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Infant feeding

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Original poster

jars and sachets - MIL is disgusted

291 replies

Murphyslaw21 · 03/01/2016 09:22

Bit of a back story...

My house we bought before baby is very old, found out I was pregnant so did bedrooms, and living room. We have no heating or water, having run out of money we have had to put kitchen old hold.

House is warmed by a wood burner. Now my kitchen is disgusting. Mould, damp no water (outside tap only). We only use it as necessary. Pots and pans are washed in bucket with kettle water. Therefore I only give baby jars and sachets. Now I spend a fortune she has mango breakfast, porridge, roast dinners all fruit and veg. I wash her pots and sterilise them. I would not think of risking cooking as I'm not convinced pots and utensils are clean enough. We won't be doing kitchen until next year as we have to put in heating in this year. We don't have a dishwasher as no space for one.

My MIL has raised concerns and insults that it's because I can't be bothered to cook and that the jars are full of preservatives and additives. But I read them and they are 100% organic with nothing added. I'm so cross.

I give baby 3 good meals a day. I would love to cook but it's an awful kitchen. When we go out with her and I pull out a packet I get rolling eyes and sarcastic comments. The other day I said well buy me a kitchen then. And she moaned that I spent the money on doing bedrooms first. But my logic was baby needs a nice clean bedroom . We had been sleeping for six months on an air bed. Not fun whilst heavily pregnant.

I'm so angry but I'm wondering if the jars and sachets are bad.

OP posts:
Original poster
Murphyslaw21 · 03/01/2016 09:37

My parents have both died . Dad when 16 and mum 4 years ago. MIL is not an option she is 80 years old in a bungalow retirement place ,

She has 7 month old jars and I see that they go up to 16 months.

OP posts:
lanbro · 03/01/2016 09:38

What's wrong with cereal? Surely you have a fridge for milk cheese etc? Yogurts? Breadsticks? Crackers? I think you need to think outside the box, if baby is 6mo plus she can eat anything you can.

MajesticSeaFlapFlap · 03/01/2016 09:39

Buy a set of cooking rings put it on a table with a microwave, slow cooker and kettle and you have a make shift kitchen in another room.

sandgrown · 03/01/2016 09:39

Sounds fine to me as a temporary measure. Can you visit MIL and get her to prepare fresh food when there. Same with friends who I am sure would not object given the situation. Don't worry your child will be fine.

JE1234 · 03/01/2016 09:39

As others have said it's ok short term but not for another year. Do make sure she is also getting fresh food that doesn't need to be cooked. The jars may be 100% organic but they do have added preservatives etc or they wouldn't last for months. Fresh food cannot be kept in a jar for months unless pickled. I'd just try as hard as I could to mix in as much fresh food and finger food as possible. Could you try setting up a small fridge and camp oven/stove in another room to make soup, bolognaise, casserole etc or borrow a friend's kitchen to batch cook- then you just need a freezer and a microwave which would be healthier for you and DP too.

TaliZorah · 03/01/2016 09:39

OP I genuinely don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's baby food not crack ffs

dementedpixie · 03/01/2016 09:40

What do you eat? At 7 months old she can have a lot of what you eat.

lanbro · 03/01/2016 09:40

A decent combination microwave can cook anything an oven can. A slow cooker. A steamer. George Foreman grill. There are tons of electric cooking aids that don't require a kitchen to use.

Gowgirl · 03/01/2016 09:40

I was about to say why don't you talk to your mil, maybe you could batch cook in her kitchen.

dementedpixie · 03/01/2016 09:40

But they need real food too, not just mush from a jar that all tastes the same

capsium · 03/01/2016 09:41

Could you have a microwave in another room and follow the recipe book that it comes with for cooking times re. casseroles etc? She could eat the same as you, as long as you don't use too much salt. (And clean veg away from kitchen.)

hadtoregregister · 03/01/2016 09:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BugritAndTidyup · 03/01/2016 09:42

Jars and sachets are fine, but ideally you use them as little as possible, because there are other benefits to cooking your own food - the texture differs, the cost, it's an opportunity to teach your child about food blah blah blah, but I used them a lot with DD so no judgement...

There are other options - could you use a slow cooker, for example, to make a stew, portion it off and stick in a freezer? Or one of those single electric hobs? You can get sectioned off slow cookers to cook 2 things at once.

I'm not convinced that hand washing in hot water kills bacteria (water not hot enough), although it does cut through the grease better certainly, but spending a bit more time washing the baby's dishes or using one of those Milton sterilising watsits might help...

Samantha28 · 03/01/2016 09:42

You need to put in a temporary sink unit wherever you have waste and cold water feed. Plug in a fridge, microwave and electric ring.

You don't need thousands to do this and youve had more that a year to sort this out before now . Your baby must be at least 6 month old and will be on the move soon.

Are you saying that you don't have any heating or hot water and only an outside tap ? And no kitchen at all ? Do you have a bath and inside WC?

TBH I think that your MIL is the least of your problems

CountTessa · 03/01/2016 09:42

How can you best sanitise your kitchen environment then at minimum cost, in the time being. Sorting out a clean indoor tap. Would seem to be a priority to me. As well as cleaning up so that it is nicer than the shed.

lanbro · 03/01/2016 09:43

To sum up, MIL being 'disgusted' is OTT but there are loads of ways to avoid using just jars and sachets, saving money and being healthier for you all.

capsium · 03/01/2016 09:43

Porridge is easy in a microwave too and you could add fresh fruit.
You could also do eggs.

YouBastardSockBalls · 03/01/2016 09:43

Ok - this is far from ideal. You need to change things.

I lived in a caravan whilst heavily pregnant and until DC1 was 2, so I'm not judging having less than perfect living conditions - but this is not healthy.
Jars and pouches are SO full of sugar - they are really not healthy as a complete diet. You need somewhere to cook.

The bare minimum that you can get by with is indoor hot and cold water, cooking facilities, plug sockets and a toilet.

If you have an indoor toilet then you have a water supply. It will not cost much to get a temporary fix of 2 taps. One tap can be heated by a small water heater similar to those in petrol station toilets.

Next, you need a clean surface for food prep, a small gas cooker, a fridge and plug sockets.
Your clean surface can be an old side table, scrubbed clean. It can be in the living room.
Small gas cookers can be picked up for next to nothing second hand. It will need a plug socket and a gas canister.
I'm guessing you have a fridge?

If you make these small changes then there's absolutely no reason why you can't cook.

If you can't make these small changes, then you need alternative accommodation.
I know what's it's like to be slumming it while you renovate but it needs to be healthy for you and your child, and at the moment, in the gentlest way possible, what you're describing is not.

littleducks · 03/01/2016 09:43

Maybe stay another thread for low prep food suggestions. What exactly do you have fridge? freezer? toaster?

You could boil a kettle poor over fresh pasta and leave and it will cook. Then add cheese/peas/sweetcorn (finger food to help with pincer grip or on a spoon)

tabulahrasa · 03/01/2016 09:44

It's not about the nutrition though, jars and pouches don't taste like normal food and they don't have the consistency of normal food...

Chewing builds up the muscles needed for speech and the next year is when you're introducing them to different tastes and textures - which you're not planning to do if you're planning to use jars and pouches.

So relying on them exclusively has the potential to create eating problems as she gets older because she's not going to be having normal food and could cause speech issues as well.

Again - what are you eating? Why can't she have that?

GinandJag · 03/01/2016 09:44

The house isn't habitable without a kitchen and indoor mains-fed water. Does your health visitor know?

Jesabel · 03/01/2016 09:44

JE1234 - how on earth do they get away with stating "Absolutely no preservatives" then if you are saying that's a complete lie?

dementedpixie · 03/01/2016 09:46

They are heat treated to give them a long shelf life rather than having added preservatives

girlandboy · 03/01/2016 09:46

Make the corner of a habitable room into a mini kitchen.
We had a "project house" and it's do-able.

We had a plug in mini-oven that had two hotplates on the top. You could also have a slow cooker, and a small fridge-freezer.

And have a container in lieu of kitchen cupboards to keep basic foodstuffs in, such as porridge oats, bread, fruit etc. You only need one of those plastic storage boxes with a lid to keep the dust out.

What you basically need to do is treat that room like you would if you were camping. If you make a dinner for yourself in the slow cooker/mini oven then you can mash some down for your daughter to try. Little sandwiches for her to chew on, finger foods like cucumber sticks etc.

Good luck.

mudandmayhem01 · 03/01/2016 09:47

My friend is having their kitchen done, microwave and slow cooker in the living room, plastic boxes with lids to store food. I have been camping with babies and gave some jars but also simple food pasta with cream cheese and peas, mashed sweet potato and pre roast chicken from the deli just two examples. I think you are in a difficult situation and need to step back and look for some solutions. Set up a small corner of your living room as a camp kitchen, I know people who have raised babies in caravans, very small narrow boats. I would also feel very low about surviving on microwave meals. Pots and plates washed in a bowl of hot soapy water ( use your kettle) will be absolutely fine for a baby over 6 months. Again store a small selection of crockery in a clean plastic box. If you haven't got room for a proper fridge buy a mini one just to keep a few basics for sandwiches in ( we have one at work that is absolutely tiny, but keeps my milk and sandwich fresh) Good food makes children and adults happy!