feeding porridge to baby?

[pinkcowprint]

hi,my son is nearly 8 months and was wondering is it ok to give him normal porridge/ready brek?at the moment hes on heinz porridge and peaches and it costs quite a bit,surely itd be cheaper and better for him using normal and blend some 'real' fruit in for his breakfast?any suggestions greatly recieved thanks

[Nannyjillx2]

I did and my daughters have feed readybrek at 6 months but I'm not sure about porridge though.

Sure you'll get some answers from some young mums.

[jacey]

Oh, reading this brought back horrible memories, I expect things have changed now, http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=baby+di es+after+being+fed+ready+brek&meta=cr%3Dcountr yUK%7CcountryGB

[Nannyjillx2]

I think the readybrek now is different from that in 1999.

And if I remember rightly he was fed in excess.

All I can say 3 of my children ate it for breakfast from 6 months and 2 now have children of their own

[Nannyjillx2]

and he was only 3 months old - my hv told me to give them readybrek

[jacey]

Yes I'm sure it would have been sorted straight away, it was soo sad at the time though.

[annie0000]

Absolutel,y my boys were raised on real porridge. The instant microwavable packs are good because they are really easy and convenient and the oats are finely milled. By the time he was a year old, my 2nd son would happily eat two packs for breakfast!!

I used to make icecubes of pureed fruit (even tinned fruit in fruit juice) and dropped one of these in the porridge to cool it and flavour it in one go!

Try him with wheetabix as well, there is no need to buy baby cereal.

[lil75]

Yes its fine, I used to give my babies porridge and weetabix, they loved it!

[lil75]

Also you could throw a mashed banana in the porridge

[Nannyjillx2]

Jacey you're right it was sad.

The young parents seem to have no idea though about anything they were doing

[annie0000]

porridge and weetabix are not prepared foods in the same way as ready brek so you needn't worry. If you want to be ultra careful. you can buy organic porrage oats and just make them up with his milk - there is nothing added to these at all. I also buy organic weetabix - it is a bit more expensive than normal, but you will get 24 breakfasts from a �2.00 pack - still a lot cheaper than baby breakfast.

[natalie_1982]

Hi pinkcowprint, I don't know about porride / ready brek (which probably doesn't help because thats what your question is about), but my (nearly) 10month old has shreddies or weetabix for breakfast, and has done for the past 3-4months, with pureed fruit (mango, banana, apple, peach, pear).

[terambulan]

Porridge is fine but should be spoon fed and NOT in a bottle as it will block the teet.

[carron81]

hi

my little lady has been having weetabix and readybrek from 6 months

ive also been wondering about normal porridge as she's eating that much of the baby porridge the pack finishes in a few days. that's why i've started with weetabix

she loves it if i heat up half a banana in the microwave and mix it in with either the weetabix or readybrek

[carron81]

goodness, just read the story of the baby who died. that is soo sad

thankfully i don't use salt in the house so its one thing i don't need to worry about if letting my littleone sample some of my cooked veg with a sunday dinner

[pinkcowprint]

thanks for all your answers,didnt think of weetabix aswell,i already give him mashed banana and milk,he loves it!!i dont use salt in the house neither so no worries there,thanks again.x

[gbradfield]

yes its fine, any cereal such as porrage, weetabix is fine with the exception of such cereals like coco puffs and ones containing lots of sugar. i dont cook with salt anyway so my daughter eats the same as what the rest of the family eats, which in my opinion is healthier than jars and packets because its fresh and you know excactly whats going into it.

[pinkcowprint]

i try and cook everything from fresh but just wondering,if i made a lasagne,casserole etc and used one of them schwartz packet mixes could he have that aswell or not?i know its better to make sauces and stuff from scratch but sometimes dont have all the ingredients or time.thanks

[annie0000]

The packets generally have a lot of salt and artificial flavourings like msg as well sometines, though this is getting less common - you need to consider the volume of salt going in in comparison to the volume of food. The baby in the story was very young, as your child grows, their tolerance to salt etc grows. I know what you mean about the convenience factor, but you need to remember that stock cubes etc are more or less pure salt, so that most people who say they don't use salt, actually do, it is just more hidden. It is all about proportion, If you are making a big batch of bolognaise and using one packet instead of stock, it is more or less the same thing. When you take it in proportion to the amount of food you are making and the amount the baby will be eating.

What you need to be wary of is processed foods like tinned soups as these are really high in salt, but home made soup with a bit of potato mashed in it to thicken it is a good meal.

Bread has salt in it along with pretty much everything we eat.

Enjoy your baby and give him what you eat, just be a wee bit careful and sensible

[JOEYGREEN]

I only asked my husband the same thing this morning!! How strange. My daughter is 7 months and I'm getting through a box of the baby porridge (�2.05!! a box) within about 3 days or so. I'm going to get some ready brek and try her on it. I can't see that there's any difference really. Thanks all.