt.

Are these things really so bad? Seem like a good way for him to get the hang of eating... Or am I creating an addiction? (this isn't all I'm offering him - it's just all he wants from what's on offer so far...)

Would you weaning your LO on jammie doggers? It's your choice what you give them obviously. As long as you don't delusion yourself that you are feeding him healthy food.

Btw I wasn't ever given rusk.

Avoid the sugars baby doesn't need them

You can get so many baby biscuits and yoghurts with no added sugar or salt it seems silly to give things full of sugar. Six months is still really young.

My step dad's mum used to give him creamed butter and sugar he doesn't have a sweet tooth...

I wouldn't (and didn't) avoid sugar because of it encouraging a sweet tooth or anything, but because loads of carbs are not the sort of food that babies need, so it's pointless providing them when they will simply replace the food that they do need. Sugar is not unhealthy, it's not addictive in itself, it can impact taste preference and positive associations which might lead you to eat more, but unless you are unhealthy (e.g. lack of exercise leading to insulin resistence) it won't matter much if your carbs are sugar even as an adult.

Babies don't normally show distinct preference for sweet food when given a free choice, and I don't know of any evidence that suggests it helps them get the hang of eating. How are you presenting the food and what is he rejecting / accepting?

I tried pureed and mashed veg from 5 months (some homemade, some organic packet stuff - I'm not all evil) but with limited success - he didn't take to the spoon very well.

From 6 months I've been offering him a range of finger food - pieces of well cooked broccoli, carrot, sweet potato, toast, cheese, banana, cooked apple, plain yoghurt with pureed fruit and...rusks. I think he likes the rusk because he he can clamp his gums on it. A few times he has taken no interest in the food in front of him, then I've introduced a rusk, and after sucking on that for a bit he has started to explore the other stuff - hence me thinking it can't be all bad (in as much as it's served as a bridge to further food). But I guess it was a bit silly of me to post a question on giving sugary food to young babies!

Will look out for the sugar-free baby biscuits.

I dont actually avoid them. The problem I see is empty calories. Baby has a very small stomach. We dont want to fill it with junk food. This applies to also those low fat high fibre food, like bran or quorn. So it's not just biscuits. They do get used to eating without being given biscuits or puddings. Has he started drinking water yet? That is another one where many fell for juice because it's easier to get them to drink sugar water. But if you give nothing but water, they will drink it eventually.

Btw DD does get puddings from 6mo. But occasionally only. She had icecreams, biscuits, cakes, ice pops. She definitely prefers sweet things, unlike what fredgeorge sees. She goes mad with chocolate cake. With icecreams, she screws up her face but will keep eating.

Btw my FIL insists he was weaned on coffee. It's the only thing he will drink. He is still living .

He will get there, he's still tiny it can be really frustrating when you spend time making all these lovely things and they don't eat them.

Dd went through a phase of refusing all savoury because she knew she'd get a yoghurt for pudding, I stopped giving the yoghurt for a few days and she started eating again.

All your choices are still carb other than the yogurt, and rusk is likely the easiest for her to eat as as you see it melts in the mouth. Can you try other things which are easy to eat - things which break up in the mouth easier - mince patties or cottage cheese maybe?

OneLittleBabyTerror Do you present the deserts as seperate things? Or do you put them on the tray at the same time as other food? Also remember cake and ice cream trigger fat identification in the brain as well as sweet. But the studies didn't show that no babies had a preference for carbs and sweetness just generally, and as soon as the baby is using more when more mobile they did tend to show more of a preference, but that's the later stages of weaning.

it is true all three of those are quite bad but dont beat yourself up, think of how you can change it a little at a time ie: swap the rusks for porrage oats they soak up the youghart mine love it.. instead of sugar grate an apple or pear or a banana going brown they are naturally sweet.
i hope this is a little usefull, i dont think a little sugar hurts i belive that if they have a little one or two times a week is ok but not as a treat i think my kids chould behave well with out bribes on a friday night or something..
if they are deprived of something they will creat to get it, so hide it from me when there are bigger, i want my kids to be up front with me..

Just watching. I have a 6mo and the only sugary stuff he's had is fruit. Doing BLW and he's given most food a shot, but loved peach - ate practically a whole one the other day! It may be the texture as well as the sweetness he likes - DS loves toast with various toppings, pancakes with cheese, and porridge fingers (equal amounts of oats and milk, zap for 2 mins, slice into fingers, zap for another min, leave to cool for min 20 mins) if you want more carby but healthy things. Babies need 30% fat in their diet and not too much fibre as someone upthread said.

also i have given my kids the choice to see what they would go for a bit of chocolate or a bowl of fruit salad and they go for the fruit salad EVERY TIME...
if sweet things are so special to kids all the time they wont willingly choose the fruit they will go stright for the sweets.

In and amongst all the other things my ds ears he has rusks. Every 3rd day he might have one for pudding he usually has fruit of somekind but also has custard some days too. Everything in moderation is healthier than banning certain foods. My ds is 7 months, my dd is 8 and I didn't do blw with her and she had lots of puddings as my dad looked after her 2 days while I worked. She now doesn't care for sweet things and puddings except rice pudding! She will choose fruit salad in restaurants. So I don't think its always the case it will lead to sugar addiction! Try rich tea biscuits instead as they are the lowest sugar biscuits if your worried.

Rice cake is pretty easy as a first food too, if you want something melt in the mouth. I think someone else suggested burger patties early. They are really great. As they just breaks into mince once in the mouth.

If you look on the packaging, you'll see the rusks are basically 30% sugar. That's similar to custard cream.s (I think jammie doggers are a bit sweeter, to be fair). It's definitely fine to give in moderation. I agree there's no reason to ban biscuits at all. Just not every meal.

Fredgeorge it depends on situation when DD gets the cake. Say if we have a cake while she has her tea, she'll whine until she gets a piece of cake. Usually only after we've finished our cakes, she'll be happy to go back to her tea.

Bourbon thanks for porridge fingers idea- sounds perfect Is your 6m old happy in the high chair? Mine is sometimes but often doesn't like to be confined, which makes things the BLW ideal of a family meal with everyone joining in a bit tricky

Burgers too - haven't tried meat yet (I don't eat it myself though cook it for my husband, and will shortly begin doing so for DS).

Thanks everyone for responses.

My 6mo isn't very good at sitting up yet so isn't massively comfy in high chair but seems happy enough so I'm persevering - sometimes I just sit him on my lap. Messy business though, especially banana which seems to have welded itself to everything within a couple of metres of the table

Key thoughts that have helped me:

1. Food really is just for fun before one - milk is much more nutritious than eg half a carrot

1. A quote from the BLW book from a parent who said they regretted worrying so much about what their baby was eating and they wished they had focused on what mealtimes were like iyswim

1. Relax!

And yes porridge fingers are fab. You can also squidge some fruit purée into the mix before cooking to add flavour, but DS loves them plain too.

yeah banana is messy. But weetabix is the worst I think. Seems to turn into rock as soon as it hits the floor, table, wall...
And the food that he mashes into his ear =

My DD is almost 1 and she was weaned at 17 weeks. To begin with, everything was sugar and salt free - Just baby rice and fruit or veg puree, introduced as per Anabel Karmel's guidelines. At 6 months we introduced fromage frais and began to mix vegetables into purees and mushy foods. I also introduced organic veggie crisps and fruit as a finger food. Now, at almost 12 months she has everything. I feed her as I would myself, 95% of her food is healthy, balanced and nutritious. The other 5% is made up of things like rusks. Its about a balance at the end of the day xx

Have you tried Rachel's organic yoghurts? They are no added sugar and are very nice, I eat them myself!

very glad you have raised this MissDuffy! I have been using (reduced sugar) rusks myself and feeling very guilty about it. However, my DS is not taking readily to food and the rusks appeal because he can hold them himself. He's only really sucking a little off (I give him half a rusk to hold while I feed him some fresh, mashed fruit/veg (or sometimes a bit of porridge), so not consuming a great deal iyswim.
My main reasoning is that they have added iron and some blood tests he had recently showed that his iron is low. Until he is actually 'eating' his mashed-up broccoli, carrots etc (rather than spreading them all over himself/his dad) I want to try and get some iron into him if I can.
I also can't give him any dairy (as he seems to have reacted badly to milk proteins/soya in my breastmilk...) so am looking to 'up' his calories a bit where possible. Anyway that's my justification - but you can tell I do feel a bit guilty about it!
And ftrI was raised on rusks myself. I do have a very sweet tooth but am a very healthy size/weight and eat well 99% of the time although the other 1% is spent nomming chocolate :-)