Please don't give your small children a rice cake as a meal

In the kitchen

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 2:54 pm

Please don't give rice cakes to babies!

They take up so much room in their tiny tummies but have such minimal nutritional value! It is a waste.

A baby should not be fed rice cakes, please, they need all the healthy calories they can get. Rice cakes are a diet food.

Sorry if I sound like I am going crazy about it, but I have seen too many people in my neighborhood feeding rice cakes (plain, with peanut butter or avocado etc) to babies and small children. I think they just don't know any better. That is why I am posting this.

Rice cakes are a diet food for fully grown people. Please don't feed them to babies or small children. Crying

Last edited by In the kitchen on Mon, Nov 02 2009, 4:54 pm; edited 1 time in total

AlwaysGrateful

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 3:12 pm

Um, do you have a source for this? Rice cakes are made of brown rice, which is a whole grain. If you're spreading peanut butter or avocado, they're getting plenty of fat and calories from that. Have you actually researched this, or did you decide that since people on diets eat rice cakes, babies shouldn't?

Of course, in a situation where a baby had very little appetite, and eating half a rice cake would satisfy her, I would agree that rice cakes aren't the best idea. But other than that...you make it sound like they're dangerous or seriously unhealthy.

amother

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 3:17 pm

My baby has so many food sensitivities it's not funny. Some types of gluten aggravate him, dairy, eggs, seems like fish too, and so on. We're trying to work with a homeopath to help it and our pediatrician. In the meantime, guess what he can eat--you got it, rice cakes and corn cakes. So I happily give those to him and he has a hearty appetite for the other foods that he can eat and nursing. Besides, rice cakes are much healthier than some breadsticks or snackers, etc.

Also agreed regarding a baby with a harder to stimulate appetite or weight issue, chas v'shalom.

In the kitchen

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 3:19 pm

At an age where a small child is growing especially a baby, rice cakes take up too much room in their tiny tummies, they will miss out on valueble healthy calorie which they need.

I am not saying rice cakes are not healthy, I know they are a whole grain, I am a nutritionist. That is besides the point though, I consider this basic knowledge that everyone needs to know. Maybe I am wrong to assume that mothers know their babies tummies are tiny and every bite needs to be as nutritionally dense as possible. Sad

I see too many people (and one is too many if you ask me!) feeding rice cakes to their children as snacks (I am talking about under 2.5 years old and even 6 months old!!!) these same people also tend to be overly diet obsessed and tend to view their children's natural and healthy fat as obesity. Seriously. I don't know if it is just because they got married so young or have no outside education...but I felt it important enough that if this message could reach one mother who is feeding her baby rice cakes then it would help.

Avocado and peanut butter are great things (debate about when to start pb later) but they should be served on bread or crackers, something with some kind of nutritional value to give the very fast growing body the energy and fuel it needs.

In the kitchen

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 3:25 pm

amother wrote:

Yours is an exceptional case, and as you pointed out you have good reasons for what you are doing and you are doing it with guidance. The people I am speaking about are mothers who are diet obsessed with themselves (although they are ideal or underweight) and are feeding them to their healthy kids (with no allergies and to kids in their playgroups!!!.

I substituted in playgroups and this was my biggest pet peeve. There was supposedly a schedule of what the children would eat each day and all these places never followed them. I saw far too many instances of small children being fed rice cakes with the thinnest layer of avocado you ever saw.

amother

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 3:29 pm

In the kitchen wrote:

I think that you're being overly judgmental.

Fine, let's assume you're right. There are some people that are obsessed with dieting and feed their kids rice cakes to slim them down. I think they're few and far between, but fine, neither of us can prove this point. But there are plenty of people out there who feed their kids rice cakes because it's a healthy choice for their children.

My son eats about twice as much as I do at his meals. I am not on a diet. He inhales everything I put in front of him (assuming it's something he likes...there are a few things he does not like). He is not lacking in calories. I give him rice cakes because they're a healthy food, like many of the other foods that I give him. Trust me - he can eat seven rice cakes smeared with peanut butter in a sitting (he accidentally got to peanuts early on and didn't react, which is why he can eat them now - not the place to debate this) and still eat a full meal an hour later.

If you want to phrase it as "Don't feed your kids diet foods in order to make them lose weight; babies are supposed to have some chub," I think that's a fine message. But if you saw me feeding my kid rice cakes and thought "nebach, she's starving her kid because she doesn't realize his pudge is natural," then I would stay very, very far away from you.

You're jumping to conclusions about kids' eating habits, parents' intentions...and you're saying something which is a chiddush - unless you've read this somewhere else. Please don't feel pity for those of us who are starving our kids. Maybe we know what we're doing.

In the kitchen

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 3:29 pm

Ones of these mothers who has an adorable 3 year old girl of completely normal size, perhaps underweight, complains that she is always hungry! And the mother instructed me not to give in to her requests for more fruit. Thats right fruit! She wasn't even asking for nosh. The poor girl is growing and needs food. The mother was complaining the the daughter is hungry...blows my mind. Makes me so sad and nervous for her kids and the potential eating disorders that may result. Crying

That's another extreme though.

Some people feed them to their kids stam, that's what they have in the pantry and they just don't think twice about it. That is the crowd I am more geared towards, just to let them know that rice cakes are not usually an ideal choice for small children.

manhattanmom

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 3:35 pm

When I saw the title of the thread I thought you were warning people not to feed babies rice cakes because it was some type of choking hazard or something in that league.
One of my baby's first foods was a rice cake. Why? Because it is something that could keep him busy for a looong time and it is healthy. No, I never ever consider rice cakes a meal. As a matter of fact, I don't give my kids rice cakes until they've eaten a full meal. Before he could pick up cheerios independently, a rice cake kept him occupied in his high chair while I took 5 minutes for myself to straighten up the kitchen.
Rice cakes have also kept him occupied in the stroller.

Perhaps you should change the title of your post to read something like: Why I don't recommend feeding rice cakes to babies. Or Please don't make your children diet obsessed. To come right out and tell everyone not to let their kids snack on rice cakes is not right. (and it happens to be better than them snacking all day on yodels and entenmanns cakes, and cheese doodles....)

I'm going to piggy-back on your PSA and say that many pediatricians recommend you hold off on giving a kid peanut butter until they're 2.....

shabri

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 4:00 pm

Why is a cracker more nutritious than a rice cake? Even assuming its a whole grain cracker. Aren't they both carbs?

FYI, I give both my kids rice cakes--ages almost 2.5 and 11 mos b/c they love them. They still eat their veggies, fats, and proteins but sometimes for snacks they want rice cakes (and sometimes pretzels and sometimes crackers) I didn't get married young (unless 27 is young) I have an almost doctorate so I would not say I am uneducated. But I fail to see why one should not give their children a healthy snack if they want it and it doesn't interfear with their appetite

Barbara

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 4:01 pm

Raisin wrote:

rice cakes is a healthy food that most babies love. I don't feed them exclusively to my baby, but they are a good snack. What would you prefer - that or cookies?

I get your point about the diet obsessed mothers, but a few rice cakes a week is not gong to make a baby nutritionally deprived.

The whole topic reminded me of *Chinese food -- heart attack in a box* Instead of pointing out that regular consumption of foods high in sodium and fat is not healthful on a regular basis, they tried to convince us that having chicken fried rice a couple of times a year would inevitably result in your untimely demise.

Same here. Esp when this declaration is accompanied by the evils of using rice cakes as a base for peanut butter (which shouldn't be fed to babies, but that's a different issue) or avocado. I guess you could eat avocado slices, but otherwise there's going to be *some* base ... like bread. Bread is better than rice cakes because ...... ????

I thought this was going to be like the Pesach cereal risk. (That stuff expands in baby's mouth and creates a choking risk.)

In the kitchen

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 4:44 pm

amother wrote:

In the kitchen wrote:

I think that you're being overly judgmental
...

You're jumping to conclusions about kids' eating habits, parents' intentions...and you're saying something which is a chiddush - unless you've read this somewhere else. Please don't feel pity for those of us who are starving our kids. Maybe we know what we're doing.

You are jumping to conclusions about me jumping to conclusions. I am talking about families that I know (not random people on the street) and I have heard from these mother's mouths that they are worried about their kids weights.

And I am NOT trying to be judgemental here I am simply trying to educate some people out there who may not know or realize that their babies tiny tummies need more nutrient dense food than rice cakes.

pacifier

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 4:46 pm

amother wrote:

my baby's like that too!!!! but he doesn't want to eat rice cake anymore, he wants the same foods as his siblings.......

I don't see the problem with giving rice cakes as a snack as long as baby also gets his vegetables/fruits/ and protein.

In the kitchen

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 4:48 pm

shabri wrote:

Why is a cracker more nutritious than a rice cake? Even assuming its a whole grain cracker. Aren't they both carbs?

It is not about them both being carbs. It is about nutritional density. For a tiny bit of rice cake you might get 1 calorie and no other substantial nutrients. For a tiny bit of crackers you will get a few calories, some fat, some protein etc.

Raisin

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 4:50 pm

In the kitchen wrote:

amother wrote:

In the kitchen wrote:

the mothers who worried about their babies' weights have other issues, are you saying it is unsafe for my kid to have ricecakes?

I'm a strong beleiver in that foods kids eat from a young age they will always enjoy...why not get them used to eating healthy snacks like ricecake rather then only bread or crackers? too much wheat is not always good as well, isn't it good nutritional practice to have varied foods and grains? so wheat crackers one day, rice cakes the next, cheerios, bread and corncakes on the other days.

maybe change your heading to - a rice cake is not enough for a babies lunch. I still can't see why its a good snack.

In the kitchen

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 4:52 pm

""Same here. Esp when this declaration is accompanied by the evils of using rice cakes as a base for peanut butter (which shouldn't be fed to babies, but that's a different issue) or avocado. I guess you could eat avocado slices, but otherwise there's going to be *some* base ... like bread. Bread is better than rice cakes because ...... ???? ""

I noted in my original post that I was going a little overboard. Also bread would be better because it is more nutritionally dense. That is my whole point. Nutritional density for tiny tummies.

I apologize if I offended anyone. I am overly emotional about these things just because I want to help and heal the world and I feel helpless and unheard.

In the kitchen

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 4:57 pm

Ok, I changed the title.

Raisin variety is great. Kol ha kavod to you. Keep it up.

I worked in a few daycares where a rice cake with the tinyiest shmear of something on it was served as lunch to all the kids. on more than one occasion and in more than one daycare! The people running these places also had their children there and fed them the same...THAT is what I am trying to fight.That shold not be happening.

Isramom8

Mon, Nov 02 2009, 5:07 pm

Young babies who are using rice cakes basically to gum and teethe are probably getting most of their nutrition from milk. Older babies will likely demand the calories they need, either by screaming for denser food or grabbing it. We hope.

Yes, it bothered me to see a clueless mom feed her baby Fruit Puffs, which is basically Babma, all day long, and think it was nutritious. When that child got older, all he ate was fries and onion rings. Sad but true. These things are okay, but I agree - make sure your baby is getting enough nutritious calories. Like omelets made with milk and cheese, and whole grain bread spread with a high calorie spread. You can boil up fresh sweet potato, potato, carrots and squash with a chicken leg or a little meat, blend it, and the whole family will be jealous of the yummy, healthful food you're feeding your precious baby.