Thoughts on Baby Porridge

And please don't believe that you mothers are the first in the world to have raised children, it's not unchartered territory, women have been raising children healthily for millennia....................in previous generations babies may have died from disease, ignorance, famine and bad water, but not from being fed solids too soon! Of course women have been raising children for millennia and some aspects of child rearing stay constant but others change from generation to generation of new mothers. With advances in science and medicine each new generation does face a certain amount of new territory with regards to raising children. The options available and choices to be made by you when you had your babies was not identical to your mother's experience and it's not identical to what women with babies face now. When I last saw my auntie we spoke about babies and food. She said when she had her babies, you followed the advice of the plunket nurse (the health visitor equivalent in NZ) who told you when to start, what to give, wrote out daily menus etc. She said everyone did the same and you trusted what they told you. She compared it to new mothers now who are bombarded with do this/do that/you mustn't do this conflicting advice and how it must be a minefield. When my MIL how he babies in the sixties she gave them formula straight off because the advice she was given then was that formula is a complete food and better for babies than breast. Compare that to the battlefield breast/bottle is now. Anyway, my point is that things do change from one generation to the next. Maybe if you were a new mother now you would do things no differently to what you did when you had your babies but just maybe you too would sit in front of your computer looking at the the 'right' ways of doing things and worry about your choices.

Thankyou Joyce........just saw your post further down, totally agree with you too.

Oh dear, I would hate to be a new mother today! Have you ladies ever considered that you (or even the previous generation) wouldn't be here if infant nutrition was such a minefield? The only real minefield is the overabundance of studies ............most of which will be contradicted this time next year. Allergies "might" be caused by over or premature exposure, or possibly "maybe" by under exposure or lack thereof. Or perhaps they "might" be hereditary inabilities to process certain enzymes............ In the last few months alone I have read of studies suggesting all of the above Follow your instincts, not the calendar, babies are not all the same and they don't read studies. If a baby is still hungry in spite of adequate milk, then gradually begin to feed solids.............clean, bland and ideally home made from fresh ingredients. (This may not be the time to confess I fed both my babies with dogfood....................................... the same mince, veg and potatoes I cooked for the pups!!) And please don't believe that you mothers are the first in the world to have raised children, it's not unchartered territory, women have been raising children healthily for millennia....................in previous generations babies may have died from disease, ignorance, famine and bad water, but not from being fed solids too soon! Well said! :)

It WAS home cooked dog food!!!! Though when the Boy aged ten eating Winalot biscuits as a snack, I did start to worry a little. (He still swears they taste great, and he has fantastic teeth!) edited by Livelytrish on 02/04/2014 Was much easier to cook the same for the girls and the dogs :) Mind the eldest one did once eat doggie chocolate drops and she still swears she loves them. They never did her any harm

It WAS home cooked dog food!!!! Though when the Boy aged ten eating Winalot biscuits as a snack, I did start to worry a little. (He still swears they taste great, and he has fantastic teeth!) <em>edited by Livelytrish on 02/04/2014</em>

Oh dear, I would hate to be a new mother today! Have you ladies ever considered that you (or even the previous generation) wouldn't be here if infant nutrition was such a minefield? The only real minefield is the overabundance of studies ............most of which will be contradicted this time next year. Allergies "might" be caused by over or premature exposure, or possibly "maybe" by under exposure or lack thereof. Or perhaps they "might" be hereditary inabilities to process certain enzymes............ In the last few months alone I have read of studies suggesting all of the above. Follow your instincts, not the calendar, babies are not all the same and they don't read studies. If a baby is still hungry in spite of adequate milk, then gradually begin to feed solids.............clean, bland and ideally home made from fresh ingredients. (This may not be the time to confess I fed both my babies with dogfood....................................... the same mince, veg and potatoes I cooked for the pups!!) And please don't believe that you mothers are the first in the world to have raised children, it's not unchartered territory, women have been raising children healthily for millennia....................in previous generations babies may have died from disease, ignorance, famine and bad water, but not from being fed solids too soon! Love this and yes I did the same re the dog food. All I will add is that I VERY rarely gave mine anything out of a jar or tin.

Oh dear, I would hate to be a new mother today! Have you ladies ever considered that you (or even the previous generation) wouldn't be here if infant nutrition was such a minefield? The only real minefield is the overabundance of studies ............most of which will be contradicted this time next year. Allergies "might" be caused by over or premature exposure, or possibly "maybe" by under exposure or lack thereof. Or perhaps they "might" be hereditary inabilities to process certain enzymes............ In the last few months alone I have read of studies suggesting all of the above. Follow your instincts, not the calendar, babies are not all the same and they don't read studies. If a baby is still hungry in spite of adequate milk, then gradually begin to feed solids.............clean, bland and ideally home made from fresh ingredients. (This may not be the time to confess I fed both my babies with dogfood....................................... the same mince, veg and potatoes I cooked for the pups!!) And please don't believe that you mothers are the first in the world to have raised children, it's not unchartered territory, women have been raising children healthily for millennia....................in previous generations babies may have died from disease, ignorance, famine and bad water, but not from being fed solids too soon!

It irks me somewhat that I feel I now have to justify myself. I am far from a precious parent, but a new parent that is slightly confused with the amount of information we now have access to, and the conflicting advice we are given. I have no doubt that unless my DS had an allergy that he would of course survive a diet of porridge or whatever, but that wasn't my query. Whilst I am more than capable of making my own decisions, I wanted to draw on others experiences and thoughts, as per my original post. Most of the replies here have been very helpful, and I thank those posters for not using my thread to get on their soapbox or to have a laugh - get your own thread! I can not believe you have 9 thumbs down for writing the above! I think it was a very reasonable and simple question you asked, essentially, "I'm wondering about solids, not so sure about babyrice, is porridge better?" and I totally agree it is utterly frustrating to navigate the conflicting and inaccurate information you are faced with in regards to infant sleep and feeding in general. You will find an abundance of websites which state "The WHO, AAP etc etc recommend EBF for 6 months.." and then in the next paragraph start talking about weaning foods for 4-6 months, often followed by a list of which food you can introduce at different ages all of which contradicts their previous paragraph. You will damned if you do and damned if you don't with this one, and don't take it to heart, every time there is a thread on EW to do with weaning or infant sleep it has a tendency to go a bit feral as these tend to be the big dividers amongst mums and people can understandably feel very defensive if it is implied they did something "wrong" in regards to their children. I hope you haven't felt my comments were judgemental, as I said below, because I knew my kids were above average risk for allergies, and my husband had a miserable time for a while during his childhood until his intolerances were discovered, I did an epic amount of research during my first pregnancy and went past the baby sites and to the journal articles and documents produced by the major health bodies until I felt I understood the guidelines fully and made my choices from there. Most people are (quite reasonably) not going to bother to do that and honestly most babies are going to be "just fine" but since I did spend the time researching, and time is so precious once you have kids, it feels like a real waste not to share it with others who may be interested. Don't feel pressured to do everything "just right", there is a difference between knowing what is the "ideal" and accepting that sometimes good enough, is good enough. I'm more uptight than most people I know when it comes to my kids and junk food, but last night my kids (18 months and 3 years) had nuggets and chips for dinner at the mall. Still if someone posted asking if nuggets were a healthy food choice for a toddler, I would say no. There is a place for both evidenced based advice and for personal experience and one should not be passed off as the other. All the best with your weaning adventures!

Hi Rowla, I haven't read other peoples advice but I'll tell you what I did. I started feeding my daughter at 4.5 months but only a few puréed fruits and vegetables such as butternut squash, pears, apples, bananas and if you want something filling then avocados will fill his baby stomach. Start with the basic fruits and veggies and work yourself up just in case he's allergic to anything. I started feeding her porridge at around 6/7 months, normally I blend formula milk with oats, half a banana and flaxseed which would be better then the boxed baby porridge. This was the advice I was given from my doctor

It irks me somewhat that I feel I now have to justify myself. I am far from a precious parent, but a new parent that is slightly confused with the amount of information we now have access to, and the conflicting advice we are given. I have no doubt that unless my DS had an allergy that he would of course survive a diet of porridge or whatever, but that wasn't my query. Whilst I am more than capable of making my own decisions, I wanted to draw on others experiences and thoughts, as per my original post. Most of the replies here have been very helpful, and I thank those posters for not using my thread to get on their soapbox or to have a laugh - get your own thread! You come on here asking for affirmation for something you going to do regardless and are hurt when people try to give you better advice? You have been given others thoughts and experiences and choose to discount them. That is your prerogative but don't go shooting down the people who tried to give you that advice. But I don't think you were one of the ones giving useful advice. Rather sitting there being judgemental and then justifying yourself with out of date research. The research isn't out of date and it's better than random people's silly ideas!

It irks me somewhat that I feel I now have to justify myself. I am far from a precious parent, but a new parent that is slightly confused with the amount of information we now have access to, and the conflicting advice we are given. I have no doubt that unless my DS had an allergy that he would of course survive a diet of porridge or whatever, but that wasn't my query. Whilst I am more than capable of making my own decisions, I wanted to draw on others experiences and thoughts, as per my original post. Most of the replies here have been very helpful, and I thank those posters for not using my thread to get on their soapbox or to have a laugh - get your own thread! You come on here asking for affirmation for something you going to do regardless and are hurt when people try to give you better advice? You have been given others thoughts and experiences and choose to discount them. That is your prerogative but don't go shooting down the people who tried to give you that advice. But I don't think you were one of the ones giving useful advice. Rather sitting there being judgemental and then justifying yourself with out of date research.

It irks me somewhat that I feel I now have to justify myself. I am far from a precious parent, but a new parent that is slightly confused with the amount of information we now have access to, and the conflicting advice we are given. I have no doubt that unless my DS had an allergy that he would of course survive a diet of porridge or whatever, but that wasn't my query. Whilst I am more than capable of making my own decisions, I wanted to draw on others experiences and thoughts, as per my original post. Most of the replies here have been very helpful, and I thank those posters for not using my thread to get on their soapbox or to have a laugh - get your own thread! You come on here asking for affirmation for something you going to do regardless and are hurt when people try to give you better advice? You have been given others thoughts and experiences and choose to discount them. That is your prerogative but don't go shooting down the people who tried to give you that advice.

It irks me somewhat that I feel I now have to justify myself. I am far from a precious parent, but a new parent that is slightly confused with the amount of information we now have access to, and the conflicting advice we are given. I have no doubt that unless my DS had an allergy that he would of course survive a diet of porridge or whatever, but that wasn't my query. Whilst I am more than capable of making my own decisions, I wanted to draw on others experiences and thoughts, as per my original post. Most of the replies here have been very helpful, and I thank those posters for not using my thread to get on their soapbox or to have a laugh - get your own thread! The great thing about advice and opinions is you can take it or discount it. On a open Forum such as this you will always get those who agree and those who don't. Frankly I don't think you have to justify anything,there have been great responses and opinions if you don't agree with some ignore them. ;) <em>edited by Nomad on 02/04/2014</em>

This thread actually makes me laugh out loud. My 95 year old uncle was raised on thin gruel and was a pilot with the SAS during WW2. He is alive and well today and still plays bridge, cycles and walks every day. My 82 year old mother is out every day, was fed on watered down soup, potato and gravy mash and milk. I am 58 and was raised on Cow and Gate milk, mashed spuds with gravy and bananas and my own children were raised on a mix of baby milk formulas, home cooked food and UK baby food. We all survived folks! When did everyone become so paranoid about feeding children?? What a precious generation this has become sorry to say! The question isn't about survival. It's about reaching your full potential.

Speaking as someone who has a potentially fatal food allergy, and is married to someone who also has dangerous allergies, hopefully you can understand why parents don't wish this on their children and would take the time to do their research into allergy prevention. Most children will survive childhood nutritional deficiencies and they will not be visible by looking at a child unless they are very severe. Some children will die from gastric infections in infancy, I'm sure as a nurse Joyce you will have seen children hospitalised due to them. Other children just won't grow as well, or IQ might be affected slightly due to less than ideal nutrition but for the most part any effects will be quite minor, that doesn't mean if you have knowledge you shouldn't use it. Parents just want to do the right thing by their children, I don't think this generation is more precious, our parents did what they thought was best for us too and took their role seriously as I'm sure did yours. edited by kiwispiers on 02/04/2014 <em>edited by kiwispiers on 02/04/2014</em>

This thread actually makes me laugh out loud. My 95 year old uncle was raised on thin gruel and was a pilot with the SAS during WW2. He is alive and well today and still plays bridge, cycles and walks every day. My 82 year old mother is out every day, was fed on watered down soup, potato and gravy mash and milk. I am 58 and was raised on Cow and Gate milk, mashed spuds with gravy and bananas and my own children were raised on a mix of baby milk formulas, home cooked food and UK baby food. We all survived folks! When did everyone become so paranoid about feeding children?? What a precious generation this has become sorry to say! Great post JoyceB.......my grandad had a bowl of porridge and a fry up every day done in lard,even the bread was fried, he lived to 95 was a WWI veteran and smoked a pipe. I was brought up in the middle of the bush on formula and when that ran out my gran fed me condensed milk until formula arrived.You made do with what you had to hand and we all survived.;) As someone said research changes constantly and how many of these researchers spend any length of time with a crying baby.......where has common sense been lost. <em>edited by Nomad on 02/04/2014</em>

This thread actually makes me laugh out loud. My 95 year old uncle was raised on thin gruel and was a pilot with the SAS during WW2. He is alive and well today and still plays bridge, cycles and walks every day. My 82 year old mother is out every day, was fed on watered down soup, potato and gravy mash and milk. I am 58 and was raised on Cow and Gate milk, mashed spuds with gravy and bananas and my own children were raised on a mix of baby milk formulas, home cooked food and UK baby food. We all survived folks! When did everyone become so paranoid about feeding children?? What a precious generation this has become sorry to say!

http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(12)01696-X/abstract Appears that advice re 6 month solid introduction may be slightly changing as several studies in last year have indicated. That is not what the link you have posted is about. I think a lot of the confusion here is to do with the fact that many people seem to misunderstand the WHO guidelines for delaying solid foods until after 6 months to be about prevention of allergies. If you take the time to go to their website and download their guidelines for introduction of complementary foods, you will find the recommendations have nothing to do with allergy prevention. In fact the WHO guidelines state that current evidence suggests no protective effect in delaying certain foods later than the introduction of solids and that meat, fish, dairy, eggs, nuts etc are all nutrient dense and should be given as first foods, and on a regular basis. That has been their position for some time. I think people are mixing up advice on introduction of complementary foods, with advice on breastfeeding vs formula. WHO do recommend breastfeeding for 2 years, and the AAP recommend breastfeeding for at least 12 months. This advice to give breastmilk rather than formula is to do with allergy prevention, among other things. It is not relevant to the OP though as her baby is already FF. The current research (as australiajudy correctly states below) is that delaying potential allergens past 4 months does not decrease the risk of allergies. There was some research that show gluten allergies rose with introducing gluten later, and this was attributed to the fact that less babies were still breastfed by the time gluten was introduced. This has been the case with other allergies too, with the take home message being breastfeeding while introducing foods lowers allergy risks. The link buddha has posted says that breastfeeding for more than 9.5 months decreases the risk of some types of asthma, that introducing egg before 11 months decreased the risk of some allergies etc etc.... Basically this link is saying that breastfeeding (rather than formula feeding) while solids are first introduced has a protective effect and also that the old advice to delay many potential allergens past 12 months, actually increases the risk of many allergies. This link has nothing to do with the WHO 6 month guidelines for introduction of complementary foods. As I said below, the WHO guideline for delaying solids until after 6 months is to do with iron, displacement of milk and gut infection, not allergy prevention. The WHO guideline to breastfeed rather than formula feed is about allergy prevention (and other protective effects of breastmilk)

There is differing research around the world and customs are different. I generally follow Australian recommendations (obviously what I am used to). The current research on allergies is that exclusive breastfeeding for between 4 and 6 months is the best start. As baby shows interest in food then it should be introduced - along side breastfeeding and not as a replacement. Food always after breastfeeding. Food is fun until 12 months but an important development support and can top up stores of nutrients such as iron. There is no evidence to suggest that delaying allergen type food reduced the risk of allergies - actually studies show the opposite. As such - all foods are encouraged early. In particular high iron foods early on. Egg, milk, nuts (not whole nuts as they are a choking risk), fish, shellfish etc should not be delayed but introduced earlier. I didn't give any of the baby cereals. they are nutritionally void and don't really add to the nutrient levels in the baby. they are also constipating. i just gave real foods and mostly encouraged baby to feed themselves.

Hi - i can't advise but will offer my experience from my hungry little one. She was exclusively breast fed, then at around 5.5 months, she was showing an interest in food and spoons, so i thought i'd try her out on baby mush (can't remember if it was rice or porridge, but i've been told that milupa is a good brand). I just did one teaspoonful mixed with breastmilk before her feed and she gobbled it down, then i did the rest of the feed as normal. Once i saw that (a) she enjoyed it, and (b) she didn't have any digestion problems, i did again the next day. Then introduced to real food solids the next week, one foodstuff per day so i could see any effects (i heard that pear is the easiest fruit to digest and arbi....an indian root vegetable that i'd never previously heard of). She gobbled down everything offered. I would say that as long as you take it relatively slowly at first and listen to her reactions, then why not. Only thing i'd say is that solids didn't make mine sleep any better :-(. And be ready for some interesting nappies! Good luck with whatever you choose.

http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(12)01696-X/abstract Appears that advice re 6 month solid introduction may be slightly changing as several studies in last year have indicated.

Geordie is exactly right. One of the risks of starting food early is allergies. Now I don't care particularly what you do to your child but ... Allergy Risk Tied to Early Solid Foods Exclusive Breastfeeding for Six Months Is Protective, Top Allergy Group Says July 28, 2006 -- New moms should breastfeed exclusively for six months to help protect their babies against developing food allergies later on, one of the nation's leading allergy and asthma groups says. Solid foods of all types should be avoided for the first six months, and certain items -- like cow's milk, eggs, fish, and nuts -- should not be introduced until even later, according to a consensus statement on infant feeding released this week by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). "It is important to understand that we are talking about exclusive breastfeeding, with no formula, soy or anything else," researcher Amal Assa'ad, MD, tells WebMD. "This appears to be important for protecting against allergies." The ACAAI committee came up with its recommendations afte This advice is outdated. I have severe allergies and have spoken to many qualified immunologists about this in recent years. Yes, breastfeeding is thought to be the best to protect children against allergies but complementary foods can be introduced from 4-6 months - NO foods should need to be delayed (nuts, cow's milk, eggs) to prevent allergies. This is the current advice on infant feeing from The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (which the say [i'>"The current ASCIA advice regarding introduction of solids/complementary foods is consistent with that of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) recent postion statements."[/i'>) [url='>http://www.allergy.org.au/health-professionals/papers/ascia-infant-feeding-advice[/url'> <em>edited by Ohman on 01/04/2014</em>

excellent link by imolinar below regarding grains. Amylase the enzyme to digest grains is needed for starch in general, so babies can also experience difficulty with starchy vegetables as well. Breastmilk actually contains amylase, even though there is no starch in breastmilk, it is thought this is to help in the digestion of starches in complementary foods. Unfortunately they have not yet figured out how to get it into formula, so formula fed babies have even less ability to digest starches.

I would wait till 6 months as others have said. If you still want to start on solids just avoid cereals, here some ideas http://ohlardy.com/why-your-baby-should-not-eat-baby-cereal BTW, my mom gave me soups and real food since I was 1 month old, it sounds crazy but that was normal, fortunately I have no allergies, no health problems.

One of mine wolfed solids down from before 4 months on paediatrician advice. The other wouldn't touch solids till way past six months. Both have grown up very healthy and eat well with no allergies.

Geordie is exactly right. One of the risks of starting food early is allergies. Now I don't care particularly what you do to your child but ... Allergy Risk Tied to Early Solid Foods Exclusive Breastfeeding for Six Months Is Protective, Top Allergy Group Says July 28, 2006 -- New moms should breastfeed exclusively for six months to help protect their babies against developing food allergies later on, one of the nation's leading allergy and asthma groups says. Solid foods of all types should be avoided for the first six months, and certain items -- like cow's milk, eggs, fish, and nuts -- should not be introduced until even later, according to a consensus statement on infant feeding released this week by the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). "It is important to understand that we are talking about exclusive breastfeeding, with no formula, soy or anything else," researcher Amal Assa'ad, MD, tells WebMD. "This appears to be important for protecting against allergies." The ACAAI committee came up with its recommendations afte Yes but I still disagree with this. If solids are what the baby wants and needs I would always go with what I felt was right.

Thanks, dolleymadison. As I said, there are many views on this and many research studies done in different ways on different populations. You won't find a definitive answer in the medical journals. Sorry - but that's the reality of research studies. They all have biases and limitations. I believe that parents need to make their own informed decision. My view is based on talking to my pediatrician, my own research and my friends' experiences. That was enough for me! Fine. You go right ahead and discount the experts based on your own biased beliefs. Don't understand what's your problem if she doesn't want follow what you have provided. My two both started at 5.5months. Didn't have any issues. No need to be rude,Dollymadison. Each to their own.....this forum is to share ADVICE.....and NOT about imposing your views... As most have indicated, each to their own, each child is different...different things work for all.....as for researches....always take them with a pinch of salt, as after few months there would be a NEW Research which contradicts the existing one! Exactly, research changes on a regular basis. I would love to know how many of these researchers actually try living with a hungry, crying baby long term. totally agree.. our grandparents survived.. our parents survived.. and we survived.. and back then nothing was safe.. seriously get a grip of yourself.. And I'm probably going to be shot for this, but I don't feel that there were ever the same amount of allergies and illnesses then as now. no you will not.. you are absolutely correct.. that is why mothers need to research and do what she sees right.. my daughter is 18 months and till now i didn't give her any nuts.. nut allergy was not heard off back then..