Still feeding 2 year old “baby” food

[Disneymagic321]

Such as cereal bars or Ella’s kitchen biscuits or even crisps . At what point did you switch to “grown up” food (e.g wotsits) that has a lot more sugar, salt etc? So far he doesn’t know any different and is happy. I give small exposure here and there, so he’s not completely sheltered and try to keep snacks healthy ish e.g, fruits, raisins , rice cakes with hummus, dates. Someone said to me why are you still giving them baby versions, he’s big now! So I’m interested in your experiences to help me get a good balance 😊

They've been on normal wotsits, yoghurt etc since about 10 months. Still have the occasional pouch or jar of food but it's just because they like the taste.

I was wondering this too - same age and exactly the same. Might use up what we have in the cupboard and then gradually introduce normal stuff.

Ignore other people, if you and your child are still happy with sugar and salt free alternatives then good!

My twins are 5 and I still give them pouch yogurts from the baby section of aldi..... You don't need to refrigerate and they have no added salt or sugar or nasties. They are great for bunging in a handbag for a day trip.

They love the aldi strawberry biscotti and the aldi pat bars from the baby bit.

However, they also enjoy a bit of soreen, or a freddo, or some wotsits.

Keep going with what you're giving your child, all the processed shit will creep in over time, don't worry!

Until he discovered them elsewhere!

I remember DS at the first "proper"party he attended at age 3 finding a small box of Smarties by his plate. He had no idea what they were or what he should do with them. Didn't take long for him to catch on though and that was the beginning of the end...

DD though - her very first word was "wheatits" ( sweeties) much to my shame.

I wouldn't rush to give them wotsits! My almost 2 year old eats the same food I do really, but I will occasionally give the kids rice cakes or whatever. They still shouldn't be having much salt or sugar at this age and if they prefer the low sugar/salt versions of snacks then great!

*aldi oat bars

I still give my 4 year old the 'baby' versions mixed in with some grown up versions as a treat sometimes. The packs are smaller and they have less sugar and salt and she likes them so why not?

There are adult reduced sugar/salt versions of various things, though you need to check that they aren’t replacing the sugar with sweeteners.
For things like yoghurt that don’t have sugar we always gave the adult version.

Firstborn can absolutely stay with baby stuff until they cotton on to your snacks being tastier. Second child etc it’s much harder as they see their sibling eating something else and clearly then want it/known it’s better. Children aren’t stupid!

My three year old (only) still has baby versions of some snacks - he has little bits of my food as well, but if I give him a bag of crisps or a biscuit it's more likely a little toddler one. He has full fat adult yogurt though, I don't like the kid versions as they're so sugary or sweetnery.

@Footnote

There are adult reduced sugar/salt versions of various things, though you need to check that they aren’t replacing the sugar with sweeteners. For things like yoghurt that don’t have sugar we always gave the adult version.

What's wrong with sweeteners? AFAIK there aren't any studies demonstrating harm, and they've been around and in public consumption for around 70 years.

I give my 5 year old the mamia oaty bars in his lunch box

I think most are marketed as 1-5 year ‘toddler’ snacks. So I guess roughly school age before portions too small.

We mainly give Ds regular stuff such as only buy large pot of Greek yogurt everyone eats, not special ‘kids’ versions.

But I like the childrens oat bar type things. They last ages so handy to keep some in car, hand bag, pram as back up if we need when I wasn’t planning to be out longer.

We still use the pouch yoghurts sometimes as she likes them, and she (DD 2.5) also still likes the baby crisps, although she likes wotsits and quavers too. The only downside to carrying in with the baby stuff is that it's comparatively expensive but I can't see any issues other than that. I like them too!

Grandparents give her fruit shoots which I'm less keen on but it turns out it's the bottle more than the drink that she likes so I bought a few bottles of water with the same style and she's quite happy with them with tap water in!

I used to eat the Ella's kitchen squeezy fruit pouches at uni

My kids always ate what we ate. And those were snacks. They are good as snacks, no matter the age.

Do you mean your child is struggling with food that requires chewing and whatnot?

Mine ate ordinary food from the start. I obviously didn't give them wotsits then as babies don't need crisps - they had whatever I was eating mashed up/cut up small. From around a year they started to eat convenience foods but I always limited it. I don't understand why they even make baby biscuits or crisps, they don't need them.

DD was about 5 when I stopped buying the baby snacks. She had other stuff too, and never had a jar but the snack stuff, I’d say buy for as long as possible

My 5yo still eats oaty bars and baby crisps sometimes.

We still use pouch yogurts with DS as they seem to be lower sugar and he can’t spill them down his school jumper dicking about in the morning

I used ‘baby’ snacks pretty much until he went to school, they are lower salt and sugar versions of the same thing, and generally better nutritionally than the grown up equivalent.

My 7yo's favourite snack is still the flavoured rice cakes you buy in the baby aisle. I think he'll be taking a few bags to university with him.

I never really bought baby food. I gave my children what.i cooked but mashed it up. Having 3 kids I never had extra money for separate food so did what my mother and grandmother would have done. It's all a gimmick anyway. Normal yogurts, porridge, toast, meat and veg, fruit, Pasta and sauce etc all suitable for any age. Just don't add or cook with salt. I used raisins for cooking so a large bag was always in my cupboard so just put a handfall in a bowl along with a sandwich for their lunch. (Tiny raisin boxes are silly money )Eggs were used loads as made lots of different meals but dippy eggs were their favourite. I also gave cow's milk/goats milk/soya milk before.they were a year old and they had no issues. Save your.money.

DC3 is 2, and I still buy “baby” crisps, like the Organix gruffalo claws etc because she likes them!
She also loves most of the Kiddilicious snack range which are almost always on a special Clubcard price at tescos.
Buy what your kids like and what you know they will eat!

I’ll avoid giving my toddler added salt and sugar for as long as I can. I’m not particularly precious about it but I equally don’t see the point in him having it, he has his whole life to eat what he likes.

And all the time he doesn’t mind the occasional tasteless baby snacks and he has low standards when it comes to snacking, I’ll give them to him.

By the way, I quite like the lentil veggie tube crisps from Aldi. They’re not terrible.

I mean, they’re not Flamin’ Hot Monster Munch, but still.

When did "snacks" for babies/toddlers become a thing?
I had my DC thirty years ago, and simply mashed or gave small portions of my own meals to them. None of us were eating stuff between meals.