How much processed food to you give your LO? Be honest please!!!

[minichicky]

I dont normally post threads like about other people but am a bit worried about a good friend.
Her LO turned one last month and although Im not totally strict on what I give Isaac, he very rarely has any processed food. Fish fingers maybe once a fortnight but pretty much eeverything else is home made. Her are some of the things I remember her mentioning he has had, all in the last month

Fish fingers
Chicken dippers
Dairylea lunchables
dolmio pasta sauce
frozen fish in sauce
fish paste from a jar
chicken paste from a jar
Adult crisps, skips, quavers etc

She has the attitude, we eat it so its ok for him but I really am worried about how much salt etc these things have in them. Ive not said anything to her as they may be perfectly fine and its me just thinking too much but I wouldnt dream of feeding half that!!!

Do you think Im being too strict with what I give Isaac or do you think I should try and mention it to her??

 

[jaybee]

I give Tobi the odd bit of processed food. But I always look at the salt content and choose the lowest possible. He doesn't have jar sauces, but he does have spagehetti hoops etc (he loves the tomato sauce) and so quite often use this as the base sauce and add lots of extra things in.
Good quality fish fingers and chicken dippers, without the breadcrumbs are actually quite good, the salt is in the crumbs mainly.
Wouldn't recommend too many adult crisps... becasue of the salt, especially as there are toddler crisps on the market now. (I am always moaning at my OH for giving Tobi crisps)
HTH. x

 

[MNORBURY]

If I'm honest I probably give Evie more than I should but she is a totally rubbish eater and I'd rather her eat someting than nothing (even though she doesn't eat it half the time!). Maybe your friends lo won't eat anything either.

Are the fish fingers and chicken dippers not ok if they are 100% meat?

Evie generally eats Ellas kitchen puches but I do try her with 'processed, foods

 

[Lucy22]

I avoid it as much as I can, but sometimes its hard if I'm in a rush.
Not sure weather or not some of these are classed as processed foods but I'll put them down anyway :

Pasta sauce (usually dolmio)
Frozen Peas/Sweetcorn
Chicken Nuggets (very very rarely)

Thats all I can think of, she isn't allowed have junk food, apart from chocolate buttons once a week.
She's a good eater though, she'd prefer pasta with sauce/potato and veg to chicken nuggets or burgers, so thats why she rarely has them.
When I give her anything processed I check the meat content (especially in sausages), salt/sugar content and fat.
OH and I are always eating naughty things, but we have them while shes in bed as we don't want to set a bad example. Young kids aren't able to digest much processed food anyways, it can't be good for the digestive system.
That does sound like quite a lot of processed food though, I don't blame you for being worried

 

[sabby52]

Dec eats alot !!! but then he eats alot of really healthy food to. But then Dec is nearly 4 so a big difference in age, when he was one he ate some but not as much as I would allow him to eat now. I know bad mummy, but as far as I am aware he is happy and healthy so I am a Happy mummy

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Only fish fingers and potato smileys / waffles really, Ruby has those for tea once a week and I'm happy that there's nothing wrong with that. I've checked salt content and she's never over her limit.

I never do jar sauces, she doesn't like baked beans or spaghetti hoops. If she liked the beans / hoops I'd be fine giving those once per week.

If OH is eating crisps at the weekend, Ruby has literally one or two. I'd never give her her own bag of adult crisps, and am always quite surprised when I see people giving their babies / toddlers quavers and wotsits etc, however maybe they are not as high in salt as I imagine, I must admit i don't actually know and always give Ruby Plum or Organix crispy things.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Oh and Lucy22 - definitely wouldn't count frozen veg as processed food. It's just as good as fresh. In fact sometimes it's better, as it tends to be frozen quickly after picking and not left to hang around

 

[aimee-lou]

Earl does have crisps - 1 or 2 from a pack or Organix goodies if we have them in. He loves fish fingers so we do have those in the freezer and he has them maybe once per week. We buy all our meat otherwise from the butchers so it's all un-processed. He does have ham, corned beef and pate for sandwiches.

Desserts are probably the worst for us as he loves fromage frais so has them pretty much every day. He has cereals but they're usually plain (ie not chocolate or frosted). He has toast, crumpets, bagels and english muffins in moderation too. Beans and spaghetti hoops are also in the cupboard for the occassional meal.

Obviously these are all toddler portions and it's all in moderation - most of our meals are home cooked nowadays though and Earl is rather partial to a stirfry or or bit of curry with rice and homemade naans lol. He loves fruit, some veg, and will pretty much eat anything you put in front of him.....so we're all happy.

 

[minichicky]

Oh and Lucy22 - definitely wouldn't count frozen veg as processed food. It's just as good as fresh. In fact sometimes it's better, as it tends to be frozen quickly after picking and not left to hang around

totally agree with that one. Nearly all our veg is frozen! We always have brocolli, peas, sweetcorn, babycorn, peppers and mushrooms at least in the freezer!!!

Thanks for all your input ladies. I think I might be just being too paranoid about what I give Isaac but I am happy with what he has so think Ill just leave us as we are and not say anything to my friend.
He does have tinned beans and spaghetti as well but the kids low salt low sugar versions.
I rememeber when I was first weaning I got so confused and paraniod about sugar levels when I looked and saw how much sugar a 100% fruit pot had i asked the health visitor and she basically said as long as its age appropriate.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

ooh dear I didn't count fromage frais, I guess they are processed Ruby has ones with no added sugar though.
We buy our bread from a bakery that doesn't use any crap in its products.
Cereals Ruby has the least rubbishy ones.

 

[jenny_wren]

to be honest not alot

i use jarred sauces for pasta, curry etc
most meat and fish i freeze myself

she loves crisps and sweets but she only
has them round nanny's because nanny
doesn't listen to me so she has them
once a week on a weekend

if we have a take away which is about
once a month i'll give her some of what we're
eating but generally she just eats alot of
fruit and veg, she's not fussed on meat so
we make it up with cheese and dairy

i also buy pre-made pasta if that counts
and she eats that quite often with jarred
sauces or cheese etc

her diet consists of grapes, cereal, toast/sandwhichs
pasta, rice, cheese and broccoli, they're her favourites
well apart from the kinder eggs and crisps nanny buys lol

​

 

[shiawase]

The only healthy thing liam will eat are bananas! I offer him fruit and vege everyday and it gets left on his plate. So now i make him cupcakes with lots of fresh blueberries or pear in them etc He has rice krispie multigrain shapes for breakfast or wholemeal toast with a small amount of butter and nutella, lunch will be fish fingers, beans or spagetti on toast or a jar of food and then dinner whatever we have, last night was chicken, new potatoes and carrots but he left the carrots! Snacks are biscuits (organic ones or 2 chocolate fingers) wotsits, quavers, organic puffs, bananas, those apple or pineapple crisp things, yogurts, milky bar buttons whatever we have in really!

I wish he would sit down to a plate full of cucumber, tomatoes and cheese chunks and then a fruit salad but he just wont! I dont worry too much about what he's eating he's healthy got lots of energy and is the right weight, im sure as he gets older he will accept the healthy foods i offer as he use to refuse banana but he loves them now!

 

[Mary Jo]

do you count breakfast cereal? that's processed, some types are obviously saltier/more sugary than others. or bread products - same. if you do, then Adam does have more processed foods than I'd ideally like. he has bread most days. cereal every day. baked beans once, maybe twice a week. frozen fish fingers or fish steaks once a week. fresh, good quality sausages once a week. potato waffles once a week, if that.

he rarely has sweets or crisps or chocolate. I don't even buy Organix snacks any more (he likes them but they're so expensive and he's just as happy with a plain ricecake or a dark rye ryvita - I swear I didn't give this to him, he found the packet and started eating, seems to love them). also I kind of think that a lot of the toddler/baby crisp type snacks make it so so easy to cross over the the adult ones, and I'd rather he didn't favour them.

he does like bought quiche. I have found one that's got a ridiculously low amount of salt, so I am happy for us to all have it once or twice a month, if I haven't been able to make my own. and flavoured fromage frais, which he has most days. and I don't mind him having decent quality organic ice cream once a week or so either. and bought malt loaf (which he loves and eats every day if I have it).

he won't eat pasta meals at the moment, so I'm not making them, but when I did it was never with jarred sauce as I prefer using tinned tomatoes and herbs.

fortunately he loves nearly all fruits and quite a lot of vegetables, and has some with every meal.

 

[OmarsMum]

Nothing. We don't eat processed food. I make my own sauces & chicken nuggets. He had a chicken nuggets happy meal 3 times since he was weaned & he was 14 + months. He eats plain yoghurt only. As for cereals, he only eats 7 cereals milupa baby cereals & it doesn't have much sugar. He doesn't like cakes, chocolates or crisps & he doesn't drink juice. If I have a lazy day I oven bake M&S fish cod fish fillet. I use frozenfrench fries but I have a philips air fryer that fries without oil. He likes nachos but he only eats 2-3 pieces from time to time.

We buy fresh bread from the bakery & he only eats pita bread.

 

[Pessimistic]

Not too strict with what my daughter eats as long as it is all in moderation (I try and get her to eat plenty of fruit to make up for veg as she won't eat it - just posted a thread about that!)
However some things are a no go, things like crisps, as in ones we eat like walkers, quavers etc I won't let her have, yes one or two but not a whole packet? She has those organix cheese & herb packets though which I take if I am going out as a snack or part of her lunch. Takeaways - wouldn't give them to lo, my friend came over for a chinese once and her daughter had a huge bowl of chinese with them (not much older than S), not something I'd personally do.
I don't see the problem with things like smilies, fish fingers etc? In moderation as I say.

 

[eddjanuary10]

Fish fingers (maybe once a week he is not too fond and prefers home made fish pie/fingers)

Baked beans (when I mix his veggies in the sauce he will eat them all!) 1-2 times a week.

Fromage frais- 2-4 per week usually out and about for a snack. If we at home he much prefers plain greek yoghurt

Potato waffle- very rarely

I think thats it? I don't mind as everything else I give him is homemade.

 

[leighbaby]

LO has whatever we have.

I make as many dinners myself as possible, but still have shop bought and take-aways.

LO has all the things he probably shouldn't except for sweets. Everything in moderation.

 

[bump_wanted]

Ollie does eat a beans quite a lot maybe 3 times a week but are they that bad?? Apart from that i tend to make pasta sauces for him he has real chicken fish is usually from fish fingers minus the breadcrumbs he has ahalf slice of toast a day weve started using natural yogurt i try to balance it by adding lots of veg to any dinner he has. Nothing makes me happier than him munching into mince and potatos xx

 

[bump_wanted]

Not too strict with what my daughter eats as long as it is all in moderation (I try and get her to eat plenty of fruit to make up for veg as she won't eat it - just posted a thread about that!)
However some things are a no go, things like crisps, as in ones we eat like walkers, quavers etc I won't let her have, yes one or two but not a whole packet? She has those organix cheese & herb packets though which I take if I am going out as a snack or part of her lunch. Takeaways - wouldn't give them to lo, my friend came over for a chinese once and her daughter had a huge bowl of chinese with them (not much older than S), not something I'd personally do.
I don't see the problem with things like smilies, fish fingers etc? In moderation as I say.

My friend gave ollie a couple prawn crackers while i was doing the washing up the other day and you shouldve seen his nappy the next day I dread to think what it wouldve been like if he had a plate iit cant be good!!

 

[Miss_Bump]

Evie will have fish fingers sometimes and baked beans. Thats about it really.

She really loves food so right now it's not a problem.

My brother gave her a bit of a chocolate digesive recently and she licked it amd threw it!

Thats my girl