By: Tanya Pimental
A few months back, I shared my experience with Starting Solids. Since then, three months have flown by. We tried to do the baby puree thing, but it was way too messy. Yes, feeding a baby is a ton of work. To all the excited, new moms out there who are longing to add rice cereal their baby’s diet, who can’t wait see their little one’s face when he or she tries mushy bananas for the first time, I say this: Enjoy those first few feedings, because after that you’ll be longing for them to be able to feed themselves.
Six years ago when I had my first, baby food options were very limited. I spent a lot of time making my own food, and I learned that although purees may fill them up, it isn’t essential to force those baby foods on your baby when they are still getting most of their nutrition from breast milk or formula.
However, in recent years, food companies have introduced new products, which make life a whole lot easier. One example? Baby food in a squeezable pouch! These things have changed my life. They are easy to toss in your bag and they’re available in endless varieties! I used to have to mix two different food purees to create different flavors. Sure, that’s not very complicated, but it become more difficult to find the time to create new flavors as our schedules got busier.
These pouches have changed my life. I wish I had not wasted months trying to spoon-feed my little one. Because guess what…she can do it herself! She just sucks out the food on her own with almost no mess! That definitely makes this mom happy!
In my excitement to share how this has changed my life as a mom, I did a quick internet search and actually found some other great reads. This article from the NY Times definitely reflects my thoughts on these pouches. There is some debate on whether or not these combos are as healthy as they appear. Although most of the “fruit and veggie” mixes are mostly fruit, I think it’s better than no veggies at all.
Now that I have shared my laziness and my dislike for feeding a baby on a spoon, I’ll add that I think it’s really important introduce kids to finger foods. I think it’s key to introduce our kids to a variety of tastes and texture, and I think we do a decent job with this. However, (like most parents) I wish that my kids would eat more vegetables!
Community Voices for Health 
I hate to admit this, but we still use the pouch products for my nearly 3-year-old son. He’s getting better about trying solid fruits and veggies, but I still use these as a back-up.
Ditto! 🙂
Glad you found what works for you.
A few things to share from my experience: Chopped bananas, avocado or sweet potatoes make GREAT finger foods – for digestion, forming a palate, using pincer grasp and ease of prep. I used these with my youngest, who is our easiest and healthiest eater.
I used a lot of organic cereals and crackers with my older two, particularly my oldest. Later, I regretted it big time. Sure, it was easy at the time, but I truly feel it affected their eating habits and, for one of them, aggravated conditions, which I found out alter, when going gfcf really made a huge difference.
This piece explains things well re the last point: http://kellydorfman.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-19-toddler-crack.html
Glad you found something that works for you.
With my older two, I, unfortunately, used a lot of “baby crack”, as described here: http://kellydorfman.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-19-toddler-crack.html
I so regret this.
With my youngest, I used avocado, banana and sweet potatoes as first food – just chopped them up and gave them to him. They were great for convenience, developing a healthy pallet, pincer grasp use, etc. My youngest is my healthiest and easiest eater!