oops what have I done

[evasmom]

Hi all
I'm new to the site and having a look through the food section trying to come up with ideas for meals for my 11month dd when I noticed that a couple of people have mentioned Petit filous in a bad way - oops theres me thinking there OK and and as my dd loves them, giving them her happily - whats wrong with them?

while I'm here can I also ask any ideas on what to feed a 11month old I'm not the best cook in the world and tend to rely on jars rather to heavily - can you help

[handlemecarefully]

haven't a clue. I merrily stuff my 11 month old and 2 year old to the gills with petit filous.

I draw the line at turkey twizzlers however (or whatever they are called)

I expect that fromage frais probably has a high sugar content

[Chandra]

Oh no! really? where's that thread? DS loves them!

[helsi]

evasmom -first of all hi and welcome to the site. We are agreat bunch if I do say so myself. I would say that your dd at 11 months can basically have anything you have apart from added salt. Try to get away from jars at this age if you can. My dd loves boiled pasta with a home made tomato sauce - tinned tomatoes, onions, herbs whizzed up and served warm. She also loves spaghetti bolognese with a homemade bolognese agin using tinned toms, mushrooms, onions. Have you treid baked beans on toast? etc all very simple and cheap to do.

[evasmom]

I've noticed it in a couple of threads just sort of dropped into conversation rather that an actual thread about petit filous

Thanks for the welcome helsi and the ideas, I have tried the spag bol (as its about the only thing I can cook!!) and she ate some, I'm just paranoid about salt and things been healthy - oh and yep tried the baked beens and she was not impressed - I think the floor saw most of them

[Fimbo]

Oh dear, my ds is ill at the moment and all he will eat is Petit Filous or Munch Bunch. Eek!!

[evasmom]

ooh forgot to mention I'll try some of the ideas from the sandwich thread - although dd isn't very good at self feeding she seems to get bored very quickly and just starts dropping it all on the floor so then I worry that shes not eating enough food - mmmm do I come across as a bit hopeless here!!!!

[evasmom]

Fimbo thats all my dd eats when she's ill as well hence the question

[helsi]

she'll get used to things. You have to give a child a new food item 20 times on average before they decide if they really like them or not - keep trying. Try making things fun for her - for example - I use pastry cutters (or even clean play dough cutters) in animal shapes etc to make toast. I make homemade pizzas and make smiley faces with the ingredients e.g. mushroom for nose, tomato slices for eyes etc.
Don't worry about salt. It is only unhjealthy if you add extra salt to things eg if you make a bolognese - dont add salt to the sauce or meat.

[ThomCat]

They are loaded with sugar that's all, I wouldn't panic too much. I give them to Lotbags but limit the amount. If you are worried try using a natual yoghurt and steaming some choipped up apple, etc, and making your own. That worked for us for a while and then petit filous found its way in.

[Blackduck]

On the salt issue check out the food standards agency salt website., The recommended amount for a child under 3 is 2g salt (or 0.8 sodium) a day so check the labels...Baked Beans have a high salt content....(generally).
Re yoghut - try the Greek stuff - Total - it's got nothing added, but is 'sweeter' than natural yoghurt

[helsi]

Most supermarkets do a reduced salt/sugar brand - but still check the amount if you are concerned.

[gingerbear]

I mix petit filous 50:50 with greek yoghurt.

[tarantula]

petit filous are loaded with sugar and havent got much fruit. they also have quite a few other added ingredients but cant remember what cos dd wont eat them as they are too sweet for her liking. I but Rachels forbidden fruits (cos I like them yummy) which do have sugar but no other nastys, yeovalley ones (same again) or rachels littles which have no sugar but are quite thin and watery so dd drinks them rather than eating them.

I WANT SAINBURYS BLUE PARROT FROMAGE FRAIS BACK

TBH Im not too bothered about some sugar its more the mass of extra ingrdients and the lack of others eg fruit they put into some of these 'yogurts' that bothers me.

[miggy]

Yeo valley organic do nice childrens yoghurts. 4 packs of fromage frais or yoghurt. Waitrose always has them, my tesco never does and sainsburys sometimes does.

[tarantula]

On the salt thing was looking at Sainsburys low salt baked beans yesterday and they still contain quite a high amount. they have 0.2g of sodium per 100g which is 0.84g per 420g tin so not as good as they might look.

[evasmom]

mmm think I need to look around for some different yoghurts we ususally go to Asda so will have a look there. like the sound of the greek yoghurt will try that one

The salt thing is the main reason why I've tended to stick to jars as I'm so worried about the amount of salt in everything - I never add salt when I do cook for dd but as I mentioned I'm not the worlds best cook so get stuck for ideas.

[helsi]

would you give dd a whole tin of bakes beans though? My dd only has a spoonful with her meal and that isn't everyday so I'm sure she won't be having too much.

[sacha3taylor]

My ds is 10 monthes and I try and give him what we eat. He loves casseroles and fish pie!

[bambi06]

petit filous have 5 teaspoons of sugar in them!! try yeo valley..they`re gorgeous try nat yog with fruit puree

[sweetkitty]

I use greek yoghurt with a few cubes of whatever fruit I have made and frozen have used Petit Filous a few times when out.

Tried to order Rachel's organic childrens yoghurts from Sainsburys as they are just fruit puree and milk but they never arrived

[kikidee]

I do a bit of both. I used to think Petit Filous were bad bad bad and to be avoided but they are easier to give when you are out and about and there are worse things to feed them. I try to ensure no more than one a day (small ones) and I also give him Rachels Organic natural yoghurt with Heinz Pure fruit silver tubs of puree. Used to make my own but when I got back to work I decided that was too much work on top of making all his other food.

I tried those little rachels organic kids yoghurt for me but they were really runny so I haven't tried them again. I eat (and share with ds) the Yeo Valley Fruit Tumbles which are lovely but also have quite a bit of sugar I think.

I think there's no point in crucifying yourself -nursery give him things I would never give - last week it was mashed potato, beans and hot dogs. he's only 11 mths. I figure it's only 3 nursery meals a week so I can live with it.

[giraffeski]

Message withdrawn

[Grizzly]

evasmom
You say you can't cook and you worry about salt

• believe me, anything you cook from scratch with 'real' veg and meat will have less salt in it than something processed/ready made (provided you don't add tons of salt to the recipe). Learn to trust your tastebuds. Taste what you are feeding dd - if it tastes extra sweet or extra salty to you, then it probably is.
  Keep trying, keep experimenting. Taste a petit filou - most babies love them because they are incredibly sweet. Total greek yoghurt is really nice with fresh fruit puree.

[evasmom]

thats just it grizzly - Its not so much trusting my tastebuds rather not having a clue what to cook - I do try and do meat and veg a couple of times a week and I never add salt to the veg etc - to be honest never really have as I'm not keen on lots of salt anyway - my prob is that I just seem to get brain block on ideas what to cook for her iyswim - am I making any sense here!!

will defo be avoiding the petit filous I think (well at least cutting down on them) and will try some of the others mentioned

[Bozza]

Personally I don't think the petits filous are that bad. They have fruit before sugar on the label and unlike a lot of the other yoghurts really don't have additives. Don't give my children branded (eg Bob the Builder) food.

As for the home cooking - tell us what you eat and we'll see if that would do for your DD. Mine is 10 months and has started being awkward about being fed but until now has been really good. Been on totally family food for some time now. I work 3 days and she has nursery food then. But otherwise she has the following sort of things:
spag bol
meatloaf and veg
cauliflower cheese
roast chicken dinner
stew
macaroni cheese
shepherd's pie
chilli and rice/jacket spud without skin

Would live on bread products if I let her.