Spoon vs Pouch is a hot topic at the moment in the baby food industry. This has mainly come from the abundance of convenient baby food pouches that bubs can suck on. Parents have enjoyed the ease of this option but research is clearly indicating that spoon feeding your baby should be the preferred choice. While this isn't always achievable it is good to be aware of the reasons why we should take the time to use a spoon when feeding bubs.
Here's why at Petite Eats we encourage spoon feeding.
SPOONS
- Helps baby to learn to chew
- Encourages development of oral muscles needed for speech and verbal skills
- Allows for baby to take breaks between bites
- Baby can progress to more textured foods
- Encourages independence, motor skills and hand/eye co ordination
- Baby can explore sensory experiences as they can see, touch and smell their food
- Improves interaction between you and your baby
- Less rick of choking
- HAVE FUN WITH FOOD
POUCHES
- Delays the development of the natural chewing action and oral muscles
- Difficult to control intake therefore increasing the risk of over-eating
- Prevents important progression to more textured food
- Reduces important interaction between you and your baby
- Pouches remove sensory experiences as they don't get a chance to smell, touch or even see what they are eating
- Increased risk of choking as food can be sucked into the lungs
By no means are we saying never give your baby a pouch to suck on, we just think it is good to keep this in mind and when you can spoon feed take the time to do so as it is really is so much more enjoyable for both parties.
Petite Eats includes a biodegradable spoon with every package to help make life on the go that little bit easier.