To say 'Fuck you, Ella's Kitchen, I'll boil my own carrots!'

[missmillimentscardigan]

Obviously I get that those pouches can be convenient; I just don't understand the blind adherence to the Ella's Kitchen 'feeding a baby everything from a pouch' idea. Why would you pay probably ten times the cost of a carrot to buy a pouch of pureed carrot? I hate the twee packaging and the stupid baby talk on the packets and cynical marketing guff.

I think parents are led to believe that they couldn't possibly prepare something for their baby to eat themselves, and that it's better and somehow safer, to buy them a pouch of fruit or veg and feed them that instead. So many of my friends, when starting off on weaning their babies, have just bought a load of EK pouches and given them that, and only that. And I find that a bit sad, that parents think that they couldn't /shouldn't cook a parsnip / bit of broccoli for their child, and that the first flavours their baby tries are from a weird vacuum pouch that doesn't even need refrigerating.

I'm no Annabel Karmel, and my children certainly don't eat lovingly prepared homecooked food all the time (hello, beans on toast). But I do enjoy cooking for them and my DH, and so does he. Those pouches have a place, but not at the exclusion of everything else. It's satisfying to see your child eating something you made and that you know is nutritious.

I'm not criticising mothers and fathers for using them; I just feel a bit sad that we are losing and abandoning simple skills, like very basic and inexpensive cooking for children, because baby food companies want us to think that they know better than we do. And they don't!

Judgey much. I weaned DC on ellas pouches. She wasn't a well baby and didn't sleep and I have a DH who travels for work a lot so I am often on my own. The few hours when she did sleep I preferred to sleep than cook. She now eats anything and isn't fussy at all so clearly I did fine.

I have just started weaning DS (my PFB!)

So far everything he's had has been lovingly puréed by me. I am not anti pouches and will probably buy the odd one when I am out, but I do find it strange that some people I know are weaning more or less exclusively on them. To me it seems a very expensive way of doing it. I also know people who say their babies won't eat homemade purée now because they can't get it as smooth as the pouches which are such a smooth consistency.

I will probably buy some pouches of the more "exotic" fruits for DS to try. We are a pretty boring household when it comes to fruit and tend to just buy apples and bananas, sometimes grapes. I wouldn't buy a mango or papaya so I'll chuck a couple of pouches of those in next time I'm in the supermarket so DS can try them.

What confuses me about the pouches is why they mix fruits and vegetables? I keep seeing eg butternut squash and apple. I would never eat that combination together and can't imagine many adults would so why do they make it for babies?

Tbh although I didn't fancy BLW right from the start I'm hoping to get DS off purée and onto a mushed or chopped up version of whatever we're having as quickly as possible.

Ella's kitchen also sell weaning books and have a lot of information and recipes so they aren't fully pushing parents to feed their kids three pouches a day.

I've done baby led weaning twice now. Not that it matters. No one would know. No one cares. How i wean my baby is my business.

I didn't use them at home, only when out and about. At home ds got food I made, spent hours pureeing. With dc2 I did BLW which was much better.

I was terrified as mum to a pfb of not being able to make the food as smooth as a jar so I used jars. Also the packets you put water in. They were amazing as you could just make up the tiny amount you need at first and they were super cheap and not wasteful.

You are judging. As long as a baby is given food and milk I give zero shits how you do it. Breast, bottle, tins, jars, sachets, home reared organic pork lovingly puréed. Meh.

They mix vegetables and fruit so they aren't too sweet and to encourage veg consumption

This is an unreasonable op. I gave my kids the one flavour pouches as well as fruit and veg I had boiled or mashed myself. This was because they would maybe eat one spoonful before rejecting it and frankly it saved me the time and effort of boiling and mashing in the early days when they were hardly going to eat any.

Also, they are really useful when you are out. Both mine had them in conjunction with other foods I had prepared myself. They are now excellent eaters who do not require a pouch to eat and have no long lasting damage.

Good for you, OP! Don't be put off by all the clutching at straws 'judgy' posts which are usually posted by people desperately trying to convince themselves that what they're doing has to be right. I've also been really fucking annoyed by the twee phrasing on the back, and cringe when I think about how bad all those useless colours and bulky packaging are for the environment. EK products and the like are made in a factory, and are made to last for weeks. If that's what first goes into a weaning baby's mouth I would feel sorry for them. It takes next to no time to boil and mash some vegetables/fruit/potatoes and it is exceptionally rare that parents have 'no time' to do this. Really, 10 minutes can't be spent putting together some quality food, and saving hundreds of pounds a year?

As long as a baby is given food and milk I give zero shits how you do it. Breast, bottle, tins, jars, sachets, home reared organic pork lovingly puréed. Meh.

Agree 100% with this. As long as a child is fed enough food that gives them the energy and nutrients they need, there's far bigger things to worry about in life!

We did BLW and so did most of the parents I know. I used to buy the fruity pouches which we sometimes used for dessert/days out of the house, etc. I used to let my DS hold it and suck the fruit out myself. I also found them handy for the variety of fruit combos that u couldn't get all year round, like mangoes.

A giant fuck you to all the goady arseholes on this thread.

My daughter was weaned exclusively on Ella's kitchen pouches (every single breakfast, lunch and dinner) because my Mum died right as my baby was ready to start having solids.

I had great intentions of blw, but as it turned out I was barely capable of getting up off the floor over the loss of my mum, let alone boiling vegetables. The sorts of attitudes some people have displayed here made me feel ashamed to be seen out feeding my little girl from a EK pouch. Just what you need when you're already raw with grief.

My daughter is now 9 months and eats anything put in front of her.

Some people like to spend their time preparing, cooking and pureeing veg and fruit, some like to do other things instead. Completely their choice.

LBOCS2

And it's a much more pervasive problem than baby food manufacturers convincing parents that they can't cook, it's a loss of basic skills in the post war generations with the rise in convenience foods. - Absolutely -

That is key. That loss of skill and confidence has enabled manufacturers to fill a gap.

gonetoseeamanaboutadog makes a good point

a lot of these products have technical gobbledegook on the packet that makes it sound 'expert', leading naturally to the idea that buying the product is what 'experts' recommend. With a baby, you're bombarded with guidelines from experts that parents ignore at their peril; advertisers are riding on the back of that (even to the point of being distributed in a bounty pack along with proper expert advice).

Of course many "Skills" and some "knowledge" has thankfully been discredited/lost, (butter and flour on burns??), but overall we no longer listen to our mothers and older women but dismiss them in favour of "experts" paid by business. Not always the wrong thing but not always right either

for you Tootsie sorry to hear of your mum's passing. Such things as those are deeply personal circumstances,I was referring to the majority of working parents who 'claim' not to have enough time, when preparing such food is very quick and saves a lot of money.

Worra it was from Iceland. We were at a party. I had the pizza in one hand and was hold in dd in the correct and proper sack of spuds position. Freeing my other to help load Ds's plate.

When I looked around dd was covered in sauce and a third of the pizza slice was gone

I also still think the op is BU in their summarisation.

The pouches do not use the same methods formula used too.

They know the subconscious mind of westerners think organic and natural is superior.

And like many other hugely successful brands aimed at parents they know that twee sells. Just look at those yummy mummy changing bags at £150 a pop or the expensive nursery ranges at M&P where folk still flock to spend a fortune despite none existent customer care.

They aren't playing on stupidity, or fears. Lidl pouches sell and great but they aren't aspirational. Same as a bog standard bag and may from mothercare will sell, but it's not a Cath Kitson one with ducks on.

It's just good marketing so fair play to them. Keeps the economy ticking.

I'll confess I was a little bit silently smug about the fact DS was weaned exclusively on the contents of the fruit and veg boxes deliveries from our local organic farm, and quietly judgey about jars and pouches. DS ate anything fed to him - organic lentil curry, organic Mexican stew, organic salmon risotto and would happily sit munching a brocolli floret whilst I batch cooked for him.

Then he stopped liking brocolli. And pretty much everything else.

He's two now and all too often a meal is a babybel, an Ella's pouch and a slice of bread. That's got all the major food groups in so I count it as triumph.

*mat

I would treat them like adult ready meals - totally fine for occaisional use but a pretty sad way of eating full time. I wouldn't want to never eat anything fresh so wouldn't want my baby to eat like that either.

This article put me off them anyway - www.thealphaparent.com/2013/02/the-truth-about-baby-food-jars.html?m=1

Actually judy I hate pureeing and so do most other parents I know who do it. But I also hate paying for boring stuff (like pouches) when I could be spending it on a good book.

In a life where nothing stays done and nothing is ever done perfectly, this is something I can achieve. I like knowing that my kid is eating two carrots, a courgette, a parsnip and some squash everyday with nothing added to it (and say what you like, these food companies add Stuff). I also don't fancy feeding my DS plane food for two years only to find he won't eat what I'm cooking because that would be a faff and I made that mistake last time.

I resent throwing vast amounts of packaging in the bin when I personally don't have to do it.

I'm also amused that people think it takes ages. It's not my favourite job, but it doesn't take long to make two months worth of lunches/tea sauce with a liquidiser.

So no, some people probably don't like to do it (though cherish that idea that you're Too Interesting To Puree if you wish). But they have their reasons, just like you have yours.

I see them the same as a ready meal. Convenient but not something I'd eat everyday.

Pouches and jars are great for travelling and when there is no fridge.
Convenience foods overall can be lovely - I couldn't live without tinned tomatoes!!

No-one is judging people like you Tootsie. It must have been terrible for you. I lost my own father when my DS was tiny and I had a 4 yr old - and it was hell - there were two weeks when he was lucky to be fed at all!

There is a more general discussion here focussing on the role of the food industry and marketing, the loss of skills, convenience, range of foods etc and the exploitation or not of mothers.

I don't think the thread is goady - or wasn't intended to be as subsequent posts indicate.

I use Ella Pouches and jars of baby food, plus baby led weaning. I went through a phase of making my own purees and hated the mess, the cleaning, getting the blender out, the time wasted, the irritation when DD refused to eat it. Why would you bother to wash, peel and boil a carrot when you can buy them ready to feed? I don't get it.

Ready made baby food is convenient, hygienic, no mess, no washing up, and if baby throws it on the floor you haven't wasted an hour preparing it.

I love cooking but making baby food feels like drudgery as you have to cook everything separately with no salt or spices.

splendide That's disgusting! Bleh...

Wow, gonetosee, you are incredibly sensitive about this, aren't you? Nowhere in my post did I suggest there was any moral element in the choices involved.

splendide - I wish I'd known that when DD was born.

Interesting link.

Got to go - and cook!! Ha Ha!