Porridge

[Summerdays2014]

Hi all, sorry if this is a silly question but... Can you give a baby normal porridge once they are 6 months old? Or do you have to give baby porridge/ready brek? If so would you make it with formula or full fat cows milk? I've just started weaning my 6 month old on homemade puréed fruit and veg. He is currently eating once a day but I would now like to introduce breakfast and am unsure about what to offer. Many thanks.

I gave my DS porridge made with cow's milk from about 7 months. Only a spoonful or two so very small amounts. I probably should have done it with formula, but as i have porridge every morning, it was easy to just take his spoonful from my bowl.

I buy organic jumbo oats, as that's what I like for myself, and I put a few handfuls in the food processor and blitz it to a powder. That's what baby porridge is. You can even do it easily with your fingertips. You can cook it with milk or water. Milk is less likely to make it erupt like a volcano in the microwave and makes a lovely creamy porridge. You could even use formula milk, but cows' milk is fine from 6 months, just shouldn't be their main milk.

Thanks both. Can I ask what else you would give a 6 month old for breakfast who hasn't had any finger food yet?

From 6 months they can have normal food bar honey (12 months) and whole nuts/grapes (chop them up)

Mashed banana was a favourite here (though be careful as it stains like mad! Any clothing that gets banana on it will get awful dark brown permanent stains unless washed instantly before the bloody stuff oxidises - took me a while to realise this.) Yogurt, not sweet stuff though. Stewed apple. As Flisspaps said, they can have anything at all in fact.

TBH I keep breakfast to porridge and milk as DS, who is now 11 mo, gets a great variety at lunch and dinner, and I like to keep things simple for one meal!

Depending on our day, I often let dinnertime be the main fingerfood / feed yourself event as it always ends up with DS looking like a happy little compost heap and I can then strip him and pop him in the bath.

One great hit here is big strawberries. I buy a punnet and put them in the freezer. Defrosted, they are quite "sluggy" in consistency (sorry!) but this is perfect for him. A good big chunk of cheese is easy to grab onto and feed himself by nibbling off fragments. Toast and rusks are also easy and encouraging.

Yes to normal porridge. All baby food is a fad IMO.

We make it a bit lumpy and let him eat it himself. Its a perfect first finger food.

Or make it with water and mash a banana into it.

Like others, mashed banana was a big hit. In fact, at 11 months he still has banana with his porridge. And agree with the strawberries. He also loves blueberries but I squish them or cook them in the porridge to mitigate the chocking risk. And yes to the lumps of cheese and toast. Be careful with rusks as they are high in sugar.

Thanks all. I'm going to try lots of your suggestions. Just got to be brave enough to attempt finger food at some point!

If you make a thick porridge abd microwave for 2 minutes, it cooks to soft cookie like consistency and can be cut into fingers

Can offer scrambled egg too. Good for protein, good fats & iron

Thanks again for suggestions. Great idea about eggs. Would weetabix be ok? I'm concerned about the salt/sugar in lots of breakfast cereals but weetabix seems fairly low...

Everything except honey, whole nuts and whole grapes is fine - honestly - don't worry about stuff like salt unless you're adding it to everything you cook.

Weetabix is absolutely fine and very quick and handy if you're in a rush

Weetabix dries like cement on the highchair and looks gross on the way out but babies do love it :)

You can also make pancakes (either the plump 'drop scone' ones or thin crepes) and you'll be surprised how well he'll manage them. Strips or slices of omelette also works well.

My DD likes this apricot porridge: www.annabelkarmel.com/recipes/favourite-porridge I make a big batch and freeze it in little pots. She also likes it with dates instead of apricots (use water rather than milk).

Thanks for the link, looks lovely!

So I gave my almost 10 month old ready brek for breakfast rather than baby porridge. Not for the first time, this led to screaming, he spat it out and then vomited. I then gave him bread and butter and he was absolutely fine. He eats loads of lumpy foods and finger foods. Why does he hate non-baby porridge so much? Has anyone else had this? (Sorry to hijack thread)

My DS is also not a big fan of ready brek. The baby porridges are really sweet - have you ever tasted them? Maybe try a spoonful of fruit stirred through to sweeten the ready brek.

If that doesn't work I'd just offer something else like toast or fruit mixed with Greek yoghurt

I weaned at 6 months and she had toast, scrambled eggs, sausage meat, sticky rice, porridge, fish, or bagels usually.

cait I've tried sweetening with fruit but that didn't work so I think it's a texture thing. He really likes bread/toast and yoghurt. I give them to him a fair amount at other meals but I guess that doesn't really matter.

He also doesn't like potato. How can you not like potato?!

French toast (or eggy bread as we call it here) or American style pancakes are also good. I make a big batch of pancakes with wholemeal spelt flour and blueberries and then freeze. They defrost v quickly so work well for brekkie

Dd hates ready break too - I think it's too smooth so she thinks it's a liquid, then gags if there is a small lumpy bit. Proper porridge is much easier for her to get he head round!