Puffs = baby junk food?

[ladygrey]

DD got a container of puffs in her Christmas stocking from the grandparents. However, I read that some people claim that puffs are the equivalent of baby junk food, and now I'm wondering if introducing a processed snack this early (6 months) isn't a great idea. We are doing a mix of BLW and purees right now, but she's only had single ingredient foods (fruits, veggies, chicken) so far.

Do you give puffs as an occasional treat, frequent snack, or not at all? Are certain brands/types (i.e. organic/natural) better than others? Are there other "snacky" baby foods that you would recommend (mum-mums, yogurt melts, etc.), or is it better to steer clear of these processed foods early on?

[MadamePresident]

I don't think puffs are bad. They are soft, melt easy and the baby can learn how to pick things up with a pincher grasp. I think they are pretty equivalent to Cheerios.

I probably wouldn't give them to a 6 month old, but would give to slightly older baby, so they could practice feeding them self.

[arch01]

DS had puffs starting at about 6 months. I'd feed those before yogurt melts, just because the yogurt melts are somewhat high in sugar.

I'm far from strict about processed food though...

[6fsn]

I'm ok with them, but I'm not an authority. It can teach them to pick things up. I think a serving size is something like 81 puffs. My 5 yo wouldn't even eat that many in one sitting.

[Brie]

They're not the most nutritionally perfect food, sure, but they do help develop pincer grasp, chewing and swallowing, and eye hand coordination so IDGAF. I don't give them anymore because he can eat regular food just fine and it's cheaper.

On the scale of things my kid will eat in his lifetime, puffs are pretty harmless. You don't really give puffs to fill the kid up, they're kind of a training food.

[Deleted]

Puffs aren't a big deal IMO. They are good for teaching them how to feed themselves and good to occupy them when you are out to eat or need them to sit still for a few minutes.

[Deleted]

I agree with the above. Puffs are excellent at developing pincer grasp, teaching baby she can feed herself and buying me time to prepare the actual meal. Plus a serving size of puffs is something ridiculous like 78 pieces. I'm not worried about the 6 she's getting before her meal.

[Deleted]

Everything on the internet is junk food for babies.
I let my kid have them. Not as a meal but more of as a "I need to unpack the dishwasher, sit in your chair and practice feeding yourself."
I let her have yogurt melts too.

Like a pp said..out of all the things this is no big deal. I was also really good about making sure she had solid balanced meals the rest of the time.

[ssmjlm]

LOL I think the serving size for puffs is like 1/2 a cup and E has yet to get anywhere near that. We started them a month or so ago to help with pincher grasp.

[Deleted]

DD ate puffs by the bucketful early on. They helped her a lot with coordination and they're pretty much air so no biggie IMO. They may be processed, but have very few ingredients. They also allowed me to get a lot accomplished while she sat happily in the high chair now she eats Cheerios because she can chew much better.

But my kid also eats pizza, French fries and Stromboli so I'm not exactly MOTY.

[brooklyn]

I hope they're not bad! My 7.5 month old loves them (and Cheerios) because he can feed them to himself easily. I get the fruit and veggie ones to try to get a little more flavor variety into him.

[grosnl19]

We gave them at 11 months for the first time as they don't have them here (Europe). DD just gets them when we are out of the house. We alternate them and Cherrios, we import both from the States :-)

[ladygrey]

Thanks for all the feedback. It will be good to have a quick, non-messy snack available and, like many of you said, the serving size is so huge that it's really no big deal for the few puffs consumed. I also forgot that they are great for developing that pincer grasp.

[Deleted]

Dec 30, 2013 10:35:38 GMT -5 @vicmo said:

Is there any reason to go with puffs vs Cheerios? We have a giant box of Cheerios already and DS plays with them now...he maybe eats 5 per day, and only if we help him get them in his mouth. He just gums them around until they soften enough to swallow.

For me, it was that puffs dissolve so fast. I felt much more comfortable being able to just kind of let her sit while I did other things in the kitchen. When we started with Cheerios, I had to keep a close eye on her at first. But I think it varies from kid to kid. DD was constantly trying to swallow things whole when she first started solids. I didn't trust her one bit

[thebreakfastclub]

DS was not super interested in puffs long-term. He played around with picking them up, but once his pincer grasp improved, the puffs craze was over and he moved on to other snacks. He also had more teeth than average though.

DH finished off the can one night in front of the TV. I don't think they are a big deal at all, like most things honestly.

[Deleted]

J had puffs starting around d 6 mos. They aren't fantastic nutritionally but they did help develop pincer grasp, feeding himself etc. He doesn't have them anymore but they were also a great thing to have in the diaper bag. Recently, my kid turned down a Christmas cookie, cake, and a french fry in favor of spinach and pumpkin pouches, not even any fruit in them, raisins, and broccoli, several times over the holidays so the puffs must not have ruined him too bad

[Deleted]

Dec 30, 2013 10:38:30 GMT -5 @ojo said:

They're not great, but it was a trade off I was willing to take so I could plop them in their high chairs with puffs for a snack and know they wouldn't choke while I was throwing dinner together. Months 10-12 were big puffs months for us because they wanted snacks but still weren't great chewers.

We had a big road trip this past week and I let the kids eat puffs in the car while I drove. Again, because they dissolve easily and I trust they won't choke on them while they're in their car seats.

I offered my kids fried chicken strips at a fast food restaurant. They refused to eat them and ate apple slices instead, so I'm sure the kids weren't ruined by eating puffs.

Haha I just posted a similar thing about J turning down junk.

[justjen]

L could/would eat the entire container if we let her. So we just do it as an occasional treat. She's had them twice so far-- one on a plane ride when we were bribing her into being quiet, and another in her Christmas stocking.

[docholly]

I am on team "Puffs are ok."  I think puffs are a safe, dissolvable food to practice the pincher grasp with.  As a first time mom with ODS, they eased my mind.  Plus, they are portable and non-messy.  They are basically like eating air, so they aren't for filling your child up, more for keeping them busy while you are preparing their food or waiting in a restauarant.  My child will eat far worse things than puffs I imagine, so I try not to worry about it. 

[dcn]

I think they are fine, like everything in moderation. I never really bought them bc i think they are kind of expensive for what they are, i just give cheerios instead once he didnt need them to dissolve instantly.

[CloudBee]

We gave them early on so he could practice grasping food. We've stopped serving most baby snacks, aside from the occasional Plum brand pumpkin rice bars. Those are good when he's teething.

Now for puff sized snack food we give Cheerios, freeze dried corn, blueberries, and peas.

I bought a 3 pack of puffs on Amazon. One is still in the car for snack emergencies, he went through one on vacation, and another got consumed verrry slowly.

We've avoided yogurt melts. Those seem like baby candy. And they are stick as heck once they get wet. (I bought some to taste for myself and never served them.)

[hski2349]

They are a quick easy snack on the run or in the house. You are not giving as a meal, so I would not worry about it.

[catwithspots]

Dec 30, 2013 10:21:16 GMT -5 Brie said:

They're not the most nutritionally perfect food, sure, but they do help develop pincer grasp, chewing and swallowing, and eye hand coordination so IDGAF. I don't give them anymore because he can eat regular food just fine and it's cheaper.

On the scale of things my kid will eat in his lifetime, puffs are pretty harmless. You don't really give puffs to fill the kid up, they're kind of a training food.

Exactly this! Puffs is more of a training item to help certain skills develop.  I would place DD in her high chair and sprinkle puffs on the tray.  She would be entertained by trying to pinch that I could start dinner.  See...puffs are better then TV

[badtzmaru22]

Just chiming in to say don't get Plum Organics brand. The ones we had were blueberry and something, and they turned into a big purple mess. The Gerber brand and some others are not colored.

We liked them for entertaining DD until the real food came while eating out.

[galaxy8227]

DS will still eat puffs if they around--he started them around 7 months I think.

[Deleted]

Wasn't there a great Puffs debate about a year ago? That's all I've got. My first kid ate them; my second will too.

[Deleted]

They're junk, but at least they're junk that's high in iron.

DS only has them now because he steals them off other kids in church, so I bought him his own for the diaper bag. DD will probably have a few, but I generally offer Cheerios and puffed wheat because they're cheaper and not sugar cereal.

[drloretta]

LOL, DH joked that Puffs were the ultimate dieter's food. You could eat a whole can of vitamin- and mineral-fortified air for maybe 80 calories.

DD lived on them for about a year. I hated the maple syrup ones, she inhaled the cheese ones as often as we'd give them to her

[SusanBAnthony]

My kids loooooved them. When dd was having them around age 9-12 months, DS would steal them as often as he could, lol.

I do think they are junk, but they are useful junk. We didn't use them at home (fed "real" food at home) mostly because when you care giving your baby a small handful, and your 3 year old finishes the rest of the canister, they get expensive.  But we used the crap out of them for entertainment at restaurants, in the car, when they had to be stuck in to stroller, etc.

If you can stand the mess, my kids favorite thing was was to dump them all over the floor and eat them straight off the floor. It makes them taste better .