Wholemeal bread and 'too much' fibre

[swagstar]

Hello all

I have been ensuring that my 10 month old daughter has 'brown' versions of carbs, eg wholemeal bread, wheatbran bread sticks etc. One of my friends who gives her children only white stuff says that babies shouldn't have wholemeal anything as it has too much fibre in it and is bad for babies. Looking at weaning books they always mention not giving them too much fibre, but don't really quantify how much is too much. I am now quite confused - can anyone help clarify this?

Thanks in advance.

[oimissus]

yes, I have read the same (and a friend with older children also told me this) and have only given my now 2 year old white bread, rice and pasta - but she is also veggie and too much fibre can be a problem of a veggie diet so I think it's quite important for them. I read in the Times a few months ago that white bread flour (unlike wholemeal) is fortified, so it's not really 'bad'!

[Mathilda]

Personally I have always given my now 1 year old wholemeal bread - she is fine on it. She has around one slice a day so I couldn't see how that would be too much. Maybe someone else knows more!

[lala_anbu]

Fibre helps with constipation and bowel movement. So nothing wrong with having lots of fibre as our body normally sends out what it doesnot need within 24 hours. So as long as your baby enjoys what she/he eats and is healthy in all aspects, dont worry.

I have 2 kids and in my culture, we are adviced not to give too much of meals prepared will 'all purpose flour' (even for adults) - as it has less fibre and therefore not good.

[bobby's bear]

The main problem with high fibre and wholemeal foods are they are are very slowly digested which means that baby feels fuller for longer which can mean that they don't then get the calories they need as they don't feel so hungry.

[Saffron]

I thought the problem was that too much fibre (or more correctly fibr-associated complexes) prevents iron from being effciently absorbed, nothing to do with calories? For example, you can very easily add calories to a high fibre meal by adding oil. If your baby loves toast, add butter or olive oil. Fibre-complexes shouldn't greatly affect the absorption of oil, provided we're not talking about ridculous amounts. The addition of Vit C helps iron to be absorbed, so adding a little orange juice or other C-rich food to a high iron meal will help negate the effect of fibre on iron absorption, as I understand it.

Here are a couple of interestig examples...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2820048

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1311753

and also

http://ukpmc.ac.uk/abstract/MED/2507689/reload=0;jsessionid=pHkJvySgyMCZK9SyKUtd.114

[swagstar]

Thanks guys - yes Saffron I have heard the same so will try the juice.

[QueenMab]

I have also been wondering about this. I also read that high fibre food such as bran and whole wheat can be "too abrasive" on a baby's delicate digestive tract. I don't know where the evidence for any of this comes from; I'd be much happier if books on child nutrition quoted a lot more peer-reviwed research. As it is it seems to me that child nutrition (like most other areas of childcare) is teeming with books written by people who flipping well make it u

[QueenMab]

I have also been wondering about this. I also read that high fibre food such as bran and whole wheat can be "too abrasive" on a baby's delicate digestive tract. I don't know where the evidence for any of this comes from; I'd be much happier if books on child nutrition quoted a lot more peer-reviwed research. As it is it seems to me that child nutrition (like most other areas of childcare) is teeming with books written by people who flipping well make it up as they go along.

[Fuschia]

I thought it was too do with iron

One thing to bear in mind is you will never manage to switch a child on to brown bread if they start on white!