Throughout our weaning journey I’ve been trying the Piccolo range with Bear and I wanted to share my thoughts on the Mediterranean inspired pouches.
When I was pregnant with Bear I was unsure how I would wean him. Would we go for purees or baby led weaning? Would I make my own again or buy jars and pouches?
One thing we did know was we would always give him variety. Variety of flavours, textures, colours. I wanted to make sure I couldn’t blame myself if anything was to go wrong with weaning, and we’d have another selective eater on our hands.
I also knew I wasn’t going to be strict. I’m not one for joining ‘teams’. I’m all about whatever makes you and them happy, and I’m all about convenience.
If I decided to go down the BLW route would I banish spoons from my house? Absolutely not. If I decided to start with purees would I turn my nose up at jars and pouches. Nope. I tried making my own food with Lamb, and although the first 4-5 months went really well, I threw away A LOT of puree that he refused to eat when the selective eating kicked in.
With all this in mind I knew when it was time to wean Bear I would keep an open mind and just go with the flow. In the end, I knew we would be combination feeding him, because that’s what works for us.
When Piccolo got in touch and asked if I’d like to try their new range of pouches it made total sense to say yes. This way I had a lovely selection of flavours to offer Bear alongside finger food.
Piccolo kindly sent us a section of parcels full with pouches over the last few months. some of which have become favourites with Bear.
One thing I knew we would do when weaning began was to start with finger foods rather than just purees. About a week before he turned 6 months, Bear had his first food. A banana. He loved it.
We then introduced porridge for breakfast and it was here where he first tried Piccolo foods.
Stage 1
From the stage 1 selection Bear really loved the Banana, Blueberry & Apple, and the Peach & Apple when mixed in porridge. I started off with a small amount and built it up for him to get used to the flavours. I’ve now started reducing the amount of sweet flavours he has as we get further into weaning. Once he’s at a stage where he’s eating 3 proper meals a day, I’ll let him have the stage 1 pouches as a pudding.
The Cherry & Yoghurt is a perfect breakfast or pudding alternative.
From the more savoury flavours he really loved the Sweet Potato, Beetroot, Apple & Pear. In fact, the first time he tried it he finished a whole pouch!
To mix things up I added extra veggies to some of the stage 1 pouches. Above I’ve added steamed broccoli to the Sweet Potato and Beetroot pouch and he really enjoyed it.
Things like grated cheese, spaghetti, ham, chicken, peas and sweetcorn are all great finger foods when you’re in the early stages of weaning. Bear also loves cheese on toast, avocado, blueberries, mashed potato and sausage.
We’ve tried to go into weaning with a ‘let him try anything’ approach and so far it seems be going well. I’ll be honest, I’m still worried he’s going to turn out like his brother. He’s not eating as much as he did a couple of months ago, and there are days he doesn’t eat at all.
Stage 2
Now that he’s older we’re on the stage 2 pouches. He has 2 favourites. Sweet Potato & Beef Ragu and Sweet Tomato & Ricotta Spaghetti. These are my go to pouches for days where I don’t have time to cook, I’m low on options or we are out and about.
Overall I’m really impressed with the Piccolo range. They are a little more prices than other baby food available, but I love the flavour they offer and the story behind the brand.
The Piccolo range is available from Asda, Waitrose and Ocado.
If you’re about to start weaning, or are in stage 1 or 2, I definitely recommend Piccolo.
~A~
Read more weaning posts here.
*I was sent these product free of charge for the purpose of this review. All opinions and words are my own.
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