6 month old weaning - Are pouches and jars of baby food really that bad?

[merrynelly]

I have just started weaning my six month old. I'm finding it quite time consuming steaming, blending and the washing up etc for what is essentially a couple of licks of a spoon. And I'm currently only doing this once a day. Family members keep raving about how they used Ella's kitchen and Hipp Organic etc, but Joe Wicks stated that pouches are often very high in sugar etc. I'm not the most health conscious but need a balance between giving my baby healthy food but also not spending vast amounts of time in the kitchen. I just wondered what the general consensus is on pouches, jars, baby porridge etc?

Personally I skipped purees pretty much. Saved so much faff. Just used things I was having/ adapted what I was having. So much easier.

Could you do some meal prep freezing?

If you want to use pouches/ jars make sure you read the ingredients. Some are better than others.

I used a lot of Ella's kitchen pouches. I now have a healthy 6yo, so there joe wickes! Do what works for you.

Look into blw it’s so much quicker especially if you already have a healthy diet.

I'm way too scared of him choking to do BLW

The health visitor made us taste one of the jars. That was enough. If you wouldn’t eat it, why would you make your child?

Purées are much higher risk for choking. So if you’re scared of choking give large finger foods.

However at the lick and taste stage, a pouch is hardly an issue. I’d just go for it. Maybe supplement with something easy to mash with a fork eg banana/avocado if you want to give some fresh food too.

@merrynelly I decided on starting with a couple of weeks of “first tastes” purées alongside some finger food. Then I’ll be heading more along the BLW route and feeding him adapted versions of what we eat.

For this first couple of weeks I spent an evening steaming and blending and putting everything in freezer pots so that I have a stock of something for most days - obviously some things like avocado I’ll just do on the day but broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, kale, spinach, carrots, sweet potato, peas, parsnips etc are all done and in the freezer. It’s all stuff we eat anyway so for the finger food I’ve been giving it to DH and I for dinner the night before and just saving a piece for DS for the next day to give alongside his purée 🤷🏻‍♀️ We’re just at the end of week 1 at the moment. Planning to do another batch prep at the start of the week and hopefully always be a bit ahead of myself!

I use both. I also have the Joe wicks book and done some first stage purées but I have days that I can't cook food ASAP (she either naps after it's cooked, too late/too soon or just out of time). I think a few jars/pouches wouldn't hurt, she loves Heinz apple yoghurt and sweet potato and chicken puree. But she's also had potato, broccoli, courgette, carrot, Banana (hated it), avocado (hated more than Banana) and will be trying Mango home made purée on Monday. Just do what you can and could try and prep.
I think Joe wicks was saying about jars back then that actually had salt and sugar compared to now which hardly have sugar and no salt. As pp say, look at the ingredients if not sure but could try and do both! Good luck with weaning!

I wouldn’t buy fancy pouches stuffed with fruit, usually, but did buy jars of single-ingredient purées (Heinz I think?) for days I couldn’t blend and freeze my own. My kids like peas, sweet potato, beef, and green bean. They never liked the carrot for some reason (I’ll admit it tasted pretty watery to me too).

Honestly just blend whatever you're having. Mash potato, any veg, Bolognese, chilli etc.

Also, jars are fine.

The food in jars and pouches have to be manufactured at very high temperatures to allow the food to be preserved and sit on shelves without refrigeration. This can remove a lot of the nutritional content of it so I would be wary of a lot of the claims they make in regards to vitamin content etc. There isn't thought to be a difference in puree Vs BLW in terms of choking risk so I wouldn't let that put you off. There is lots of videos on YouTube showing the difference between gagging which is normal and choking which is not as people often get confused.

You do whatever you want op, it's your baby.
I weaned ds using puree pouches and jars. He eats pretty much anything now at 2.5yrs. The best thing I did when I started weaning was stopped looking at people like Joe wicks... He's not a weaning specialist, he's a celebrity. Of course he is saying don't buy purees, because of everyone did that then no one would buy his wean in 15 book and he wouldn't make any money.
Honestly, I got to the stage that if one more person told me to give ds avocado, I was going to rub an avocado in their face!!!
I used to give ds baby porridge to start with, then moved on to normal porridge because the consistency isn't more different. I used to mix a fruit pouch in with it sometimes.
I don't have the time to be steaming, mashing, washing up everything that goes with it... Nor the patience!
Just read the ingredients on the back, most of them are solely fruit/veg anyway so no difference

Mashed up banana with greek yogurt or cottage cheese worked well for my DS; as well as avocado, pear and baby porridge - no cooking and fussing involved :-)

And yeah, jars and pouches are fine, especially at this stage. Ella's kitchen products tend to be sugar free and made with simple ingredients. My DS is currently loving their apple & cinnamon crumble pots. The only downside is that they're more expensive than cooking from scratch but they do save time so go ahead and use them.

Don't let yourself be bullied by "organic, wholesome, holier than thou" types. Just do whatever works for you and your family xx

Oh you'll just tap into lots of blw zealotry and anti-processed food lunacy with this thread.

First, this rubbish around "taste what's in a jar/pouch, would you eat it?" No, of course I wouldn't. But then I wouldn't drink breast milk or formula either. And I wouldn't expect my baby to tuck into the chilli and spice-laden chickpea curry I made for dinner, or glug down a mug of coffee for breakfast. Newsflash, babies and children and adults like different things.

Second, i think as long as you don't rely entirely on pouches and jars they definitely have a place in most real parents' cupboard. They are extremely handy if you are out and about, or for some reason in a mad dash to make a meal one day. My children both liked Ella's kitchen pouches - yes they are sweet and check the ingredients you will see they do use fruits to make the taste more palatable to little appetites. Just be aware, and make sure your child also knows what the pure vegetable taste like, and what a ripe banana mashed up is like etc.

My daughter loved the little Heinz jars but my son detested them. But both were interested at least, to try the new flavours and textures.

3. some pouches are extremely useful- I found the Ella's prunes and Ella's apple and pears VERY handy when my babies got a bit constipated.

There's nothing wrong with them but a lot of them are a bit gross! My baby didn't really take to them do we just blended what we were having without salt and she's a brilliant eater now. I'm probably unreasonably scared of choking too so I've just been gradually blending things less rather than just handing her something. Also somethings make something quick like Tina pasta and freeze it. Wheetabix or porridge is also great.

Don't feel you have to stay on the single veg/fruit stage for long. I don't believe it's necessary. There's lots of weaning schedules out there but don't feel the need to stick religiously to them.

@Eachpeachpears

You do whatever you want op, it's your baby. I weaned ds using puree pouches and jars. He eats pretty much anything now at 2.5yrs. The best thing I did when I started weaning was stopped looking at people like Joe wicks... He's not a weaning specialist, he's a celebrity. Of course he is saying don't buy purees, because of everyone did that then no one would buy his wean in 15 book and he wouldn't make any money. Honestly, I got to the stage that if one more person told me to give ds avocado, I was going to rub an avocado in their face!!! I used to give ds baby porridge to start with, then moved on to normal porridge because the consistency isn't more different. I used to mix a fruit pouch in with it sometimes. I don't have the time to be steaming, mashing, washing up everything that goes with it... Nor the patience! Just read the ingredients on the back, most of them are solely fruit/veg anyway so no difference

This 100%

Adapt whatever you can from what the rest of the family are having for dinner (says I who seems to produce a different mean for each of them 😂). But blending spag bol, mild chilli, stews etc isn’t too bad.

Some people are brilliant meal planners, peepers and freezers... I am not one of those people 😂 so by no.3, I made things as easy as possible.

Some of the jars and pouches are 🤢🤢 but some are really nice (not c&g though 🤢🤢). My second loved EK pouches. My third wouldn’t look at them.

I didn’t bother with schedules as, quite frankly, children have their own agenda 😂😂

I was so terrified of choking, I never put toast anywhere near my poor eldest- he won’t eat it now at 13 😂😂. It was a staple food for my youngest because my fear lessened.

I still chop grapes up to the point where there no point in actually giving them a grape (grapes have always been my fear- yet I lived on whole ones as a tiny child).

If ever in doubt- just mash a banana x

No, they're not that bad.

BLW is the easiest method and not the choke hazard it can seem, but if you don't fancy it fine. Your baby will not be eating Heinz baby food at 30 because you didn't BLW. It will be fine.

Personally I'd start with puree/mash for stuff that's easy (banana/avocado/sweet potato/soft fruits, just smoosh as you go) and punches for stuff that's too much hassle. And then move to BLW (look into it before dismissing it because it really is the easiest option!). Pouches for when BLW is too messy.

Soft broccoli, potato, cooked carrots etc. To me, BLW was just giving them the things we were all eating that I felt they could manage. I totally understand the choking fear as that was always a thing for me (probably unreasonably so). Softly cooked veg and small soft pieces of chicken (I cut it like I did with the grapes 😂) are fine.

Avocado and sweet potato were not the offerings in my house because nobody else wanted them and they were hassle to prepare.

Magically, my 8 yr old loves avocado 😂

Egg, I even used to take the sausage meat out of the skin- or give skinless sausages.

Baby bowl- consists of soup and potato. Always on offer in restaurants in Ireland but never in England.

I was overly paranoid. They can manage more than you think. But don’t beat yourself up about schedules etc.

I'm finding it quite time consuming steaming, blending and the washing up etc for what is essentially a couple of licks of a spoon. And I'm currently only doing this once a day.

OP you're not cooking fresh every day are you? If so it must be very time consuming. Unused to just cook some stuff while cooking our dinner. Once a week I would cook extra veg and fruit in separate pans and freeze into little trays and pots then defrost and warm however many I needed each day. It's really not so onerous like that.

I have a 9mo. Her breakfast is porridge or toast or eggs - normal stuff. Lunch is what we had the night before blended up, with some other stuff to self feed - usually fruit after, but sometimes a pastry pinwheel or some sort of other snack from Joe Wicks or What Mummy Makes. But dinner is always an Ella’s pouch followed by natural yogurt (and I always have the first bite to check temp and encourage her and I actually think they taste nice!). So mixing it up is always an option.

(This was on the advice of my HV after I asked how we can feed her what we eat considering she eats dinner at 5.30 and we eat at 8 when she’s down!)

My DC wouldn't touch the savoury ones and all the others are so sweet. It's the ones that are brocolli and pear or something and you taste them and they're essentially pear jam.

I worked full time from when DD was 20 weeks - I used pouches and jars when it came to weaning and hasn't seem to do her any harm 🤷‍♀️