Is there anything wrong with baby food such as Ella's kitchen stuff?

[Chocoholism]

I know some have added salts and sugars and I do plan To make my own food for my baby but I was just looking in supermarket today and read ingredients of Ella's kitchen packet and it was all organic ingredients and no extras.
Presumably that's good food then?
There are other ones I saw too such as peter rabbit. What are your thoughts

[Chocoholism]

Hi madrigals is that the title of the book? Is it by anyone? Might check my local library for it. Also, what does iirc mean? :)

[NoraRobertsismyguiltypleasure]

There's nothing 'wrong' as such with them, but you have to ask yourself how nutritious they are when they are designed to be kept on a shelf for quite a long time unrefrigerated.
I would also say to look at baby-led weaning - I went that route more or less, I fed my baby when it was messy stuff like porridge or yoghurt and let her do it herself for most other things. It's mainly about letting your child try everything - anything you cook for yourself can be given to baby as long as you haven't added salt or sugar.

[Spottybra]

Just make your own. It's so easy. I walked past a mum of three (eldest looked about 9yrs, middle looked 4yrs and the youngest maybe 4 months in the supermarket today and her trolley was full of baby food tins.

I had 2 under 2yrs and never resorted to pre made crap. Although I did sneak a few cafe lunches in just for a break from picking food up off the floor.

[MrsSpencerReid]

I used them when out and about and use them occasionally now as it means ds can feed himself in the car! I thought of them a bit like a bag of crisps, ok now and again but not every meal!!!

[juneau]

There is nothing wrong with them OP and by the time you've faffed around pureeing stuff that your DC then refuses to eat (as DS1 did), you'll be glad you've got a few in the cupboard! Obviously, you should vary your DC's diet so they're eating fresh food as well - mashed banana, homemade porridge, yogurt, etc, but if you don't have time or just can't be bothered to make up portions of salt and sugarless food (and lets face it, how many adults really want to eat unseasoned food, so it will be specially made for baby), don't feel bad about it. I cooked from scratch for DS1 and he was a fussy eater until he was about five - he's still not great - whereas DS2 had various Ella's Kitchen, Plum, HiPP stuff and he eats anything and everything.

[ExBrightonBell]

There's nothing wrong with them per se, it's just they can be quite same-y in taste. They often don't contain as much of the named ingredient as you might imagine from the title. If you used them all the time you might find it difficult to move onto family food later on.

[fledermaus]

Jars are fine, don't worry about it.

[mousmous]

occasionally they are fine. however they do not contain enough fat, so it's best to mix in a bit of oil if you plan to give them a lot.

[GiveTwoSheets]

I did taste them and thought they was yummy enough to give DS, (jar food looks like vomit to me and wasn't prepared to taste it myself) they also handy when out and about no spoons can give straight from pouch. Didn't bother with the banana purée ones etc as I was giving DS when weaning whole bananas

[BlondePieceOffFluff]

Ella's fruit, vegetables, rice&fruit and youghurt&fruit are brilliant, they taste great (I sometimes will have one myself). We combine with giving normal food BLW-style. I cannot see the problem with smoothies, which is what it is really, in a tube, easy for on the go and very healthy :-)

[LIZS]

There will be sugar added but it may be disguised or use sweet vegetables/fruit . tbh processed baby foods all have a similar texture and taste, not great regularly if you want to introduce family meals.

[ShineSmile]

I love Ella's fruit pouches - we will be using them for many years to come.

However, the veg ones are not nice. I don't like them so I don't like giving them to DD

[rainbowfeet]

Your baby, your choice

Sometimes babies choice.. Dd now 11 refused any homemade purée & 2nd stage (bit lumpy) & was entirely jar fed.. (Not heard of baby lead weaning back then) although she munched on toast & organix snacks. Then from about a year ate what we had mainly.

Ds 2.. Showed little interest in solids until about 6 - 7 months & had a few weeks of home made purées & lumpy purées but mostly baby led weaning with him as that's what he preferred!

[fledermaus]

Agree with Lizs that most "no added sugar" baby yoghurt etc. has sugar added in the form of very concentrated, processed fruit puree.

[neversleepagain]

I agree that you should taste them before you let your DC have them. They taste taste pretty grim, not like real food at all. Watered down and no real flavour. The fruit ones are extremely sweet and don't really taste like fresh fruit.

[CMP69]

They are vvv useful for to have as a back up, and there is nothing harmful in them obviously. I did a bit of BLW and mashed stuff, not really purees. DS is 5 and eats really well
Do what suits you and your child, bring a parent is hard enough without making it more difficult than it needs to be IMHO

[coffeeandcream]

Jars and pouches we're a God send for me. I had PND and could barely be bothered to cook for myself, never mind DS :(

At least having jars etc it meant he got fed.

I look back and think I could have tried harder, but I just couldn't. He eats 'normal' food now so we got over it in the end

[fledermaus]

I didn't really like the pouches, too bland. Cow and Gate jars are delicious though.

[HaroldLloyd]

Boots own ones I found the nicest they tasted a lot nicer than Ella's, the organic pouches.

They are absolutely fine in my opinion and very handy especially for when you are out for a while on holiday and the Iike.

[plentyofshoes]

It works out so much cheaper to make your own. Pretty easy too and I hate cooking. Do whatever you like though its your choice.

[Geraldthegiraffe]

Same issues as jars. It's giving your child processed food rather than "real" food. People do live off ready meals but its not ideal.

I don't think they're bad for occasional use but I'd steer more towards real food. Slice of toast or a banana is easy !

[spottydolphin]

they're ok now and then but they are not as nutritionally complete as fresh homemade. partly because they're processed, but also because they have far more water added!

we went down the blw route with ds2 and ds3 and tbh it was waaaaaaay easier than doing purees!