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?

First job - giver her the pouch.

Next job - delete social media.

Frozen peas - the food of the gods!

Boil a potato, drain and mash with some finely grated cheese……my babies loved it and it was so easy to prep.

Wow, there’s no need to be mean! She’s only asking a question

My daughter loved this and with butter

My two teens had a shop-bought lasagne last night, microwaved 😂🤷‍♀️

I do plenty of meals from scratch but sometimes you’re just knackered and hot.

Lots of us resort to the occasional easy option - including baby pouches. Actually, I damaged my oesophagus the other month while sleeping 🤦🏻‍♀️ so I ate baby food for a few days 😂😂

Occasional is fine OP. It’s a good attitude to have or else you’ll tie yourself in knots trying to be the very best during every waking moment.

Posts like these make me feel so sad for new parents who can’t do right for doing wrong and vice versa. It reminds me of the mums who struggled to breast feed because of poor supply/latch and almost starved their babies because they were convinced formula milk was the food of the devil. Give her a pouch and relax OP- food is food. She’ll survive having a pouch or two in her lifetime. Wait till she grows up and develops a taste for UPF.

In fact, I used to make extra and freeze it so there was always something for them if our meals weren’t suitable.

Here is the problem with all the UPF stuff. Should we be aware of the risks and not solely base our diets on them? Of course we all should.

We should not spend our whole lives fretting over them to the point we lose sight of how life really is. Sometimes you will find there are no alternatives and on those rare occasions, fed is best.

It's fine as a one-off.
I used jars occasionally (as they were back in the day) and would probably use the odd pouch now if I had a baby, although it wouldn't form the basis of their nutrition. One or two a week won't do any harm.
I try to avoid UPFs now, but really if you're giving your baby 90% homecooked, etc. that's fine.

I must be a terrible mother according to some posters.... my 8 and 6 year old still have fruit pouches from Aldi occassionly as fresh fruit goes off so quickly.....

That's really unkind. OP is an actual parent and is, I'm sure, coping just fine. It's perfectly normal for first time parents in particular to feel anxious about certain aspects of parenting and feel under pressure to always do the "right" thing.

ETA: To answer your question OP, I go with an everything in moderation approach. One pouch isn't going to do any harm.

I love this! By baby number 5 I am trying to stop her from licking the bus windows and eating my shoes.

Is this a joke question 😂
Omg get a grip

My 3yo has innocent smoothies quite often because of how quick fruit goes off and how often she changes her tastes on what fruit she actually wants. These sit in the fridge and she thinks they're a treat 🤷

Even in the documentary they stressed they were fine for occasional use so you don't need to get your knickers in a twist! She'll be grand.

@IpsyUpsyDaisyDoos

they are a treat, they’re really expensive

I buy them when they're on offer cos they usually have a couple of months date on them. Sometimes she doesn't want breakfast and they put something in her before nursery. If I made smoothies a) she wouldn't drink them cos she'd be able to see what the "juice" looks like and b) they wouldn't last as long.

They're a justifiable expense here.

How do YOU cope day-to-day if you are having an episode over a basic first-time-mum concern? People ask questions about things they are new to and have had conflicting information on all the time.

Of course as PPs say it's fine to give her a pouch if you want to (though I'd probably just give her peanut butter on toast if it was me as that's even easier) but just wanted to add that when DS1 was about the same age we went on a trip to France, weren't bothering to cook properly every night, but didn't want to give him the delicious readymade deli food we were having because it was way too salty. So we bought readymade baby food. BUT because we were baby-led weaning at home, there was no need to stick to the smooth purees/pouches - he wasn't getting puree normally, and was used to eating food of all textures. No need to limit yourself to blended stuff if you're going to buy baby ready meals, you get get the ones that say they're for older babies too and they'll be a bit more like actual food.

OP a pouch every now and then should be fine. Find a good brand.

And don't mind the people in this thread who can't handle a new mum asking a basic question. They're the ones who are being ridiculous here.

I made all 3 of my babies food, some I stored in batches in frozen in ice cube trays, so there was always something ready to give them if what the rest of us were eating wasn't suitable. No need for emergency pouches.

I have changed the nappies of babies who were regularly given processed food. It's not pleasant. Once in a while isn't going to make a difference though.

If you really don't want to ever give her processed food, then just make your own convenience baby food and put it in the freezer.

It won’t do her any harm at all. But if it’s really going to worry you, just give her scrambled egg, maybe with bread and butter fingers, followed by banana!

If it was busy day, or hot and baby not wanting to eat much. Id either do pouch or breakfast for tea (they loved weetabix for tea)
P.s your doing great :)

Goid advice 👍 Scrambled eggs was my go-to baby food when out and about. It's also the first meal I taught the boys to cook for themselves.