Baby food

Amanda - posted on 01/15/2009

I was reading though my news feed and saw Emily Frogley 's post, it sound just like how I fed my girls food ect.  It is good to hear of some one else who took that approach. It worked well for me and was very easy. Some people my question it, but you have to remember at all times that breast milk is the perfect food, nothing else is quite as good, so if you baby is getting all the breast milk she wants than the food can be for "fun" and it takes the pressure off. Both my girls did great this way, and they are both great eaters now!!

Shannon - posted on 01/13/2009

My son is 4.5 months old and has been eating solids since he was 3 months... we moved into actual fruits and veggies about 2 weeks ago... and I do make a lot of ours. Sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, applesauce, pears and peaches, bananas and plums. I do all of those on my own by steaming them... all though I have done some by just adding a small amount of water and cutting them into small pieces and running it through the blender.... I don't make it very smoothe, it has slight chucks to it so that he gets used to the texture. I did the same thing with my daughter and she was eatigng straight table food at 9 months.... probably one of the only 9 month olds who ate jumbalya too.. there are a ton of books on th topic, just google homemade baby food....

Libby - posted on 01/13/2009

http://www.thediaperlady.com/homemade-ba...

I just found this website that looks like it has lots of info. Also I have heard that you should only use jarred carrort beause of the amount of nitrates or something that can be in them if you do it yourself.

Emily - posted on 01/13/2009

I don't do pureed baby foods of any kind. My kids are early teethers and exclusively breastfed for 6-8 months. By the time we start solids, we just give them little things from our plates. We like to start with veggies, then fruits, then yogurt, cheese and finally grains (like cherrios) and meats (simple things like shredded chicken or ground beef). It's so much easier than pureeing anything... I only prepare one family meal and the baby just eats what they can/want to from that.

For a breastfed baby, solids are mostly just for fun for the first year... there's really no nutritional need for anything other than breastmilk.

Mary - posted on 01/12/2009

I make all of my own baby food. I too use the "magic bullet" blender. It's easier to clean than using a full size blender or food processor. I make a bunch at one time then put it in the smallest Gladware containers made and freeze it. (But I like the muffin pan/ziploc idea, I may switch to that.) Then in the morning I fill the sink up with hot water and stick the ones for the day in there. They thaw out and you don't get hot spots, like you do with the microwave. If I'm in a crunch then I do use the microwave, but I stir it really well afterwards and let it sit for about 10 minutes before giving it to him.

We do things like butternut squash, sweet potatoes (his 2 favs), bananas, avocados, peas, baked apples, peaches, potatoes, corn, and so on. We never bothered with cereals. They are really more designed for formula fed babies. They have more iron than many breastfed babies tummies can handle well.

Anyway...I bake, steam, cut up (whatever is appropriate for the food) the food, then put it in the little blender with a bit of water and puree away.

Jana - posted on 01/12/2009

I bought one Annabel Karmel cook book just to get the basic tips and have them on hand.  But for the most part I just steamed the food and pureed it in the blender (much faster and make a lot more then and food mill)  You can change the texture by adding more/less water and not blending it as much for course food as they grow.  I loved making my own baby food because I liked being able to mix and match flavors that you can't buy at stores.  You can't mix flavors so your little one can gets lots of neutrition but it still taste yummy.  My duaghter loved mashed potatoes and spinish.  Plus it tasted good when my daughter wanted to feed me! 

I also found it very easy to freeze the food in a silicon mini-muffin pan.  once they were frozen I could pop them out in a zip-lock bag and back in the freezer they went.  I would spend two days making big batches of food and it would last a month, if not more.  Plus you can get such a varaity at meal time because you're not trying to use up a jar of the food your child has had for 2-3 meals in a row.

If you couldn't tell I loved making my own baby food, just because once I tired it, it was so easy, plus I didn't have and cupboard space to store tons of little jars!  If you try it, I'm sure you'll be hooked, it's fun.

Kerry - posted on 01/12/2009

I make all my own baby food, my son is now 8 months and has been having solids since he was 5 1/2 months.

the few things that made it easy were a "magic Bullet" blender, it's small and compact and easy to clean. and Avent breast milk storage cups - they're water tight and freezer/microwave safe

you can blend almost anything. I found if your making food with fruit that might discolour like bananas or avocado, just combine it with something acidic like apple, strawberries or pear

For veggies most babies like sweeter vegies like pumpkin and sweet potato so combine these with plainer tastes. I also add wellcooked rice, couscous, polenta and pasta

Breastfed babies like a wider variety of tastes because they are used to different tastes in breastmilk depending on what you eat 

i have heaps of fun making new combinations

Jennifer - posted on 01/12/2009

We make all of our own baby food, and it is super easy. I suggest getting your hands on the book "Super Baby Foods" by Ruth Yaron. We use it as a resource often and absolutely love it!

Brook - posted on 01/12/2009

thank you all for your suggestions. wow. I can't believe the rapid responses, this is great : )

Shanyn - posted on 01/12/2009

I made all of my own baby food with my son and most all of it with my daughter. I started them both on rice cereal mixed with rice milk or breast milk. But since then I've done some research and if we have another, I think I'll intro solids in a much different way.



There's a lot of research out there that recommends starting babies on lean meats and veggies first. So chicken and turkey, pureed with either some clear broth or breast milk. The protein component more exactly matches what babies' digestive systems are used to already from breast milk, so their bodies can integrate it more easily. And there are some theories that say that a higher protein content might help with the development of food allergies.



So I think I'd start with pureed chicken, turkey, sweet potato, avocado (although I know there are some kiddos who react badly to avocado), pears, apples, mango, blueberries...and I think if I do it again, I'll stay away from the harder to digest stuff like rice, corn, oats, spinach, peas and soy.



Hope this helps!

Rachael - posted on 01/12/2009

P.S. This way you are not spending extra time (it's hard to come by when you are a mom) making "special" food. She can eat the same meals your family does just in smaller pieces. I would still suggest introducing one type of food at a time for a few days to make sure there are no food allergies.

Rachael - posted on 01/12/2009

We did jarred baby food for our son but our daughter was not interested in it AT ALL! She is independent and likes to feed herself so when we would try to spoon feed her she wanted to grab it and stick it in. We just started giving her most anything we ate. She loves table food and can practice motor skills by picking up the food. We of course make sure everything is in small pieces so she doesn't choke. So far her favorites are avacado, peaches, peas, pasta, and cooked carrots.

Odette - posted on 01/12/2009

Yes I started my daughter out on Gerber foods and she didn't like any of them. I bought a baby food book called 101 Baby purees. It's a great introductory book to get you started. I recommend using a small food processer like the magic bullet or something similar; otherwise, the mess the larger food processers leave behind may discourage you.



I made enough baby food on the weekends to last a whole week. Bella is now 10 months and I'm making all her baby food still. It's very fulfilling for me as a mother and tasty for her!



If you have any questions, feel free to contact me and we can chat.

Helen - posted on 01/12/2009

i've been feeding my 7month old son for a couple of months now and nearly all on homemade stuff. it's not that i'm 'supermom' just wanted to know what i was giving him and eventually get him to eat same as us. i do use bought organic jars if we go away .

i started with baby rice mixed with breastmilk  once a day then after a week or so added a teaspoon of pureed veg- something sweet like carrot or sweet potato.the mixture needs to be quite runny at first. start with one type of veg or fruit at a time and don't be put off if they spit it out - they need to get used to different texture and eating technique.

i use the microwave to cook veg or fruit as it's quick and then use a hand blender to puree. ice cube trays are ideal for freezing portions then you can mix veg/fruit later on. and you can build up a supply for days when you don't feel like making things!

Annabel Karmel is the baby food guru in uk. her baby and toddler book is good for recipe ideas. good luck!

Kristi - posted on 01/12/2009

My son started solids at about 6 months. I never did purees (although I bought everything I needed in anticipation) but he went right to eating regular food, just little cubes the size of a pea or so. I found it easier anyway, before we knew it he was just eating whatever we ate. First foods for us was mashed sweet potato, mashed banana, avacado, peas, corn... things that were small and soft enough for him to safely gum. I have the book baby blender foods. It had some great ideas but we never used it. If you do end up doing purees, you really only need to steam the item and then stick it in a food processor - sometimes with a little water or expressed milk/formula. If you start her on solids when she starts giving you cues then you might be able to avoid purees.

www.kellymom.com is a great website if you are breastfeeding and it has a big helpful section on starting solids.

Lauren - posted on 01/12/2009

I didn't make my own, but I did take advantage of the organic jarred/packaged foods out there. And it was a great impetus to start buying/preparing mostly organic stuff for myself and Husband so that when she started eating table food, she was still getting mostly organic stuff.

Earth's Best makes a great line and Gerber has gotten in on the act too, though their variety is limited. There's also a line of frozen organic baby food- can't remember the name.

But...to answer your question... somebody told me this:

Buy your veggies or fruits and steam them. Drain and reserve a little of the steam water.

Puree in the food processor, then add a little of the steam water for nutrients and consistency.

Pour the puree into ice cube trays and freeze. The individual cubes are great single-serving sizes for wee ones just starting solids. And they can just be microwaved for a few seconds and then served.

Michelle - posted on 01/12/2009

Check out this website , it's very informative , my personal favorite http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/