Jarred Baby Food VS Fresh Pureed Food

Karen - posted on 09/28/2010

personally, i made my son's food because it was much cheaper to puree it and freeze it in ice cube trays (for beginners one cube is a serving and as he grew i just added a cube). i found that compared to children i look after who were on jar food, my son took to table food much quicker (was on table food by 7.5 months) and he doesn't seem as picky.. the jar food doesn't seem to have much taste where as if you make your own, they get used to the true flavour/texture of foods. However, that being said, i'm sure the jar foods are just as good, but in making your own, you know exactly what is in the food your baby is eating because you're the one putting it there.

Vicki - posted on 09/28/2010

Like most processed food I think it different brands vary. An organic all veggie whatever is going to be better than the cheap one that probably has water or other fillers. Overall I think jarred baby food is an expensive marketing con, much cheaper to make your own if mash is what you want to do. I could never work out why custard was considered a baby food.

I didn't do mush at all. Baby led weaning was much easier than both the other options!

Jacquelyn - posted on 09/27/2010

I have heard that some things like carrots are better to buy jarred because the level of something in them when you buy them whole is too high for a baby but other foods are fine to do yourself and it is less expensive - but either way if you read the label and there aren't any added things like sugar etc the jars are just as healthy.

Catherine - posted on 09/27/2010

To say that jarred food has no nutritional value is a bit extreme. I chose to make a lot of my son's food, but that was because I was upset about a lot of the "extra" stuff in the jar food (for example, some Gerber foods will say they are one thing, like Mangoes, and then the first few ingredients are apples). However, there are some other brands that are much more "pure", like Ella's Organics, which you can buy at Babies R'Us. In the end, my son (and I) actually liked the taste of the freshly pureed foods better. However, jarred food is just fine. If you want to use the jarred food, please don't feel bad about doing it. Millions of babies, myself included, were fed jarred food and they turned out just fine.

Alison - posted on 09/27/2010

My guess is that the jarred foods are made from produce that is fairly fresh (as is the case with most canned and frozen vegetables). So if you are buying fresh produce (at the farmers market, for example) and making it yourself, it may be better. But the "fresh" stuff you buy at the grocery store usually has less nutritional value than the stuff in the can.

People have a lot of misconceptions. Do whatever works for YOU.

Mary Renee - posted on 09/27/2010

I'm in the same boat. My daughter is 5 months and I think I'll start introducing solids too. I think I'm going to feed her pureed sweet potatos first... only because I've heard they should eat only ONE ingredient at a time for a week to make sure they aren't allergic and I'd feel more trusting if it's pureed myself so I know for certain that's the only ingredient.

I'm sure when she's older though I'll go ahead with the jarred food, if only for the convenience. But for her first food I'll probably try fresh.