Squeeze pouches are all the rage among babies and toddlers (and parents) alike. They make eating fruits and veggies fun, they travel nicely, they can be squirted on top of yogurt or oatmeal, and they keep messes down to an absolute minimum. However, at around 35 cents an ounce, they can really put a dent in your wallet. They are also wasteful as you cannot reuse the store bought, pre-filled pouches. That's where reusable pouches come in.
After researching all the different brands and styles available, I decided to order a 4 pack of reusable pouches by Little Green Pouch. I decided on this brand for a few different reasons. First, the zipper style opening that is featured on most reusable pouches is located on the top rather than the bottom. This allows the bottom of the pouch to be able to flare out, giving the pouch a nice surface to stand on. The opening at the top also decreases the risk of accidental opening (which has never happened thus far). Second, I liked that these pouches were the collapsable bag-style pouches I was already used to. Some of the reusable pouches on the market aren't really pouches at all and are more like a silicone or plastic bottle with a spout on it. Reviewers of such pouches all agreed that the design made it hard to squeeze out all of its contents and that smaller children had a hard time using them. Finally, I chose these pouches because they are freezer-safe, dishwasher-safe, and durable. They were a little on the pricy side, averaging $5 per pouch, however, after just four uses per pouch, they will have paid for themselves.
6 oz reusable squeeze pouch by Little Green Pouch
Reusable pouches can be filled with a variety of things such as pureed fruits and veggies, smoothies, yogurt, or pudding. Making your own fruit and vegetable purees is easy, healthy, and cheap. I like to freeze pureed fruits and veggies into freezer trays (you can read about making and preserving baby food with freezer trays HERE). Each resulting cube is exactly one ounce and makes blending flavors easy by simply defrosting a few different cubes together. Once defrosted (either by being transferred to the fridge overnight or by using the microwave), the mixture can easily be spooned into the pouch. Another option is skip the freezer trays all together and to put the prepared puree straight into the pouch then into the freezer. Frozen pouches can be defrosted in a bowl of warm water. They also can be tossed into a lunch bag in the morning and by lunchtime, they will be perfectly defrosted.
From left to right: blueberries, strawberries, carrots, apples
Frozen fruit and veggie purees kept in the freezer
Clean up is a breeze as long as you remember to do it soon after the pouch has been emptied. Simply rinse it out then use a bottle brush and dish soap to scrub the inside as well as the spout. These pouches say that they are dishwasher safe (and they are) but the dishwasher will not get these clean. Food will be left in the corners and dirty dishwasher water will be pooled on the bottom of the pouch. If you are unable to clean your pouch immediately, then the best thing to do is to rinse out all excess food then fill the pouch with warm soapy water. Seal the pouch and let it soak like this until you can get around to cleaning it. Cleaning a pouch left for days, or even just a few hours, will be quite the challenge so don't say I didn't warn you!
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