To give a pouch of baby food

[weaningtime]

Just that really. Shamelessly need validation. I am absolutely sweltering in this heatwave with a Velcro baby who only wants to contact nap. DD is nearly 8 months and I’ve watched the panorama on shop bought baby food so not fed her any shop bought jars or meal pouches. I try and be conscious with her food, she has a healthy homemade porridge for breakfast every day with nut butters, seeds and fresh fruit and then usually a BLW style tea or a recipe we’ve followed from a baby cookbook. She usually really enjoys her food. We are getting takeaway, so can’t share that. Last night I cooked a vegetable and cheese pasta for her and she had two mouthfuls and wasn’t bothered, probably the heat I’m guessing. I’m putting so much pressure on myself and have run out of ideas for tonight and food shop doesn’t come till tomorrow.

Would it be that bad nutritionally to just buy and give her a pouch tonight? I have seen people compare it to junk food and fast food so feel like I’m not doing good enough and not prioritising her if I default to that. Is it ok or any other food ideas that are very minimal prep?

If it’s easier to use a pouch, then once in a while is fine.

I’d stay inside and just dig out whatever random stuff I had in the fridge, though. Cucumber, strawberry, bit of cheese, oatcake or rice cake, maybe a cold hard boiled egg. Anything cold, that needs using up, as long as it covers off the food groups (so fruit or veg, a carb and a protein). My DC loved that sort of tea, especially if I made it in the shape of a face on the plate.

There’s nothing wrong with pouches, it’s just that they’re not as good as other things. FWIW mine lived on pouches when we was first starting weaning, they’re absolutely fine to give to them.

Of course a pouch here and there is fine.
But I'd give mine bits of the take away, a banana, an egg, whatever's left in the cupboard...

For example if we have Chinese they get rice, rinsed off soft veg from the stir fry, a bit of shredded meat. Or another breakfast. Whatever is easiest- but real food.

You don't need to listen to other people's opinions about UPFs or pouches, and you don't need other people's permission to feed your baby on baby food.

Look for ways to connect with your inner mother tiger!

My son has a pouch a day 🤣

Inner mother tiger 😂

Beans on toast with grated cheese
Scrambled egg on toast
Omelette with ham/cheese/mushroom
Plain pasta with grated cheese

Hopefully you have some of the above in the house so you won't even need to go shopping!

You could try her on the pasta again, she might go for it on a second viewing - you know what these babies are like.

I thought of pouches a bit like I’d think of a shop bought sandwich for me - not as good as what you’d make at home but perfectly adequate when necessary/convenient. My baby probably had about 1-2 a week, if we were on the move or out for lunch.

My first had pouches for months from 8 months till about a year old. The same handful of big Aldi ones on rotation. We were renovating the house and living on a microwave and ready meals ourselves.
I added in fresh/frozen veg and bits of protein (cold chicken) or cheese on top where needed.

He eats everything now!

Just to give you ideas of quick things- if we are having something not suitable or short on time my husband makes our little one an omelette. Also I sometimes get the potato from a jacket and mix with cheese and serve with cucumber and tomato sticks. Also when organised different veg patties in the freezer make an easy meal.

Now and again is fine. My daughter loves the Ella's kitchen ones

JFC. This is the problem with any food messaging nowadays - what matters is the diet overall, not an occasional pizza, chocolate or a pouch. But media, influencers and advertisers focus on one small thing to grab our attention because the main message they should be giving us is boring and cannot be monetized easily.

If you choose pouch just make sure it's good quality without additives. The reason why they are not recommended as the base of the diet is that they loose a lot of nutritional value while processed. But of course they are fine from time to time.

Give it a year and she will be picking bird poo off a slide and eating it , a pouch occasionally truly is fine !

Treat pouches like you would convenience foods yourself. There are times when they are an advantage but most of the time it's better to make your own food.

I was in hospital with my daughter with limited cooking facilities when she was 10 months. We used some pouches for convenience and practicality. I balanced things by mixing them with quick cook pasta and peas and sweetcorn for textures. She barely ate at the time and I didn't have the resources for homemade. Once I was doing better we switched to completely homemade. Even after watching panorama I have no guilt. A diet a solely pouches is not ideal and they should be avoided where possible but just like sometimes I get a takeaway when I don't have the energy to cook sometimes a pouch is helpful

You will think back to this post in a few years time and hopefully have a little smile about it.

Yes you can give a pouch very much guilt free.
Or yoghurt, some fruit, a mashed egg, or something equally easy.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a pouch every now and again when the rest of her diet is healthy, homemade food. Equally at such a young age, there's nothing wrong with a bit of yoghurt or fruit etc for tea, especially as she might not eat it with this heat. You might find she refuses the pouch if she's not used to them and then you've had a wasted trip to the shops.

DS1 had allergies that restricted options. I used to keep long-life toddler ready meals in the changing bag for emergencies. I was into Baby Led Weaning (mainly because it easily fitted with cooking anyway) but there were many times that a pouch was handy as a back-up.

I would rabbit on about how healthy he is now etc but he's a bottomless carb pit of a teenager

Yet

I would occasionally give my baby pouches entirely guilt free and would do so again.

Just get one with savoury food in it, not that is mainly apple or similar so it’s really sweet.

Their diet doesn’t need to be 100% perfect all of the time, it’s just another exhausting standard mothers are being held to.

The odd one is absolutely fine. Even the NHS website says this. Being a mum is hard, don’t feel bad ❤️

Caught my toddler yesterday sitting in the paddling pool, with the dog, drinking the pool water out of a watering can.

The odd one here and there for convenience will be fine. We didn’t use them regularly but for days out we sometimes did.

It's fine but why go out specifically to buy it when you could just do toast, fruit, cheese and crackers, etc. When one of mine was a baby one of her favourite foods was cold prawns dipped in plain yoghurt!

No problem with a pouch now and then - had my daughter thirty years ago and gave her the occasional jar of baby food if we were out and about. She seems okay now - still eats all her veggies and is a very good cook!

DT’s were weaned on pouches as I didn’t want to do blw. Perfectly healthy - now in their mid 20’s.