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!

Hiker It takes more than 10 mins. I've done it. We get home at 6. I have 3 kids. There's 2 hours in which to do dinner, homework and get them ready for bed. Then I have my own work to do. DH works away in the week. Adding your ten minutes of pureeing every night would probably tip me over the edge.
Bring on the pouches!
There are plenty of parents in much tougher situations than I, and while some of them will be happily pureeing away, it means something else has to suffer. When you have a limited amount of time you have to decide how it is best spent for your family.

I make my own as 9mo DS decided that he doesn't like Ella's Kitchen (think it's because he likes strong flavours). Little bugger. Genuinely wish I could do some pouches with him, as would much rather use the time spent cooking everything for more fun things. I cook pretty healthy stuff for him but to be honest I'm not sure if it's as healthy as the Ella's Kitchen stuff, which have a ton of fruit and veg. I also imagine their hygiene is superior to mine.

I dislike this attitude of profit making company = evil. I don't see anything in the Ella's Kitchen marketing that implies that it is the only way to feed your baby or superior to home made and I don't think this is why parents buy it. I think they buy it because it is convenient and saves work. I think that some people seem to think that saving parents (let's face it - mostly mothers) is intrinsically a Bad Thing, and I'm not entirely sure why this is.

DD4 (2 and a half) is a nightmare child when it comes to food. She is small and skinny and she needs calories. I can't afford the 'take it or leave it' approach or else she leaves it and looses weight. I tried and still try everything.
However - she will not touch: eggs, hard cheese, ANY cereal, meat, fish, green veg, carrots, baked beans, spagetti shapes, houmous, peanut butter, jam, potato, sweet biscuits, pizza or banannas and some fruts. Even though we all sit at the dinner table and happily eat all of those in front of her, and give her some anyway.

She will eat turkey/chicken nuggets, gravy, yorkshire pudding (!) home made maccaronni cheese, chips, plain pasta, whole grain bread/toast, butter, chocolate, yogurt, grapes, apple, strawberries, crisps, cheesy biscuits and ... importantly ... any ready made baby meal you care to place in front her! Including all the organic EK and Heinz stuff, fruit pouches, baby breakfasts and bolognaise, ravioli, and dishes. So that's what i give her. Plus the few 'fresh' foods she will eat.

She's growing. It is frustrating - but not 'sad'.

Thelying How old are your kids? I have 2, and am in a similar situation to your own. It's almost always not a problem. Also, I would read splendide's article... 😳

Also, Laiste how long have you tried the take it or leave it attitude? Childrn will eat almost any food when they get really, really hungry. It's harsh but otherwise you'll end up with a child who is impossible to cater for when she reaches school age.

7, 2 and 10 months hiker
I'm really not worried. The 7 and 2 year old eat freshly made as I do, and as the 10 month old grows and is able, then I expect them to join right in.
She will eat while fruits and soft veg from our plate now, but she was started off completely on pouches. I expect her to gradually take more and more from the 'adult' meal.
I have not experienced the whole 'started on pouches, stuck on pouches' thing - and I'm well aware it's down to luck. Nothing to do with parenting!

Sounds like it work for you thelyingThat's what matters

Save your sadness for the ones that don't get fed

^^ this!

I used jars etc too at times but equally found it just as easy to blitz down a small portion of whatever we were having for dinner.

I see where you're coming from on the cost front.
I could buy a bag of carrots from my local farm shop, boil them and pureè them for the same price as a single EK pouch.
But, the EK pouches are very convenient, especially when out and about!
Did a mixture of traditional weaning and BLW with my Dd, so gave her homemade purèes and bits of whatever we were having when we were at home, but gave her EK pouches and non-messy finger food when we were out.
There's no right or wrong way to do it!

I dont get this. As long as the baby is being fed. What works for each parents. Dont judge others op.

If Ella's Kitchen are so evil & are actively preventing loving parents from accessing a kitchen to cook for their babies why do they sell a large range of cookery books?

The app is really good. Some nice recipes.

I hate all the twee packaging on Ella's stuff so you're right about that. But this is just another pointless way of judging mothers and making them feel that they're failing if they don't do things perfectly. Of course I can boil and purée a carrot. I don't think that baby food is 'safer'. But the pouches are very easy and require no washing up. I am very very tired. My baby is not going to know or remember whether the carrot he got was lovingly mashed by me or in a factory. The money is not a problem for me (luckily). as he's getting older I'm using pouches less and less anyway. There are so many things I prefer/need to do than cook meals every time for a baby. Also my husband and I are vegetarian. There is no way I am preparing or cooking meat. I want him to have meat sometimes though so he knows what it's like. Jars/pouches are a great way to give him that.
In summary: it's fine and it's none of your business. Do what you want to do.

I understand what you are saying about some people seeming afraid of cooking their own baby food and thinking that ready made is somehow "better". It is all about pouches now, when mine were babies it was jars. When I had my eldest it was normal to wean at 4 months, so the gloop stage lasted a lot longer.

I used to puree veg (carrots, squash, broccoli etc) and freeze them in ice cube trays. I then used to defrost a few cubes per meal. I remember being criticised by other mothers because I wasn't feeding my baby "real" food - the jar they were giving their baby had an enticing name like "country vegetable and chicken casserole" whereas I was just feeding mine carrots. Marketing has a loit to answer for!

Apparently the guy who set up Ella's is lovely.

Ok I've missed the point but don't have much to add.

Home cooking is mostly cheaper if your time is worth nothing. Or you like cooking.

I love Ella's Kitchen - the perfect "takeaway" food for a baby. I rarely if ever used them at home, but when we were out and about they were fantastic! And also for long flights to and from Australia. If I'd made my own, I doubt they would have been allowed on the plane - but because they were proper ones, from the shop with seal intact, I was allowed to take them on. Had to taste a random selection once (thanks Heathrow!) and they made ME do it, not the sprog - gak - but aside of that, no complaints.

I used a lot of jars, and was under the impression that by doing so I was "doing the right thing" and "giving my baby the best". I still think I was actually.

Living on my own, I find it hard to find the motivation to cook a full meal. I can, I could make a lasagne from scratch, I know how but as I haven't done it at home in the last 17 years since I learnt then... I STILL believe that when I gave my baby a jar of lasagna mush I WAS doing the right thing.

She got to taste lasagna. A safe salt free lasagna. When she grew up a bit I'd go halves on an oven lasagna with her. But complex multi-step meals like that... There was no way I was going to cook baby sized baby safe portions. Or fill my freezer with mini portions of a homemade one I would never be inclined to cook in the first place.

The pouches weren't around in my baby days but I'm sure they are useful too.

On this whole thread hardly anyone has even mentioned the massive problem with pouches, which is how they are treated. To get the expiry dates without adding preservatives, they are heat treated which pretty much destroys any nutritional value. They are brilliant for when you're out and I use them myself, but don't kid yourself that your are giving your child anything more than 'filler' to stop them being hungry

Yabu. I've used lots of pouches. Mind your own business and save your concerns for children who are neglected and abused.

hotcross, if you read splendide 's link, it talks about the heat treating destroying nutrients.

I fed my oldest almost entirely from jars and packets. It said nothing about the type of parent I am except that, you know, baby needed food and I provided it.

That dc just got three A* and two As and is off to become a medical student.

Op - feed your baby how you like and mind your own business.

I'm in agreement with op really. I think it is a bit sad for a baby to get their first tastes of food from a packet. The main reason I didn't like giving DC jar food was that it smelt and tasted horrible and why would I give my child something that I wasn't prepared to eat? There is a place for them when out and about or in a hurry but I would judge if someone weaned their child totally on pouches. Also boiling a couple of carrots or an apple or sweet potato takes about 10-15 mins and would probably give you a weeks worth of portions in the early days. Mashing a banana takes seconds!

I really don't understand why people like the OP look at EK and think 'Yes, these are good for convenience, maybe when I'm out and about, but I can cook fresh food quickly and simply when at home very easily', but they can't understand that other people will think exactly the same thing.

Why can't they credit other people with basic intelligence and the ability to make sensible decisions? It's not hard, it's not like operating CERN is it? It's feeding a baby.