Do or Don't...

April - posted on 08/13/2009

I have been making my daughter food since she was 5 months old. She is now just over a yr and has started eating the same as I. I know that the bottles are fine but I just like knowing what is in her food. There have been times where i tried her with bottled food and she hasn't liked it,, i also think that its cheaper to make it, as you can freeze it..

Lili - posted on 08/12/2009

I started out making the food. However, since I wanted to feed her only organic my choices were limited at the store. So I ended buying organic baby food, which ultimately ends up being made in a more sanitary environment.

Cori - posted on 08/09/2009

what age? my four month old cries at mealtimes watching us eat...her eyes following our forks & mouths...reaching for what we have?

Jessica - posted on 08/05/2009

I bought my son's food from the time he started on pureed food. The only thing I did make for him on my own were potatoes mashed up due to the fact he was lactose intolerant. My son was off baby food sooner than I thought he would be which was fine b/c it made things a lot easier not that making food for a lactose intolerant child is easy. I have to still make his food special and he's 3 and not outgrown the lactose intolerance

Mel - posted on 08/05/2009

i make my own cause baby tastes like crap and because you can add extra calories to your own and also cause baby food is supposed to be only used when absolutely necessary its not good becuase it teaches them the wrong sorts of foods to get used to

Erin - posted on 08/05/2009

I make all my daughter's veggies and stew some of her fruit. But she eats some jarred fruits, custards and yoghurts now too.
For me, it's about offering her the healthiest option that is realistic for our lifestyle and budget. Doing her veggies is really a non-issue - I make enough for 3-4 days so only have to do it a couple of times a week.

Darlene - posted on 08/05/2009

If you have the time and equipment it is better to make it. Try using 100% natural products though so you know there are no chemicals in it. Preservatives are not good for toddlers , becauase they can cause problems. I hope you and your family are happy and healthy.

Joy - posted on 08/05/2009

I made most of my son's food all the way up until he started eating table food. I found comfort in knowing exactly what he was eating. I love to cook, so being in the kitchen was no big deal for me. It was something I did once a week and when I was finished I felt this sense of accomplishment at all my little packets of food lined up in the freezer. I also honestly think it helped him to like all kinds of food....it made the transition to table food easier for him because it was the same exact food, just chunkier and chunkier as we went along. We did use some jarred food on occasion. Mostly because one of my friends used to just buy it for me sometimes lol

--- - posted on 08/05/2009

both made and bought. depending on how much time I have and the quality of the fresh produce at the market.

Lindy - posted on 08/05/2009

I have made food from the start for both my children. My reasoning was that I wanted us to eat as a family and, as my husband and I are unlikely to ever eat jars of mush, it didn't occur to me that that should be what our children ate! I actually researched this by tasting a few jarred foods and became only more suspicious - when I steam and mash sweet potatoes, they never taste (or frankly look) like that!

What I tend to do is over-cater a few times a week and then chop up Hannah's into bits she can manage and freeze extra portions for when we're out and about. For example, tonight we had mac and cheese with broccoli and cauliflower. I chopped up the leftover steamed veggies, mixed in some cheese sauce and added some pastini pasta.

I also don't cook with salt - we add any we may need at the table. She's well on her way to eating the same as us although is still somewhat limited by her limited number of teeth (6!).

Jenifer - posted on 08/05/2009

I make some and buy some. Especially when he was younger (like 6-7 months), it was sometimes easier to buy a jar of pureed food to send to daycare for him. But since we mostly did baby-led weaning, he didn't have purees all that often, and I don't think he's had any store-bought baby food in quite awhile. Just giving him what we eat is a lot easier, and a lot less expensive, too.

Tandi - posted on 08/05/2009

I love making my own baby food! I do it becausse if you read the lable on store stuff, yah it'll say what's in it, but it doesnt say how it was prepared. for example when it says beef, it just says beef it doesnt say what cut of beef, was it roast? steak? gound? it also doesnt say how it was cooked was it fried? grilled? baked? and how much of it is beef, yah it's in there but how much, what kind and how was it cooked?

this is why i make my won because i can decide how much meat, how to cook it, and i know how much she will eat. she needs more than the small jar, but not two of them. and a big jar is too much for her, so there is always waste when i use store stuff.

Angie - posted on 08/05/2009

I started out buying and then I gradually just let her eat things whole. I never puree'd her food, she has been really good at using her fingers for quite a while now...So we didn't have to worry too much

Deziray - posted on 08/05/2009

I don't but i have heard it is cheaper and healthier

Rose - posted on 08/05/2009

My oldest would not eat baby food at all. I had to smash up regular food to feed it to her. If it looked like baby food, she would not eat it. My youngest was just fine with baby food. I think it is cheaper to cook food and smash it up for the baby, but I also think that it depends on the baby.

September - posted on 08/05/2009

That's great Cathralynn :) Sounds a lot like my household :) I think that it's great when Mom's take the time to provide a nice well rounded homemade meal for their children. Some say it takes too long...I say....I don't care how long it takes to make my baby GOOD food! :) Forget that jarred stuff! Ewww!

Cathralynn - posted on 08/05/2009

Oh I meant purees. I thought you meant making your own baby food like jarred baby food that has to be fed from a spoon. My daughter ate soft fruits, steamed veggies, cheese, breads, crackers, ingredients of our meals at first. Just cut up small and made sure they were soft. No raw veggies, nuts you get the drift. I guess I made more than I bought cause I cook our own dinners, but we do the same when out. Now she eats some of what we eat, only healthy choices, and fill in with her favs. I like to offer a balanced meal and let her pick what and how much she eats. She tends to eat a balanced diet herself thruout the day. Say if she eats tons of fruit at breakfast, she eats more carbs at lunch. And no more crying at mealtimes for us. W00-Hoo!

September - posted on 08/05/2009

I didn't know it then, but I do now. I recommend baby led weaning, no baby food. My daughter rejected spoon feeding at 8mo and it was sooo much easier to just let her feed herself healthy foods. I should have done that from the start, it lets babies eat when their ready at their own speed and regulate their own food intake by recognising their full and hungry cues. So my view is neither!

SO WHAT DOES YOUR CHILD EAT? ALTHOUGH I MAKE MY SON'S FOOD HE STILL EATS IT ON HIS OWN.

Minnie - posted on 08/05/2009

Do/Don't. Depends on your viewpoint.

I DON'T puree and feed my baby goo off a spoon.

I DO make healthy meals and give her some of whatever I'm having.

Jaime - posted on 08/05/2009

Though I gave it careful consideration when my daughter was ready for solids, I chose not to make my own baby food. For one, it was the time consuming task of making the food and I was working full time at the time, and two, (even more a concern) I was afraid that the foods I bought from the store may be tainted. Thus, if she got sick from something I bought and prepared I would feel so overwhelmingly guilty. My rational for choosing to use baby food that is purchased at a store is that it can be tracked to where it was manufactured down to the specific orchard the fruit/veggies came from. I know this may not seem logical to some as we eat/prepare store bought foods now for the kids, but there was something about just starting out the foods that scared me. Also, the nutrition facts are clearly labeled. With processed foods, unless you keep a close eye on the things you are throwing in,you cannot tally up how much nurtition they are actually getting. The jars of baby food are labeled so you can see how much nutrition the jar contains. So, there you have it :) ---that was my rational for not choosing to make my baby's baby food. I think it is wonderful that you choose to do your own babyfood, it just wasn't for me.

Allison - posted on 08/05/2009

I made all of my first daughter's baby food but by the time my second daughter rolled around I was just too exhausted. I made her food a couple of times but she mostly ate the jar foods and did just as well. She did, however, reject baby food much earlier than my oldest and now only wants finger foods (which is easier for all of us anyway). Not sure if that's why she switched early or if she just wanted to eat what her sister eats!

Jessica - posted on 08/05/2009

I just give my son small soft pieces of whatever we are eating, it is usually steamed veggies and small pieces of meat and he feeds himself! So much easier and cheaper in my opinion. Oh, an its also minus the salt and etc.

Cathralynn - posted on 08/05/2009

I didn't know it then, but I do now. I recommend baby led weaning, no baby food. My daughter rejected spoon feeding at 8mo and it was sooo much easier to just let her feed herself healthy foods. I should have done that from the start, it lets babies eat when their ready at their own speed and regulate their own food intake by recognising their full and hungry cues. So my view is neither!

Michelle - posted on 08/05/2009

I make some of my daughter's food and buy others. Just depends on the day and what we're having. Sometimes it's easier to buy them then make them. I don't fool around with carrots however and always buy them at the store:0)!

Charity - posted on 08/05/2009

I never made my own baby food but back when mine was young enough to eat baby food I had a game plan of sticking with a certain brand of baby food and really was not all the choices there are now on the market. I do know a couple that make their own and I have asked and usually they reply with the same answer which is so they know what is in it.