Baby rice...again!

[Katsma]

Am about to start weaning my first lo when she reaches 6 months and have some questions for the experts!

I understand that the whole point of weaning at 6 months is that the babies reserves of iron is being depleted by this stage.
I have tried baby rice (myself, not the baby), and frankly thought it looked like wallpaper paste and tasted less flavoursome!
I wouldn't like to feed my baby anything that I wouldn't eat myself, however it is fortified with iron. None of the proper foods that are recommended at this age seem to have any quantity of iron in them. And am I right in thinking that iron can only be digested from the gut if there is vitamin C present?

Am confused, and wondering if the NHS booklet is to be trusted?! Is this iron thing that crucial?

Any comments - BLW or otherwise?

Am guessing that when you reach the weaning stage you get to have a nights sleep!

Will check back in tomorrow night for any pearls of wisdom you may have....

katsma - you need aitch! she's the BLW expert and her blog is here

Have a read - it's all there!

But just briefly - no, the human race has survived without iron-enriched baby rice for quite a long time

Try broccoli or other dark green veg, and you can do as I did, and give baby a big hunk of roast lamb to suck on (ie too big for them to bite off chunks while they're still beginners). You don't have to have vitamin C going in at the same time, but it helps a bit.

Are you breastfeeding or formula feeding by the way?

Oh, and I completely agree with you about the resemblance to wallpaper paste!

I don't think they need iron at 6 months on the dot either. I think the idea is that at 6 months you begin to introduce other foods so that by 1 year or so their diet is rich in lots of foods, including those containing iron. Mine liked baby rice until they discovered fruit!