Pros: Great as a first finger food, low choking risk, tastes good, not very messy, packaged conveniently for on-the-go snack, does not contain wheat.
Cons: Not sold in most supermarkets (have only found them at Walmart and Sam's Club and on Amazon.com), caused me temporary panic b/c they are made in China and contain skim milk powder BUT there seems to be no cause for concern.
I've been giving Baby Mum-Mum rice crackers to SB as a snack since he was about 7 months old, and it was love at first bite. I taste all the stuff I give to SB to see how edible they are, and I have to say that they are pretty darn tasty. The crackers are very light and airy and sort of melt in your mouth as you chew (or mash in SB's case). They have a lightly sweet taste that makes them easy to eat. The box contains 12 conveniently wrapped packages of 2 crackers each - perfect for sticking in your diaper bag for snack time on the go.
After SB's bottom front teeth came in at about 6.5 months, I started looking for a teething cracker or biscuit that doesn't have wheat in it (I read that it's better to wait until baby is 9-12 months old before introducing wheat due to the allergy risk) and couldn't find anything in the grocery aisles, surprisingly. Then I came across Baby Mum-Mums at my local Walmart, which are made of rice, not wheat. Although Baby Mum-Mums aren't exactly a teething cracker, they were close enough for me. I mainly wanted something that SB could practice biting and chewing on. They've turned out to be the perfect starter finger food.
Initially, I would hold the cracker for SB as he chomped on it, but after a little encouragement, he started taking the cracker in his own hand and feeding himself. Yay, his first successful attempt at finger food self-feeding! The crackers were great for giving him finger food practice, since they are easy for his little hands to clasp and big enough for him to find his mouth with it. As you can see from the picture, they have a long oval shape and are pretty thin, so it's easy to bite off pieces. And they don't create much mess at all - a few crumbs here and there. I've found them to be a great distraction for SB when he gets fussy on car rides or in his stroller.
There are a lot of things to like about Baby Mum-Mums. The box highlights the following:
-No Artificial Colors or Flavors
-No Preservatives
-Gluten, Egg & Peanut Free
-Baked, Low in Fat & No Trans Fat
-No Added Fats or Oils
But there is another important thing to note about these crackers. They are made in China AND contain milk powder. About a week after the melamine-tainted milk scandal came to light in China, it suddenly hit me that my SB's beloved Baby Mum-Mums might be one of the foods affected by the tainted milk. I went straight to the web to see what information I could dig up on Mum-Mums and the melamine issue, and...it seems that they are safe. A big sigh of relief. This is what I found:
Statement from National Importers (importer/distributor of the product): This basically states that Mum-Mums contain milk powder imported from New Zealand and that food authorities in China, Australia, Canada, and the US have tested batches of Mum-Mums with results all coming back negative for melamine contamination.
Baby Mum-Mum Official Blog Site: Similar statement to the one above.
Australian Baby Mum-Mum Site: An explanation of the New Zealand origin of the milk powder used in the crackers.
Baby Purity website: This site requested melamine information on Mum-Mums from the company's rep and posted the rep's response.
I decided to continue to feed Mum-Mums to SB based on these statements. But if the statements aren't enough to ease your concerns, then another option to try is their Organic Baby Mum-Mum and Toddler Mum-Mums, neither of which contain skim milk powder. Unfortunately, I have yet to try either of these, because I haven't found any stores that carry them and I haven't been able to find them online.* If you've been able to find them somewhere, please let me know! The original Baby Mum-Mums are a bit hard to find, as well. I haven't yet found them in any local supermarket, but Walmart and select Sam's Club stores do carry them. If your local Walmart or Sam's Club does not happen to carry them, you can purchase through Amazon:
Original Baby Mum-Mums on Amazon
Vegetable Baby Mum-Mums on Amazon
*UPDATE: Amazon is now selling the Organic Baby Mum-Mums and Organic Toddler Mum-Mums, as well as strawberry-flavored Organic Toddler Mum-Mums. In case you still have concerns about melamine, note that these organic versions do not contain any skim milk powder. Amazon price is $15.69 for a pack of 6 boxes. We just received our strawberry-flavored organic Mum-Mums, and SB gives them a BIG thumbs up. Quite tasty, if I do say so myself. (Note: We had an issue with Amazon's fulfillment of our strawberry Mum-Mums order. They sent us just one box instead of the pack of 6 boxes that we ordered. They sent us a replacement order, which again was just one box instead of the pack of 6, so I just had to cancel the order. I did get 2 free boxes of Mum-Mums in the process, but note that you may have a similar issue.)
Retail price (Baby Mum-Mums): Approx. $2-$3/box
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