Is wholemeal stuff *really* a bad idea?

[Lovage]

I understand that babies have very small stomachs so you don't want to fill them up with too much fibre. And I know that too much fibre can interfere with iron absorption. I can see that they need a higher fat diet than adults and more protein. But is it really better to give them white bread, white pasta etc rather than wholemeal? Wholemeal stuff has more B vitamins and other good stuff (she said vaguely - possibly even iron?) so white stuff is less nutritious. And wholemeal things are lower GI which I would have thought was good for babies too. We hardly ever have white bread or white pasta and LO (10m)'s favourite breakfast is mini-wheats - wholewheat miniture shredded wheats (he does have them with double cream!) It just seems a bit unlikely to me that it's as clear cut as the guidance makes it seem

Ds has always had wholemeal stuff, we don't have the white/refined versions! I don't think it's a problem. Everything in moderation and all that.

I gave wholemeal bread - I would never think of buying white bread as an everyday thing so ds just got given what we ate

I don't think it is as clear cut either, but that's just my opinion

i used half and half white baby rice and wholemeal and i never gave DD1 white bread but she ate mostly rice cakes and oatcakes the first year or so anyway. DD2 is on same. i think a bit of both is the way to go...

ah, just remembered the look of horror on DD1s face when she ate a sliced white sandwich at a kids party! It was all stuck to her palate and i had to scrape it off for her!

i always gave wholemeal. thats what babies have ALWAYS had.

IMO at this age food is still important mainly in forming tastes, and its far more important that he gets a taste for wholemeal stuff

For centuries babies have eaten wholemeal flour and lots of fruit etc. most of his calories will still be from milk, surely, at this age?

don't have white bread in the house so both of mine only had wholemeal / granary from the first stages

was kind of shocked when I realised some people actually bought white bread especially .. what's that about?

because it 'recommends' it in the birth to five book - I was when I read it

wholemeal is disgusting and bland. I like ganary, just not the price of it. whitebread here Im afraid.

I'd be too scared of Gillian McKeith turning up for a poo sample to have white anything in this house

Besides they eat so very little of anything, does it really matter?

Pigeonpie - that book is total pants. I thought it was a joke when I got it. I particularly like the discipline section.

I read through it once for a laugh too and have now filed it (goodness knows where). Think it says a lot about my hv that she recommends it every time anyone has a question

Pigeonpie - it's just about thick enough to stun the HV for long enough for you to scarper though - take it to the clinic next time!

ds loves toast and although we normally have wholemeal here too it does seem to make his poo much runnier (tmi, sorry...). We make our own bread and since we switched to half wholemeal half white his poo's gone back to normal. But if your baby's fine with it I would keep on as you are!

I take all these recommendations with a pinch of salt (not literally of course!). I think whatever works for your baby is fine. Mine eat everything they are not "supposed" to and have never had any problems. You will see very quickly if it doesn't agree with them!

I would never buy plain white bread for us so wouldn't give it to my kids. Wholemeal is full of good stuff so why avoid it? The argument is it fills them up too much but so would white bread if not given in moderation.