Baby food pouches have become a go-to for parents, especially during emergencies or while on-the-go. They offer convenience and seemingly quick nutrition for hungry babies. However, it’s important for parents to know the whole story behind baby food pouches and the potential downsides to using them.
First of all, yes, it is undeniable that pouches have a time and a place, namely in an “emergency” while out and about, and they’re definitely the better option compared to most processed adult snacks. Yet, relying solely on pouches as a mealtime replacement can start to hinder your baby’s nutrition and overall development.
Variety
Despite their convenience, one of the main downsides of baby food pouches is the lack of variety on offer.
You know what it’s like, it’s easier to stick to familiar pouches that your baby actually likes and will eat, but this inadvertently hinders their exposure to new tastes and textures. V&Me encourages your baby to try new things by offering a wide range of flavours, stimulating the expanding their taste palate. This diversity is essential as infants’ flavour preferences are shaped by early exposures, influencing their lifelong food preferences.
Another concerning aspect is the prevalence of sweet-tasting fruit in many pouches. You will have noticed that most baby food pouches tend to contain a fruit as the main ingredient and a vegetable as a secondary ingredient. The sweet flavour of the fruit can mask the flavour of the vegetables causing your baby to not get used to the taste of them.
These sweet products, often marketed as healthy but can have the effect of reinforcing babies’ preference for sweeter foods, deviating them from a balanced taste palate.
V&Me meals are designed to give babies a life-long love for homemade food. Being a parent of a young child can be one of the most stressful and busy periods and oftentimes the pressure to try and cook homemade meals every day for your baby can quickly become overwhelming. V&Me lets you take the pressure off yourself by giving you the peace of mind that your baby is still eating nutritious homemade meals when you simply don’t have it in you to start cooking.
If you want to your baby to have a love for homemade food, find out more about V&Me here:
