Which baby rice?

Thanks Kiwi, lots of cooking and freezing this weekend :) Sorry OP for highjacking

Could be a tooth coming starsouthern, Ds always goes off his food a little and wakes more when he's teething. I'm much more of a "bit of this, have a taste, bit of that" type cook than a recipe following one but combos we used to use a lot were slow cooked lamb shank with minted pea puree. chicken thighs with tarragon, chicken thigh with apricot, salmon with basil (wrap the tail fillet in tin foil with a little lemon zest, fresh basil leaves and olive oil). I use my slow cooker a lot, cook the meat on the bone with onions, garlic, herbs, spices and vegies then remove the bones and you ar left with lovely tender meat that you can either shred by hand to be finger food or puree with a little of the juices and vegies. You can then add the bones back to the left over juices and simmer some more to make your own salt free stock to use in soups or risotto type dishes. (I make a lazy baby risotto by just adding risotto rice once I've taken the meat out and letting it slow cook, its a bit stodgy but babies don't know any better ;) I used to cook quinoa and then put it in the blender with a little water (while still hot) to make a thick porridge which froze into little cubes well. Dinner would then be a few cubes of quinoa, a few cubes of peas or other vegie puree and a few cubes of meat. We have dahl quite often as we used to have an indian housemaid and she got DS hooked. I actually have a rough recipe for that as I to her to show me before she left, if you're making it for yourself too (it makes quite big batch if your LO doesn't eat much), add some salt once you've taken your baby's portion out. [i'>250-300grams lentils 1 heaped tsp tumeric 1/2 to 1 tsp chilli powder 5-6 cloves garlic 1 med onion siced ½ cup oil mustard seeds curry leaves 2 peeled tomatoes boil lentils, tumeric and chilli powder in pleanty of water, when the pot starts to bubble up, add the oil add 1 cup loosely packed coriander leaves 1 green capsicum sliced into long strips and any other veggies on hand (carrots, potato etc) fry in oil onion, garlic, mustard seeds, curry leaves and peeled tomato, stir into dahl before serving, serve with rice or naan[/i'> NB you can make this smooth by putting it in the blender if your baby isn't into chunky. Freezes well (I pretty much freeze EVERYTHING!) <em>edited by kiwispiers on 23/01/2012</em>

Thanks Kiwi and BFC, any recipies you can share? Please :). My little guy is off his milk and wants to eat anything insight, he eats between 40-60gms at a time. However he's gone from sleeping 6pm-6am to waking up anywhere between 3-430am starving! The only thing I can think is that he's not getting enough during the day even though I'm giving him high nutrient fruit and vege adding his formula and whole grain cereal to the food. Think meat, beans and legumes are in order to pack in calories with the small amount he eats.

Thank you ladies - M, have heard good things of Rafferty's - where can I get this? I haven't yet come across it. Kelly, thank you for your suggestion - I was thinking along this line but have heard/seen the baby rice is fortified with nutrients... DD is EBF so would she be getting enough of these for me not to worry about the baby rice? I was thinking to do veges & baby rice, rather than start with straight rice... I bought it from the big Spinneys in the Springs. I was in Sydney recently and it retails for about $3 per pack - so cheap compared to here!!! I am really enjoying reading the recent threads on solids and weaning, thanks to everyone who has contributed : )

Here's the Booby Whisperer's take on baby rice: http://www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2011/12/nine-good-reasons-not-to-use-baby-rice.html My son's pedatrician advised against weaning him onto baby rice; she was also trained in infant nutrition so was well up on what was what although I found it rather confusing since it went against traditional advice in many countries, However, as the advertising slogan goes, tradition ain't what it used to be, and the old you-must-introduce-baby-rice-first advice is indeed now outdated - the reasons which necessitated its use when "solids" were introduced at an early age are no longer true if solids are introduced at or around 6 months of age. Offer it if you want to, just remember that you don't have to and it's perfectly OK if you choose not to :).

yup that's exactly the study I was thinking of, thanks BFC :) and here is some more info: According to an advisor for the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition (new guidelines under development) [i'>"We have always started with rice cereal because it is hypoallergenic. But to be truthful, it is not a great source of nutrients, particularly for the infant who has been exclusively breastfed. It is much better to get that with meat." (http://www.aapconvergence.com/highlight.aspx?id=49&p=2)[/i'> and according to the World Heath Organisation "Guiding Principles for Feeding Children Aged 6-24 Months": [i'>"A review of feeding guidelines promoted by various national and international organizations has shown that there are inconsistencies in the specific recommendations for feeding infants and young children (Dewey, in press). Some of the feeding guidelines are based more on tradition and speculation than on scientific evidence, or are far more prescriptive than is necessary regarding issues such as the order of foods introduced and the amounts of specific foods to be given. To avoid confusion, a set of unified, scientifically based guidelines is needed, which can be adapted to local feeding practices and conditions.....[b'>Meat, poultry, fish or eggs should be eaten daily, or as often as possible, because they are rich sources of many key nutrients such as iron and zinc[/b'>. Milk products are rich sources of calcium and several other nutrients. Diets that do not contain animal- source foods (meat, poultry, fish or eggs, plus milk products) cannot meet all nutrient needs at this age unless fortified products or nutrient supplements are used....... [b'>Because of the rapid rate of growth and metabolic rate during the first two years of life, nutrient needs per unit body weight of infants and young children are very high. Given the relatively small amounts of foods that are consumed at 6-24 months, the nutrient density (amount of each nutrient per 100 kcal of food) of the diet needs to be very high[/b'>".....Potential allergic reactions related to consumption of certain high-protein foods during infancy have been a concern in some industrialized countries.... However, controlled studies demonstrating that restrictive diets after six months of age have an allergy-preventing effect have not been published (Halken and Host, 2001), and for this reason no such restrictions were advised by an international group of experts (WHO/IAACI, 2000).[/i'> (NB in their 40 page document they do not at any point suggest restricting meats, eggs or any other high protein foods, once solids have been introduced from 6 months). According to the American Dietetic Association:[i'> "Evidence regarding the order of complementary food introduction is limited. Historically, a general progression beginning with rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula, gradually followed by strained fruits and/or vegetables has been recommended. However, this common advice does not appear to be based on scientific evidence for any benefit to the infants. The Start Healthy Feeding Guidelines, therefore, state that the order of complementary food introduction is not critical, except with respect to providing the nutrients needed from complementary foods as described above. Meat and fortified infant cereals provide many of these nutrients as first foods for the breastfed infant.......Meat and iron fortified infant cereals are good sources of iron for the breastfed infant and should be first foods. . [/i'> From New Zealand Ministry of Health Website: [i'>"From around 6 months – when your baby can hold their head up, shows signs of chewing movements and opens mouth for food... cooked and puréed beef, lamb, pork, chicken, fish and legumes[/i'> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16456417 (Medical study basically saying that meat as the FIRST food (at 5 months) vs babyrice lead to improved levels of zinc and iron, higher behavioural index at 12 months) From La Leche League: [i'>"The American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition states that when a baby's breast milk intake is adequate, the order in which other foods are added to the infant diet is not critical. A study published in Pediatrics (Dewey 1996) shows that the low protein in breast milk does not limit the growth of exclusively breastfed infants. It is important to remember, however, that [b'>when solid foods are introduced, the amount of breast milk a baby consumes decreases. If protein, zinc, or other nutrients are not provided in solid foods, the amount a baby receives from breast milk could be insufficient for optimal growth during the weaning period. Therefore, adding meat to the diet early in the weaning period may be beneficial[/b'>. Meat provides additional protein, zinc, B-vitamins, and other nutrients which may be in short supply when the decrease in breast milk occurs. [b'>A recent study from Sweden suggests that when infants are given substantial amounts of cereal, it may lead to low concentrations of zinc and reduced calcium absorption (Persson 1998[/b'>). Dr. Nancy Krebs has shared preliminary results from a large infant growth study suggesting that [b'>breastfed infants who received pureed or strained meat as a primary weaning food beginning at four to five months, grow at a slightly faster rate.[/b'> Dr. Krebs' premise is that inadequate protein or zinc from complementary foods may limit the growth of some breastfed infants during the weaning period. Both protein and zinc levels were consistently higher in the diets of the infants who received meat (Krebs 1998). Thus the custom of providing large amounts of cereal products and excluding meat products before seven months of age may not meet the nutritional needs of all breastfed infants."[/i'>

Was it this one, Kiwi? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16456417

Yeah, it's better to introduce high-iron meats earlier on, there's more info on this on www.kellymom.com The great thing is that the lamb we get here is much better quality than what you find in the States. I made up bolognese sauce with half minced local veal and half minced lambs liver and fed to both boys when DS2 was about 10 months old. I also made the effort to get organic lamb for the boys' food, by shopping on the 20% discount Saturday, freezing the meat in small baggies. Now that they are older, I follow the current WWF middle east guidelines and buy meat sourced as locally as possible/ convenient.

Hey kiwispiers can I have some info on meat as a first food. TIA

Basically once you start solids you need to give nutrient dense food as whatever your baby eats is replacing breastmilk, and some foods can block the nutrients that are in breastmilk. (once you start solids your baby is no longer EBF) Baby rice is one option, the rice itself is processed to the point that it has essentially no nutritional value but it is fortified so its like giving your baby a multivitamin. Many babies do have digestive difficulty with the rice (its low allergenic but starch is hard for a baby to digest so they can get constipated, gassy, uncomfortable etc). There is research to suggest that a better source of iron and zinc is meat, will see if I can did the study up for you but basically meat as a first food (it was from 4 months in the study i'm thinking of) lead to slightly higher levels of nutrients and the babies performed better on some behavioral/cognitive tests than the control group who were given fortified baby rice. Meat is recommended as a first food now and WHO suggests dairy, eggs and meat be given daily to meat nutrient needs once solids are introduced. I never gave baby-rice but lamb, fish and chicken were among my guys first foods along with peaches, banana, avocado, papaya and pear. I moved on to vegetables and grains later. Lamb is a good one to start with, if its finely pureed its easier for your baby to absorb nutrients from. I used to combine lamb and peas (from memory peas contain vit C which helps with the iron absorption too). let me know if you want more info on meat as a first food, the old guidelines were to wait until 8 months but they were based on tradition rather than scientific basis. <em>edited by kiwispiers on 22/01/2012</em>

If you are EBF'ing, DD should be getting absolutely everything she needs nutrition-wise from you, so no worries on that account! Actually, babies absorb the nutrients they get from you SO much better than those received from other sources. EG according to kellymom.com, Iron absorbed from breast milk is 50-70%, (due to vitamin C and high lactose levels in BM that aid absorbtion) Cows milk is 10%, and iron fortified cereals is only 3-10% . I would go with your instinct, give her what she likes, but also make it something you would eat too. I used to give DD Organix 5 grain cereal porridge, and swirl in home made puree's, like apple, pear and cinnamon, mango, mashed banana etc. She still has this most days for breakfast, and you can make it up with BM is you are expressing too. DD's very first taste of solids was a nibble on a giant wedge of melon! DH was holding her in one arm, and melon wedge in the other, and she literally face-planted herself into it and started gumming away. We turned to each other and said, 'guess she's ready to wean, then?!'

I second Organix - both the baby rice and the multi-grain cereal

Organix mult-grain cereal from Spinneys. Earth Child oat cereal from Organic Foods & Cafe. I gave DS1 Milupa (now rebranded as Aptamil Bebe rice) and it is a sweet sticky paste, he was addicted to the stuff and refused to try real food or enjoy fruit/ veg. If your baby is EBF and you are taking both a daily prenatal and daily amt of Omega 3-6-9, baby doesn't need extra nutrients from the baby rice. With DS2, I fed him the packet multigrain cereal for breakfast, but for lunch and dinner gave him a porridge/ risotto made from brown basmati rice, onion and 1 kind of veg (I wanted to introduce veggies one at a time), all cooked up in homemade chicken stock in the pressure cooker (super soft food in 10 min). Also fed him jars of HIPP spinach with Parmesan cheese. He currently eats much better than DS1 did at same age!

Just to add, as i'm sure you know, you don't HAVE to start with baby rice. We skipped it and went straight to fruit/veg purees. As the poster below said, its bland as anything and looks like wallpaper paste!. I wouldn't eat it myself (which is my golden rule for what i feed DD) I haven't heard of farex, but i see quite a few brands in the supermarkets. I think Heinz do one if i recall?

We have been using Rafferty's brand since DD began solids, about 2 months ago. It's really bland and can be a bit sticky so be sure to mix it with a lot of milk or water to begin. We only use it at lunch time as we found DD got gassy after having rice. Good luck : )