Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks everyone, I don’t have a group of mom friends so I wanted to make sure DD’s diet is within the normal range in terms of what’s being offered. She hasn’t been weighed for the last 5 months but a friend of mine recently remarked on how thin she is, and she eats much more when offered pouches only (which I’ve done a couple of times as a test) than when it’s a combo of home made stuff and pouches, or just homemade food. Also, I will try hummus - thanks for the suggestion!

If your baby is truly underweight, I think the solution at 11 months is still supposed to be milk/formula based. Again, NOT AN EXPERT. But from what I understand, babies under 12 months are still supposed to be getting the majority of their calories from breastmilk/formula, and the solid food is mostly exploration/whatever they can get.

Anonymous wrote:Ok, my kid is a teenager so maybe this is just a new trend, but I have to ask: what’s up with pouches?

By about a year old, mine was basically eating the same foods we were at that point, just mashed up or diced smaller for safety. I couldn’t imagine giving her purées from a straw/spout at that age, where she couldn’t see or smell or chew anything.

Or am I not understanding what “pouches” are?

They are just a different way of eating that hadn’t been invented when your kids were babies. My kids all still like applesauce pouches. Heck. My BIL actually eats them and he is a grown man in grad school.

Please consider the effect on the environment when buying pouches that you will throw away after a singe use.

I did a mix of things. I don't know if it's good to rely so much on pouches because of the citric acid. But if it doesn't bother your baby, then maybe it's okay.

We did a mix of finger foods and purees at that point. We did pouches when traveling, but I made or mashed a lot of our own food for DD when we were at home. Sweet potatoes and beans have a little sweetness and are easy to give eitehr pureed or just slightly mashed table food. Plain whole milk yogurt with mashed fruit was also a hit.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a mistake not to include salt.

At every telehealth appointment, I do ask whether I can add salt and gerbil a stern “no.”

That’s advice I’d ignore if I were you. Since you’ve asked each time sounds like you sorta know already it’s bad advice.

I don't understand the issue with the "sugar bomb" pouches. Most of these pouches are not with added sugar. The "sugar" listed is naturally occurring complex sugars. Is it really a surprise that fruits contain sugars?? You'd get the same amount of "sugar" eating these fruits whole.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks everyone, I don’t have a group of mom friends so I wanted to make sure DD’s diet is within the normal range in terms of what’s being offered. She hasn’t been weighed for the last 5 months but a friend of mine recently remarked on how thin she is, and she eats much more when offered pouches only (which I’ve done a couple of times as a test) than when it’s a combo of home made stuff and pouches, or just homemade food. Also, I will try hummus - thanks for the suggestion!

You should get her weighed. Why hasn't she been to a doctor in that long?

Her pediatrician only does one well visit between 6 and 12 months (at 9 months) and because of COVID, they do only telehealth appointments unless a vaccine is needed or there’s a major issue. I would certainly have preferred a real visit at 9 months. Luckily, lots of vaccines needed at 12 months so I will get her weighed then.

NP. You can weigh her on your own at this point, with a regular scale. She's not so small that a regular scale won't give you a good idea about where she's at. Height is harder to get at home because they squirm, but weight isn't so bad as you can just hold her while you step on the scale yourself.

Make foods and add high quality salt (sea salt or pink Himalayan). That is certainly better than sugar packed fruit pouches.

Also, make sure you’re offering different shapes of food (like strips/sticks of food instead of just diced finger foods). I was struggling at 8 months to get my baby to accept the thicker mashed foods instead of just purées. And then she swiped an orange slice out of my hands and ate the whole thing on her own. She was more than ready for solids but didn’t like the texture of the mashed foods the baby books said I was supposed to offer before she could move to finger foods.

By the time my baby was 11 months, she stopped eating most plain steamed vegetables. She definitely wanted more flavor and prized anything she could eat off of Mama’s fork.

Ok, my kid is a teenager so maybe this is just a new trend, but I have to ask: what’s up with pouches?

By about a year old, mine was basically eating the same foods we were at that point, just mashed up or diced smaller for safety. I couldn’t imagine giving her purées from a straw/spout at that age, where she couldn’t see or smell or chew anything.

Or am I not understanding what “pouches” are?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks everyone, I don’t have a group of mom friends so I wanted to make sure DD’s diet is within the normal range in terms of what’s being offered. She hasn’t been weighed for the last 5 months but a friend of mine recently remarked on how thin she is, and she eats much more when offered pouches only (which I’ve done a couple of times as a test) than when it’s a combo of home made stuff and pouches, or just homemade food. Also, I will try hummus - thanks for the suggestion!

You should get her weighed. Why hasn't she been to a doctor in that long?

Her pediatrician only does one well visit between 6 and 12 months (at 9 months) and because of COVID, they do only telehealth appointments unless a vaccine is needed or there’s a major issue. I would certainly have preferred a real visit at 9 months. Luckily, lots of vaccines needed at 12 months so I will get her weighed then.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a mistake not to include salt.

At every telehealth appointment, I do ask whether I can add salt and gerbil a stern “no.”

Just give your baby table food.

Really. That’s a lot healthier than the sugar bomb of pouches.

At 11 months you can give her normal food. It’s okay for babies to eat food with salt. Mine ate everything and I noticed that foods that were flavorless were often rejected. That could be your problem. Give her seasoned broccoli to chew on, asparagus sticks, mashed potatoes (seasoned the way you eat it), sweet potatoes, everything! Try it! I did baby-led weaning and was shocked at the variety of foods my baby would eat if given a chance! (She also rejected all non-sugary pures btw)

Is*

Hi op, you are right on the salt, no added salt before 12 months but then you can start to add it in slowly. I agree with others that you should definitely take her for a well visit, that’s very recommended right now for all children even with Covid. I would also recommend continuing to offer finger foods along with the pouches as using them sometimes is totally fine, but exploring the texture is harder with pouches so it’s great to offer other things as well. Even if she doesn’t eat them right away that’s okay - your job is to keep offering her a variety of items and her job is to choose what of those choices and how much of it to eat, no pressure from you. But one of the keys is to keep offering. Don’t assume just because she didn’t eat something once she doesn’t like it. This is true through toddlerhood and continuing exposure is one of the best things you can do to combat pickiness over time. One day my son won’t even look at something on his plate and 3 days later he’ll ask for thirds. You never know. Many kids at 11 months are veering more towards finger foods, but some kids do take a little longer.

I would recommend following kids eat in color on Instagram and maybe feeding littles. They have some really good approaches to exposure to a variety of foods. Watch kids eat in colors highlights.

Feeding it hard! Just keep working on it and she’ll keep exploring more and more