To occasionally give my baby packet food?

[Doesitgetbetter]

Is packaged baby food as bad as all that?

I am struggling to find the time in the day as a single mum to a 10 month old to make 3 meals. She still BF (a lot)! And I try to give her as much home made goodness as possible - we have not ventured into pre made food yet. But I'm struggling to fit it all in to the day - the cooking, the blending, planning all the meals. I'm exhausted. So I thought I could give my LO organic packet food once in a while.

I have tried to search for the best brands but can't really find a lot of info. So let's say, Peter Rabbit organics and Plum Organics as 2 brands I could try? Are they OK or should I not even go there?

I'm so clueless.

DD has what we have. She also lives toast so things on toast are a good stand by without much prep or clearing up. Scrambled egg done in the microwave is also very quick.

There was a thread a couple of weeks ago about cooking from fresh and as someone said upthread, you're apparently not doing that if you're making bolognese and haven't grown the tomatoes from seed. I was thinking about that on Friday as I made spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.....with prepared meatballs (I really was short of time), tinned tomatoes and normal dried spaghetti. Even though I managed to pick the basil for the sauce from my kitchen windowsill, I'm quite certain the MN jury would say there was too much processed food in that.

With DD1, I steamed (on the cooker NEVER in a microwave) all her veg and processed food never passed her lips. DD2 was weaned onto solids while we were renovating the house and didn't have a kitchen. She loves a bit of Ella's.

Your baby will be fine OP - wouldn't do it all the time, but pre made baby food is absolutely fine! just give her the odd bit of cucumber or toast or whatever in her hand as well.

I used them. Didn't have the time or energy to cook, despite my best intentions (2 DC in 13 months). They ate them quite happily and the pouch type ones were brilliant when we were out.

At 3 and 4 now, they will eat anything, so obviously did no harm to their eating habits.

Yes to quick food too, for at least one meal a day - banana and avocado were good filling standbys, scrambled egg is excellent (cook it fairly dry and don't scramble much, and they can just pick it up with their fingers), crumpets (surprisingly healthy) with toppings, like cream cheese or peanut butter.

I'm another one who thinks it's fine, OP.
Personally, I used jars all the time as I couldn't cope with anything else.

There are some excellent "processed" foods (especially ones designed for babies), and some which don't appear so processed but have much worse nutritional value.

For example, a nice wholesome piece of toast with cheese on it can have nearly 2g salt in it (max. daily allowance for toddlers). A baby jar will generally have been scrutinised endlessly and have the minimum salt possible added to it, and lots of easily digested veg/fruit to boot.

Of course there's nothing wrong with using them occasionally. However, there are very quick fresh meals you can throw together in seconds. I've just mashed up banana and avocado for my almost 6 month old and he gobbled it up once he'd finished smushing it into his bib/high chair/clothes/face

As for the brands, I looked into this for a work project a couple of years ago and I seem to remember there were significant differences in quality, however things may have changed. But it's very easy, check the ingredients and opt for brands with a simple, recognisable lust. Ella's is very good on this measure iirc.

I use them all the time and don't feel remotely guilty about it. I do a combination of Hipp jars and stuff we eat as a family. But mainly Hipp jars if I'm honest.

My 10 month old DD loves them and is thriving.

The thing with the Ella's pouches is that they might not have much salt in..... but they don't seem to have much of anything else in either.

We've had a few free ones from the Asda caff, and they were all overly sweet, tasteless slop. Even the savoury ones.

People who do a lot of organic baby food and BF, be aware that in the UK, organic means that the food cannot be supplemented with iron. (If you are FF, that contains iron). 9mo - 24mo olds are at risk for iron deficiency, so it might be worth supplementing.

One of the pouches brands, goodies, actually wrote the amounts of foods in their ingredients list rather than percentages. It was bonkers the tiny amounts that made up their standard size pouches. So, the strawberry and banana one would be 1 strawberry. 1/8 of a banana. Easier to just give them the fruit.

And a damn sight cheaper. Though a bit messier!

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have been battling with the decision for ages but based on this I will be giving pouches once in a while - it will save my sanity!

I will also try finger foods, although I'm really nervous about this. DD has had nothing but purée so far and I'm scared she will gag / choke.

What is the best / safest very first finger food? She doesn't have any teeth yet - does that matter?

No she won't choke. Google BLW (baby led weaning). Basically it's just handing baby food off your plate but some clever person made a science out of it .

Little secret; buy frozen veg. I've got carrots, broccoli, sweetcorn, colli flower, peas. Then you can just do a floret or two. Put in a cup of boiling water. Job done after few minutes!

Try Ella or plum baby. In most supermarkets. By 10mths your on slightly lumpy so stage 3 I think.

I can recommend a hand blender too. For smoothing stuff a little but you do need to leave lumps In now a bit.

The no teeth thing is no issue. DD2 is 14 months, and has two teeth with one more just peeping through. She eats everything.

I found things like toast to be good for her and my nerves as she can gum on them and they go mushy. The same with things like penne pasta (although that is messy and can be slippy if they have sauce on).

Things like banana made me nervous as she tended to let lumps that were too big near the back of her throat and then she'd gag, but she never choked.

Now, when she's not in a mood and being faddy, she eats pretty much what's put in front of her.

I used to use the Ella's pouches a lot when we were out and about. Brilliantly convenient and no mess.

I would do a bit of both. Use the ready made to take the pressure off and gradually build up your confidence with your own meals.

Honestly, anything is ideal finger food.

My DS is 9 months and good just gets chucked on his tray. He's only got 2 bottom teeth, but before then would still happily munch broccoli florets, gum cucumber sticks, melon/any fruit, chunks of tender meat, roasted squash and sweet potato are great as just mush in their mouths.

I have a 2.6yr old too so I just give him what I've made for us all. I use the baby stock cubes from boots to avoid too much salt, which is used for all of us.

No. No teeth doesn't matter. Think of it like a flour mill. They grind the food between the jaws. They are quite strong.

Mine loved lamb chop! Spag Bol / any pasta. Sausage, baby crisps, fruit, peas, frozen peas good for teething/hot day. Steak (!) as very suckable. Take inspiration from the packets! I did.

Cut about as thick as mid finger and long enough to hold. Or very small depending on thing.

Might find taking skin off sausage works best too.

She's less likely to gag on food she feeds herself than a spoonful of puréed veg. Have faith and hand her some broccoli.

I just give my 9 month old whatever I'm having and have done since she was 6 months. I don't add any salt to our food anyway and never have. The only thing I've changed is I now make my own chicken and veg stock.

Another one who says pouches are great - my kids have been/are being weaned solely on these, no issues whatsoever (DS2 8 months). I found the lumpy ella's kitchen good for introducing different textures. I'm flying back to UK this week so am looking forward to using a few of the Hipp jars.

I don't have the time or the inclination to batch cook or blend!

Have you tried little sandwiches OP? Maybe with cream cheese or houmous on fairly thinly sliced bread to start with?

I batch cooked and blended everything for my pfb but by the time it came around to dc3 I had 3 under 3 and simply didn't have time. Dc3 was not a fan of finger food at all so I did use jars for lunch a fair bit (and tea was whatever the rest of us were having, mashed up a bit if required) I used mainly Hipp as this was pre-Ella's kitchen and pouches. I wouldn't like to rely on them for every meal but as with many things in life, it's about balance and context.

One thing I was a bit wary of when DD was eating Ella's pouches was the protein content (or quantity of meat, fish etc) as I would tend to give DD more protein than they contained and less carb. Obviously manufactured foods tend to bulk up on cheaper ingredients.

Sometimes you just need a break, doesitgetbetter - and if giving the baby packet baby food sometimes gives you that, then go for it, I say!

I cook a lot from scratch, and always have - but sometimes we have supermarket pizza or microwave curries for dinner - because sometimes I just cannot work up the energy or enthusiasm to cook. As long as it isn't too often, I reckon we will survive my culinary neglect.

And now I am off to the kitchen to cook a garlic bread for my tea - poor, neglected ds3 (17) will cook himself a pizza whilst I am out at choir practice.

A message to all of you who say a baby should be able to eat solid food at 10 months. I was blending/mashing food for my son until he was nearly 2. He lived on porridge and shepherds pie. I despaired that he would ever learn to chew. And then once, when he was 3 weeks off his 2nd birthday he eat slices of banana instead of mush, and 3-4 days later, ate a whole one, just like that. And has never looked back. He's 12 now and eats well.

And no you're not being unreasonable. Is Babylicious still around? That was a mainstay for me.

mine would not even accept lumpy foods when he was 10 months, not to mention eating a whole broccoli floret - I told him that he should, but for some reason he did not care.