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

Thank you, that makes perfect sense.

OP.. please stop with the mum guilt.. I say this kindly! Those pouches are brilliant and yes they’re getting fruit and veg in them, so much better than getting none!
Just drives me mad that the genuinely shitty parents who neglect/treat bad etc don’t feel guilty yet so many mums who do things like this that are inconsequential yet judged by some, feel awful. It’s the same with formula feeding, c sections, ipads
Just do what works for you and your babies, there’s no need to make life harder

I want people to take responsibility for their actions and put some effort into researching choices so they know that what they're doing is best for their child.

I know it's a wild concept of personal responsibility and not trusting the little cartoon fruit packets that said they were healthy but fuck me it's not rocket science to look at a label and think no thanks!

Nope still not getting it. People have said they would change in future. Isn’t that what you want? But it’s also not good enough?

Here's an ingredients list for Ella's Kitchen spag bol, one of the pouches highlighted by the BBC.

What part of "taking responsibility" would you think involves looking at that label and realising that it has way less iron in it than a homemade version would?

Given that it required laboratory testing for the BBC to uncover this, I'm intrigued as to exactly what level of research you think we should all be doing.

LOL how has it given me a sensitive image warning for that 🤣

Here's the text:
Organic Tomatoes 37%,
Organic Cooked Pasta 18% (Water, Organic Pasta (Organic Durum Wheat, Organic Dried Egg Whites)),
Organic Beef 11%, Organic Carrots 10%, Organic Vegetable Stock 7% (Water and Organic Vegetables: Onions, Carrots, Parships,
Leeks, Swedes),
Organic Broccoli 6%, Organic Onions 5%,
Organic Mushrooms 4%,
Organic Cheddar Cheese (Milk) 2%, Organic Mixed Herbs <1% (Thyme, Parsley, Sage, Oregano),
Organic Garlic < 1%,
Organic Black Pepper <1%, Other Stuff 0%

Yes I agree with this, boiling veg and pureeing it and then freezing it into little ice cubes ready to be used probably doesn't give kids the most nutritious meal either. I really wouldn't worry.

I don't think guilt is a helpful emotion here, you did what you thought was best, because the marketing from the food manufacturers gave you that impression - and in turn boosted their own profits. The nutritionists in the programme have confirmed that pouches can have a place, but they shouldn't form the entirety of a child's diet - and in some cases they are. I think reframe your thoughts on the pouches, acknowledge that are a convenient snack but don't breathe a sigh of relief in thinking that your kid has consumed a vegetable and all the nutrients that come from that.

I don’t feel guilty - they were very useful. DT’s were at full time nursery from six months. By the time we collected them after work, got home, had showers (we rarely did baths even when they were babies), made something for DH and I to eat - feeding DT’s had to be quick and easy otherwise we’d never have got them to bed.

Most of the outrage I've seen over the pouches is the sugar content. Which is clearly written on the packet for all to see. A 10 second look at the nutritional value table on the packet told me I didn't want to feed it to my baby.

I don't see why the low iron is such a big issue, surely if the child is off formula or milk which has all of their nutrients in it anyway they are old enough to just eat real food. If people are feeding toddlers pouches as meal replacements instead of real food that really is poor parenting.

I just can't understand why people are outraged that the government aren't telling them what to do or feed their kids. Adults should be able to read some information and make an informed choice if they are responsible enough to be raising children.

Everyone went mad when the government wanted to ban cigarette sales because they should have free will to do unhealthy things if they want to and they are sick of the nanny state, but now people think they should be told what to feed and not feed their children?

In my defence I do look at the ingredients and due to my son having the fruit and veg pouches they slightly bring the sugar down, I personally like many people I guess thought that as they were “no added sugar” that meant all the sugar was from the fruit and didn’t worry too much.

And that’s a perfectly reasonable assumption. Parents of babies are sleep deprived and time poor - we can’t be expected to be nutritional experts and there’s a reasonable expectation that pre prepared baby food made or imported into the UK has adequate nutritional standards.

It’s poor regulation of the food industry that is to blame. Politicians say people don’t want a nanny state as an excuse to do all that the food manufacturing lobby ask - maximise profits at the expense of the nation’s health.

So definitely no need to feel guilty. 💐. I’m feeling angry at the food industry and successive governments though!