When most of us were infants we were fed puréed baby food with a spoon. Not rocket science but who would have thought we would be feeding our babies from a pouch. Some parents use jarred food, others make their own and some use pouched baby food. The bpa-free spouted pouch is a recent trend started by Plum organics in 2006. You see these pouches now all over for babies and toddlers. Some moms stick to the glass jarred foods while others love them.
So what’s the deal? Well here’s the pros and cons. Pros: convenient, organic, portable, trendy, non-breakable, bpa-free, can “drink” purée out of the pouch. Cons: packaged, high natural sugar content (some of the vegetables are mixed with fruit), can drink purée out of the pouch.
So why is drinking purée out of the pouch on the pros and cons list? Well because its both. The pouch is super convenient for today’s mom. On the go lunch can be given with out a spoon and fast. This also is a con because the fine development of oral motor skills occurs through spoon feeding. The tongue, lips, and jaw perform a variety of tasks like tongue cupping, posterior tongue movement and forming a labial seal during spoon feeding. Feeding is essential to the development of more mature oral motor skills important for intake of table food and articulation development. Yes drinking purée happens to be a great oral motor exercise but the problem arises when feeding is only completed this way without the usage of a spoon. Another con is the volume of intake during drinking is faster. Therefore increasing the sugar content as some of these pouched foods are mixed with fruit.
Now I’m not saying not to use these pouches because guess what from time to time I do and my LO loves them. I’m saying all in moderation and use a spoon!
DS
Check out some yummy pouched foods from Plum Organics.
http://www.plumorganics.com/products#baby
Check out a reusable pouch for moms who want the convenience with their homemade baby food.
http://www.littlegreenpouch.com/
The above is the opinion of this writer. This should not take the place of your pediatrician. You should always consult your pediatrician for medical advise regarding introduction of feedings and related issues. Tinyseedsfeeding was not compensated for this post.
