Feeling intense mum guilt due to baby/toddler pouches

[Hellosaidfred]

Obviously I’m not deluded enough to think that pouches compete against actual fruit / veg. But as a mum of a toddler who is extremely picky I’ve found these pouches a life savour for us as I assumed they’d be somewhat healthy.

My child will not touch veg so I always hoped that blending it in smoothies or giving him a few of the Ella’s kitchen or little Freddie’s fruit and veg purée blends during the week as a snack would count as something - but now I’m seeing articles about how bad they are and many comments about how bad these parents are for offering them to their children - I am starting to have mum guilt.

He eats plenty of actual fruit luckily if we slice into porridge or yogurt.

Not really sure what my aibu is, just wondering if there’s any mums out there that used these pouches and feel the same way

I’ve also heard even blending veg takes away nutrients so I was happy that my son would drink spinach or carrot in smoothies, now I just feel like a crap mum!

Don’t feel guilty !!!!! Ur doing ur best and right now the internet is full of mums giving it oh I would never use pouches etc. I used them with both of mine along with other foods. One is a brilliant eater and one is a fussy eater now ! I don’t care. They are both well, fed, healthy and happy. There’s children literally starving to death in this world

They are fed these things for such a short period of time, they will be absolutely fine. Stick to what works imo.

I made purees for my DC because those pouches came in just afterwards. So the result is the same, but I was more tired and overwhelmed. There's no medals for doing things a certain way so for the love of god and feminism just do whatever the fuck makes your life just a little bit easier.

Thank you, there’s been lots in the news about them today and I’ve been feeling so much guilt

Thank you, in my head getting some veg into him was better than him not eating any. But now I’m worried !

I've sent them as lunch to the childminder. I feel a bit bad but we're all just doing our best. It's better than going hungry!

Yes, I used to think my child had afrid as he was the same since we started weaning at 6 months. He also hated milk and had a breast and bottle aversion. I see so many people say just stick it in front of them and if they’ll hungry they will eat. But he won’t

I made everything from scratch with DD1 and absolutely hated the whole weaning process. I stressed myself out so much. With DD2, I've been much more relaxed and used more pouches and ready meals because she's a dreadful sleeper, I've felt so ill trying to also wrangle a toddler with the sleep deprivation and I just needed to let something slide. I also feel pretty guilty now, but I'm just going to think about it in the context of her whole life, focus on getting lots of fresh veg and homemade meals into her now and try not to feel too bad. In the end, what's done is done.

There was a whole thing on the BBC website about the iron content of pouches. I mainly made my own purees (I was a SAHM so had time) - I imagine if they had been sent away for nutritional analysis, then they might not have had that much iron in them either!

Please don't feel guilty.

Don't overthink it. Plenty of people have used these to no ill effects. Sure, fresh would be better but meh, I couldn't and wouldn't lose sleep over it. I was just happy they ate at all.

My 3 year old is like this. He refused to move onto cows milk so I bought toddler formula for over a year (I’m sure that’ll be the next thing ppl are lecturing mums about) for about a year he would only eat bread and butter/toast, fruit and yogurt, I’ve had all sorts of stupid advice like starve him then he will eat, just force him. Hide things in food etc. ppl r thoughtless, he’s 3 now and since he started nursery he’s very slowly becoming more open to trying things. Not a lot of things but better than none. It’s so tough and I feel judged when people are like I wouldn’t let him be so fussy etc.

Can you link these news articles, are they from reliable sources ?

Ella's kitchen if I remember had literally three ingredients ie strawberry , apple lemon etc and no nasties all organic , so i am not sure where your guilt is coming from ?

some mums get a buzz out of thinking they are martyring themselves more than others , its your choice if you want to engage in that madness

Don’t feel guilty at all OP. My 10 year old nephew was weaned entirely on pouches, and is the most amazing eater! He eats pretty much everything, especially fruit and veg!

@pimplebum https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62j0l0gg4go

Baby food pouches from six of the UK's leading brands are failing to meet key nutritional needs of babies and toddlers - with parents being "misled" by their marketing - BBC Panorama has been told.

(As an aside, I don't vouch for this to be reliable, as generally I think Panorama is anything but, and is overly over-sensational but...it's a decent enough source)

I mean it's all relative isn't it.

Worst - diet consists wholly of sugar lumps
...to...
Best - homemade purees lovingly prepared from a full rainbow of homegrown veg (which has far more nutrients than shop bought)

You are somewhere in the middle, like most people? Do what you can with the time and money you have, and let the rest go.

I used pouches. I don’t feel bad about it. My daughter is fine, and I have worse things to beat myself up about.

I’d do yourself a favour and not seek out mumsnet threads about this topic.There are people who lurk on this debate forum waiting for issues like pouches (or UPFs, or letting children eat chicken nuggets, or how Very French their own eating style is) - you already know roughly what they are going to say, and it is realistically only going to make you feel bad when all you’ve done is have a kid who doesn’t like veg. You haven’t doomed him, and you’re not a crap mum.

Yes I’m glad you can relate in a way, obviously don’t wish a picky toddler on anyone but it is really hard when people say oh just give them carrot they’ll eat it… my son would starve himself, I promise he wouldn’t try it

Don't worry they will soon be eating left over maccies on the floor in the car....

Me: looks in rear view mirror . Where did you get that sausage roll?

3 year old: shrugs and continues chowing on a half eaten Greggs.

That actually happened 😑😆

😂😂😂

Exactly this. Just another stick to beat parents (mums) with.

Yeah the meal ones should be given alongside other foods/weaning methods and Big Shock, fruit has sugar in... But there's nothing sinister about them.

How many more nutrients would they get via a plate of food they'd chuck on the floor or spit out, do you think?

Programme on BBC1 right now.

The whole thing with the investigation into these pouches is that the brands ARE making them appear healthy. They sell lots and lots and alot of babies exclusively eat these.

You thought you were making a good decision, it's not on you.

My DS was a fussy toddler, who is a still fussy 5 year old. He will barely eat any veggie that isn't blitzed into a sauce or baked beans (they're one of 5 a day!). From my perspective, give yourself a break. You sound like you have a tricky child to feed. Your DS isn't only eating pouches - they are a snack a few times a week, and probably in that case, no worse than the fruit peel/veg crisp things every child I know adores. Plus, if its no veg or the bit of veg in a pouch, the pouch probably wins.

If you want to make pouches "better", you could ensure they are eaten with a spoon (my understanding is that sucking on pouches is the thing that's really bad for teeth). Pouches are low in iron, especially (but I also wonder how many babies are getting the recommended amount of iron from home cooked meals) so try to include iron rich foods and/or a multivitamin elsewhere. And keep offering fruit and veg in other forms, even if he won't eat them now. It can take toddlers a long time to become familiar enough with the look of something to try it, and a long time between trying and eating. Keep serving veg he won't eat now, keep eating it in front of him, and you might find things change.