Nursery Pack Ups

[motherhoodmcrollercoaster]

Hoping for some wise MN advice please.

DD is imminently starting nursery 3.5 days a week (she will be 1 when she goes) and I'm really struggling what to send in food wise as 90% of the time her food at home has been pouches / pots / ready made baby food as I've not been well enough to cook nevermind batchcook.

Trad weaning as can't get my head around BLW.

I am terrified the nursery staff are going to judge me on what I send in. She will be having her lunch and tea at nursery.

Typically she has at home

Breakfast: porridge or wheatabix with fruit puree

Mid morning bottle

Lunch is usually a melty puff or toast followed by a meal pouch and then a yoghurt or a rice pudding

Mid afternoon bottle

Tea is usually a meal pouch and then the opposite of what she had a lunch for her pudding

Supper bottle with toast / rice cake or a biscotti

She drinks water happily with her meals

I see babies of a similar age chomping away on food and she isn't anywhere near that 😩

Do the nursery not provide meals? Unusual if they don't! Otherwise just send what you'd normally give & don't worry about being judged. I'm a CM & would much rather parents sent something they know will be eaten than feel they need to impress me with cordon bleu food for their baby/toddler. As long as it's nota pile of sweets & crisps obvs

They can provide food but don't recommend them while children are in the baby room

It's the mum guilt that's running wild in me that when they open her food box it's only got pouches / yoghurt / fruit pouches / readymade snacks etc in it 😬 DD doesn't get crisps or sweets.

I wish I wasn't such a 💩 mum however circumstances since her arrival have left me a shell of my former self which I'm slowly getting help and support with. Adjusting to my new 'normal'

If they don’t provide good then I expect they’d be happy giving you some ideas/guidance about what to send.

Check if tea is more like a late afternoon snack with the expectation she’ll be having cooked dinner/supper at home.

lunch ideas:
fruit and veg chopped/pureed/sliced
sandwich/wrap type food
pouches etc probably fine still at her age but she will soon branch out and follow the lead of the others re finger foods

Packaged foods are absolutely fine, especially for nursery.
She needs some solids though so put in real fruit instead of a fruit pouch.

Oh and you’re not a 💩 mum
you’ve Written a lovely post showing you want to get it right for your little dd x

When I asked today all they said was they can't reheat rice, make scrambled eggs and not to send nuts. If it's homemade food make sure it's defrosted before being sent jn as they can only reheat.

Will ask what time their meals are again and what they look like. The ladies did tell me but I've forgotten as my head was focused on what I need to gather and label for leaving in nursery.

Really daft question about introducing wraps / sammiches is it a case of making up say a sammich with some hummus and giving that to DD? Sorry I'm really overwhelmed and my functioning brain has gone on holiday 🫠

I've tried her with some melon which she loved and then another mum pointed out I had served it wrong (I had sliced it into slices with the skin on so she could hold it) which has knocked me off 🫠

Feel so clueless and useless 😣

Thank you for your kindness. I thought 🍼 was going to be the most difficult stage for feeding but weaning is certainly a bigger hill to climb!!

Melon slices with the skin on are fine! If you ever wonder about how to serve types of fruit or veg then the solid starts app is really helpful.

I would have thought they'd be fairly used to and actually grateful for packaged food because it's more of a known quantity in terms of food hygiene.

I know not the point, but is sammich a term people use for sandwich? Love that.

Thank you I've downloaded it now ✨

Baby led weaning just means don't cook with sugar and salt and follow guidance on prep to reduce choking risk. So you feed baby what you eat. It's so simple and solid starts really helped me definitely second that suggestion.

Your baby is having loads of processed food with added chemicals in. It's not great.

Your baby is having loads of processed food with added chemicals in. It's not great
That's very judgemental.

I agree as they have all the ingredients clearly listed, the rice thing is to do with food hygiene. I meant to ask if I needed to mark allergens (dairy / gluten) on anything homemade as would love to do macaroni for DD 🫠 Q on the list for the next play date visit.

I feel bad asking 'daft' Q's and taking time away from the ladies spending it with their charges but I would be the first to say there's no such question as a daft one, I only know what I know 🤷‍♀️ which with motherhood some days feels like I don't know much at all!

Yes sammich = sandwich 🥪 in my small world anyway 🫣 a work colleague introduced me to it and I've adopted it as standard now 🙃

Would I be right to assume Scottish based with your tae in your username?

@motherhoodmcrollercoaster I told DH off the other day for giving our DD melon without the skin on, because she just squeezes and it pings straight out of her hand and onto the floor. She’s 18 months and we’ve done predominantly BLW since 6 months - we still can’t agree on things!

I agree with sending in what you know she’ll eat. Nursery will help you transition her onto other foods if you want the support. Don’t worry about wasting their time - they want the best for your DD too.

@motherhoodmcrollercoaster definitely no such thing as a daft question. I remember literal sleepless nights over what now seem like silly worries but it's a massive thing to be responsible for precious little people. You are not alone.

Yes, Scottish which is probably why sammich is a new one on me.

Thank you for your input however that wasn't how BLW was explained to me. It was explained to me as put what you are eating on their high chair tray and if they reach out for what you are eating give them a bit of that too which is one of the reasons why we landed on trad weaning.

In response to your comment about chemicals, tell me where the chemicals are in this (one of DD favourite baby meals) pic attached of ingredients.

Thank you for your kindness it's appreciated. Oh don't get me started on DH he winds me up royally sometimes when it comes to DD 🫠 😮‍💨 we are both learning! He is a fabulous dad though and husband overall considering all the things that have appeared since DD joined us. He walks beside me facing things together ❤️ even though there are some days I'm sure it's a very hard walk for him.

I absolutely do want and need their support so that DD does have the best opportunities and isn't disadvantaged by me being a bit of a mess but doing my best!

I try so so hard not to sweat the small stuff - it's difficult! Perfect example is this post as I'm sure other mums would go ahhh whatever and send in food without a second thought.

I'm Scottish too, colleague is originally from Doncaster so wondering if it's a local thing from that bit of the country!

@motherhoodmcrollercoaster I know your question was about food, but you sound so caring and loving. Give yourself a break! I’ve asked plenty of probably nonsense questions, from nursery and friends with children a few months earlier - I’m sure we all have.

Baby food (pouches etc) are often stringently labelled and due to a vast amount of them being organic, can’t be UPF/“full of chemicals”, as you don’t get many organic preservatives. Ignore that sort of unhelpful chat. My DD only started eating more normally at nursery presumably due to the presence of lots of other babies eating varied food around her (also didn’t help that she was late getting teeth!) she is still a fruit bat and would live off mango etc if we let her, but has branched out, don’t worry they all get there!

Keep it simple for nursery, send her in with a meal pouch or (as she's getting older) one of those Little Dish microwave meals, yoghurt and fresh fruit, cheese and crackers etc.

Start giving her 'real food' like pasta, sandwiches, stews, curries at home when you're more relaxed.

Mine used to love any type of melon with the skin on, as someone else said it’s easier for wee ones to hold. I always sent pouches of yoghurt and I batch cooked a lot the froze it into smaller portions, I’m not sure if you’ll have time to do that though. I used to send things like very mild bolognese but made the sauce with loads of veg then puréed it before putting into the mince, I used to break the spaghetti up really small as one of my children has issues with a gag reflex. Macaroni cheese was another favourite, various soups, cold pasta salads, cauliflower cheese, broccoli cheese, cheesy fish bake (can you tell mine loved cheese?), shepherds pie, various savoury muffins, various omelettes etc. One of my children lived off mashed potato with different fillings for about a year, I just sent a pre cooked potato with different toppings.

Edited to add, you sound like a very caring mum.

Start by giving some boiled veges, some fruit, yoghurt pouch, a muffin/cake and a sandwich (just plain with Marmite, Jam or Honey etc). This is what I've been doing and still to for my 3yo. Basically this everyday.

If you serve her what you're having for breakfast, lunch and dinner then you can save money. Those pouches are expensive. Just don't cook with salt and add salt to your own food after cooking.

My son takes a flask of leftovers to nursery. Either bolognese or curry when we've had it. Otherwise he takes tuna pasta or soup. On top of that he takes fruit and things like cheese cubes, rice cakes, humous etc.