When Audrey was a baby, I made practically everything from scratch. When baby #2 came into the picture, I assumed all the same rules would apply. Boy was I wrong. Having a toddler running around with a new baby in tow is no easy feat. Slowly but surely many of the beliefs I held onto when Audrey was a baby began to fade. I still believe homemade is better than store-bought, I still cook the majority of the girls’ meals, but I’ve become much more lenient when it comes to snacks. Specifically, in the area of pouches. I just don’t have the time anymore to make every single portable puree from scratch. Yet I still have a baby who likes purees. And a 3-year old who likes what her sister is eating. And I like convenience…and satiating cranky kids that are hungry. Enter the pouch. My girls love them. When we travel (as we just did for almost 2 weeks) or when we are away from home, these little fruit & veggie concoctions have become quite the lifesaver. If I go there, I can come up with a few reasons to dislike them. But if I’m honest, I can find more reasons TO like them. As a parent, this has been a great lesson for me. Letting go of food ideologies I held onto with baby #1. Because as anyone with 2 kids knows, so much of that goes out the window. So, pouches have found a home in our pantry. And honestly, I’m pretty ok with it.
Here’s what you need to know about pouches:
- These will not introduce your little one to the actual taste of an individual fruit or vegetable, so consume sparingly.
- The flavor of veggies is almost always masked by the sweetness of the fruit in pouches.
- Beware of sugar content: the produce in pouches is often pureed without the skin, eliminating much of the fiber content.
- Avoid pouches with “concentrated fruit juice,” this is nothing more than another term for added sugar.
- Look for pouches containing both vegetables and fruit with no more than 12 grams of sugar per serving.
- Whole fruits and vegetables will provide less sugar and more fiber, plus less sweetness and more satiety.
- My favorite brand is Happy Baby/Tot. Other notable high-quality brands are Plum Organics, Ella’s Kitchen, Peter Rabbit, and Sprout.
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