Mamamade subscription review

Mamamade is a new subscription service that promises healthy organic meals for babies and toddlers delivered straight to your front door. The pre-made meals are simply warmed up and served to your little one, taking the stress away from parents. The subscription service is suitable through all the stages of the weaning process from babies to four-year-olds. I tried this service with my six-month-old baby, and here’s my Mamamade subscription review.

What is Mamamade subscription?

Mamamade is elevating the idea of buying baby food. Unlike most of the premade baby food out there, all these meals are prepared by hand.

They use more than 80 nutritious ingredients throughout their recipes, which are designed by a nutritionist. What I love most about the service is all of the meals are organic, plant-based, and free from egg, milk, soya, and peanuts.

As someone who has a history of egg, peanut and milk allergies running in the family, the prospect of weaning can be very daunting. Even though I am on to my third child now, each child is different, and each weaning experience is completely different.

So, how does it work?

On the Mamamade subscription website, you follow a few questions to decide which bundle is best for your little one.

As my son was completely new to solids, I opted for the first taste bundle. It cost £24, averaging at £2 per meal. This included 12 purees.

Ten of the purees were singular vegetables and fruits but two were combinations. What I liked about this was they weren’t your average carrot or peas puree. The purees were much more adventurous with flavours like white beans and beetroot.

When choosing a bundle, you can select whether this is a one-time purchase or how frequently you wish to have new deliveries. I found that 12 purees lasted approx. two weeks because my baby is still very new to weaning. All of the purees can be stored in a freezer for four months which minimises waste. You can also opt to build your own box of 12 meals (£33) or 24 (£60).

Pros

• Organic
• Plant-based ingredients
• Flash-frozen to lock in nutrients
• Free delivery
• Bundles designed for each stage
• Delivered in temperature-controlled boxes.

Cons

• Expensive
• Babies may not like the food
• Cooked food must be used within 24 hours

Key features

All Mamamade recipes are specially created by professional chefs & expert nutritionists.

This means you can rest assured your little one is getting the best healthy products to ensure healthy growth and development. The World Health organisation state that proper infant nutrition is fundamental to a child’s continued health, from birth through adulthood. The weaning process is your child’s introduction to food. Building a healthy relationship with food will serve your child throughout their life. This subscription service not only ensures that they are having a varied diet, but that is packed with nutritious food.

Delivered to you

Mamamade currently delivers two days a week - Tuesdays and Fridays. The expected date will be confirmed by their carbon neutral delivery partner. I was very impressed by my delivery - it arrived frozen in a temperature-controlled box. Mamamade uses liners made of denim offcuts and keeps everything frozen with dry ice. The insulation is designed to keep food frozen for up to 30 hours in transit. The eco-conscious company have thought of everything. Unlike many of its competitors, you can return, compost, or recycle all of the materials. Once your order has ‘left the kitchen’, you are no longer able to change or cancel the order.

Loyalty

Unlike most other baby food brands, Mamamade offers a loyalty scheme. It means you can create an account to earn points to spend on merchandise, bundles, and custom meals. You can earn points by making a purchase, referring a friend and for birthdays. I really love this idea - buying baby food can be extremely costly, especially if you have multiple children with their own preferences.

Testing the Mamamade subscription

Would you recommend this to other mums?

I would recommend the Mamamade subscription to another mum because I really love the concept. As a mum, there are so many things to do. So anything that offers to make my life simpler is definitely a thumbs up from me. I like that this exposed my baby to flavours and foods that I wouldn’t necessarily think of making into a puree.

How did this product make your life easier?

As a busy working mum, homemade baby food tends to be leftovers or simple pieces of cut up pieces of fruit and vegetables - this made my life easier. All I needed to do was take it out of the fridge, pop it into a bowl and then into boiling water to heat it. That said, my baby did not eat all of the pot.

What changes would you make to the Mamamade subscription service?

I found that my baby did not enjoy some of the textures. This could be because all the ingredients are plant-based. I would have liked to have the option for my baby to try some organic dairy products as I think exposure to dairy is important when allergies aren’t present. However, I understand that this is not the ideology of the brand.

As a parent of a child with allergies, this brand is a breath of fresh air. The supermarket offers very little in terms of allergy conscious baby food. If this was available when I was weaning my middle child, who has complex dietary requirements, it would have made my life so much easier.

Overall thoughts

Overall, I loved this subscription service. It is on the slightly more expensive side and for someone with a large family. It isn’t feasible to spend so much on baby food. However, if I only had one child, had a full vegan household or had a child with specific dietary needs, I would be using this service. It takes the challenges and stresses out of weaning. Mamamade makes food exciting and enjoyable for both my baby and me as a parent.

Products we recommend when introducing food:

**When should I begin weaning?
**NHSadvise beginning to introduce solid foods to your baby from around six months alongside their usual breast milk or formula-based diet. This is a new skill for your baby .It should be an enjoyable experience and build life-long healthy relationships with food.