Taking a Stance against Food Pouches
As a modern parent who inevitably juggles a busy schedule, eating on the run can seem necessary for survival. While grabbing a protein shake or smoothie instead of a sandwich can save time for you, there hasn’t been a way to speed our children through the eating process—until now.
In the early 2000s, food pouches hit the baby food market, but began to take off in more recent years. When introduced, the product was designed with squeeze ability and a little nozzle to simplify the food-to-spoon process for moms, allowing them to feed their babies more easily. As the pouches were more widely adopted, parents discovered how easily babies could suck the food directly out of the pouch. Now, your baby can take his or her food along for the ride, eliminating the need for traditional meal time.
Simplicity and ease can be a good thing for moms and babies, but here are a few reasons why we take a stance against the overuse of food pouches.
- The main reason, and perhaps the most important, is that food pouches are eaten by sucking—not chewing. It is critically important for children to eat from a spoon, chew, and swallow. Learning to eat is a process, and we don’t want to inhibit our little ones from effectively developing these essential growth milestones.
- In addition to the missed learning opportunity, food pouches take away from mommy (or daddy) and baby bonding time. Feeding your child is not supposed to always be a rushed affair. But rather, cultivating a family meal time encourages healthy eating habits that last.
- Children also need to learn about They need to see it, touch it, and taste it. Sucking the mashed-up food out of a pouch eliminates the tactile and visual process involved in eating. These missed connections can deter children from developing positive associations with the food they see and the food they like to eat.
So, what is a busy mother to do? Use food pouches when necessarily, but use them sparingly - when traveling for example - not daily. Helping parents make the right food choices for their babies is just one of the many reasons I began Bambinos Frozen Baby Food. You can view all of my nutritious and convenient food options by visiting my website: bambinosbabyfood.com. Our mission is simple—we develop real food parents can trust, and flavors children will love!