Do I Need To Make All my Baby’s Food From Scratch?

17 Jan

My Top Tips For Choosing Baby Jars or Pouches

By Laura Carbery of Hungry Munchkins

Homemade baby food is generally more nutritious and tastier than commercially processed foods if it is fresh and made from whole foods and nothing else. It’s also cheaper to make home cooked food than buying commercially made baby pouches and jars.

But in reality, life can be really busy and we can’t feel guilty or under pressure to cook home made baby food 100% of the time. Baby food pouches can certainly be used occasionally. Just don’t rely on them for every meal.

Here are my tips for choosing baby pouches or jars:

Choose a jar or a pouch with the highest quantity of meat, fish, lentils / beans. Some brands are better than others so read the ingredients list at the back of the pack and choose the one with the highest quantity.
Choose a pouch / jar that is low in sugar - less than 5g of sugar per 100g.
Look to see if the ingredient listed on the front of the pack is the first ingredient listed on the back of the pack. If you’re buying “Carrots, Peas & Pears” it’s likely the pears are the dominant flavour which means the food is higher in free sugars. Marketing of baby foods can be misleading.
Empty the contents of the pouch / jar into a bowl and feed off a spoon. Allowing babies feed directly from the pouch isn’t a good idea for their teeth or oral development. Little ones can also learn very quickly that they only like a particular colour / type of pouch so it’s best to remove brightly coloured food packaging from view.
Go up a stage. Often baby pouches marketed for 7+ have little to no texture. If your baby is 8 months, choose a pouch for 10 months + . This will ensure your baby is eating food with a texture relevant to their weaning stage.
Serve alongside finger foods.