Are baby food pouches and purées really that bad?

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I have a seven month old and have done a fair bit of steaming and puréeing veg, but as we've been out a bit more now that restrictions have eased, I've been using ready-made pouches a lot more. They've been great - I've got the veg-only ones so they must be reasonably healthy, the baby happily wolfs them down, and I get to save some time. In recent days, I've mostly relied on them rather than cooking for DD.

HOWEVER.

Some mum-friends I have are a bit sniffy about them. They seem to spend a lot of time and effort making recipes from Annabel Karmel and Joe Wicks books, which makes me feel terribly guilty as, once we've been through all the allergens etc., I plan to give DD a version of whatever we have to eat. So basically I see the pouches as a bridge to this.

Am I being a terrible mum for using pouches instead of lovingly crafting special meals for DD? Are pouches really that bad?

Excellent. I am officially unclenching about the whole thing now. It won't be for long, anyway. Soon I can just stick whatever we're having in a blender for her - pizza, burger and chips, chicken nuggets etc. . . .

(Just kidding )

A couple of women at my antenatal groups were precious about the food they fed to their children. Organic, home cooked, hand pureed stuff or blw. Their kids turned in to the fussiest eaters! My daughter was fed from jars and packets when we were out and given what we had at home.

I personally wouldn't use them but wouldn't judge anyone that did.

It’s not nice to sneer at other people’s parenting choices, whether those choices are to feed their kids junk food or home made organic stuff or anything in between. IMO whether a child is a fussy eater has nothing to do with the food you’ve given them as a baby. It’s really common for one child in a family to be fussy and another not, even though they’ve been fed in exactly the same way.

Like sleep, people love to think their child’s eating habits are down to their excellent parenting, when in reality it’s just luck of the draw.

The hate for jars & purées is definitely a UK thing. When my kids were little we were living in Europe and most parents would have laughed at the idea of making your own baby food! The jars aisles in French supermarkets are awesome and mine were both weaned (almost) exclusively on jars.
What I don’t agree with is that jars here seem to be overly sweet, so as long as you don’t feed too much sugar I would say go for it.

They are fine to use.

I didn’t with DS1 because of allergies and the fact he barely ate until he was 10 months old and then went from nothing to three proper meals of normal food in days. DD1 had quite a few when we were out and about and I also used to use the reusable plastic pouches with things like weetabix or yoghurt in, so if you are worried about the cost or contents you can do your own.

What are your reasons for not using them yourself, @CupCupGoose? I'm curious!

DS never had any homemade food for the first few months of weaning, I LOVED pouches.

And truly don't understand how someone can say that a pouch that is 100% peas is bad?

DS now eats anything and everything.

Judgemental mums and not the sort of mums you want to be anywhere near.

DS wouldn't eat my homemade food so I gave up and bought the jars and pouches. It did come with quite a bit of judgement from various people and long lectures about how I should be blending this that and the other.
I did breastfeed and was judged for doing that past 6 months by the same people, apparently I should have weaned onto formula.
Just feed your child what you want it makes little difference, its hard enough to juggle everything without judgements about food.

Both of mine were weaned on mainly Ellas kitchen, they are never ill and are both now good eaters

It’s not something I’d feed but it’s in a par with formula for me. It’s fine, it does the job and causes no harm.
But it’s not something I’d want mine to have.

I don’t understand why anyone bothers with baby food though, mine is 10 months and eats exactly what we do for every meal. Easy!
I do buy the odd bag of melty puffs for a picnic snack but that’s it. If I want to feed fruit she gets a piece of fruit, it doesn’t need anything doing to it first.

@Megan2018 blw isn't suitable for all babies that's why some people can't just feed what parents eat.

I also eat some foods that aren't suitable for babies lol! And some also don't blend.... (even tried to blend a pizza? Lol!)

The options aren’t just feed what you have or use commercial pouches though, are they PrayingandHoping?

@PrayingandHoping medical issues aside I think all babies can do BLW, the issues are usually the parents.
And mine has had pizza....

I used various pouches when we were traveling or out and about, it just wasn’t practical to use home made food all the time. They’re fine in moderation but I wouldn’t use them unless I had to. They all taste pretty grim unless they are the sweet fruit purées and I can’t see how they get babies used to different flavors through the pouches. Can’t say I’m bothered if other people choose to use them though.

@Megan2018

It’s not something I’d feed but it’s in a par with formula for me. It’s fine, it does the job and causes no harm. But it’s not something I’d want mine to have.

I don’t understand why anyone bothers with baby food though, mine is 10 months and eats exactly what we do for every meal. Easy!
I do buy the odd bag of melty puffs for a picnic snack but that’s it. If I want to feed fruit she gets a piece of fruit, it doesn’t need anything doing to it first.

That wouldn't have irked for mine at 6 months and I can't get it as smooth. Plus we're just not that exotic. They have chickpeas with aubergine and about 5 other things today. I had ham sandwich for lunch.

@Megan2018 because some children, like my ds, would literally vomit (not gag, vomit) the entire contents of his stomach when I was weaning him if a lump of food bigger than a split atom passed his tonsils until he was about 11 months old. So purees, whether homemade (if appropriate - not sure the amount of salt or chillies I have in some meals were particularly suitable for a baby) or shop bought, were the way we had to go to get any solids in him. I did breastfeed him for nearly 4y though, so maybe that cancels out all the terrible purees . He does enjoy an nice M/R ribeye from time to time now, so no lasting damage 🙌

I used them quite a bit for the in-between stage of weaning when they're just getting used to eating regular meals - from about seven to ten months I guess? Mostly Ella's and Babese, plus lots of finger foods. He went off them when he stopped wanting to be fed with a spoon, and now he's a bit older he mostly eats what we're having, unless it's something very unhealthy or too spicy. Great eater, not much he won't eat really. They're fine!

I think whatever works for you works. I found The purées tasted horrible , never remember carrots tasting like that to be fair, so my mantra was if it didn’t taste nice and I wouldn’t eat it then I wouldn’t give it.
However I definitely wouldn’t worry about what anyone else thinks.
We shouldn’t judge a parent whether they are feeding from jars or doing some homemade Sunday batch cooking . The child is being fed and that’s what matters.
I do think pouches etc aren’t as nutritionally dense but that’s just my opinion & don’t replicate the actual flavours of really food.
Having traditionally weaned two children I’ve found BLW amazing .

No there are other option to obv cook for your child differently to what u have. My comment was directed as some people who blw literally feed what they eat. That may work for some people but not all

I am confident in the ingredients of a pouch being equal to home cooking. I don't feel the need to cook up a separate meal if she can't eat what we are eating. It's just common sense.

I meant u can't purée a pizza 😉

I will confidently say every pouch I have ever fed is more nutritious than a pizza....

No, not every baby is suitable to do blw. Sometimes obv medical reasons but sometimes there are others too. Some don't get on with it, there are many reason. And also, there is just nothing wrong with choosing to spoon feed your child with purées and moving on. It is the right answer for some people. I know people are all steered towards it, but being the other side when u are told not to it's funny how the same people then say it's not the be and and end all and purée feeding is also completely fine!

There's no right or wrong way. Neither is more superior than the other and I have discussed this with many medical people.

They are fine, baby grade veg is a step down from organic but better than the regular stuff. Or at least that was what I figured out a few years ago.

DC1 turned his nose up at everything I cooked so it was mainly jars / pouches he ate. Nothing more gutting than spending ages making food for him to refuse.

DC2 hated jars and pouches. BLW for him. But I think it is a texture thing still doesn't eat yogurts or slimy foods like ripe bananas or mango etc.

Do you really think a pouch will be equal to home cooking?

Good piece of beef , fresh organic ingredients , homemade stock etc ? Cooked fresh and give on the day it’s made , compared to a factory processed pouch where ingredients will be bought at the cheapest price?
Like I’m a big fan of treats and junk food but I’m not gonna pretend I’m giving my kids nutritious food when I make those choices.

@sauvignonblancplz

I shared this earlier. I really don't have an issue with any of those ingredients. It's exactly what I would use if I made lasagne (which I do sometimes!), although I don't use organic.

So no, I don't have any issue and I definitely don't consider it junk food.

Praying - a pouch is not equal to home cooking - I posted a link from an independent charity up thread that explains the difference.

I think pouches have their place and certainly aren’t bad, but I hate to see people suckered in and ripped off by the marketing.

I don’t think you’re taking into consideration the processed element of the food and how that deactivates a lot of the nutrition you thinking your child is getting.
Someone upthread explained it a lot better than me.
Yeah I like quick and handy food too now and again, but nothing beats knowing where your produce is from and how it’s been cooked.
However , like I said child being fed and happy is the main thing . And whatever works all power to you.