Weetbix?

Hi everyone!

I was just wondering if anybody knows the reason why it is not recommended to give weetbix before 12 months of age??? I know quite a few babies the same age as DD (almost 7.5 months) that are given weetbix but I was given a list of foods by my MCHN and weetbix is listed as not before 12 months??

I'm struggling to think of some different things for DDs brekkie. She has fruit usually and she can't have the baby cereals as they seem to clog her up. I thought maybe weetbix would be good for her bowels?

TIA!! :)

ohh thats interesting, i always gave Krystal weetbix, i dont remember being told they shouldnt have weetbix!

have you tried yogurt? Krystal has a yogurt everyday, sometimes with lunch, sometimes @ brekkie time.

Lis, I think it's something to do with possible wheat allergies??? I'm not 100% sure. I wasn't giving them to Oskar and was having a conversation about it with one of the mum's in our mum's group and she said she was fairly sure it was re: wheat allergy. I give them to Oskar and yep, it's great for not clogging him up... when he hasn't had them for a couple of days he seems to get a bit backed up. He won't eat farex and there are some others with flavours (mango etc) but I'm afraid to buy them only to waste them!!! I only give him 1/2 of one and I've started mixing in 2 or 3 teaspoons of pear rice cereal (golden circle I think it is) to give it a different taste and he loves it. So, I'm not able to really answer your whole question sorry. Will be interested to see any other responses though.

I never thought of wheat allergy, thanks Cass thats probably the reason! Yeah my DD won't eat farex either, even the flavoured ones. I have boxes of all different flavours that she won't eat lol! Luckily I have a 5 month old niece so I hope she likes the stuff!!

Yep Rach yogurt is a big hit and we often have it at lunchtime.....I think that we also need something with a bit of fibre as well though. She has pears but doesn't seem to eat a lot of it.

My SIL told me that babies can have weetbix from 8 months - I give Aricyn them now (he's 11 months) and it is great for his bowels. :-)

I was thinking about this this morning........DS is a bit clogged up, and I know that my MCHN has suggested weet bix for this to a friend whose bub is younger than mine.

So is it alright or not? Does anyone actually know?

ETA Lis, Farex is horrid stuff, try the Rafferty's Garden cereal, it actually smells and tastes like real rice cereal. DS loves it!

It's because of the high salt content in them I was told. Young babies/children can't process that much salt and don't need it anyway. You can get weetbix for kids, but I still wouldn't give it to young children. There are other alternatives out there instead of weetbix, like oats, that are just as good, if not better for them. i always gave my kids the quick oats for breakfast as they didn't like the baby cereals like farex either.

DD loves her weetbix inthe morning. I've never heard of not giving it to them but the allergy thing makes sense.

Janie DD luuuuuurves Rafferty's garden

The weetbix for kids does have a lot less salt than the adult one, but Sherie is right that oats would be better. Having said that though, I am giving Tom kids weetbix, and I did start him before 12months.

I eat oats myself most of the time, so that's easy! Are they any good for constipation though?

My Dh hates oats as he reckons they block him up LOL. Not sure if they are *good* for constipation/sluggish bowels though, but they possibly would be because of the fibre content in them, which would be why weetbix would also be suggested for it I suppose.

I never thought of oats, might give that a try first. Jane where do get the raffertys garden, I've never seen it??

Thanks ladies!

I get it from Safeway, it comes in re-sealable pouches.

Jovie was eating oats until around 10 months when we found she was allergic to them, so we used rice cereal and weetbix (the children's ones) or vitabrits which have less sugar & salt in them. I wish she wasn't allergic to oats as they would be my first pick.

Janie, I found that the oats or weetbix didn't help Jovie's sluggish bowels... only eating heaps of fruit puree in everything.

Hi there just a quick mention on the 'Raffertys Garden' cereal i was giving it to my DD and it gave her the most terrible constipation....it says on the packets it has extra iron so im not sure if thats what did it or if it just didnt agree with her? but once i stopped giving it to her she was fine and i started giving her weetbix with formula but that was at 6mths, i have never been told i couldnt though.
You can buy it everywhere now coles woolworths etc