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Weaning

Find weaning advice from other Mumsnetters on our Weaning forum. Use our child development calendar for more information.

Original poster

Jar food or home-made?

35 replies

Meggymoose · 23/07/2006 09:13

Ok. I know the answer - fresh is best, but jar food in moderation is fine too. I have 2 DD's 2.5yrs and 8.5 mnths and have applied this principle to both. Both were breastfed until 5.5-6 mnths, DD1 mix fed, DD2 exclusively. I have a good friend who is a GP who also has 2 kids 5yrs and 5mnths. She breast fed 1st child until 11mnths and intends to breastfeed youngest child as long as poss too - which is obviously fab.

So why the question? - My GP friend (on extended mat leave feeds/fed her kids jar food - can't understand why I go to the hassle of cooking food especially when I work full-time. However, she is a very strong advocate of breastfeeding and sometimes (unintentionally) makes comments that I didn't breastfeed for that long. In fact she is a very strong advocate of everthing that is right for a child (and is usually right). Yesterday as she was feeding her youngest jar food she was commenting on how by giving formula milk I had introduced dairy too early therefore increasing my DD's risk of intolerance in the future. Fair comment I suppose, but this is as she is feeding her 5.5 month old jar food?!

Is it me?!
So suggestions on how to respond to comments about my decision to predominantly feed my kids home-made food, without being rude offensive or overly defensive needed please! Thanks!

OP posts:
hermykne · 23/07/2006 09:17

for me i wouldnt eat stuff out of a jar so why would i give it to my kids?!

Original poster
Meggymoose · 23/07/2006 09:18

Good point.

How do they preserve the food in jars? They don't add preservatives so is it pasturised or something like that? If so, surely heating to high temps kills some of the nutrients?

OP posts:
hermykne · 23/07/2006 09:21

i would think so, but i dont know exactly how they do it. must find out.

cleaninglady · 23/07/2006 09:23

must admit although i would have loved to be the mum who prepares all her childrens food from scratch i ditn manage to all the time i also think it depends which jars as the heinz stuff and cow and gate i dont rate at all but i used to use the babylicious organic cubes on occasions which are fast frzozen to keep the nutrients in and no preservatives etc etc - although i would much rather be the one preparing lovely home made food - just say that as you have obviously damaged your child by introducing formula milk that you are making up for it by preparing the best foods you can rather than going for the jar option

hermykne · 23/07/2006 09:25

i would have used the babylicious range had it been there when ds was a baby for handiness.
it does come nicely presented?
maybe thats the ploy.

ghosty · 23/07/2006 09:32

I did both. Home made bulk cooked casseroles etc frozen in icecube trays when my babies were young and then in portion sized containers when they were bigger.
It took about half an hour to prepare on a Sunday afternoon, an hour on the cooker, then left to cool then pureed and put in containers ready for the freezer when cold. I never saw it as a hassle that way because I would have 1 - 2 weeks' worth of meals ready to defrost. Just as convenient as jars IMO.
But I did use jars (organic ones) - as back up and if going out for the day (easier to transport). I never did understand why they loved them so much (and they do love them don't they) - they taste rank IMO.

I think it is a bit odd for a GP to feed her child jars only and then go on about breastfeeding etc .... [puzzled]

hunkermunker · 23/07/2006 09:33

I think she's being rude to you by saying that about formula, but I wouldn't turn it into a competition of "well, I might've given formula, but you're giving jars which are worse" type thing.

Just introduce her to MN...and let everyone else be rude to her

Enid · 23/07/2006 09:34

formula probably IS worse than jars though

Original poster
Meggymoose · 23/07/2006 09:37

Tell me about babylicious! - where do you buy it?
Sounds like a preferable alternative to the occasional jars I use for a quick tea. there must be a website - I'll have a look for it now.

OP posts:
CorrieDale · 23/07/2006 09:38

I just say things like "we all draw our own lines", which usually nips crap like that in the bud.

CorrieDale · 23/07/2006 09:39

you can get babylicious in most supermarkets now, in the freezer section. Costs an arm and a leg. Other ready-made baby food is sealed then heat-treated to very high temperatures.

gothicmama · 23/07/2006 09:39

it is better to give formula than to struggle bf and have a miserable child and mum, good attachment is as important as nutrition lack of both leads to failure to thrive
I use jars and homemade it depends on what we are doing and where we are

Original poster
Meggymoose · 23/07/2006 09:49

Thanks CorrieDale - will look out for it. have found the website too.

I'm a very defensive person and have to work hard at not being confrontational which is why I'm giving thought about how to appropriately respond next time. Thanks for your suggestions!

OP posts:
JoshandJamie · 25/07/2006 15:20

More on Babylicious:

It uses only kitchen cupboard ingredients - so nothing that you couldn't buy and use yourself at home. No added salt, sugar, preservatives or additives. They taste and smell yummy and are the closest thing to homemade food that you'll find. You can buy them in the freezer section of Tesco, Sainsbury's and Budgens. In the baby aisle at ASDA. Also available online at www.babylicious.co.uk or www.ocado.com

More about jars:

  1. Jars of baby food have to be cooked at temperatures exceeding 121â—¦C to kill any bacteria to give them a long shelf life. Cooking at this temperature wipes out the nutrients contained in the food, with manufacturers often having to add vitamins back in artificially.
  2. Jars of baby food don?t look, taste or smell like real food. That?s because the extreme cooking temperatures cause the fruit and vegetables to caramelise, making the food turn orange and giving all foods the same unnatural flavour and smell.
  3. Many jars of food have added sugars, water and starchy fillers. While these aren?t nutritionally bad for you, they dilute the nutrient content of the actual food.
  4. Transitioning your baby off jars of food and onto food that the rest of the family eats can be difficult, as they?re unused to the natural flavour and texture of real food.
  5. It?s suggested that babies who eat jarred food regularly or exclusively are more likely to become fussy eaters and may lean towards processed foods in later life.

I'll admit to why I know all this stuff - I write their newsletter and do their PR. Why? Because I believed so strongly in the products that I wrote to the founder of the company and told her I wanted to work for her. PS - if you want to get the newsletter, please sign up for it on their site.

expatinscotland · 25/07/2006 15:23

I don't find it a faff to do homemade myself.

Now as dd1 is nearly 8 months, she just has whatever we are having for tea, whizzed down w/a hand blender and as much water as needed for her (she has 2 teeth).

Horses for courses.

Iklboo · 25/07/2006 15:25

Home made. DH & I make up a week'd worth for DS every Saturday and it only takes us half an hour to do fish, meat & veg for him

expatinscotland · 25/07/2006 15:26

I do use tinned fruit from time to time. In its own juice. It's easy peasy to whizz down.

TheLadyVanishes · 25/07/2006 15:28

i give dd jars and homemade and i've stopped beating myself up about it now (used to give myself a guilt trip everyday) 1. i don't want to be slaving over a hob/oven twice a day especially in this heat and 2. I do cook a fresh meal almost every night so we all sit down and eat together, obviously there are days when we are out and about and jars toddler meals get used. Oh and i do generally use all the organic jars

JoshandJamie · 25/07/2006 15:29

A few more things:

Babylicious is no more expensive than jars and in some cases cheaper. You waste less as they come in frozen cubes so you only need to defrost what you need and not open a whole jar.

I personally made my own food but while making it thought - there must be people who really can't be bothered about doing this and I thought it would be a great idea if someone made it for other mums. After researching the space, I discovered that people like Babylicious did exactly that. There are quite a few other frozen baby food makers out there but very few are available in supermarkets and most are more expensive.

JessaJam · 25/07/2006 15:32

Majority home made here. DH does occassional batch cooks for him, or just ups the amounts of whatever he cooks each night and we either stick in fridge for next day or in the freezer...Tinned fruit is great, and ds feeds himself the chunks.
If we run out of home made stuff, ds gets a jar.

I would do that teeth-gritted smile that as mums we have to perfect fairly early on the next time your friend says something about formula...

TheLadyVanishes · 25/07/2006 15:34

what age do the babylicious meals cater for (does that make sense ) is it just early weaning food or do they do toddler meals??

Iklboo · 25/07/2006 15:37

oh - just like to add that we do give DS jars now & again, that we get bags of frozen veg to whizz up for him and give him a chip to suck on if we go out for a meal. On sunday I gave him a chunk of nan bread with some tikka massala on. I'm not a rabid "you MUST make your own" mum IYKWIM. Whatever you find easiest!

JoshandJamie · 25/07/2006 15:40

Babylicious are suitable from when you start weaning till about 12 months. Then they have Kiddylicious meals suitable for 12 months plus - they are also frozen but are proper little meals in little bowls - like cottage pie, lancashire hotpot, chicken and tomato rice, salmon and broccoli with pasta etc

They are also one of the very few kiddy meals that are actually designed for children under 36 months. There are very stringent EU laws about what can go into food for kids under 36 months and many manufacturers actually only make food suitable for kids over the age of three - but label it as 'suitable for kids' which is misleading.

CarolinaMoose · 25/07/2006 15:46

TLV, you don't need to cook at every meal - if you cook and freeze in batches, you can thaw small portions quickly enough in this weather, or just give e.g. toast, bits of ham or tinned fish, fruit, cheese, yoghurt etc.

Meggymoose, just say you prefer doing things the way you're doing them - you don't need to justify yourself to your mate anymore than she needs to justify using jars. Although maybe she's feeling guilty about not going to the "bother" of cooking herself .

Personally, I wouldn't give ds jars because they are expensive and weird-looking. I don't live on processed food and I wouldn't expect him to either.

TheLadyVanishes · 25/07/2006 21:07

dd is 13mths and i do freeze things like spag bol or curries (that didn't go down too well tho ) I always worry about her not eating enough at mealtimes and I don't think cheese/yoghurts/toast would be very filling would have done it if she had been younger , she does love her jacket potato's tho. When i first started weaning i did make batches and froze loads and did this for months. Its a personal choice and lifestyle I suppose oh and if your baby is happy and healthy.....

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