Why are some parents against pouches?

[Anonymous]

Even the homemade ones?

[Anonymous]

I wasn't a fan of purees. Applesauce is the only one I really let my kids have and I preferred them to eat it with a spoon.

I get that they're simple for on the go though, so I have a few in my diaper bag or for road trips.

[Anonymous]

I guess it's just an odd way to eat food. And you see kids who should be way past the pureed foods stage eating them instead of finger foods.

[Anonymous]

Because some people like to make up rules that make them feel like they're good parents. Snuh. It's neither here nor there.

Truth be told, I'd eat all my food in pouch form if I could find delicious pouch food with regularity. It'd make me feel like an astronaut.

[Anonymous]

Whether the plastic has BPA or some other molecule, it's not great. They're all endocrine disruptors. Eating out of a non-plastic bowl with a non-plastic spoon is better. But we do pouches occasionally because of the portability.

[Anonymous]

At least on these threads, the assumptions of people who hate them seem to be 1) that's all the kids eat, 2) it's full of sugar, and 3) the kids have to relearn at an older age how to eat other textures (see #1).

[Anonymous]

It’s better for a child’s brain development to navigate with a spoon and bowl.

And children suck pouches down too fast.

But they’re good for emergencies or a treat.

[Anonymous]

Much more expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s better for a child’s brain development to navigate with a spoon and bowl.

And children suck pouches down too fast.

But they’re good for emergencies or a treat.

agree with these. it's important for brain development to practice "crossing the midline" and eating can be one way to do it. jaw work is also helpful for facial development.

also, it's environmentally horrible to eat individually packaged foods. my toxicologist friends from grad school (neighboring department) do not eat anything wet packaged in plastic if they can help it. and expensive.

we had great luck with baby-led weaning, straight to finger foods.

[Anonymous]

I give my kids (1.5,3) about 4 a week. I think the guidance is also to limit them because they don’t learn to connect the purée to a fruit or vegetable. They will eat the carrot applesauce but not the carrots or the apple. That sort of thing. My kids eat the full veggie and fruit most of the time so I don’t sweat it. I buy the Noka ones with plant protein so use them to ward off sugar crashes when we are having one of those days.

[Anonymous]

Because people think small decisions you make when your kids are toddlers actually matter.

[Anonymous]

I'm having a flashback to my MIL making passive aggressive comments about my 1 year old having a pouch when I brought him to a wedding, just in case there wasn't anything he would eat.

Sorry for wanting my kid to have a full stomach and be happy during this important occasion!

[Anonymous]

People really struggle with moderation and nuance when it comes to their kids. They think that if they give their kids a pouch, it makes them a bad parents because BPAs, brain development, not learning textures, blah blah blah...so it's not enough to just give your kids solid food with the occasional pouch for convenience sake...you have to be actively anti-pouch so people know how much you care for your child as compared to others who resort to pouches.

[Anonymous]

The same reason there is a 7 page thread about the differences between SAHMs and WOHMs; people like to fight with and judge others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because people think small decisions you make when your kids are toddlers actually matter.

This. It will not matter one whit when your kid is 12 whether your kid had no pouches, some pouches or ate all the pouches.