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?

You can use the pouches if you want: just not every meal

Don't be afraid to give toast, crumpet etc
You will find that they move on from pulp really quickly so don't stress

I used pouches and jars with dc1, hes fine. DC2 i used to do mostly fruit based purees for her and freeze them in ice cube trays. We had to start weaning her early (okay by HV) and once she got to 6months we just gave her normal food. If she started gagging on it i gave her a couple of seconds to sort it out and she did. Shes 18m now and ive only had to really bang her back 2 or 3 times but that's usually because shes shovelled too much. Toast is a good starting point, scotch pancakes, etc

Variety is key here. Obviously in an ideal world babies would only get pure organic home-made sugar/salt-free meals lovingly prepared at home. But that doesn't reflect the reality of how most people live.

I recommend batch-cooking purées and freezing small portions in an ice-cube tray inside a zip-lock bag. Then keep a few jars and pouches around for when you're in a hurry or out and about. Finger foods are good for baby's co-ordination and provides a bit of variety in texture, but if you try to do this exclusively you'll spend most of your time cleaning up the mess.

Employing lots of different tastes and textures worked a treat for DD. Maybe I was just lucky with her but weaning was enjoyable and stress-free.

If you choose to use pouches, your child will be fine.

If you choose to make everything yourself, your child will be fine.

If you choose to do a mix, your child will be fine (this is the approach I went for)

I have never, ever met a single human being who had experienced any problem of any kind from being fed pouches as part of a balanced diet as a child.

Also, once they become a toddler they will eat dirt, sand, bogeys, etc.

So take it all with a pinch of salt 😆

There not bad just look at the ingredients, the meat ones are maybe not as great I don’t Understand how they can store them without being refrigerated. But then I’m veggie. I did try & blend my own stuff and freeze etc and tbh it’s a faff that I can’t be arsed with. Having a baby is hard work enough the pouches are great if your tired like me. Cheesy mash is a quick an easy too. Or cheese spread sandwiches are nice and soft at first. Use them if it makes your life easier and don’t feel bad for it, your baby won’t eat them forever you can start moving onto more solid finger food once you feel more confident with the choking side.

Nothing wrong with them! However, once I had the confidence to try BLW, our lives changed!

So start with purées and see how you get on :)

Jars are OK but I wouldn't use them as the only source of food. Not for nutritional content but really because they all taste the same, and you want your baby to taste a range of different flavours and textures early on.
Also the cost was a lot in my opinion. A carrot costs about 7p and makes quite a bit of puree, whereas a carrot pouch costs 80p.

I don't think there is anything inherently evil about jars and pouches occasionally for convenience, but I wouldn't use them solely to wean.
A.) because they usually taste weird and not like the actual food, so I wouldn't want my child eating them.
B.) they have to be sterilised and heated to some degree during manufacturing so I feel it would take a lot of nutrients out, and also I don't want them eating something overly processed.
C.) because it's not the food I eat and I want my child to get used to family food.

I am weaning/feeding an 8 month old currently, so I'm past the single food stage. It is bloody hard work though and I'll agree with you there, quite demoralising I found. My DD also struggles with textures so took a long time to get her to the point (just now) where she can have a toast stick alongside her mashed food. I tried BLW and it wasn't for us as I can't bear the gagging.

We did batch cooking, so as a PP said I would plan a couple days in the week where I would batch cook around 5-6 different things (after you've been through the single tastes phase and allergen additions phase) so I have them for the next couple of weeks as it's a faff to be doing weekly.

E.g. On one night i would make say...lasagne for the family (low salt), veg stew and a potato/SP mash, then another night I'll do salmon/broccoli and SP mash, homemade smoky beans ..I then mash them up to her liking and save some for us and plenty of weekly meals to whip out for her. With a bit of prep it's NEARLY as convenient as jars and pouches.

The hardest thing about it all now is all practical wise: it's messy, it's time consuming to feed her and worst of all.....all our family meals are now low salt 😭

I used ice cube trays so froze batches of different purées.

The pouches are fine - I used the ones where it was a pain to buy the ingredients snd blend so mango, pear.
I followed the annabel karmel (bad spelling I think) and batch cooked then froze. You can get some really good little pots from amazon then just get it out the freezer in the morning and you are set to go! Once first tastes are done then we did puree for breakfast / dinner and finger food for lunch (toast, muffins, crumpets etc) - piccolo bsby food was yummy and they also have the recipes on their website so you can make your own - I especially recommend the courgette, pea, leek and mint

My boy was eating beans on toast , pies and veg and roast dinners at 6 months using a spoon (weaned at 16 weeks because he was ginormous and hungry ( he still likes his food haha) )My daughter was still gobbing mashed fruit down herself at 10 months. They’re both perfectly normal now despite getting their fair share of freezer crap and tinned stuff when life was busy. Just feed baby what they like . It’s just the salt you must watch really. I honestly believe that a relaxed approach from day one leads to less toddler fussiness and a kid who enjoys their food and has healthy attitudes to it. Have a few jars in the cupboard , then if you’re having something suitable give that, if you’re having madras or oysters Chuck a jar in the microwave .