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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think pouches are awful?

497 replies

AIBUnamechanger9 · 01/04/2024 04:46

I have two DCs and have never fed them from pouches. I see babies and toddlers sucking on them everywhere and it seems horrible for their teeth? Also for having a routine of eating at mealtimes or teaching them to eat properly. I recently spoke with a friend (who I am quite close with and believe she’s a wonderful mum) and she told me her 8 and 10 yo children still eat from pouches, especially if they’re on a day out, etc.

AIBU to despair at the prevalence of pouch feeding?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
9
malachitegreen · 01/04/2024 04:48

well, there are worse things!

WandaWonder · 01/04/2024 04:51

Next you wil be rubbishing Gregg's paper bags

MariaVT65 · 01/04/2024 04:51

I’m surpised kids as old as that are stil having pouches (maybe just yoghurt?) but otherwise stop being so judgy.

Meadowfinch · 01/04/2024 05:27

YANBU. I didn't buy them for my ds, partly because they were ludicrously expensive but mostly because they didn't taste very nice. Have you tasted them? 😟

It's so easy to puree some veg, maybe add a little grated cheese or diced chicken, I couldn't see the point of pouches other than laziness.

Buy some re-usable small tubs instead and freeze batches of nice-tasting home-made baby food. Quick, tasty, economic and you know what the food contains.

Plus I'd no desire to add that much unnecessary plastic to landfill.

MariaVT65 · 01/04/2024 05:31

Meadowfinch · 01/04/2024 05:27

YANBU. I didn't buy them for my ds, partly because they were ludicrously expensive but mostly because they didn't taste very nice. Have you tasted them? 😟

It's so easy to puree some veg, maybe add a little grated cheese or diced chicken, I couldn't see the point of pouches other than laziness.

Buy some re-usable small tubs instead and freeze batches of nice-tasting home-made baby food. Quick, tasty, economic and you know what the food contains.

Plus I'd no desire to add that much unnecessary plastic to landfill.

Again, stop judging. Not all about laziness.

My first DC was a refluxy baby who would only contact nap with me for the first 7 months and was a nightmare at night. So as well as not having a lot of spare hands to do lots of batch cooking and pureeing, I was also contemplating suicide from extreme sleep deprivation. So sometimes my son had pouches. He eats really well now, good weight and dentist confirmed his teeth are fine just last week.

Parent shamers on here are disgusting.

PeloMom · 01/04/2024 05:32

Although I made and continue to make 95% of my DC’s food from scratch I always have a couple of pouches to hand when we are out and about (he’d have one once a month or so but I carry them in our snack backpack). I don’t see harm if they have them once in a while.

Willmafrockfit · 01/04/2024 05:34

i thought this was about cat food

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 01/04/2024 05:35

Meadowfinch · 01/04/2024 05:27

YANBU. I didn't buy them for my ds, partly because they were ludicrously expensive but mostly because they didn't taste very nice. Have you tasted them? 😟

It's so easy to puree some veg, maybe add a little grated cheese or diced chicken, I couldn't see the point of pouches other than laziness.

Buy some re-usable small tubs instead and freeze batches of nice-tasting home-made baby food. Quick, tasty, economic and you know what the food contains.

Plus I'd no desire to add that much unnecessary plastic to landfill.

It may be easy but it does still take time. On top of working full time, looking after 2 small kids, being up multiple times in the night with a baby and breastfeeding (as well as cleaning, shopping, all other meal prep) there isn’t enough time for everything and some things have to give. I make most of the meals/purées from scratch but for the odd night and when we are out of the house it’s a ready made jar or pouch.

gwanmen · 01/04/2024 05:37

My kids had them when they were little. They've grown up fine, good eaters, teeth are fine.
None of us are perfect can we just stop this judgemental bullshit? Pouches are full of fruit and veg, not crack.

bradpittsbathwater · 01/04/2024 05:41

I tried not to rely on them but my DS did have some of them as a baby. They were a bit bland (I tried them) but most aren't unhealthy. Are the 8-10 year olds really eating baby pouches? I had an adult sized appetite by that age!

WhichEllie · 01/04/2024 05:42

gwanmen · 01/04/2024 05:37

My kids had them when they were little. They've grown up fine, good eaters, teeth are fine.
None of us are perfect can we just stop this judgemental bullshit? Pouches are full of fruit and veg, not crack.

Now I’m imagining adult pouches that are really just pureed substances.

“What flavour is yours, Fred?”
”Methamphetamine.”

LiquoriceAllsorts2 · 01/04/2024 05:47

My 2 year old loves fruit pouches but only gets them a couple of times a week, mainly as they are expensive. I get ones that are not marketed at babies as they are half the price. They seem to be sold for all ages (not in uk)

Pickled21 · 01/04/2024 05:48

People parenting differently really shouldn't come as a shock to you. I've used them when out and about, I didn't use them at home due to expense. Is it easy to make your own purees, yes I would say so but it takes time and most people are time poor. Pouches have come along way from when I was little and they serve a purpose.

Averywavery · 01/04/2024 05:50

Willmafrockfit · 01/04/2024 05:34

i thought this was about cat food

My mind went to kangaroo pouches 😅

BastardEasterWeekend · 01/04/2024 05:52

Yes, YABU to despair.

Rainyspringflowers · 01/04/2024 05:58

They aren’t great. I did use them sometimes when trying to introduce solids to Ds but they aren’t very nice. However Ds is 3 now and he’s been unwell this week. On Tuesday I couldn’t get him to eat or drink anything but he did accept two Ella’s kitchen pear pouches.

Illstartexercisingtomorrow · 01/04/2024 06:06

Well you are clearly a superior parent for not using pouches.

Or a narrow minded judgemental cow with a superiority complex.

Let's all judge mothers even more and make sure they feel suitably ashamed for daring to do something convenient that might make their lives easier.

I hope you grow the vegetables that you purée from scratch. That shop bought veg is just terrible for them.

Autienotnaughtie · 01/04/2024 06:06

When my kids were little it was jars nit pouches. I did give eldest some due to lack of confidence in cooking. As i became more confident I didn't feel the need to with dc 2 and with dc3 baby led was the recommendation.

It is more expensive and arguably it would be better to cook from scratch but they are a useful item to those who need them.

Older children I'd assume it's frubes or similar. Drinking a yoghurt from a tube or eating it with a spoon it's the same nutrients surely. As long as it's not high sugar

Auburngal · 01/04/2024 06:09

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smileyplant · 01/04/2024 06:11

My 2 year old has the odd yoghurt one as a treat but that's about it. Teeth are fine. I don't know anyone who is feeding their kids pure pouches at this point. He had them quite a bit when he was weaning as he was quite refluxy and he seemed to keep them down better. Doesn't seem to have done him any harm.

JustTalkToThem · 01/04/2024 06:12

Turns out it "seeming horrible for" them and their teeth isn't based at all in science. And I'll go with science.

Stop judging stuff that has nothing to do with you ...

HoppingPavlova · 01/04/2024 06:13

One of my (adult) kids loves yoghurt pouches and I suspect would live on them if they could. I couldn’t give a fuck.

LadyMinerva · 01/04/2024 06:16

If they empty the pouches into a bowl then it's fine but straight from the pouch? No thanks. You never know when it's mouldy if you can't see it.

BadSkiingMum · 01/04/2024 06:29

Logically, nothing will ever beat fresh homecooked food so I am not sure why the OP is getting slammed as ‘judgemental’.

They are the kind of thing that is fine to use on an occasional basis but not great to use habitually.

First Steps Nutrition Trust did some research in this area:

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59f75004f09ca48694070f3b/t/5d93d133019c986514158dd3/1569968443400/Fruit_%26_veg_pouches_report_for_web_Oct_2019.pdf

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59f75004f09ca48694070f3b/t/5d93d133019c986514158dd3/1569968443400/Fruit_%26_veg_pouches_report_for_web_Oct_2019.pdf

EliflurtleAndTheInfiniteMadness · 01/04/2024 06:32

There's full sized yoghurts in pouches now, along with custard and Ive seen fruit crush ones too The 8 & 10 year olds are probably having yoghurt in a pouch. If theyre having yoghurt for lunch that's what my boys have. I've tried it in yohurt containers and various little pots and I end up cleaning yoghurt out of their insulated lunch bag and sometimes their backpack as well. So pouches it is.

As for your question OP, Id rather not judge like you're doing. Its tough enough being a Mum without every small patenting decision being up for judgement You have no idea about people's lives and what seems easy to you might be hard for them.

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