My hippy chick nine year old hooked on Hipp fruit! (Hipp Organic First Tastes Apple and Banana)

Member Name: Cutecandy

Product:	Hipp Organic First Tastes Apple and Banana
Date:	09/11/09 (76 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You know what you're getting and its goodness

Disadvantages: Pricey

** Baby food? - we thought you were older that that! **
Tis true - I am past my early motherhood stage but I have an experience of Hipp baby food to share nonetheless:

My lovely nine year old daughter recently succumbed to a violent stomach migraine which after four days and nights of hourly vomiting, left her in hospital on re-hydration and all kinds of other fancy drip-ware. I'll spare you the full sob story as you are really here, I assume, to read about baby food, but just to put my review in context: my little girl (Bee for short!) lost a great deal of weight very suddenly and was unable to tolerate food for nearly a fortnight. Understandably at this age it was somewhat distressing (even if we did draw the curtains round the bed; pin sheets across the chairs and pretend we were camping!!) and Bee for a short while developed a fear of eating solid food.
The hospital were great and drip fed her essentials and offered complan type substances but Bee struggled with the thought of anything with texture as she feared a re-run of the previous harrowing week. This is when I had my idea - baby food! Balanced nutrition with interesting enough tastes plus recognisable contents to get back to normal eating gradually.

And so off I waltzed off to the nearest supermarket and had fun in the baby aisles once again! (Admittedly a friend of mine had recently had a baby and I was feeling rather broody again - I quite enjoyed seeing the myriad of products on offer) Having read nearly all the labels in the shop I settled on:
HIPP First Organic Apple and Banana.

** WHY? **
Firstly this baby food is free from a great deal of things - I was looking for as pure a product as possible in the same way as I would be if my daughter had been sampling her first foods as a baby.
This jar is:

GM Ingredient Free
Milk Free
Soya Free
Wheat Free
Egg Free
Gluten Free
Nut Free
Suitable for Vegans
Suitable for Vegetarians
So having established what's not in it, what is in it?

Organic fruits (100%) [apples (77%), bananas (23%)], antioxidant ascorbic acid.
So, that's fruit plus vitamin - gotta be good news. In my case it was important that Bee knew she was eating apples and bananas in order to get used to the fact that her body was accepting these normal healthy foods again. In the same way, as a parent if you include everyday fruits in your child's weaning you are more likely to take them as normal and continue beyond weaning.

The fruit is well and truly pureed - no chance of any lumps that might shock a newly weaning baby or cause a reflex gag in Bee. Hipp suggest that when your little one is ready you can mix the puree with a little baby rice "for a more adventurous meal"! In this way you can develop the texture gradually and prepare for the next stage of more lumpy fare. (After all school dinners will be lumpy enough - better get used to it!!) This is a stage one baby food - the Hipp website has a handy table of products for each gradiated stage of weaning
http://www.hipp.co.uk/products/stage-1-for-start- of-weaning /jars/apple-and-banana-puree

and the jar itself bears a bright 1 sign to ensure you are purchasing the correct product.

** Taste? **

Unusual to be able to ask the consumer's opinion on the taste of a baby food but in this case we could. Bee described it as very fruity! She could recognise the apple flavour and the scented fruit of another kind.(Interestingly enough she does not like bananas in the raw but really enjoyed them here - must be a texture thing!) She described the taste as sweet in a not too sugary way.
I remember feeding fruit purees to my babies and wondering if I was giving them a sweet tooth. My health visitor said that babies were naturally fairly sweet toothed since breast milk is sweetish and that these were nothing like manufactured sugar. Bee confirmed this but said that they were very pleasant. Of course, I had to try it too and must admit it was rather tasty!

** Price? **
125g jar of Apple and Banana set me back 60p each. In my case this was a few pounds very well spent but it could build up to quite a price if you used these every meal time. The jars are incredibly well sealed though and the lids go back on the empty jar well, so they would be ideal for out and about feeding or as an extra in your handbag (for you or tot!!)

** Availability? **
Most supermarkets now stock the full Hipp range. Once again the website comes up trumps with a list of retailers and even has help for when you are abroad.

** Why this brand? **
There is something about the HIPP brand that makes you feel secure. The emphasis on organic means that you are not pumping your tot with nasties as far as possible and, though this can't continue all their developing lives, at a stage when you and they are especially vulnerable this security counts for a great deal.

The jar design is attractive; lots of information supplied and a lot of effort has gone into making accessible recipes you will feel comfortable with.
Other Hipp food products include:
mixed fruits; breakfast; savoury and dessert jars from 6 months to 15 months.
Bee, you'll be pleased to know, soon recovered both strength and appetite and has returned to her normal healthy and varied diet. She laughs at the though of us eating baby food in our hospital tent .... and every now and again we treat ourselves to a jar of apple and banana baby puree on top of our ice cream...... but don't tell anyone!

Summary: Good for baby - any left and it's good for you too!