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 😩

Just coming on to say you are clearly a good mum who is loving and caring, and doing very well with your little one. Maybe try to be a little kinder to yourself...you're doing good 😊

Having worked in nurseries for years I find it very strange that they don’t offer food in the baby room but I would also say the nursery will not judge you for pouches in fact I think they will be delighted, so much easier for them

Coming on just to second this post.

You sound fab, OP. Keep going.
:) You're doing a great job.

That sounds okay for a few days a week. But at one you should be trying to introduce some more solid foods rather than just pouches.

Maybe start with fruit and veg: a banana, cucumber sticks, sweet potato wedges, melon, peaches (tinned in juice would be fine too), strawberries.

Fingers of toast, mini wraps and pancakes were always a hit with mine where they were babies for lunch.
For dinner things like pasta bolognese, cottage pie, jacket potatoes, thick soups, chicken fingers, roasted veg sticks.

Hi, definitely go back and ask nursery to provide food. One of the main benefits of nursery is they introduce baby to different foods that I'd never cook! If they offer it just do it even if not recommended - but tbh it sounds like you've misunderstood them, would be odd for a 1 year old to bring in lunch to a nursery (normal for childminder but not nursery).

Don't worry about pouches but you do need to be giving more whole food - try lightly toasted bread with hummus or unsalted butter, and look through solid starts app for other ideas (agree with pp on giving bits of fruit and veg too, prepared according to solid starts app - if you're nervous just prepare how they suggest for younger babies and work your way up - cheese also great).

Tbh if you're nervous then I don't think sharing meals is a good place to start, start with these solo bits of food and look up some Anabel karmel recipes or get her book from library.

Agree with you OP - I found weaning hellish! I would absolutely get them to provide the food. Huge part of the benefit of nursery.

In your shoes I would be asking nursery to provide food . I always did ( from 8 months) and it was standard to do this. There will be plenty for a 1 year old who will be a toddler not young baby by this time.
so much easier than sorting food every day when you are trying to leave the house / get to work.

I’m sure nursery will not judge, they will see all types of meals/food sent in. You sound like you’re heading in the right direction. Small changes which will eventually become habit.

Maybe try introducing a small amount of a whole food or whatever you’re having alongside what she’s currently eating.

Examples:

chopped hard boiled egg, chopped strawberries, raspberries, melon, blueberries(gently squash these or cut in half) melon with skin is fine easier to hold, breadsticks, crackers, hummus, avocado sliced, cucumber sticks, soft cooked veg, risotto, pasta, small sandwiches or wraps, strips of pitta/flatbread, cubes of cheese, strips of cooked chicken,

if she is very used to puréed texture, she’ll still be learning to accept other textures so adding in a little bit at a time will help the transition.

are you managing to make home cooked food for yourselves? A little bit of this alongside her current food would be good too if you are.

💐

Send her in with what she eats normally and add a new thing every day. Small children usually prefer finger foods so a couple of cherry tomatoes, carrot sticks or a couple of slices of pepper.

Thank you everyone who has commented overnight / this morning. We had an unsettled night as teefies are on the move. I'm currently sitting with DD to get her down for morning nap with tears in my eyes overwhelmed by the kindness and suggestions ❤️

Hoping that if DD naps well we will head out for some shopping to try some of the food suggestions. I've got bananas so will try that with her at lunchtime today.

The nursery can provide food but they've advised against it while in the baby room, I'll ask them again why this is the case.

Organisation wise, before DD arrived I always got organised the night before with clothes / work bag / food for work so it was a relatively smooth transition out the door as I don't do well in the morning.

Cooking for us is a bit hit / miss I am a fairly competent cook it's the time to do it that's proving a challenge. These days I take it as a win if we can boil some pasta or chuck something in the oven to reheat that mum has made us so went don't resort to takeaway food which is DH default 🫠 I'm hoping when DD starts nursery I'll have some time to be able to cook properly again.

I really can't imagine nursery will mind you sending in pouches. When my daughter started at 11 months, one of the questions was whether she needed things pureed or not. Have a chat with nursery though, they can probably help expanding what she eats at snack times etc.

For your ease though, it's probably a good idea to start offering a wider variety. Just offer some fruit or toast or whatever you are having alongside what she normally has. Try to do it with no pressure and gradually switch the balance so she's eating more like this and less pouches. It will save you a lot of money and hopefully help her be more accepting of different foods as she gets bigger.

Agree with getting some weaning books from the library when you feel ready to tackle it.

If you’re able to cook pasta, I used to cook fusilli for DD - over cook by a few minutes so it’s easily squashable and it’s less of a choking hazard. It’s a nice easy shape for them to hold. You can then add a bit of a familiar pouch like a sauce so you don’t have to worry about cooking something else, but you’re also introducing texture. You can keep a little pot in the fridge rather than cook it every day, and your DD won’t mind if it’s cold. Add a bit of grated cheese and that’s something else new.

That's a great suggestion thank you very much - DD likes the green veg one from Tesco so will give that a try ❤️ I've been using orzo pasta recently but I'm sure I've got some fusilli in the cupboard too

I gave her a banana spear to try at lunchtime today and she munched it quicker than fast