9 month old - too much puree or am I being a paranoid parent?

[FatRedCrayon]

DD, 9 months, eats most things. She could happily eat porridge for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and sausage and bean casserole for dinner (for example). No issues with lumps, etc, we've mostly done 'baby-led' from the start.

However - she'll often not be interested in lunch or dinner or will only eat a small amount. But after she's fussed about, she'll happily guzzle a whole pouch of fruit puree.

It's at the point she's eating a couple of big pouches a day. Oh, and she'll only have sweet pouches (so fruit & veg or fruit & yoghurt). I make some of them myself so it's not costing loads and I know what's in them, but I'd rather she was eating actual food.

I don't know how much of my worry is down to DS who wouldn't touch puree or indeed, anything on a spoon. So I'm not sure what's normal, or indeed, if there is a normal!

Should I be cutting out the pouches? She feeds from them directly, if it matters. She's not quite as spoon-phobic as her brother but still not a fan, she'd rather hold it herself and suck from them.

I'm worried that by cutting them out, she'll eat less and just be grizzly and hungry. When I tried to reduce the amounts before she didn't eat any more solids, but she wasn't too happy either!

Could you squeeze out some of the puree and serve it alongside her meals? She still gets what she likes but you control the portion and it doesn't replace her breakfast or lunch.

Have you seen the suckies in the supermarket - in the fridge yoghurt section... they come in the same packs as the pouches but it's live yoghurt - might just be an option for something different.

She probably just likes the fact they are sweet and easy.

I wouldn't worry but maybe try offering cut up fruit after lunch and a pouch after dinner or something?

Howsthings yes they look great and they're stupendously expensive. I have some reusable pouches which I fill with natural yoghurt and mashed fruit/veg so hopefully similar. Yoghurt, apple and cooked carrot oddly was a favourite. Although it did dye everything orange...!

pemberleypearl I tend to serve the pouches after she's finished eating solids, it's just that often she'll stop eating after a small portion... then suck down a whole pouch, so obviously still hungry. So, why didn't she finish her meal?!

Tbh I’d just go cold turkey and stop buying them. She’s probably fussy because she knows she’ll get something she prefers, and it’s working. Just assume that if she’s not eating, she’s not hungry and don’t offer any alternatives

I'd also stop giving them at all. She's very quickly developed a preference for sweet easy food. She's still only little and milk should still be the main part of her diet. I would keep offering her normal savoury food , with pieces of fruit (banana, satsuma, berries etc) and maybe the little Yeo yogurts (no nasties in them)

The pouches I make are just Yeo valley natural yoghurt plus fruit&veg I've cooked, so not too worried about nasties. She also has 3 milk feeds a day, morning, afternoon and evening.

I guess I'm just not sure if she should be eating more solids, or if the amount of purée she is having is okay for a nine month old?

As she likes fruit maybe try to move her on to solid fruit. Mine is two now and has always been obsessed with fruit, but we never pureed anything, she just eats actual bananas, orange, grapes, pears etc. Obv we chop it up (esp grapes as they can be a choking hazard if not chopped)/peel it if necessary. She regularly eats three or four pieces of fruit a day. I've never worried about it.

Dentists are not keen on these because the baby sucking from the pouch can rot the teeth apparently. Had a google and came up with this.

www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/fruit-puree-pouches-rot-kids-teeth-experts-article-1.1253236

I this no I'd cut back. The point about now (and I'm not a purist) is that they stop when they're satisfied. Eating a whole pouch doesn't mean she's hungry. I can always manage dessert!

Hmm. She does eat whole fruit too. Pouches are just easier I guess. Perhaps I should wean her off slowly. Down to one pouch a day first!

AnythingbutEverything she must take after me, I've got a pudding stomach!

she's only little (my dd2 is nearly same age) so at this point I wouldn't worry too much. my DD loves yoghurt with mashed up fruit and I generally offer it at every meal time although off a spoon and not from a pouch. it's still "real food" esp if you are preparing it yourself. her main nutrition should still be milk so I wouldn't worry as long as you keep offering the other meals as well.

I think the sweet pouches are quite sugary so it's probably best to keep them for a treat or feed a smaller amount at a time. I know a lot of my friends have had the same issue as their LOs love the pouches! I do think being able to suck directly from them is a draw to them and spoons/solid food to eat with hands are probably better simply because they require some effort, but this is just a gut feeling rather than being based on any research.

I would stop buying them if it's obvious that she's getting hooked on them. I'm not sure it's much different to letting them drink juice out of a bottle to be honest.

Solid fruit is less likely to be overeaten.

I tried to stick to 1 pouch a day as my dd has a sweet tooth and would not eat then have a pouch. I offered puree after lunch and yoghurt after dinner (fruit cut up along side and as snacks).

If she's only eating a small portion of her meal, I wouldn't offer anything afterwards generally. Part of the beauty of BLW is they self regulate. If you stop the pouches you might find she starts to eat more at the next meal.

Solid fruit doesn't have as much of a sugar rush as pureed so I would switch to natural yoghurt with sliced fruit if you still want to give similar.

YY Kokeshi - it's quite like a smoothie really in that format, v easy to just keep sucking and more sweet lovely stuff appears!

I agree with icelemon. No point BLW if you’re going to manipulate her self regulation.