I'm starting to wean my LO and I'm currently giving homemade pured veg and fruit. I was wondering if anyone uses branded baby food and if so which brands would you recommend???
tbh I use any one them that are on offer! lol they're all the same really.. in asda, joe likes the strawberry cheesecake heinz tin so we always get that when we shop. must be my cooking but joe doesn't like my food! ) daniel was the same until he was about 8/9 months old... xxx
hvs say homemade stuff is best (jars with added vits etc are apparantly chemically enhance - check the ingredients for anything you dont agree with ) , but i tend to use boots organic as they are cheaper (before offers) and i trust boots. I only use them when were out and i havent had time to make up my own.
i also like the heinz dried stuff, cheaper in the long term and you just add water.
my lo is starting to take rougher purees now so i tend to just mash them with my fork instead of proper pureeing. he's been on solids about 2 months and has 3 meals a day, usually bout the equivalent of two small (128g) jars each meal, plus 5 milk feeds of around 5 oz each.
i tend to make my own but i have used cow and gate desserts especially and the odd jar and if you look at the ingredients the desserts are usually made up with 96% friut which is great. Iv been told hipp are good too. Iv only just started weening my little girl and i found she didnt particularly like the savoury foods compared to the sweet food, so i try to use sweet veggies and they go down a treat
Hi, i've been weaning for 6 weeks now and have found hipp organic jars to be the best. My LO will eat pretty much all the different kinds have tried. I check the labels to see what is added and just pick the ones i think are best. Cow and gate jars are also quite good and there are a good range of both in most shops. For first weaning jars the carrot and sweetcorn hipp jar is really good as it is smaller than the other jars and my LO gobbles it down. Hope you get on well. xx
My lo has dairy allergy so there are only a couple of brands that he can eat but Ellas Kitchen are really ggod & interesting flavours as are the Plum range. Anyone how makes food including basil & spinach is alright with me, lo loves them the weirder combos the better. Ella & Plum have no added anything, just what is on the label, no added water either. Peter rabbit range of apple & peach puree is also dairy free. I make all of his dinners but these brands are great for out & about.
Hi, I usually make my own but I do use Hipp Organic jars when I go out or I sometimes give my lo one of the breakfast jars when he's fed up with cereal.
Hi Beebee Can I ask how old your lo is? Maddie has lactose intollerance and I have been told to avoid so much until she is 6 months it has made me a bit worried about using jars but they would be helpful when out and about.
he's 7 months & has been weaned for nearly 3 months. I really haven't found any other brands without some kind on milk product in & he really loves the plum now he is older but used Ella kitchen a lot in the begining but as there are only a few flavours can be a bot boring.
I make my own, but I buy the occasional jar when we go out. It's much easier to take jarred food in the change bag than home made. I don't have a favourite. I check ingredient lists and don't buy anything with added sugar or any mystery ingredients.
I used cow and gate and Heinz and they both worked but each baby is different my first baby liked both. But this little girl i am carrying may not like cow and gate but might like Heinz or it could be the other way around.
We used Ella's Kitchen and Plum a lot too for our son. He had mainly home-cooked food, but the pouches are great when out and about as you can just squeeze out what you need and then properly seal it again to use up within 48hours.
Definitely Ellas. Charlie also has dairy/soya allergies so I like to know what I'm giving him. I also love the pouches - they are unbreakable when my nappy bag gets thrown around and you can squeeze out what you need and reseal without putting a dirty/saliva spoon back in the jar. Biggest problem though is the price and the fact that once you start your baby on them they won't touch any of the jarred food at all (I don't blame them - taste them both and make your own decisions).
i havent weaned my 5 month old yet (am getting quite excited about i though and am pureeing and freezing ready!) just wanted to say that i went to HV talk on weaning and we all tried her pureed chicken sunday dinner alongside C+G sunday dinner in a jar - no contest - the home made stuff tasted, well, like a real chicken dinner! C+G tasted like mushy peas! Think it said 5% meat on it baby rice tasted like polystyrene. Totally put me off.
HV also handed round a bowl of sugar and told us this was the amount of sugar in one helping of C+G baby cereal. She told us there was nothing wrong with out no sugar cereal (weetabix and porridge) and products like baby cereal are over priced and laden with sugar to get babies hooked. And its actually easier and cheaper just to reach for the weetabix!
Im going to try to keep him to home done stuff and will by pass the rice and give him tasty fruit and veggies. However im sure they'll be times when i need an easy fix but sounds like if you spend the money you can have something natural? I hope so x
Thanks for that Alfie, wish our HV did something like that! My friend has given me a load of jars, HIPP, C&G and Heinz, left over from her babies. I do plan to make my own purees, bought some special freezer pots ready, but jars will be handy on occasion I imagine, and they were free so not going to say no - i can't see myself buying any though!
I want to do a mix of BLW and purees, did your HV have much to say about BLW?
My HV recommended starting with baby rice because it is so bland and doesn't overwhelm the baby, and then building up the babies palate from there. With my dd I was determined to start her off with baby rice and then mix in the Ella's pouches (which are organic, 100% fruit or veg, sterile and very smooth) and then move on to my own home made foods once she had got the hang of it. However, my dd had other ideas! I started with baby rice, then added in fruit puree after a week or so. My dd took a few tastes at each time and seemed to enjoy it. However, when I tried to move her on to my home made stuff she hated it! I tried the jar food and she wouldn't have that either. She was so ready for food but would not eat anything she didn't like the taste of, although she would have veg puree if mixed with baby rice. The HV recommended I use the powdered food because it is fortified with more vitamins than baby rice, reluctantly I tried it and she wolfed it down! She now has the dried food with my home made veg puree mixed in. You have to be led by your baby really regardless of your own intentions.
Personally I didn't like the idea of baby led weaning and my HV actually warned me against it. She said that one of the basic principles was that you could give your baby whatever you had cooked for the family, but some people were cooking things like spagetti bolognase and using a shop bought sauce which are completely unsuitable for babies due to the high salt and sugar content. I think when they get to the stage where they can have proper meals it is actually worth buying the foods that have been designed for babies because they do not put salt or sugar in the foods. Unless you make everything from scratch and can do a separate pot for you bubs that it!
Replies
I only use them when were out and i havent had time to make up my own.
i also like the heinz dried stuff, cheaper in the long term and you just add water.
my lo is starting to take rougher purees now so i tend to just mash them with my fork instead of proper pureeing. he's been on solids about 2 months and has 3 meals a day, usually bout the equivalent of two small (128g) jars each meal, plus 5 milk feeds of around 5 oz each.
xxx
Hope you get on well.
xx
Can I ask how old your lo is?
Maddie has lactose intollerance and I have been told to avoid so much until she is 6 months it has made me a bit worried about using jars but they would be helpful when out and about.
H xx
HV also handed round a bowl of sugar and told us this was the amount of sugar in one helping of C+G baby cereal. She told us there was nothing wrong with out no sugar cereal (weetabix and porridge) and products like baby cereal are over priced and laden with sugar to get babies hooked. And its actually easier and cheaper just to reach for the weetabix!
Im going to try to keep him to home done stuff and will by pass the rice and give him tasty fruit and veggies. However im sure they'll be times when i need an easy fix but sounds like if you spend the money you can have something natural? I hope so x
I want to do a mix of BLW and purees, did your HV have much to say about BLW?
xxx
Personally I didn't like the idea of baby led weaning and my HV actually warned me against it. She said that one of the basic principles was that you could give your baby whatever you had cooked for the family, but some people were cooking things like spagetti bolognase and using a shop bought sauce which are completely unsuitable for babies due to the high salt and sugar content. I think when they get to the stage where they can have proper meals it is actually worth buying the foods that have been designed for babies because they do not put salt or sugar in the foods. Unless you make everything from scratch and can do a separate pot for you bubs that it!