I wonder sometimes if me and the friends I have are aliens. All people my age feed a variety of good and bad bits to their baby. I don't mean babies under 6-8 months particularly.
When I started weaning around 18 weeks with both I started with baby rice. Moved into pureed fruit and veg. Then added in jacket potatoes, tuna and meat from 6 months. With regards to snacking. I'd put half a rusk in with milk. Or mush up banana. A couple of those Ella's kitchen crisps or a biscotti or a petie filous yogurt.
I've carried that on with mine and they have good and bad snacks each day.
Typical day for mine
Weetabix, porridge, cornflakes or cocopops
Apple, banana, pear or grapes.
Lunch is usually toast, pasta or sandwich with things like cheese, tuna, cucumber, carrot sticks, tomato's and a yoghurt. Sometimes they have pom bears or something too.
Mid afternoon they will have a biscuit or cereal bar or more fruit.
Tea is usually mash and veg with something. Or spaghetti Bolognese, chicken dinners, wraps that kind of thing.
They both drink water, squash and fresh orange and apple juice. We rarely have a pudding but if they are still hungry after tea they either get a biscuit or a bowl of cereal before bed.
I don't feel I'm a terrible mother. I was raised on a similar diet and so was my partner.
All I know is my kids get their 5 a day. I also know many toddlers are fussy.
I also agree babies don't need heaps of sugar or salt. They need plenty of vegetables and fruits for those first tastes. But a small treat is harmless and shaming other mother's for having the option is abit harsh. As long as a child is loved and fed a fairly good diet that's what counts.
Sadly many people feed their kids macdonalds from a year old. I never did those things. When they turned two they had a rare happy meal with fish fingers but that was rare.
There are some parents who feed their children shocking diets. But I don't think it's the mum letting the baby have the odd rusk personally.