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"Baby" products - total rip off?!

since having Gabe I've become very sceptical of all the baby food and products companies. It seems like all the stuff you can buy is not really necessary? I know this is true of many things, but it seems by putting the word 'Baby' on it, companies can bump up the price.

Those pasta stars for example - I can't remember how much they are but it must be close to ??1. When all it is is tiny pasta ffs! And 'baby' sauces and stock cubes? Did there used to be things like this? No...and I'm sure babies didn't die from having a meal made with ordinary stock so why sell them = to make money out of parents who care about their Lo's health! Same with 'growing up milk', it's from 12 months, but babies can have cows milk after then?

I'm also so sceptical about baby jars! We've exclusively used them with Gabe after him not liking homemade food. But what the hell is in them that makes some babies prefer them to 'normal' food? Grrrr, it really bugs me sometimes, sorry!!!

I do try and avoid everything except the essentials but I find myself being sucked in by it all anyway...am considering stopping buying baby biscuits as well and just buying rich tea fingers for Gabe?!
xx
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Replies

  • I have a feeling the jars are a lot sweeter in taste but a friend of mine washed the jars out put her food in and the baby ate it. But you are right everthing is so pricey
  • I thought the stock cubes, sauces and gravys would have had reduced salt? I won't be giving my lo Bisto just yet!!! Do you cut pasta up into tiny bits for Gabe then, cause I'd have thought they would be a good introduction....?
  • They do, yeah, but is it really necessary? I mean I know too much salt is not good for babies, I would never add salt to Gabe's food or anything. But surely the salt from a stock cube/gravy granules, to make enough gravy/stock for a tiny baby-sized portion, isn't enough to be harmful. Someone correct me if I'm wrong though as I'm just guessing here image I do just cook the pasta as normal then cut it with kitchen scissors! Surprisingly easy.


  • The price of baby milk is ridiculous!!! But its like anything else... gas and electric for example, we need it so we have to have it, these companys know this so they can charge us as much as they want as they know we have to buy it!!!


    I agree the price of formula (from what I've seen) is ridiculous. Again though I thought LOL that the price of fuel depends on what the far east is doing or is that just petrol?
  • Best rip off I found was for the Lindam stair gates and play pen thing. DId you know that they market the same things for both babies and pets ...and the pet things are slightly cheeper (eeven though the same product). DOnt get that. LOL
  • If you think formula is dear in Uk - Try ???????14-15 here in Ireland!!!!!!!!!!!!! - rip off
  • If you think formula is dear in Uk - Try ???????14-15 here in Ireland!!!!!!!!!!!!! - rip off
  • May be wrong here, but I once heard that the price of formula is so high to encourage ppl to bf?!
  • yeh and Boots wont give you points on your card when you buy formula, which is annoying when your spending ??7. one of the girls from boots said it was to encourage bf

    xx
  • i know price of formula is so expensive to encourage bf, but what about the ladies that arnt able to bf?? i get so annoyed at this- dont get the nectar points when i buy it every f*****g week at sainsburys- dont get me started on that 1!! this week so far i have spent ??16 on formula...since yesterday lolah has been really of her milk, screaming whenever it goes near her- thought she would wake up hungry last night but never did, and today shes only drank 16oz, ive ended up throwing ridiculous amounts down the sink!!! rant over- needed to get it out my system, its been 1 of those days! xxx
  • Baby formula is ridiculas i cant wait til james can have cows milk as its just gone up to ??9.29 from ??8.17 in my chemist for the c&g comfort milk, when james was first born i was spending near to ??30 a week on him to stop him from having wind
    x 2 tubs of c&g comfort and a thing of colief which was ??9.99 that was every week also on top of the ??30 ther was nappies and wipes etc the list is never ending.
    When i had ellie 6 yrs ago ther wasnt half the stuff there is now and i thought alot was a rip off then i just stick to the essentials for my 3. You can also buy the reduced salt granules, and like katie said it never did us any harm when we were little and back in the day if you couldnt breast feed they used to give lo cows milk as ther was no formula how things have changed and you wonder sometimes if its for the best.
    vikki xx
  • We never bothered with baby pasta, stock cubes or sauces. Normal pasta is fine chopped up small, we have bisto reduced salt anyway, we never add salt to anything that Kelsie has.

    It pisses me off to about the 'encouraging' breastfeeding thing too. Some people get so high and mighty cos they breastfeed they make people who don't feel bad. I have been looked down on so many times from buying formula. When I couldnt BF for various reasons.

    xxxx
  • I must admit I've used the baby pasta but i always use normal basmati rice. I'll most probably use normal pasta now she's over 12 months. She's a fussy eater so thought the extra vitamins in the baby pasta would be beneficial to her. I do use baby stock cubes too. mainly cos I hate salty food and I sometimes find normal stock cubes too salty for me!
  • I dont agree that formula is expensive to encourage people to breasttfeed and think it would be highly irresponsible if it were. It could put babies at risk as at the end of the day many people either cant or are advised not to breastfeed and if they cannot afford to provide milk they might have to give less.

    I use normal pasta for Nathan and just cut it up when I serve it to him. And I cant beleive that one stock cube, used to make a meal to serve 6+ people which he's then having a tiny portion of is going to contain a harmful amount of salt.

    Its the same with many "educational" toys. Theres nothing wrong with a tub of water to splash in or a good book.

    xxxx
  • I'm afraid that formula is expensive for one reason, you have no choice but to buy it so they can charge what they like!!! The only way that it could be made more expensive to encourage bfing is if the government imposed a higher tax rate on it, as it is you pay standard VAT on it so resposibility for the prices lies squarely with the manufacterer. The reason that you can't collect loyalty points on it is all to do with the government not wanting the big companies to be able to 'bribe' you into choosing their milk by offering extra points and special offers. By making it exempt from these offers they are trying to ensure that you choose what brand of milk to give based soley on the quality of the product.

    I agree that a lot of baby stuff is very overpriced, particularly things like the pasta! ASDA actually do some childrens wholemeal pasta in small shapes that is no more expensive than normal pasta, but it saves cutting it up :lol:
    xxx
  • I'll have to look for that pasta in Asda next time i'm in there, thanks Bedhead!
  • i give jayden rich tea biscuits, them elephant biccies are ??2 for 8 or is it 10.. so expensve, hes fine with them and loves em, i get reduced suger ones though xx
  • My oh always says if there's babies or wedding's invloved people (not sure who he means!!) add ??100 onto the cost of whatever it is!
    LOVE the idea of using pet playpen thingies and stair guards I would NEVER have thought of that-genius!
    Still use baby stock cubes as I agree with ccbmommy I find others really salty. Me and oh need to cut down on the salt we eat so its a good excuse to not add any extra.
  • ccbmommy and mum to 1 - wish I hated salty food! I lurve the stuff. I add salt to everything (after cooking not during), even sandwiches...and can never have enough salt on soups or a sunday roast! image
  • I'm a salt lover too! I'm trying to cut down for lent but failing miserably so far! Salty chips, Ummmm. And egg on toast with salty egg, yum yum yum.

    xxxx
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