Baby yoghurts : A scam?

[Katherine]

DD2 is now moving onto solids.

I decided to get her some baby yoghurts for those times when I haven't really got time to heat or prepare food. Grabbed the petit filous first fromage frais ones and a big tub of organic bio-yoghurt for DD1.

When I got to the check-out I was thinking how doaft it was that DD1 could have organic but not the baby. It was only on the way home that I questioned why I'd bought what I had. I went for them purely because they said "suitable from 4 months" on the label but surely they are no different to other yoghurts and fromage frais. Would make much more sense to get hers from the big tub so I can get what I need rather than wasting half a pot.

So do you think baby yoghurts are a scam. Surely as long as its smooth it doesn't matter?

Also is there any reason why you can't give a baby the bio-yoghurts?

i've not heard of any reason why you can't feed bio yogs. I have given them both to my chilren from 4 months and grated fruit with it. I think most fromage frais have added sugar which as a new parent I also thought that was the 'right' thing to buy. (rather like the old chestnut about children not needing toys - its the toy companies that need the children!)

I also tried baby youghurts - but found that my dd was eating three pots at a time so within weeks bought big bio pots.

er, I wouldn't say scam, rather ... " poor value for money", "usually contain too much sugar" and "a marketing gimmick". My babies/toddlers will also get through 2-4 little pots at a time.
We gave our babies live unflavoured bio yogurts bought in the most economical size available Rachel's do an organic Greek one nicely high in fat from 4 months or so.

I think most baby foods are poor value for money

Why not make your own yoghurt? (I'm not eating lentils whilst knitting my own sandals, honest!) It's really easy with an electric yohurt maker and you can control the ingredients, use organic milk, flavourings, sugar etc. The initial product is runnier than shop bought stuff but you can strain it to thicken or add milk powder. Dd2 loves it just as it is.

lol suedonim. my sister and I have a name for very organic earthy type women.... we call them "knitted yoghurts"! sounds a bit like your description of what you are not....

I've never much understood the point of baby yogs. mind you, we still buy them

Yeah, we use 'knitting yoghurt' too, pph. But as I was proposing using that modern phenomenon, electricity for yoghurt, I thought I'd better knit sandals instead. Wonder what material I could use..raffia, garden twine, maybe??

I was called a "knitted yoghurt" by a colleague when I admitted to using cloth nappies!

I'm assuming that your electricity is home made from the small, chicken-shit powered generator in your back garden?!

delighted other people use the description knitted yoghurt - no idea where it comes from, i thought my sis made it up

Jamie Oliver has a homemade yoghurt recipe, you don't need a machine or anything, from memory you do initially need a carton of bio yoghurt and you add milk to it, boil it, leave it until it grows into more yoghurt (if anyone wants to know more I will dig the recipe out). Don't suppose that's much use to Katherine mind you, it's hardly a quick fix. I will admit to buying children's yoghurts simply because the small cartons are handy. I would buy the Yeo Valley bio (not the children's one but the adult's one) in the small cartons but they don't have it in any of my local shops.

agree about the gimmicky nature of yoghurs, although guess who caved in to dd's pressure yesterday and bought Noddy yogs??? we normally get the ordinary 'adult' yeo valley ones; organic, not too sweet and delicious!!

Ooh, that's a bit trendy for me, PPH! When I want electricity I send the sprogs to the shed where they pedal away on a dynamo. They get a bit tired after pedalling away all night to power the dishwasher, tho.

DD1 gets all sorts of infant yog bought by her dad, but dd2 is getting the Rachel's Greek with organic home-made fruit puree (ahem. Actually peeled apple or pear from our delivery whizxed round for a couple of minutes in the microwave then blended quickly - doddle and actually so nice I keep eating it too).

Katherine, snap...and those horrid little fromages reek as well, don't you think (compared to Rachels...). We had one six-pack of the baby yogs last week, dd spat hers out big-time, I had a taste and gagged as well. Blech! So she's on the Rachel's Greek too. She also loves the Vrai lemon yogurts.

yes waste of money. However, don't be fooled by the "organic" stuff. They are as full of junk, sugar and thickeners (starch etc.) as the normal ones. Rachel's are the most junk free, but they taste pretty awful (imo). I've settled on the Sainsbury's full fat ones as being the healthiest and the best tasting. Though now that the kids have teeth, I've decided that breakfast is for junkfood and let them have really unhealthy (got a long lecture from my dad about the dangers of hydrogenated vegetable oils )sugary cereals as long as they have lots of milk and finish the milk after picking out the cereal. I think it's a rebellion from my berkeley childhood of granola and homemade yogurt.

There is definately no reason why you shouldn't give a baby bio yoghurt so long as it is full fat. I always mixed natural yoghurt with fruit puree for dd.

baby yoghurts and fromage frais are so full of sugar its unbeleivable!

I remember reading about the high sugar content of baby yoghurts and tried to limit using them. I noticed that if some split on my skin or my bay's skin, it felt very sticky. Milk doesn't feel sticky, so how much sugar is there in these concoctions?

Like SofiaAmes, I bought Sainsbury's wholemilk yoghurt. As far as I could see, it seemed the most healthy. It certainly didn't taste as sweet as the others.

sofiaames - i'm the opposite. having spent about 10 years of my childhood alternating Cap'n Crunch and Eggo Waffles with Aunt Jemima "maple" syrup for breakfast (what was my mother thinking?!) I'm a strict porridge or shreddies fascist for my children...

My breastmilk is very sticky

you must be a very sweet person

Ah, but Human milk is higher in 'sugars' (presumably all lactose?) than any other mammal milk, I believe. Not as high as some of the kiddy yogurts, one imagines, though.

Suedonim - not a Lakeland Link! - I've been 'clean' for a month or so, and you've just dragged me back on their site ...

Seriously, what do you use to flavour the homemade yoghurt? And how much sugar do you put in (for kids). My boys eat pretty healthily, and are not fussy, but they won't drink milk. They eat loads of (bought) yoghurt, and also love drinking yoghurt. I like the idea of making my own, but think I might have to put a lot of sugar in to make them eat it?

I have memories of having homemade yoghurt as a child and thinking it was Yuck

Sorry if I've triggered off your addiction, Kmg.

Mine eat the yoghurt as it is but they also like a little brown sugar stirred through it. I just add it to the individual serving rather than the whole lot. Half a teaspoon is more than plenty but you may need to experiment. Runny honey (not suitable for babies)is also another fave, and any kind of fruit, squished down or stewed, say apple, rhubarb or plums. You can use soft set jams, like Bonne Mamam, as well.

LAKELAND LINK WARNING! Lakeland also sell bottles of flavourings @ 1.85 each.

Thanks - have you used the flavourings? Are they tasty?

Oh no - definitely feel a Lakeland Order coming on now, and it is so difficult to know when to stop.

No, I haven't used them, but Lakeland stuff is reliable so I imagine they would be nice. Go on, just a little order....you know you want to!