Pouch guilt

[Dramaqueen14]

Looking for some help. I have largely been feeding my 10 month old ellas kitchen pouches for his dinner since around 6 months. Any time I have tried to cook anything he has not been interested. I really want to give him home cooked meals. Any suggestions please. I keep hearing that pouches are so bad plus I’m spending loads on them now he’s on the 10 month plus ones. Thanks.

I would suggest copying the flavours of your babies favourite pouches - the ingredients will
Be on the back so just follow that as a guide .

Might be time to introduce more solid food if you haven't done so already to make it more interesting too

Just stop cold turkey. When my dd was eight months she started to refuse her main meal so she could get her yogurt! So I stopped offering the yogurts completely and she stared eating her dinners again.

Eating with them helps encourage them to eat too. Often they will want to eat whatever is on your plate even if it's exactly the same as whatever it is on theirs.

Don't doubt yourself that you can't cook for your own baby. You can. Those pouches are all marketing. You wouldn't go out and get one member of your family a different meal every night because they 'didn't like' whats on offer.

If you read the back of the ingredients, you will see that in the "meat " pouches , there is around 10-12% meat, no more, and a lot of sweet tasting food, such as carrot, sweetcorn, potatoes, and even fruit (in the chicken curry) which make them very palatable. If you make a beef stew at home and follow the pouch recipe, you would have to put one third of water given it states 34% stock.
Taste the pouch before you give it away
You can't reproduce the recipe, because the high temperature process it has to go through to give shelf live, alters the last of food, and who you give a "meal" you want more than 10% of meat.

Food is a multi sense experience, you eat with the eyes, ears (chopping veggies, sizzling onions, ...) smells, ...

I would stop them, because you don't get what's on the packet. If I buy a spag Bol meal, I want more than 5% spaghettis in it and if I buy a chicken casserole, I don't want two teaspoons of sugar per pouch (8.2 gr of sugar listed on packet, mainly from raisins and apricot. 1 teaspoon of sugar is 4 gr., so you get two).

The problem with processed baby food is that it alters taste and
preferences. So how do you move away, stop buying them, have him on the high chair next to you while you cook, and talk to him in the process, once it is in the pot, from time to time, having him in your arms, while you lift the lid and eat with him.

IF you want to change his taste, it is not only the pouches you need to consider. What other types of processed baby does he have? Sweet baby porrdidge? Junk puffed snacks (sorry it is pure junk) ? Extremely sweet granola snack?

Pouches are fine here and there. But I see why you're ready to move on from them for the most part.
I've been trying to reduce my baby's 'baby food' but started right back at the basics, pretty much. Scrambled eggs on toast, pasta and tomato sauce, white fish and steamed veg. Chicken, mash broccoli. . Keeping it pretty simple. So far it's going well.
I also give a yogurt or some cut up fruit afterwards. Sometimes a pudding pouch.
Mine is 9mo.

No need to go cold turkey, just experiment with different foods. Pouches are fine but best not relied upon. I'm in same boat OP.

Pouches are such a different texture to what you make yourself, swapping your own soft food in place of it is likely to get rejected but building up with more hand held foods will be more appealing, and you can do this as well as a pouch.

I agree, pouches can be expensive and may contain sugar or sweet food items.
They are very handy though, especially when out and about and are relatively, mess free.
I am mean and hard up and suspicious of ready made meals, so I have just bought some reusable pouches.
Definitely cheaper than Ella's and I control the contents.
They seem great for yoghurt or left over porridge, if breakfast is taking too long.
Downside is that In the Summer they would need to be chilled.
The contents do need to be on the thick side, with small pieces, which won't block the nozzle.
For more substantial meals, mushing up to the degree required for flow is probably not going to promote chewing, so not suitable to replace bigger meals.
They are handy for pudding yoghurt, porridge and thick soups like lentil, that kind of thing (you can tell I live in Scotland ).
I can't see the problem as long as they are used alongside more substantial, finger foods.
They allow my lo to feed herself and take the amount she wants, without giving her yoghurt and a spoon whilst sitting in her pram. (Faints at thought)

Offer some of what you are eating at the same time as you eat. So long as it’s not high in salt and sugar (and no honey) it’ll be fine. Don’t stress if he doesn’t touch it just give him the opportunity. You might find curiosity gets him trying it. If he doesn’t eat much you can always give him a pouch afterwards.

My little boy is the same age. He'll eat most things, but struggles with sweet packs. As you mention Ella's Kitchen , we use their First Foods (purple one) cookbook several times weekly. Most recipes have plenty of vegetables as a base, and there are lots of tips on fluid levels and healthy snacking.