If the cartoonist HM Bateman were still with us today, he would undoubtedly
have turned his caustic eye to modern motherhood. What a rich vein of satire
there is to be explored: the woman who breast-fed on the Tube; the woman who
used disposable nappies at a National Childbirth Trust tea party...
The question of baby feeding is perhaps the most emotive of all, as I saw last
week. Admittedly, an organic cafe in Stoke Newington is not the wisest place
to be seen with Cow & Gate, but did the mother who opened a jar of baby
food in Fresh & Wild really deserve the sharp intake of breath and
disapproving stares?
Some parents insist that jarred baby food, with its pale-brown colour and
uniform, caramelised taste, verges on gastronomic abuse; others declare that
with nutritional standards laid down by the government, specially designed
commercial baby food might be even healthier than homemade meals, as well as
being safe, convenient and quick.
As if the debate wasn’t already complicated enough, a new group has emerged
that believes puréed food, homemade or bought, is bad for babies.
Aficionados of babyled weaning – led by Gill Rapley, deputy programme
director of Unicef’s Baby Friendly Initiative – believe babies should be fed
nothing but breast milk until they are six months old, then should be
started on finger food to stop them becoming fussy eaters who reject
anything lumpy.
Confused or not, one thing is certain: British mothers buy an awful lot of
prepared baby food. The worldwide baby-food market has more than doubled in
two years, increasing from £4.7 billion in 2003 to £10.5 billion in 2005. As
a result, hundreds of yummy-mummy brands have sprung up to cater for the
demand, and plenty of celebrities have jumped on the bandwagon.
Britney Spears, for instance, is such a fan of commercial baby food, she was
eating her son’s organic baby biscuits during her second pregnancy. Victoria
Beckham fed her offspring Babylicious, while Elizabeth Hurley announced her
intention of retiring from acting to produce her own baby-food range. But
making ready-prepared food taste good is not easy, says Annabel Karmel,
whose recently launched Make Your Own range includes sauces to which
home-cooked food can be added. “The sterilisation process for jars requires
baby food to be heated to a high degree, and that destroys much of the
taste.” she explains.
“I wouldn’t be seen dead with a jar,” scoffs the chef Adam Byatt, of the
Clapham gastro-mecca Trinity. When his son Jack, now 3, was a baby, Byatt’s
feeding technique was to blend anything he was eating and freeze it. “Now
Jack is a phenomenally good eater,” he says. “In France last month, we
shared a plate of oysters and snails. I’m sure that’s down to exposing him
to those flavours from the beginning.”
As a father of six and the executive director of the Alliance for Natural
Health, Dr Robert Verkerk is at the sharp end of the debate. His approach is
pleasantly pragmatic. If he’s heading off on a long journey with his brood,
even he snatches a packet of Plum Baby. “It’s head and shoulders above the
rest in terms of nutrients,” he says. But in general, he says, homemade is
best. “Nobody should use processed food as their baby’s primary source of
nutrition, because it’s always going to give an insufficient diversity of
flavour, nutrients and textures.” In fact, while experts may quibble about
the relative green merits of washable v disposable nappies, it seems that
there is a consensus on the superiority of home-cooked food to even the
poshest bought baby cuisine.
It is significant that Daylesford, Lady Bamford’s organic-food business, has
quietly dropped its line of baby purées. “If you’re the sort of person who
goes to Daylesford in the first place,” says an insider, “aren’t you going
to be the sort of person who makes your baby’s food from scratch?”
WHAT YOUR CHOICE SAYS ABOUT YOU
Tupperware box of veg-based finger food (scrubbed home-grown carrots,
organic broccoli spears). You are green-leaning, probably slightly older and
believe in babyled weaning. Your People Tree jeans are covered in drooled
apple chunks, as is your baby. Cost per mealExpensive, if you factor in all
the food that’s fallen to the floor. Available fromAbel & Cole,
which will deliver an Organic Baby Box of seasonal fruit and veg (containing
baby favourites such as avocado, bananas, sweet potatoes and strawberries)
for £10. Or dig it all out of your allotment.
Hipp Organic You are a young working mother with a job in the media and
a wardrobe from Issa. You don’t know how to work your veg steamer – and who
needs one, when jars contain vegetable, pork and apple roast dinner and
chocolate blancmange? Cost per meal Hipp Organic Pasta Italienne with ham,
about 70p. Available from Boots, Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose (pick it
up on the way home from work).
Plum Baby You are an alpha mother. Your baby had fish oil added to its
bottles of expressed breast milk. (You went back to work at the bank six
weeks after giving birth, but you long-distance breast-fed for the
recommended six months.) Now you allow the au pair to take Plum Baby pots on
excursions because they contain quinoa and organic superfoods for maximum
nutrition. Cost per mea lBeetroot and apple with artichoke, £1.99 for a
two-pot pack. Available from Ocado, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Graig Farm
Organics.
Cow & Gate You have neither the time nor the inclination to make
your baby’s food, or to angst about organics. You may well have a Croydon
face-lift and give your baby Ribena in its bottles. Cost per meal Cow &
Gate Baby Balanced Sunday Lunch, about 70p. Available fromTesco, Asda,
Somerfield, Morrisons, Boots, Sainsbury’s.
Heinz Mum’s Own You would like to feed your baby home-cooked
meals, but somehow you never get round to it. Knowing that these recipes
were created by other mums gives you a nice cosy feeling. Even so, you are
riddled with guilt, live in the suburbs and work part time. Cost per meal
Pasta with chicken, peach and peppers, about 65p. Available from Asda,
Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Boots.
Babylicious You have a Chelsea tractor and got back into your Seven
jeans two weeks after giving birth. You are also extremely busy – facials,
shopping, lunch with the girls – so have no time to make your own baby food.
Instead, you pass off Babylicious’s efforts as your own. Cost per meal
Creamy salmon and broccoli mornay, and cod and vegetables, about £4 per pack
of 20 frozen cubes. Available from Kitchen Monkey, Asda, Budgens, Ocado.
Annabel Karmel acolyte You are a full-time yummy mummy with groomed
hair, a husband in property and a well-thumbed copy of Karmel’s Feeding Your
Baby & Toddler cookbook on the bookshelf. You carry a bright plastic
lunchbox that contains homemade mini pizzas, decorated to look like rabbits,
and red pepper cut into star shapes. This is lunch as art. Cost per meal
Huge, if you factor in the time you spend with pastry-cutters. Available
from Any kitchen with a full-size Aga in it.
As a working dad I have both frozen and pureed on an industrial scale and bought frozen organic baby food ( from truuuly scrumptious which was brilliant) beige jars never appealed but plum baby and ella's kitchen were invaluable on days out. we bought in bulk from kiddieskitchen.co.uk.
richard, Tavistock,
Thanks to all the mum's about your exp. i am a mother of a lovely daughter lakisha who is 4 months and two week. At this stage i was tempeted to start weaning on speciouly jar baby food, but what all the mothers needs to learn and to know and also to understand is what clare said (what kind if vegtable have a shelflife of two years
All mothers think about it before you start feeding its worth doing it yourself
coco stratford london, united kingdom
coco, stratford, london
I would never give my child Jar food. You tell me what vegtables have a shelf life of 2 year? It makes me question what they actually put into the jars to make then last this long.. I use Annabel Karmel book and work full time. This is by far in my opinion the best way to wean your baby.
Clare, Buckingham,
I am a healthcare professional and a mother. I realise what a media minefield it is for parents when choosing foods for their babies. The Department of Health Guidelines are to wean from six months and lumpy foods introduced after the first weeks of smooth foods. All children are different and wean in different ways but generally at around six months a child can sit with good head control and have the cognitive and physical ability to feed themselves. A balanced diet is what we all need and how do you know what a manufacturer puts in that jar really? Both rickets and iron deficiency anaemia are on the increase and the reason is poor eating habits. Jars are just convenience food in reality, and as with adults should be limited where possible. Cooking your own food and sauces is cheaper than baby jars and packets anyway baby food manufacturers abuse labelling laws and are out to make money - its a business. If baby foods are so good for them why are so many overweight who eat them?
Michelle Sears, Blackburn, Lancs, England
Please do your research more thoroughly before printing this kind of damaging article in future. If you'd looked into things properly, you'd have realised that the new Cow & Gate Baby Balance jar range is significantly higher in quality, texture and taste than both Heinz and Hipp. Do you also realise that baby food ingredients have almost identical restrictions to organic. Both my babies have eaten a wide range of products, and my 8 month old son would choose Cow & Gate any day over my cooking! I hasten to add that I sport neither a Croydon face lift, or feed Ribena. Although these generalisations are vaguely amusing, facts would serve your reader better than cheap jokes. As for Liz Hurley launching a range of baby food - I find that it's an odd career choice for someone who doesn't eat for a living.
Nicole John, London, United Kingdom
What a ridiculous article. I feed my baby a variety of things. Sometimes she has homemade, somtimes she has jars. I even give her things like FISH FINGERS!!!!!!!!!! I know, I must be an awful mother. Judge me, why don't you?
TRP, Shropshire,
According to your article I should be feeding my baby Heinz! I'm 21 and a full time mother to 2 young boys (2 years and 6 months). My oldest was fed home-made pureed food, he had a medical reason why i couldn't feed him anything but, my youngest however is fed the BLW way, he's loving this, as am I. I work part time in a job i can take my children with me, yes i live in the suburbs but OH DEAR i'm a young mum who advocates BLW and also uses cloth nappies. No i'm not a new age hippy, just a normal mother who would do anything for her children and i firmly believe this is the right way to bring up my children! I find this article quite offensive if i'm truthfull and it reads as if it hasn't really been given much thought other then to put mothers down. As is clearly stated at the begining motherhood is a minefield so why does the author of the above article feel the need for critisizing us for believing we're doing right!
K Blackley, Haywards Heath, West Sussex
It's not just aficionados of babyled weaning who believe babies should be fed nothing but breast milk until they are six months old. The Dpt of Health and WHO guidelines recommend that babies are breast [or bottle]fed exclusively for 6 mths. Solids are an extra & baby will continue to get most of it's nourishment from milk for some timeto come. There is v little extra cost in feeding your baby family foods & it's little trouble to ensure that a portion of food is removed before adding any salt, I know, I did it with my children 20 years ago so it's not a new idea. Good quality jarred food might be handy when travelling, most of us have to do differently when are out and about. Many have freezers,and if we are going to be eating food with ingredients which are not recommended for infants it doesn't take long to freeze some more suitable food in advance. The article is patronising & insulting to mothers. What is so revolutionary about a baby having real food like the rest of us.
H Butler, Bedford,
The easiest way to feed a baby solids is to wait until the baby is showing readiness. This occurs between 5 and 7 months of age, and is manifested by the baby's trying to grab food out of the parent's plate or even reaching into the parent's mouth to get the food (babies are often sitting on a parent's lap while the parent is eating). So the baby should just be given the food the parent is eating. No need for special preparation, though a bit of mashing can make it easier for the baby. So, in essence, the parent says to the baby "You have graduated from breastfeeding exclusively, you now eat food as well, our food and you have passed a milestone.". If the parents' diet is balanced and healthful, it's perfectly good for the baby. The baby can eat anything, with few exceptions (round slippery things).
Jack Newman, Toronto, Canada