When my 3 year old was just making his way out of the baby food stage, my sister discovered baby food in "squeezie pouches." I bought some and kept them in the car for those times when he was hungry and we need "fast food."
Fast Forward 3 years...
These buggers are expensive so I never intended to make them a main source of food for my little guy.
But...
With 4 kids- it's hard to make the little guy's schedule a priority. It seems like while we are at home he's sleeping and then I have to yank him up and toss him in the car to take someone somewhere, leaving little to no time to feed the baby.
Enter- Fast Food- Convenience- The Squeezie Pouch!
And so- Squeezie Pouch it is. On this day it was Carrot and Banana which he "chugged." Yes, Chugged! I'm amazed at how much this kid eats already!!
I had a really soft avocado so I was able to feed him slices of it for lunch. I just held it to his mouth and he gummed off bites of it.
I realized that after just a week of tempting him and then putting puffs on his tray, he is now able to pick them up and put them in his mouth. Since avocado is a little slippery for him to pick up, I smashed some avocado through the holes of the puffs so that he could pick up some "avocado puffs" as a snack.
Frustrated by the price of the squeezie pouches, I decided to try to create my own for "dinner." I cut off the bottom of a used pouch, smashed some avocado and added extra water to make it thinner, filled the pouch and then taped the bottom closed with packing tape.
It worked, but after all of those steps it kind of lacked the "fast food," element...
What about you? Are you hooked on the squeezie pouch? Any suggestions to break me of my addiction?
Shared at What I ate Wednesday
You must be careful with those squeezie pouches :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Wednesday!
Hi Rachel- I appreciate the warning, though I'd love to know what exactly your concerns are. If you're concerned about choking, rest assured, the baby is never left alone with a pouch and even when he held it himself, I was sitting at the table with him. If you're concerned that he won't be able to eat off of a spoon... I assure you that he does that like a champ. If you're worried about the amount of food, rest assured that my oldest son ate 4 jars of baby food per meal and cried if not fed fast enough and still eats this way but has such a fast metabolism that his pants are literally falling off of him. If there are other concerns about the packaging and or/ food etc. that is inside them, please share!
DeleteAdditionally, I'd love your suggestions for fast and frugal alternatives!
DeleteI wish they had these when my kids were younger! I have a friend that stocks up on them and I love that they have such a variety of ingredients. The ones my friend got her little guy include things like beets, kale, amaranth, ect. I have been tempted to buy a couple just to see what they taste like myself, lol!! It isn't much different than the apple sauce squeeze packs that are really popular right now!
ReplyDeleteMy older kids (ages 7 and 6) beg for them so they do have appeal beyond babies-- I'm hesitant to try them myself though! When they first started a few years ago, there were just a few basic flavors. Now, you're right there are multiple brands and such a variety of ingredients. I haven't given my little guy many typical grains but because of these, he's had both quinoa and amaranth!
DeleteI've never tried the pouches before (I make my own baby food) but I always assumed that you still feed them with a spoon when I saw them in the grocery store! I have 4 children and we all try to eat together. The youngest is 10 months and a quick breakfast for her would be a yo baby yogurt (I do buy yogurts ) or a couple of fruit purée cubes mixed into some oatmeal or you could use rice cereal if you haven't tried oatmeal yet A mashed banana is also pretty fast and a few whole blueberries as finger foods or you can smash them up a bit first.
ReplyDeleteIn theory, you are supposed to use a spoon but they do say that you can let "older babies" suck through the straw. After about a week of me squeezing small amounts into his mouth, he became an "older baby."
DeleteHe does eat blueberries and bananas but I generally need to follow that with a bath!
Right now things are just especially difficult because we are STILL moving (it's been a 3 month process and we are finally moving into our own place this weekend) but we have to drive back and forth to the kids' school 3 times a day for drop off, kindergarten pick-up, then end of the day pick-up- so we're always in the car and we have very little time in the morning.
Do you use real oatmeal with your 10 month old? I don't remember when I started it with my other ones... I tried baby oatmeal (only once and never again with this guy a few weeks ago) I'm not a fan of the baby cereals and they constipated my oldest when she was little and seemed to have the same effect with this guy (actually that's my problem with too many bananas as well! I was going to try regular oatmeal but I was concerned about digestibility at this young age. I always try to hold off on starting solids with my little guys for as long as possible and then transition as quickly as possible to finger foods and "real" food... but this one was literally begging for food at 5 1/2 months so I started him earlier than the others.