How do you manage when you can’t find the baby essentials you need in stores? Do you have any tips or alternatives

[mumoftwo0105]

I'm tired of trying to get baby products as a single parent of 2.
Struggling with relying on supermarkets as baby products run out quickly as both my kids feed a lot. I'm having to rely on subscriptions which is very difficult as it takes long to receive orders up to 3-4 working days. Some items are difficult to find in stores, especially if they are popular or in high demand. I have to shop around to find what I need.

So I end up ordering from uber eats or Deliveroo and still the baby foods I want can be sold out. So I order from amazon but they do not have everything I need.

Fed up of limited stock in supermarkets and always struggling to get baby essentials when there is not enough of it. Having to carry my two babies with me to shop is difficult especially as a single mum. So I can't just go from supermarket to supermarket...

Does anyone else have this struggle or am I the only one?

Sorry I didn't explain this properly!! Its not an ad! I have 1 year old and 2 year old. They normally have kendamil stage 3 but ive noticed it's always sold out and i cannot buy another brand.. I struggle to go to supermarkets because its hard to carry two small toddlers with me so i try to rely on ordering online but even then i cannot get everything i need unless i order from multiple places like uber, deliveroo boots.

Ive got really bad brain fog and anxiety so im finding it hard to explains things as of recently... Please bear with me

I was cooking baby food but my kids are picky and they don't eat anything. Im just so exhausted, sleep deprived and just struggling with doing everything on my own... So i find buying baby stuff difficult due to my circumstances not sure if i made sense

I tend to buy my kids jars of food from heinz and sometimes they don't like it.. They really love spag bowl ready made baby food which has been out of stock so i jus need advice on how i can maintain buying the foods they like without leaving my house as much as its very difficult.

Can you just keep an extra tub or two in stock so you never need it quicker than normal shops can deliver it? It must cost a fortune to get from Deliveroo or Uber Eats.

Any time you have less than a week's worth at home, order another week or two's worth for delivery from Ocado, Boots, Superdrug or whoever has it - googling suggests it's fairly widely available and in stock at these stores.

I think you’re tacking the problem from the wrong end!

Get kids drinking cows milk and eating normal food, and your life will be a lot easier.

I tend to buy two baby formulas at minimum. My 1 year old drinks a lot of it and I tend to run out quite quickly. Its also quite pricey trying to constantly buy kendamil. I was told to try normal whole fresh milk which I did but he just does not like it. I'll try Ocado which I haven't tried before so that's a good shout. Maybe I need to wean him off baby formula and keep trying with fresh milk.. I just don't know anymore sigh

I struggle with kendamil stage 3 as that's all my 1 year old likes. Im trying to wean him off onto fresh milk but he does not like this either... I tried other milk brands but they don't go well with his stomach and causes acid reflux. I can't go from supermarket to supermarket to find kendamil stage 3 as its hard carrying a 1 year and 2 year old on my own..

It’s not unusual for them to reject a new taste.
It’s very unusual for them not to eat what they’re given eventually if nothing else offered.
You need to wean them onto “normal” food/milk. Don’t worry if the variety is low for ease. In fact, to get them accepting the taste, low variety probably better.
You’re creating your own problem here, you’ll make your life much easier!

They are 1 and 2... I tried to give them what I eat and they only eat a small bit and spit it out. They really love spaghetti bowl Asda brand/ Heinz Ellas kitchen etc sometimes its sold out so I try another and they don't like it... Ive tried cooking but they're picky eaters.

Children over 1 year don’t need formula. It’s a marketing gimic
stage 1 baby mill is fine from newborn until not needed anymore
At 1 and 3 years give them Cows milk. You can just order this and groceries from any online food shop. So 95% of your food is delivered.

If you give less formula and less milk in general they might eat more, they aren’t going to be hungry to eat food if your giving 1 and 3 year olds gallons of formula milk which is high calorie. They will
be full already

Your children are old enough for cows milk (or alternative). You really shouldn't limit their diets to certain foods, this will breed pickiness. Eat together, eat the same thing.
Can you cook? Are you eating OK (regular nutritious food)?

Very weird

For me it's a caption on the cover of "Take a Break" or one of those magazines and inside readers send in clever tips for how to make food out of rainwater or grow their own veg in a shoe box type things

Also, all the formulas are essentially the same. They have to be, legally. So you really don't need to be bending over backwards to find one particular brand.

They are rejecting the new flavour, not the food specifically. You need to offer it a few times. They won't starve themselves. I'd persevere with cows milk and the same food as you eat. Don't offer alternatives.

when I'm running low on their foods etc, I tend to order online but I find that what they like to eat, are not available online and I can only ever get what they need if a friend or family member can come over to watch the kids. But this is much more difficult to arrange when they are busy themselves. I may need to properly plan as I've only recently become a single mum as partner and I are no longer together and it's thrown off my routine.

My Ds is very fussy. Was really fussy at 1 and 2. I just gave him lots of foods to try and simple so he could eat or leave. Instead of a full bowl of pasta, I would give a plate with a bit of buttered pasta, some grated cheese next to it, peas or green beans or avocado next to it. Then after some Greek yogurt, with 2 different fruits cut up Separate. Then they could choose what they liked or not, and it wasn’t all
mixed up if he didn’t like something. Same with all meals, small bits separate to they can choose

I know it takes some children ages to accept whole milk instead of formula, and obviously you know that over 1 they don't actually need it. Have you tried replacing the bottle with a snack? From 12 months by DS was only having 1 bedtime bottle and gradually ounce by ounce I replaced formula with whole milk.
To help in the short term, could you try changing the Kendamil to Aptamil or C&G which are more readily available, or whichever seems to be more available in your supermarket? The formulas might all taste similar enough that kiddo won't notice? Do it really slowly though, an ounce every few days, maybe even half an ounce at first so baby doesn't notice.

Is there a particular reason they have Kendamil? As opposed to organic milk which most supermarkets stock. I see on Kendamil website they're advising a delay https://kendamil.com/products/classic-toddler-milk . Can you wean them off the Kendamil onto organic full cream milk which is more readily available? Maybe drink some yourself and let them share with a straw, till they acquire the taste.

As for food, me being the laziest person on the planet (cba to shop unless I have to) in order to make it more palatable for the babes I just used to cook or prepare something for myself (no salt) then serve a big portion for me - and then offer it from my plate - a little at a time into a bowl for self feeding or for sitting on my knee and helping themselves from my plate. Because it was 'mine' I found they wanted to copy and eat what I was eating, so that just happened to work!

I couldn't be bothered with faffing with baby food jars and the like myself, personally I think you're very brave to attempt all that shopping for little jars, when it's tricky to warm, and lots of small jars to scrape out to feed, no wonder its stressing you (I preferred to let them feed themselves, mess is easily cleaned with a damp cloth, so fingers, table etc and cloth in the machine to be dealt with in the next wash). Also far less to wash up - the one plate thing = far less washing up and no faffing. Any splashes on clothing, pop on a drop of washing up liquid and fold over and rub in prior to next wash and the stains lift out even tomato!
.
You can make spag bol very cheaply and easily from scratch, and chuck loads of veg in at the same time. - I largely use this recipe with the addition of a tablespoon of tomato puree and whatever surplus veg we have chopped up - carrots, celery, peas, french beans etc. You can do entirely veg by substituting mixed diced veg for the meat. I top it with grated cheese too.
I generally make masses and freeze in portions.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/easy_spaghetti_bolognese_93639

Lazy parenting worked for me, I know it's not for everyone, but I can highly recommend.

I would start adding a bit of cows milk to the cup/bottle of formula. Start with a splash and then every few days increase the amount.of cows milk and decrease the amount of formula. Even if you can't get to a point of cutting out the formula completely for a while it will be worth doing.

Amazon or equivalent subscriptions can be useful.

But at 1 year old, you don't need to be spending that much on formula. You could try gradually transitioning over to cow's milk instead.

Thanks so much I think that may be my problem. I give them kendamil a lot with foods they specifically like in between. I need to experiment more to take the pressure off! I'll slowly wean them off the milk and keep trying to cook as much as I can. I struggle to do this also as I work from home 1-10pm 4 days a week and sometimes 5 days. But ill keep pushing

Thanks so much I'll try this. I think im over-stressing myself but ill keep trying

Just start making the formula up as 60% formula and 40% cows milk and over a week or 2 just gradually transition to fully cows milk if it’s less stressful for you that way. And batch cook and freeze a couple of easy wins (even if not super healthy) - like butternut squash Mac and cheese - then if something is out of stock you have a back up for a few days.

When my baby needed lactose free formula and it was sometimes sold out in Boots (because they only ever had a few cans in stock) I would order from the website for delivery to my local store. So I always had some spare.

But as mentioned by others children over a certain age don’t need formula anyway.

I guess ill just wean off milk and keep trying with foods... To be honest I'm not really eating well because I work from 1-10pm 4/5 days a week to pay all the bills... but I do prioritise my kids over me so I think ill just meal prep for the week. I can cook but I think you're right I may be the reason for the pickiness so just need to keep trying

Just feed them human food made without salt. They don’t need jars and packets of baby food and you don’t need ready meals either.

If they like spag bol just make a big pot and freeze two portions, then add things they don’t like ( garlic, herbs , whatever ) to your half. Most children love pasta , you can add grated cheese if they don’t eat much of the meat sauce.

most toddlers will eat scrambled eggs, omlette cup in strips, sandwiches , cheese on toast , fruit or some veg cut up or mashed.

Don't stress about “ hot meals “ if they won’t eat them. Some bread or toast, cheese/ egg / cold meat / other protein and fruit or veg is fine.

Start weaning them off formula by gradually adding cows milk to it, a little more each day. Don’t rush it and DONT let them see you doing it, especially your toddler.

You are making your already busy life more stressful and spending more money , you need to simplify.

I’ve just seem your working hours and no wonder you are stressed. What’s your long term plan? its preety hard to work and supervise a two toddlers.

I get that they are probably in bed from 7-10pm but how do you cope from 1-7pm ?