Feeling intense mum guilt due to baby/toddler pouches

Don’t worry you sound like a great parent if your little One likes them, just continue offering them, maybe less often?

There was a panorama programme on BBC1 tonight about those pouches and I need to catch it on iplayer.

I’m guilty of using a lot of pouches for my first born from about 8-14 months as I was very sick (physically) and found it hard to cope. For my second I’m batch cooking, puree-ing and freezing all sorts. Love those little silicone trays from Nuk or other brands.

And this is very much a First World problem. There are millions of parents in developing countries who would give anything to be able to provide Ella's pouches for their toddlers.

My toddler loves a fruit pouch here and there, I gave her baby meals occasionally when weaning.
Honestly don’t beat yourself up, I certainly wont be. Most of us are just trying our best and everything in moderation. Life is for living, not enough hours in the day to worry about a fruit pouch as a snack.

Don't bother with guilt, such a waste of mental energy. I weaned both our DDs on Hipp Organic jars and fruit pouches. I bloody hated toddler food prepping, and this was so much easier.

By the time they were at school they were eating a very varied diet, including lots of seafood and spicy curries. DD1 ended up playing two sports at County Level and DD2 was a competitive gymnast for 5 years, so I think they survived rather well (I didn't even bother BFding DD2, gasp).

Try not to use pouches past the weaning stage. A 3 year old should not be eating them, for example. It’s not just about the nutrition (or lack of) - your child needs to be biting and chewing a wide variety of food in order to develop the mouth muscles to speak properly. Research is now showing that eating a very soft diet is linked to poor speech development.

It’s not just about the basic ingredients.

The research has highlighted that in those fruit pouches virtually all the Vit C had been lost in the manufacturing process, and although they are marketed as “no added sugar” etc they have actually been found to contain 4 teaspoons of “free sugars” so it gets around the advertising rules.

Unless you really went digging into all of this, you would have thought exactly like you did- it’s only 3 ingredients, all good? This investigation has really lifted the lid on it all and exposed quite a lot of these things which otherwise have been hidden behind misleading advertising.

There's nothing wrong at all with using them like you are as a snack or occasional meal replacement & I think they can be great at getting in a variety of veg of new flavors but it is quite disturbing when you look at the ingredients of the savoury meals marketed as healthy & wholesome as they are all sweetened with 'natural fruits & vegetables' ie loads of apple juice.
They eat the pouches of 'organic sweet potato shepherds pie' or whatever because it's been sweetened with apple juice. It's then harder to get them to eat home cooked food because they've learned to like sweeter foods.

I breast fed mine and made organic food etc then one day when I was on the toilet he escaped from his bumbo chair (not sure how you spell that but a supposedly secure chair on the floor) and he ate the cat food. My other son ate snails and licked the drain when I was really ill and being sick and could not physically get up to stop him. Most Mums try our best and it’s never perfect. Just keep trying different things and doing the best you can. If they eat the odd bit of cucumber great. If they will only eat the pouches then so be it. It’s better than cat food.

I feel pretty shit about it too. No going back. Just have to eat better from now on.

There should at least be a message reminding you fresh is best. Reminders are what tired parents need.

I listened to the journalist who conducted this investigation being interviewed on radio 4 earlier.

She says that she was using them with her own child, just like every other parent these days. She began to read the nutrition labels and approached the BBC to do a story on it. They sent pouches from all big brands to an independent lab for testing, and the results are pretty damning.

They’ve cross referenced the data with NHS/WHO guidelines and found the companies involved have got lax nutritional standards and in some cases, are being incorrectly advertised.

The bottom line of the investigation is that these huge companies are at fault. Parents who have used them are urged not to feel guilty. Better guidance and age labelling ought to follow.

@Hellosaidfred dont beat yourself up. You were doing your best at the time. It’s good that we have this additional information now though as it can hopefully allow people to make a more informed decision.

My children ate/ still eat loads of them. Something else to now feel guilty about as I spin a million plates. I think most parents I know use them.

On the bright side, I’ve just checked on Solid Starts how to get more iron in their diet and it suggests (alongside other more obvious foods) cricket, grasshopper, quail and elk. So that’s easy.

My DS was a fussy toddler, who is a still fussy 5 year old. He will barely eat any veggie that isn't blitzed into a sauce or baked beans (they're one of 5 a day!). From my perspective, give yourself a break. You sound like you have a tricky child to feed. Your DS isn't only eating pouches - they are a snack a few times a week, and probably in that case, no worse than the fruit peel/veg crisp things every child I know adores. Plus, if its no veg or the bit of veg in a pouch, the pouch probably wins.

If you want to make pouches "better", you could ensure they are eaten with a spoon (my understanding is that sucking on pouches is the thing that's really bad for teeth). Pouches are low in iron, especially (but I also wonder how many babies are getting the recommended amount of iron from home cooked meals) so try to include iron rich foods and/or a multivitamin elsewhere. And keep offering fruit and veg in other forms, even if he won't eat them now. It can take toddlers a long time to become familiar enough with the look of something to try it, and a long time between trying and eating. Keep serving veg he won't eat now, keep eating it in front of him, and you might find things change.

The whole thing with the investigation into these pouches is that the brands ARE making them appear healthy. They sell lots and lots and alot of babies exclusively eat these.

You thought you were making a good decision, it's not on you.

Exactly this. Just another stick to beat parents (mums) with.

Yeah the meal ones should be given alongside other foods/weaning methods and Big Shock, fruit has sugar in... But there's nothing sinister about them.

How many more nutrients would they get via a plate of food they'd chuck on the floor or spit out, do you think?

Programme on BBC1 right now.

Me: looks in rear view mirror . Where did you get that sausage roll?

3 year old: shrugs and continues chowing on a half eaten Greggs.

That actually happened 😑😆

Don't worry they will soon be eating left over maccies on the floor in the car....

I used pouches. I don’t feel bad about it. My daughter is fine, and I have worse things to beat myself up about.

I’d do yourself a favour and not seek out mumsnet threads about this topic.There are people who lurk on this debate forum waiting for issues like pouches (or UPFs, or letting children eat chicken nuggets, or how Very French their own eating style is) - you already know roughly what they are going to say, and it is realistically only going to make you feel bad when all you’ve done is have a kid who doesn’t like veg. You haven’t doomed him, and you’re not a crap mum.

I mean it's all relative isn't it.

Worst - diet consists wholly of sugar lumps
...to...
Best - homemade purees lovingly prepared from a full rainbow of homegrown veg (which has far more nutrients than shop bought)

You are somewhere in the middle, like most people? Do what you can with the time and money you have, and let the rest go.

@pimplebum https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62j0l0gg4go

Baby food pouches from six of the UK's leading brands are failing to meet key nutritional needs of babies and toddlers - with parents being "misled" by their marketing - BBC Panorama has been told.

(As an aside, I don't vouch for this to be reliable, as generally I think Panorama is anything but, and is overly over-sensational but...it's a decent enough source)

Don’t feel guilty at all OP. My 10 year old nephew was weaned entirely on pouches, and is the most amazing eater! He eats pretty much everything, especially fruit and veg!

Can you link these news articles, are they from reliable sources ?

Ella's kitchen if I remember had literally three ingredients ie strawberry , apple lemon etc and no nasties all organic , so i am not sure where your guilt is coming from ?

some mums get a buzz out of thinking they are martyring themselves more than others , its your choice if you want to engage in that madness