Baby food and going away for the weekend - do I do Jars??

[chloemegjess]

hello. We are going away for a long weekend in July, my DD will be 6.5 months. At the moment, I am blending fresh, organic fruit and veg and freezing in ice cube trays.

I am wondering what to do when we go away? My Mum (who is coming with us) said just to use jars for the weekend, but she would use them all the time if she did it her way! I am a bit wary of using jars as I would be worried she wouldn't take fresh food after or I would fall into the habit of just giving her easy food.

I was wondering, maybe by that age, she will be able to just eat what we are eating, just really cut up? If we were likly to eat in our apartment, I would just take the blender, but its more likly to be resurants. And also, would like the option to treating me and DH to a take away without worrying about DD having something healthy.

What has eveybody else been doing?

Could you not just take a load of frozen babyfood with you in a cool bag and then pop it in the apartment freezer when you get there?

A lot of my customers take my food on holiday with them, some even take it as far as France.

have a look at this

i would do bits off your plate as finger food.

if you're planning to start weaning at 6mo then then she probably won't be eating much and if you want to give purees you could do that before you go out for a meal so she's not hungry and you can eat in peace. Otherwise you'll probably find it's you who ends up going hungry.

Do blw or jars.

blw tis good imo.

jars won't scar her for life.

a couple of jars won't put her off fresh food though. They taste vile.

Well, go for the organix jars firstly as they are not too bad tastewise. Or, the plum baby superfoods brand ( actually not bad at all - I had it on pasta often when she didn't eat a whole pot in the early days) or Ellas Kitchen, they are also really tasty. Especially the fruit ones, we still ahve those from time to time for puddings or when we are out. She will always prefer your cooked food, trust me!

We went away at a similar age, took some food with us when we went out, but actually ordered soup for DD and she happily ate that, in the restaurant with us. Another time, we ordered a side order of veg and used a grater thing I'd bought, it worked really well.

I can't find the exact one, but I bought it in Sainsbury and mine is plastic. Have a look at this though

It fitted in the changing bag really easily, and I used it at home often for making apple puree after her tea, with a raw apple. No need to cook it down etc. I really recommend it, especially for your situation.

All that said, I really woudln't worry about her having jars for a few days

A word of caution: if you're going to use jars, trial them at home first! I've taken a jar or two on trips before, only to find ds spits the contents out and would rather go hungry (and having tasted them, I can't say I blame him!)

Have you started weaning DD yet? If not then you don't have to feed her solids whilst you're away. She could easily wait until after you're back before you start her on solids - it's only a fortnight after the minimum recommended age. In any case, she certainly won't need anything much more than milk at that stage, so I agree about just giving bits of what you're eating.

I think that children fed mainly on jars will probably struggle with 'real' food initially, but a few jars here and there isn't going to be make any difference at all I don't think, so I wouldn't worry at all about not being able to give her fresh food afterwards.

Hi Chloe. The little Ella's Kitchen pouches are great. All they are is 100% pureed fruit and veg. Nothing else added, so not too different to what you would be giving her anyway. Once open they will last for 48 hours in a fridge and each pouch contains about 2/3 meals. But I would try her on one first just to be on the safe side. We took dd1 away when she was just over one and she'd only ever had home cooked food. Would she eat even a mouthful of the expensive baby food we'd brought for her? Would she hell! She preferred little bits of the Thai mackeral and tasters of olives - in fact anything off mummy or daddy's plate!

Sounds familiar Clara! If DD is going through a 'not eating much' phase you can bet your life she'll eat it if its come off mummy or Daddys plate. She also refuses to drink from her cup fairly often, but will happily glug back half a cup of tea etc... especially if it is daddys, as he has sugar in his tea

HOnestly Chloe, she will be fine. Just order a soup, or give her a bit of the sauce thats on your plate, or mashed potato with extra butter always went down really well with our DD at that age if we were out. There usually are a few options on menus that you could offer her. not I hasten to add on the childrens menu.

just as an aside...
When are restaurants going to realize that children are better off eating the 'adult' meals but in smaller portions, rather than always offering bloody fish fingers and chips, or dino chicken shapes and chips etc.... My DD will always eat what we have, I resent paying over the odds for crap oven baked/fried food for her. We usually order extra potatoes/veg and give her some of what we have now. much nicer!

Thanks for all the replies.

Yes I have already started weaning on fruit and veg so by then will be on 3 meals a day. I am hoping to start finger foods as soon as possible as love the idea of BLW but didnt have the will power to hold out that long with the solids, as DD is already sitting up, helps feed herself with the spoon, trys to grab our food etc and was miserable before we started weaning.

Will try those pouches Clara, they sound good. Can you get them in the supermarket?

I guess I can always order say a jaket potato with my meal and mash it up etc.

You can get them everywhere CHloe. I thnk i mentioned sainsurys in my post. Waitrose sell them, I think tesco do now too. They all sell the Plum Baby superfoods too. THose are also made from pureed organic fruit and veg, with a few other nice things in there too, which are quite tasty.

I would deffo recommend you try the Ellas house and the plum baby as they are quite palatable. Far more than even the organix jars! failing that, honestly, you will be able to find something on most menus she could have, with a bit of imagination.