Little Green Pouch Reusable Food Pouch - 6 oz - 4 ct

While we're all about reusability for the environment's sake, I'm more of a self-professed cheap-o. That said, we use cloth diapers, I made all of the pureed baby food for my baby, and now that we have a toddler, we had gotten hooked on the convenience of pouches. Oh dear, dear, pouches. You are like a cruel friend -- while we love you for your convenience and the ability to feed our child slurried mixtures of fruits and vegetables in the car while we're stuck in traffic we could do without your high cost and questionable contents (e.g., were the mangoes actually ripe when they were pureed into this plastic bag? Because frankly, I don't ever think I've tasted mango that was quite so....ashy tasting.).And so I ventured into the internet with the following words: "reusable pouches."What a game changer.However, even then, the market is crowded, you'll find reusable pouches that fill through the spout or ones that are fill-your-own but not actually reusable, or do you want to fill through the top? Or the bottom? Why are these decisions even important? Shouldn't there just be one pouch that actually makes something that works? Do I want one with colors? Or characters? What in the world are on these pouches... they're colorful, but are they characters? I'm not sure what that is...So in the end, after reviewing countless Amazon reviews, we decided to purchase a small stack of Little Green Pouches and ... dun dun dun, another brand! The main difference between the two being that the Lil' Greens have their zippers on top and the other brand have their zippers at the bottom.In a couple of weeks of use so far, I have refilled the pouches three times. The first was with a semi-adventurous pomegranate-applesauce. It was super easy. Take pomegranate juice. Add to apple sauce. Funnel into pouches. Win win. Heavy dose of anti-oxidants and stomach-filling to boot.The next round was just plain applesauce because we just wanted to get out the door. Of course, this was even easier. Take jar of apple sauce. Funnel into pouches. Done and done.The most recent round was a bit on the creative side. We had just gotten a pineapple and I wanted to make something for my babe's poouches that wouldn't be too sweet and still healthy. So after digging through the fridge, I added some frozen blueberries (balance the sweet) and a cucumber (to give it some green [e.g., "healthier"]). Here's where I think the Little Greens became the winner in this battle... this mix was such a large batch it ended up filling nearly all of our pouches. However, the ones that zippered at the bottom couldn't stand on their own and their zippers are apparently allergic to closing -- thus each and every one of them ended up leaking in our fridge. Tragedy.Truly, leaking in the fridge was fffaaarrr better than in the diaper bag or on our clothes (blueberry juice is kind of dark!), however the other brand has now been demoted to "backup pouches." The Little Green's? They're our starters.In case this review was all TLDR, here's a summary:PROS ---- Nice big capacity! If you've got an infant, feel free to only fill half full. But for toddlers? It's great to be able to get something substantial in each pouch.- Easy to fill. We use a funnel (Ikea!) but I like that each pouch stands on its own- Easy to get fillings. You can all Rachel Ray/Martha Stewart/Domestic Superhero and pick and puree your own organic, hand-massaged, sung-to fruits yourself.... or you can just fill the pouches with store-bought no-sugar-added applesauce and still be saving plenty of monies. (Yogurt also works -- although, skip the ones with real fruit in 'em, the chunks'll get stuck in the "straw")- Saving the moneyy..... we were spending $40+ a month on just pouches. Robbery I tell you... Robbery! So we've stopped that now.- I'm-saving-the-environment-feel-goody-ness. If you're an environmentalist, you may object to the use of plastic (until they come out with lamb-wool-woven pouches or something) but until then, you can at least invoke one of the three R's -- Reusability! So yes, your child may be more prone to putting things in the sink than in the trash, but eh, that's fine by me.CONS ---- Gotta clean them -- they clean relatively easily... and I think that if I was ever that concerned about left over junk I'd just give 'em a bleach solution dip (like I do cutting boards and other baby stuff occasionally... just make sure you give them a thorough rinse)NOT REALLY CONS ---- Finite size... only holds 7 or so ounces. At times I'd wish that capacity was super-naturally increased to ∞+1.- Child seems to find more excitement about a pouch than seeing Daddy return from work (although in some ways, this excitement is reciprocated...)All in all, I really like the Little Green Pouches. They're great and we'll probably buy more, since the other brand just kind of stinks.

INITIAL REVIEW. Will update after more uses by the kids.I like this pouch and so far see no reason there is anything "wrong" with it. After reading the many reviews of MANY different style pouches, I bought this style and the LITTLE GREEN POUCH (LGP) version. I'm glad I did because there are Pros and Cons for MY NEEDS for each of them. Ultimately, I think I will keep both. These for more fruit-based purees and the LGP version for larger meals/soups.As a product packaging designer myself, I would have designed the pouches to be both a bit more appealing to kids, while still showcasing their "green" attributes. Rather than focus only on the "green" aspect of the product.WHY I NEED THE POUCHES: I have a 12m old (also have a 2 year old that loves pouch-eating) that is a very independent eater and SUPER BIG eater that will scream and refuse to eat unless he is involved with feeding himself. I gave him a store bought Plum Organics pouch and he loved being able to hold + feed himself more than with just a lid-cup + straw.WHAT I PUT INSIDE:• SOUPS - broccoli soup, lentil soup partially or fully pureed• GREEK YOGURT BASED SMOOTHIES - fruits, greens, zucchini and black beans pureed with mango and/or berries for more fiber/protein.TO HEAT UP: I thought of it today – my retired from bottles Dr. Browns bottle warmer could probably safely heat the soup versions up so I could store in the fridge already made. It is used for plastic and glass bottles, so I don't see why not. It just uses steam.// // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // //5 LITTLE SPROUTS (5LS)PROs• Spout it on top like other store-bought versions• You can see your contents through the back• Easily cleanable + fill-able through bottom zipper (ziploc®-type) opening with help of a NORPRO 3040 Funnel Pitcher I bought here on Amazon• utilizes standard cap, as most reusables seem to• no spout spillage from either only because both of my kids have just been sucking and not squeezing so far.CONs• smaller 5oz capacity• taller than LGP• does not stand up in fridge. Must be laid down flat.• bottom zipper may pose a problem in the future with contents spilling out by accident. most say it happens rarely.// // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // // //LITTLE GREEN POUCH (LGP)PROs• stands up on its own in fridge• utilizes standard cap, as most reusables seem to• has larger 7oz size available, while still being shorter than 5LS 5oz size• no spout spillage from either only because both of my kids have just been sucking and not squeezing so far.CONs• may be more difficult to clean if not cleaned soon after use• side-spout may be strange or not as natural for smaller babies to access at first.For regular meals with my independent 12m old, we normally chop up cooked sweet potatoes, bananas or strawberries for him to feed himself while we stuff a spoonful of broccoli soup, steel cut organic oatmeal, etc. in his mouth. He likes his food, just wants to spoon it in himself, which would be a gigantic mess at this point. I'll have him practice that with maybe his oatmeal since that sticks to the spoon better. He eats probably over 7 ounces easily every meal. Probably double that. The fact that he doesn't want milk anymore probably contributes even more. So, now I sneak in milk or Greek yogurt into many of the purees as well. I am not going to feed him every meal with these pouches, just use them for snacks, small meals or when preparing the meal and he's h-angry. Also when daddy is fed-up and wants to feed him easily with no screaming and no mess. Who wouldn't want less screaming in their life?~ The End ~