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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

Radybrek for 6m old?

29 replies

mrsnlw · 09/02/2015 09:12

Our son has been weaning since 17w and getting on great. The HV said on Friday we can start giving him Readybrek rather than baby porridge. I noted salt was "trace" and couldnt find sugar on the Asda's own brand.

Anyone got experience of giving a 6m old readybrek?

OP posts:
CountingThePennies · 09/02/2015 09:15

Ready brek is fine, in fact its just the same as the baby porridge but nicer and cheaper

SoupDragon · 09/02/2015 09:16

Readybrek is fine. The "Original" variety has no added salt or sugar/sweetener. Just read the ingredient list on any own brand.

ShatterResistant · 09/02/2015 09:16

Ready brek is great- I've given it to both mine at 6 months, and weetabix. Fwiw, I mix a yoghurt or fromage frais in with the ready brek for a bit of extra dairy intake. Both (9 months and 2 today!!!) love it.

Mrscog · 09/02/2015 09:24

My DS had ready break every morning from 6m -24m. It's a brilliant breakfast, especially made up with formula. If you do this it's so packed with vitamins, it doesn't matter if they only pick at everything else you offer them.

toptomatoes · 09/02/2015 09:28

DD had ready brek from about that age and still has it every morning at nearly 2. No added sugar or salt, gets some milk in her and we often add blueberries, raisins or strawberries.

Original poster
mrsnlw · 09/02/2015 10:28

Awesome, I'll be toddling to buy some. I am assuming I just look for trace or very low salt and sugar levels?

OP posts:
gamerchick · 09/02/2015 10:31

Original is fine. In fact readybrek is the reason the doesn't believe my son is such a shit eater. It was one of the only things he would eat for a long time.

SoupDragon · 09/02/2015 10:32

I would look at the ingredients for added salt or sugar rather than just the levels shown in the nutritional information.

SoupDragon · 09/02/2015 10:33

You can just make ordinary porridge with oats though. There isn't any need to buy readybrek.

Original poster
mrsnlw · 09/02/2015 10:55

Soup I tried him with them and he just turned away in disgust - tho they were plain. Might give it a whirl with the oats a few more times with fruit stirred through and see what he thinks.

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 09/02/2015 11:01

Plain Readybrek will taste just the same as plain porridge though.

I used to make DD banana and blueberry porridge which was one of the few things she wolfed down as a baby. I just stirred chopped bananas and some blueberries into the porridge when cooking it.

Original poster
mrsnlw · 09/02/2015 11:04

ill give it a whirl

OP posts:
dementedpixie · 09/02/2015 11:05

Ordinary porridge is lumpy whereas ready brek is smooth. Original ready brek has no added salt or sugar and is fine from 6 months. Weetabix is also good for that age although it has a very small amount of added sugar/salt. Add fruit purée or even yoghurt to give a different flavour

myotherusernameisbetter · 09/02/2015 11:07

We just used plain porridge sachets - we kept pureed fruit in ice cube form and popped one in the hot porridge to melt it and cool the porridge - did the same with weetabix made with hot milk too. DS2 was up to 2 sachets of porridge every morning by 10 months though so we started just making full size oats as he was costing us a fortune!

ElphabaTheGreen · 09/02/2015 11:08

Ready Brek is a touch smoother than plain porridge, though, so may be more acceptable to some babies and also has added vitamins. I've given it to both of mine from 6m with pureed fruit stirred into it.

Looking at the label of my Aldi brand of Ready Brek, all it has is oats in a couple of different forms and vitamins. If you buy the plain one, you shouldn't need to worry about any added salt or sugar.

myotherusernameisbetter · 09/02/2015 11:09

The sachets give a very fine porridge compared to the packets/tubs of oats.

Original poster
mrsnlw · 09/02/2015 11:10

I might buy some and see. He's great with lump stuff but even i pulled a face at how yuck plain porridge was. He has lots of pureed fruit cubes in the freezer so could stir those in to jazz it up a bit.

OP posts:
Showy · 09/02/2015 11:18

Plain porridge is not yuck. I eat it most days. It is only yuck if you expect everything to be sweet. It's like tea drinkers who think unsweetened tea is yuck. It isn't. You just get too reliant on sweetness. I probably wouldn't encourage this trait in children. If he likes baby porridge, isn't that plain? Surely it was just the consistency in that case?

Mrscog · 09/02/2015 11:25

The benefit of using RB over plain oats with a baby is the fortification. I was breast feeding, but the HV told me that as he was getting fortified cereal I didn't need to add in the vitamin drops you're meant to when breast feeding at 6 months. DS transferred to normal porridge at 18 months with no probs. I just add fruit and about 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to it if the fruit is not particularly sweet - so raisin/apple/banana porridge I don't add sugar, if it's raspberry it gets a tiny sprinkling.

myotherusernameisbetter · 09/02/2015 11:31

We never added sugar - just fruit and later honey although DS2 now 13 chucks a blob of jam in so I guess that is sugar.

Original poster
mrsnlw · 09/02/2015 11:51

Showy - He has porridge that is fruit flavoured from Aldi and it's a question of taste. I dont take sugar in tea or have a sweet tooth - rarely eat chocolate etc but like syrup in my porridge.

Jesus!

OP posts:
SoupDragon · 09/02/2015 11:54

Plain Readybrek will taste the same as plain porridge though. With the added benefit of having the texture of wallpaper paste :o

I remember tasting some of DSs once when he was little - it was rank. Plain porridge does somehow taste slightly better but I think it may be the texture that helps

Original poster
mrsnlw · 09/02/2015 12:00

As ive said Ill add some fruit puree.

OP posts:
Showy · 09/02/2015 12:02

I wasn't having a go. No need to blaspheme at me. I was thinking out loud as to why he didn't like normal oats since they are quick, cheap and easy. I was assuming you had been using baby porridge as per your op so not liking porridge seemed odd. I assume it's the aldi bebivita fruity stuff you mean which has sugar and apple in it? Which explains why he doesn't like it plain.

SunnyBaudelaire · 09/02/2015 12:04

it would be much cheaper just to buy porridge oats though.