8 month old barely eats the food I cook, pouches however 🤷‍♀️

[LittleLadysMama]

My baby has been weaning since 6 months and loves fruity purees etc but trying to get her to eat the food we eat, or meals that I've prepped for her from the Anabel Karmel book go largely untouched.
If the food comes from an Ella's pouch, I generally have more success with her eating. The one thing she does seem to enjoy is her ready brek, never usually have any issues at breakfast. Just lunch and dinner problematic.
Anyone else's little ones like this? I think I just needed to say this as it's getting frustrating making meals that she just wont eat 😩😭

You are giving artificial food combinations which create a preference for a taste that doesn't exist in real life. Who eats spinach with blueberries or zucchini with apples. Most pouches have as first ingredient a very sweet tasting one such as fruit, or corn or carrots, potatoes.
Ella's pouches are very sweet tasting and the high temperature process to make them long life gives the food the artificial processed taste.

She won't eat your food because she is slowing developing a processed food preference, so stop.
Or at the very least, empty the pouch in a bowl, so she sees the colour and texture. Chances are , she will refuse it.
Stop the pouches or select only the one ingredient only and not sweet

I ask you to stop giving her pouches before its to late my first was picky and it stuck because i didn't see it sooner.

My second i have offered everything just chopped up in front of her or she loves spaghetti just placed some in front of her.Let her play it encouraged her to feed her self .Some times she gets fussy with veg but i keep offering and she does try it.

Could be a texture thing if she eats pouches and ready brek? My DS is funny about textures and definitely was at that age but a great eater if it was something he liked the feel of. So anything puréed for a while and then after 9 months we introduced more mashed and finger foods.

Will she eat things you have puréed yourself? What about things like soup or yogurt? Blended avocado and banana was a good one for us and plenty filling because of the avocado.

I agree with others that the pouches are processed and lacking in nutrients so I’ve never used them but you can make similar yourself.

She's still very little. Take the pressure off. Food should be about exploration, play and taste at this age. She's still getting her calories from milk.

Ditch the pouches. She doesn't need them and they're super sweet.

Just keep offering different food experiences rather than worrying about intake.

Only on MN have I ever read that food is just experience or fun in the first months.
You can create your own fussy eater inferno in just a month. Give a baby only sweet food, processed food, Ella's puffs (Doritos for babies), baby custard , baby yoghurt, baby bars, m baby rusks, ..... and in no time will meal times become a battle for puzzled parents who don't understand why a child will clam his mouth when offered homemade food.

If to create a food, you need a factory to transform a humble lentil into a pulverised flour to then make a type of pretended healthy crisps, taste is artificial ; does that lentil pop taste the same as a lentil. Not at all. An apple and the apple in pouch have nothing in common.

It takes just one mouthful to love a sweet tasting food but usually around 10 times to enjoy a savoury one. @LittleLadysMama you are educating her palate in both taste and texture. You have already notice something isn't going in the right direction. You can still change that. Reconsider the content of your pantry and maybe donate the pouches because in the end you will be paying a high price for the convenience.

Thanks for the replies. Just wanted to come back on to clarify that I dont just feed my child from pouches. I was just making the point that on the odd occasion that she has had food from a pouch, she laps it up. But otherwise her eating pattern can be very hit and miss.