Do you judge parents who feed their child jars/pouches

[sabrinathethirtysomethingwitch]

Just that really.

And if so, why?

Nope!

@Ohdobakeoffdear a mixture of judging and a fear of being judged for using them to be honest. I suppose I just don't really know much about them and I assumed they are overpriced, expensive crap. Partly afraid that if I give him a couple he won't eat my homemade food.
But now that I've started weaning I've started to realise that it might be difficult to not use them occasionally (especially at baby groups etc).
Feeling tied to the house a bit more since started weaning.

Nope! DS was at Nursery 5 days a week, eating lovely healthy food cooked on the premises. At weekends he was mainly fed pouches, for the short period of time before he was eating proper food so could share ours. The main issue is how much more expensive they are. Some of my NCT group didn’t use pouches/jars at all, some of them only ever used jars 7 days a week. Now at nearly 3 they all eat a varied diet with no issues.

I still use the occasional little dish ready meal for convenience.

@CaMePlaitPas didn't see that thread

Meant to say "overpriced, processed crap" in that post

I don't judge. I hated using jars and pouches but had no choice. I started off down the road of steaming and pureeing organic salmon and vegetables etc. but my daughter wouldn't eat anything I'd made, not a thing. Nor fruit, bread etc. Nothing except jars and pouches would she eat, and then very fussy about which ones. I tried cheating and putting homemade food into old jars I'd cleaned while she was asleep etc. and I don't know if it was the smell or what, but she knew before I got a mouthful in her and wouldn't let it near her.

She's now four and still a shit eater, and it's not for lack of trying on my part.

We always sit at the table together as a family and I put whatever we're eating in front of her but I can't physically force it down her throat - I'll never forget my mother taking this approach with me and it gave me issues around food for years. Once I got away from that attitude I discovered food for myself and now enjoy a very varied diet but there are still some foods I just can't stomach due to the memory of them being forced down my throat and then vomiting them up afterwards.

I don't want to do that to my daughter so I live with giving her crisps, biscuits and other shit because it's better than nothing. I've been through doctors telling me that she's underweight andI have to give her more food, I've been told 'children won't starve themselves, they'll eat if they're hungry' and I know this not to be true.

In the end, despite her diet of processed foods over homecooked, she doesn't seem any unhealthier than her friends and we're all happier when I don't try and control her diet too much so I'm just getting on with it, hoping that by offering a wide range and not making an issue of refusals, she will change her attitude to food sooner than I did.

I think I might have been a bit judgey before having this experience with her but after seeing how stubborn a nine month old can be, never again. You do what you need to do.

I did a mixture of pouches and baby led (I made little fritters and gave him fruit and veg). I’m glad I didn’t purée anything as he only ate purees for a few weeks. After a few days he refused stage 1 and then by 7 months wanted 3 meals a day of what we were having! I would have wasted a lot of time and effort and money on a freezer stash of purees.

I wouldn't judge someone who uses jars/pouches especially out and about as they are very convenient and I used them myself. I would judge someone who exclusively fed jars/pouches and no fresh food at all.

CaMePlaitPas- as long as a child is being fed??!! Would you say the samevifca child was planned in front of a tv/tablet for 6 hours a day.....just because they are being supervised ie in no danger it does not make it acceptable. It's incredible how many people don't have time to cook for their babies but I'm pretty sure they will know what's going on with fb/snapchat/instagram/mn...? Have nice nails and hair??!! Priorities.

Judging is no-one's place. Knowing a child is not being looked after, to the best of the parent's abilities, can be a concern.
Jars may well be balanced- sugars, salts and vitamins etc but I wouldn't be happy to be fed that every day- would anyone?

Why use them regularly? Do parents not eat food they would serve their babies?

Justgiveme my eldest was weaned on homemade food. My youngest pretty much ate Ella's pouches due to various reasons. He wouldn't tolerate anything that wasn't really smooth until he was nearly 1. He also ate such tiny amounts the pouches were great as he could have as much or little as he wanted with minimal waste. He's now 18 months and eats normally (our home cooked foods).

Dc1 was only fed homemade, organic purees. I spent hours every day cooking, pureeing and freezing stuff for her.
Dc2 has SN, and only ate first stage jars until he was 3.5. Cost a fortune, and was a pain in the arse, but he was eating.
Dc3, 4 and 5 have all eaten whatever. Mainly homemade stuff (they were pretty much BLW), so whatever we were eating, along with the occasional jar/pouch.
They now all eat almost everything, despite dc1 and 2 being total opposites when weaning. So, no, I'd never judge someone for using jars. Hell, I'd rather judge those who never use them - they're a godsend!

I don't think there is anything particularly "unhealthy" about them, but I think parents who over-rely on them could end up creating a rod for their own back. These products tend to be sweet tasting and smoother than anything you could make at home, and have a "processed food" taste so they are not the greatest entry point for getting a child to eat normal meals. I think that using them a lot can increase the risk of a child refusing to eat normal meals.

OP, I mostly just hashed up soft food with a clean fork before spooning it in (if I didn't want to offer it in chunks for self-feeding)--you don't have to spend hours making special purees.

Tbh yes if I am aware that a baby is being weaned exclusively/almost exclusively on jars/pouches. I don't think they encourage good long term eating habits, the savoury meals are often quite bland (with apples being used to provide flavour) and stewed and pureed fruits I've made are never as sweet as pouches. That said, with the families I know that rely heavily on them, they're not great cooks/interested in cooking and their own meals are largely ready meals/processed so in that case a jar of baby food is better for an 8 month old than a serving of an adult cottage pie ready meal.

However, in general, no I don't judge. If I saw a parent feeding a pouch when out in a café I'd just assume they do what I do - make the majority of my meals but use jars/pouches when out and about for convenience/as an emergency dinner.

@SharpLily completely understand!
@Kokeshi123 thanks. Hoping to be able to just mash stuff soon. I just use the stick hand blender at the minute so it's not too bad. Definitely couldn't be bothered washing out food processor. Would still love to always have a freezer stash if I can. It seems like more hassle to always adapt what we're having for him. I use a lot of salt, wine, spice etc in our food.

I’ll be honest, yes I would judge if that was all they were being given.

The odd jar or pouch is fine of course or if the parent was in a situation where they had no choice(maybe living in a hostel with minimal cooking facilities).

Broadly I'm in camp "meh, whatever works for you".

But I have one friend who feeds her daughter only stage 1 pouches at 11 months because she deems everything else a choking hazard, and another who only feeds pouches to her 16 month old because she says she doesn't have time to cook for her, "has too much shit to do" but patently doesn't. In both cases I think the use of pouches is symptomatic of something else going on, and I notice that. Not judge exactly, more "X seems really anxious, I wonder if there's something going on."

Op, when I started weaning I spent a weekend making a load of meals and froze them into individual portions. Thereafter I only generally needed to spend a couple of hours week, if that, to replenish the stock. I didn't find it particularly arduous and would use a pouch if lunchtime coincided with a playgroup/baby class.

With meals like spag bol I would add the stock and seasoning after I had syphoned off a portion or two for dd.

Depends!

If someone uses jar/pouches now and then or when out and about, fair enough

If someone only uses jar/pouches, then yes I’d Judge just be a parent ffs and cook some proper food for your child ffs

My first had quite a lots of jars and the second was given a prune pouch every day because we had issues with poo. My last has just turned 6 months and we've been doing a sort of blw, he had toast pork, boiled carrots and cauliflower with Yorkshire pudding last night. I'm a lot more confident this time with gagging and when to let him work it out and how I would feel with actual choking.

roast pork and how I would feel with choking, stupid autocorrect.

Oh my god I give up this morning, DEAL with choking

Not usually but I know a family that only feed their nearly two year old jar foods. She can't handle mushy or lumpy foods when I feed her normal child food!

It's a nightmare when I'm caring for her. She only eats pouch or jarred stuff! Weet a bix and chopped up fruit is foreign to her!

I judge jars, I don't judge pouches, mc hypocrite that I am.

Obviously I would hope they were having home cooked meals at home and would judge someone who gave 3 pouches a day, but how would I know.

Thanks @Nellyelora.
@calpop what is the difference in pouches and jars? Surely they're same

Lol no. What a ridiculous thing to be judgy about.