Baby Food: Pre-made or Make It for My 6 Month Old?

Hi F.,

I had the hopes of making all of my daughters food too but once back at work found it difficult. On Sundays after her bedtime I would do a few meals and freeze, but for the most part used organic jarred food or bought organic frozen or canned veggies/fruit and put in the food processor. There are several books out that help with making food and storing. Baby Super Foods was ok and I used one other (sorry can't think of the name). Good luck. You are doing the best you can so don't feel like you have to make everything yourself! You work TWO full time jobs, one being a mom is tough enough.

2 moms found this helpful

Hi there,

This is a great question. I have made all of my son's food and he is 11 1/2 months old now. Now it is getting harder to be creative; however, one of the posts reflected www.wholesomebabyfood.com and that is the site that I use for all his recipes. There is another site www.weelicious.com as well that has much more exotic food.

I do occasionally buy jarred food when we travel or what not so that I don't have to defrost when I am out and about. I absolutely LOVE making his food. It takes me one day to do them and that lasts about 2 weeks or so. I just buy the little glad 2 oz plastic containers and then freeze the food. I find that my son doesn't care for the jarred as much as the fresh. The one thing I liked about the jarred, is getting the ingredients off the jar to make more fresh stuff for him.

Good Luck to you...Enjoy it, it is so much fun (But I LOVE to cook)

Kim

1 mom found this helpful

I think being sane is really important... I doubt that the baby food you're getting is BAD for your daughter...

That said... it's not very hard to make food...

I used a magic bullet A LOT... steamed many types of veges... and spun them with some water... it's really fast...

peas can be difficult, as they are hard to strain (there is a way to do it... let me know if you're interested)

The thing I liked best about making my food is it's what we normally eat... so as texture was introduced... I just made it chunkier... there was not transition from some other flavor to real...

Best...

1 mom found this helpful

I've been doing both. I use the Nature's Best organic baby foods and I make my own because I want more variety introduced in to his diet. Not to mention... I'm dealing with a child who will gladly suck on a garlic clove than eat a piece of fruit. My son (at 8.5 months) enjoys a lot of flavor to his food so I'm not too afraid of adding in spices and letting him sample from my plate at restaurants. :)

1 mom found this helpful

With my daughter, I made about 90% of her food. And I think it was quite easy! 1. Make in large batches and freeze! I would make the veggies in a steamer basket in the stovetop, then put the full batch in the blender. Regular kitchen blender was my favorite, over the food processor and food mill. I did use the $10 food mill (KidCo) for one dish ata time (i.e. a peach or pear that needed eaten that day before it went too soft, just stick it in the food mill and baby's got lunch!)
After blending a full batch of one food I would pour it into little cube trays. I used the KidCo ones specific for baby food, but I'm sure even regular ice cube trays would work! Then the next day I would empty the trays into gallon freezer ziplocs that were each labeled "broccoli, peas, squash, peaches, etc." Then myself, husband or sitter could easily grab a couple foods, thaw them out and meal time was ready!
I think I steamed just about everything, but I cooked sweet potatoes in the microwave, then blended.
I would do a couple foods a week at night and have a lot stored up. I found it quite easy. Then you also can control the amount of water that you want to get it to your baby's desired thickness. Even from the beginning my baby preferred her food much thicker than jarred.
** I did buy carrots! According to Acadamy of Pediatrics, adult store bought carrots are too high in Nitrates, and baby food makers grow theirs special to be low in nitrates. So I bought carrots, and made everythign else.
I also loved the little Glad (I think) reusable or disposable "tupperware" things. I thought they were a great size to stick a frozen food in, stick it in the diaper bag and have homemade food on the go.
But, I always gave myself the grace to buy food when life got too busy. I always had some storebought food in the pantry to pack a quick lunch or if the freezer had a shortage of veggies vs. fruit.
You can make baby food out of fresh or frozen. I did fresh of whatever was in season and frozen to balance out the diet.
I don't know if it is because of making our own food and having such a variety, but my girl loves to eat! She is such a healthy eater and I love it! Even now as she is entirely finger foods and self feeding, she will eat all of her food groups willingly! And usually ask for more!
Have fun. Make the foods that are easy for you, and buy what isn't. It can be a whole lot less expensive to be making the baby food in big batches then buying the individual servings.
Oh, and I bought adult applesauce. Pure, nothing added. It was just a bit thicker than baby and a lot cheaper!
k, that is even randomness from me :)
Okay, one more thing from me: I love the website
www.wholesomebabyfood.com

1 mom found this helpful

Check out this site: www.wholesomebabyfood.com, it's great. If you want to get more complicated the book Super Baby Foods is good (more useful when your kid is a little older).

I also work full-time and have made almost all of my kid's food. I tasted the stuff in jars, and even the organic stuff is blechy (except for the pureed pears).

Cook your own babyfood in big batches after baby is asleep & freeze it in ice cube trays (I transfered from trays to ziplocs b/c you can label them with food type and date). It's a bit of work but you know what your kid is eating. Tip: you might want to make small batches of stuff first to make sure she likes it!

Some foods comes "ready to eat" for babies like avocados are awesome for kids at all ages, you can spoon 'em right up, and bananas; some grown-up canned foods are fine, like organic applesauce (unsweetened); and baked squashes and sweet potatoes only need a bit of mashing--but bananas, applesauce and squash can be constipating, so be careful and make sure baby gets plenty of water (stewed prunes are great for constipated babies, & full of iron; peas are also good for that and easy to make yourself if you don't mind spending a bit more for frozen organic peas). I found a local deli that makes a pureed soup of split peas, spinach, parsley and zucchini that my baby loves, so I just get batches of that and freeze it in cubes.

Some kids are able to deal with more chunkiness than others--if yours is one of those, that's even less work pureeing for you (mine needed it pretty smooth for a while). I second the recommendations for the Kidco foodmill, and we also had a small and super-powerful babyfood blender that I loved.

Have fun and don't forget the camera!

1 mom found this helpful

Certain foods are easy to make at home - like squash, corn, peas etc. Don't bother with the "complicated" stuff - like things that need to be peeled or strained. The jar baby food gets expensive so do a little of both. I use the 4 oz. tiny little Glad food containers - they defrost quickly and stack well in the freezer. Write the date you made the food on top and toss after 3 months in the freezer. As for recipes - steam veggies with a splash of water - then toss in blender & freeze.

Make your own! It is easy and much less expensive. The book "Super Baby Food" will be a good guide to let you know what foods to start when, and how to make your own rice cereal. I'm so glad I made my own! My oldest loved it, and the youngest is almost ready for me to start again.

Let this recent baby formula scare in China (over 50,000 kids made sick by contamination) remind us that not everyone has our kids' best interests at heart, in any country!

Hi F.,
I used a food mill to make large batches of pureed food and then froze it in individual portions. (Ice cube trays do work -- just check the type of plastic.) My main reason for making baby food myself was taste. I used organic produce but would have bought organic baby food anyway. But have you tasted baby food? Blech! I also worked outside the home, but I found that it didn't take me much time to make my son's food if I made big batches on the weekend and froze them in individual servings. I would imagine that making baby food serving-by-serving would be a huge time drain.

Hi F.,
You know, I had god intentions of making all my son's baby food too...but you know, I was heading back to work about then and there is such great organic baby food(Earth's Best- availbale at Whole Foods), that I really only made the food 2-3 times and my son didn't even like it(I couldn't get it as smooth as the store bought stuff). So, 2 hours of my time and no results. Store bought stuff is great and easy!
-W.

I made all of my daughters food and I'm also a working mom. It doesn't take that much time if you prepare. I would make a couple batches on Sunday night and freeze them in little ice cube trays so they would be ready to go during the week.
Some things I did were: Sweet Pots, squash, carrots, beans and peas, etc. I used formula to thin it up when pureeing. It was really easy

Steam fresh veggies and fruit in large batches - no seasonings as babies taste buds are very different than ours.

Cool them, put them in the fridge and you should be good for a week. They will keep that long if refrigerated properly.

Store bought baby food is also fine - it didn't kill any of us. If you can afford it, why go through all of this. Cut yourself some slack, Mom.

You have common sense - just follow it.

Babies will eat what we give them - they learn what we teach them.

Your stress level over this needs to come down - your life as a mother working outside of the home is demanding. Make it simple for you and your baby will be just fine.

Blessings
B. L.

Hi,

I fed my son with store-bought baby food, and I regret that. Sure, it's much more convenient but after doing some research, now I believe those packed vegetables were not healthy. Now that I will have a daughter in 3 days, I am planning to make my own baby food. It's not very hard- just to boil and mash vegetables. Good luck..

hi F.,

i went the home made baby food route with my daughter, but not because of chemicals, because i'm cheap. i found prepared baby food ridiculously expensive compared to just making it myself. i also work outside the house, so the amount of time required was something i took into consideration - it needed to be fast. i got the fresh baby ice cube trays with cover and a book with recipes. then i made her something once per week and froze the cubes. eventually i had a lot of cubes and was able to give her a variety of things to eat that she'd been exposed to. it didn't take more than 1 hour per week. you can give her things liked mashed bananas and avocado without any cooking. around 9 months, when she'd been exposed to a lot of different stuff, we started just grinding up our food for her (including meat). she's an excellent eater, and i'd do it again this way with another child.

F.,
I used to bake/steam/boil veggies, puree them and put the puree in an ice cube tray in the freezer. Since the little ones eat so lightly, one batch of food usually lasted a long time. I would do butternut squash, yams, peas, green beans, pears, etc. I would seal each type of food in a separate container and put all of them in a big ziplock bag in the freezer. It was nice because after a while, I would be able to go in the freezer and pick out a few different veggies/fruits for my daughter's meal. 1 minute in the microwave on med-high and they are defrosted and ready to eat. The preparation was actually really quick and easy. (I am a working mom). Have fun with it! (My daughter's favorite was butternut squash!)

I tried making baby food, and I just couldn't keep up with what he needed. I use the organic stuff that lists only the food and water (some of the fruits have vitamin C added). Organic Gerber and Earths Best are both good brands. If you want to try to make it, I would suggest trying sweet potatoes, peas, and green beans first. I did find it very hard to get the fruit the right consitancy (another reason I resorted back to the jars). You just steam the veggies and then throw them in a blender with s little water. My mom said she used to freeze her baby food in ice cube trays. Hope this helps :).

I only made the stuff that was easy to make-sweet potatoes, butternut squash (and discovered I like it too!), applesauce, and bought the rest. (why anyone would buy jarred bananas, or mashed potatoes is beyond me!!)

If you do make your own in big batches to freeze, please consider trying to store it in glass, given all I have read about plastics lately-it seems silly to add that risk-when your goal is to give your baby the healthier option.

Good Luck!

All these other people "stole" my comments. I'd just like to add that you'll be so happy you made your own food. I have been doing that for our granson who is with us every day while his mom works. I had just quit working in a center where we fed food from the jars, and when I sat down with the home prepared food, it was like day and night. The food actually smelled and looked good. As someone said, you can prepare almost anything. Just watch that you don't start her too soon on some things that are too acid, etc. I found sweet potatoes are a favorite with our grandson, and they are full of good nutrition.. as well as easy to fix. Simply bake or boil the potatoes, then puree them with a bit of water in the blender, and freeze them. As your daughter gets ready for Junior type of foods, use a food chopper instead of the blender to give them more texture.

Hi F.,

I also work full-time and I have 4 kids - the littlest is 7 months old. I have been making her food for her since she started eating solids. It does take an extra effort but it's not very hard to do at all and the food tastes so much better. And it will save you money.

What I do is make her food when I cook dinner for everyone else. Just throw the clean veggies in the microwave for quick steaming and then throw it in a blender. I put the pureed food in ice cube trays and freeze. Once frozen, we store the food cubes in a Ziplock bag. When we feed her we just take a cube or two of food and defrost. You can do it with veggies, fruit, and meat! We just introduced chicken to her and she loves it.

Some other quick tips are use frozen veggies like peas, carrots, green beans, squash, etc. It saves you time in cleaning and cutting. Trader Joes also has sweet potatoes that are already cut. It's a short trip from the bag to a microwaveable dish to the blender!

Check out this website for great recipes for making easy baby food: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Lately, I've been making her food on the weekend and that seems to take the pressure off cooking during the week. I've done this for all of my kids. They only eat this pureed food for a few months and then they are eating regular table food by 10 - 11 months. So why not take a few moments and make it for your baby?

Good luck!

Simplest thing to do is make your foods (veggies/fruit - steamed and pureed) and split the whole batch into an ice cube tray and freeze for re-heating as you need it. Then when ready for more complex things like meat, simply keep a grinder about and throw what you're having in.

It's fun... when they're toddlers you can look up interesting finger foods to make, mine loved pot pies and quiches - great for sneaking in spinach.

Erin

Hi F.,

I had the same dilemma with my daughter, and a friend of ours gave us a book, and I think it was called "101 Baby Food Purees". It was informative, made it easy, and had recipes from six months to I think 12 or 18 months. It was perfect for all the beginning stages of eating It made my husband and I want to make our daughter's food ourselves, which is really the best in the long run, in my opinion. That way you know exactly what is in her food, and gets her started knowing what real food tastes like instead of the processed stuff.

Mostly what the book says is to boil vegetables (to being with root vegetable) and then puree it in a blender with some of the water you boiled it in, and pour it into ice cube trays until frozen and then transfer to ziploc freezer bags to prevent freezer burn. This way when you are ready to feed her, all you have to do is pull out a couple of cubes, and heat it up. You can even microwave it if you check it well enough first, this is what we did. This way you can do a large quantity and store it for future use, which would work perfect for a mom working full-time. Hope this helped. Good Luck!

A.

If you have a food processor, several (say 6) dedicated ice cube trays, some zip lock bags, and space in your freezer, you can make food for your baby in less time than it would take you to go to the store and buy it. Each cube is about 2 Tbs and two cubes equals about one small jar of baby food (your mileage may vary). So about 20 minutes of work generates 36 equivalent jars of baby food. Its a great way to introduce children to new flavors, for example, when my kids got older, if we had chicken stew, I would just throw it in the blender pour it in the trays, and voila, chicken stew (usually with turnips).

Hi F.,

You're not going to harm your baby with any of the options available at your local grocery store, whether you choose organic or conventional, prepared or made-from-scratch...as long as you wash ANY fresh veggies and fruits (organic and conventional) well.

That said, my husband and I chose to make our own baby food at home, simply because it costs less and we thought the food tasted better! We chose conventionally grown fruits and veggies, but organic is fine too if it's washed well (organic may have less synthetic chemicals, but they are sprayed with "organic" chemicals and often have more bacteria--we're farmers). Making our own food was simple, even though we both work. On the weekends, my husband spent an hour or so food processing several selections and dumping them into ice cube trays. Once they were frozen they were ready for single-servings all week long, or longer! You just pop a cube of food in a microwave bowl for 15-30 sec (depending on the food) and it's ready to serve. We steamed fresh veggies before processing (sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, etc.), and usually just processed ripe fresh fruit without steaming, unless the fruit was a little firm. We also used frozen veggies which we then steamed and processed (butternut squash, peas, etc.), and we used some canned fruits as well, like peaches and pears (look for fruits preserved in fruit juice rather than syrup). Canned veggies work well too, just look for "no sodium added." Really, it wasn't much work at all and we really enjoyed it. Our daughter gave up processed baby food between 9-10 mos, so we weren't doing it all that long, just 3-4 months. We also kept some store-bought baby food on hand in case we ran out or were traveling, as it takes more prep to travel with frozen home-made baby food that needs to be thawed in the microwave.

Good luck!
J.

This is the reason I make my little guy's baby food at home: http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/848556.html.
The only thing that could possibly be harmful is carrots, but don't take it from me. Read the information on www.wholesomebabyfood.com. That site is my bible when it comes to what to make and how to select, cook and puree fruits and veggies. And it can be so easy! (And I work full-time too!)
Just take about an hour on the weekend and steam or bake, then puree and dump in ice cube trays. I bought several trays so there's a variety to serve (although if you're just starting, you'll probably only need one fruit/veggie per week to test for allergic reactions) and store them in plastic zip freezer bags.
Oh, and I found the mini Cuisinart is great for pureeing! But if you have a stick blender already or some sort of food processor, try using that first. No sense buying extra equipment until you know you need it.
I started with green beans and alternated between fruits and veggies each week so that there was some balance. The good thing about fruits is you don't have to cook some of them! Bananas are a great on-the-go food. They have their own packaging and you can just open and mash with a fork or spoon!
Sorry, didn't mean to write a book, but I've just found it so satisfying to make my son's food and I wanted to share.
Good luck!
D.

I absolutely recommend you do make your own baby food. It is super easy, super affordable and definitely manageable on your tight schedule. I also work full time and have a 3 yr & 1 yr old. I've been making my own baby food for my baby since he was 4 months old. I did the same for my older son. I guarantee you if I can do it, so can you. I still recommend you buy jar food, because it is convenient for times you go out to dinner or travel.

The easiest way I found is every time I cook something for the family, I also cook for the baby. This is how you work it into your schedule. Otherwise, you can do it all on the weekend.

I chop chicken breast in bite size pieces and cook them in chicken broth. Beef I cut thinly and cook the same way. Actually, I cook all protein and veggies in no fat, low-sodium chicken broth because it gives the food some flavor. Sometimes I choose to also steam some of the veggies. Anyway once you have you protein and veggies cooked, you want to puree them with the same broth you cooked them in because the vitamins for the veggies will seep into the liquid, and because a little liquid helps the puree process.

After pureeing your protein/veggies I portion it into Ice Cube trays (I bought the ones that come with a cover from "OXO"). I freeze the food and it is perfect portion control because each food cube is about a tablespoon.

Fruit is a little different because you don't need liquid to puree. Only I found that watermelon really doesn't work well for this method, but I still do puree watermelon and serve it to my baby in a net teether, so he can suck on it.

Veggies that work great are any squash, zucchini, broccoli, egg plant, corn, peas, but potatoes you want to bake in the oven until they fall apart. Great fruits are pears, strawberries, blueberries, mango, apples, bananas. Best of all, you can mix and match to come up with different combinations to serve your baby.

I hear people use blenders, mixers, etc. I have one of those "Magic Bullet" nock-offs call the "Mrs. Kitchen". It is perfect because it is small and takes almost no space on my counter. Plus, it purees so well that even chicken can be smooth enough for a "stage 1" eater.

Best of luck!

F.,

I have two boys (2 and 8 month). I used jarred food with my older boy. Mainly because I wasn't sure what he could eat. He is now soooooo picky. I'm not really sure if it had anything to do with the bland jarred food or not. I give my 8 month old whatever we are eating. I just grind it up in a Happy Baby Food Grinder (which I love!!). I have been doing this for him since he was 6 months and he loves all food! It is so easy to do and you'll save so much money.

I decided to make my own baby food and it is actually really easy. Like a lot of other people have mentioned it works very well to put the pureed mix in ice cube trays. (Good Grips makes a nice tray that has a cover and the cubes come out really easily). Then you can just pop them out into a ziploc and when you need to feed the baby you can heat up as much or as little as you need and even mix them up, like half squash, half broccoli. Another good trick for things like spinach, broccoli, peas, is you can buy the frozen bagged organic veggies that are ready-to-go, no cleaning needed. The only thing I buy ready to serve is applesauce (just make sure its 'no sugar added') and I just buy the regular kind - not the "baby" kind. Its not as smooth but my little girl loves it. Good luck!

When my first started eating (she's 4) I worked full time out of the house. What worked for my family was to make whatever vegies we were having and pull aside some that were not spiced or salted and whir them up in the food processor. There was usually enough for that night and the next day. Now, with my 2nd (6 mo) I am a stay at home mom and still doing the same thing. And for cereal, I make regular slow cooking oatmeal which I add a peeled chopped apple while it cooks. Then I add a scoop of formula (they sent it free, when it's gone I wont add it) and whir it in the food processor. When it is time to eat, I add some hot water for consistency and to warm it up. She loves it, and no more $4 boxes of baby cereal.

I don't think the organic ones are harmful at all and use them when I need to. But, generally fresh food is better.

I work too and have VERY little time. I find giving easy stuff works well, as does planning ahead a bit. I bought covered ice cube trays (in the baby dept) at Whole Foods and would just steam squash or a sweet potato in the microwave, mash with a fork, and freeze. Then feed 2 or 3 cubes during the week. Banana, avocado, and ripe pear are super easy - just cut up or smash and serve.

It only gets more complicated, I think, until they can start eating what you do!

I struggled with the same thing, and facing another infant in a few months I am once again struggling, but I can tell you this. I just made sure I was adamant about keeping to organic baby food, and the concept of making my own food was more than I could handle at the time. It is such a short period of time, and for working parents it is so labor intensive, who wants to take valuable time from the baby to make the food. There are so many great solutions pre-made... the frozen ones from whole foods are good too. By the time my daughter was a year old she wanted solid food that she could eat with her hands and wouldn't eat baby food, so I figured six months of not having to cook super healthy food for my daughter was a blessing, the time will come all too quickly when you are trying to constantly keep the food in your house stocked with healthy choices... I choose ignorance if that's what it is, the organic food says just vegetables and water, lets believe that!

I think the "chemicals" are from the fruits and veggies that aren't organic and that would be why there isn't anything listed on the ingredients. I switched between making the food when I could and buying Earth's best organic baby food. I like that they also use the glass jars so there isn't the added plastic chemicals.

With my first son I made most of his food and with my second son I bought most of his food. I'm trying for #3 right now and at this point in my head I'm planning to make most of its food...my decision is based on financial needs right now. It's cheaper to make your own. I had more time with #1 too. It's really not that hard or time consuming though. You make a big batch on the weekend and freeze it. We used an ice tray so they were serving size. Some people use old babyfood jars. I do remeber something about certian foods, maybe carrots. I don't remember exactly but there are some really good books on making your own baby food that are really good.

A nurse told me at one point it doesn't matter so much what your baby gets as long as it gets what it needs. You'll do the best for baby that works with your family.

I also went back to work and totally understand how you feel. Like others that have posted, I gave my son a combination of jarred and homemade food.
What I found easiest to make were pureed peaches, nectarines, or plums because when they're ripe, they're soft enough that you don't have to steam or cook beforehand. Just peel, chop, then puree. I'd usually make big batches at once then freeze them in those small glad containers. And I'd highly recommend using a stickblender--I found it to be much easier than using a blender or food processor.
Good luck!

lots of answers so i won't get too into it, but make your own baby food!!!! it is a lot more work than just buying it, but it's not all that bad and it is WORTH it! yes, the vegetables used may be organic, but the vegetables are cooked at such high temperatures, most of the nutrients and flavors are cooked right out of there. and what's the point? and i feel that these bland baby foods lead to picky eaters in the future. plus, you really don't know what goes on in those jarring plants. what if some disgruntled worker is having a bad day and likes to spit in the vats of food, or doesn't wash his hands, etc. it really is only for a few months that you have to do this. if possible, take a day and make tons of food all in one day. maybe a friend can watch baby so you can focus and get it done. or just make one thing every other evening after bedtime. it's super simple- steam, cool, process, put in ice cube trays. have fun with it!

I made my twins baby food & believe that it is the reason why they eat such a variety of healthy foods. We did mostly organic fruits/vegetables & chicken. Two great resources if you decide to go the homemade route: Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron & www.wholesomebabyfood.com There is also a cookbook by Anabel Karmel. Try making a batch of something yourself, once you see how much water it takes to make a smooth puree for your baby, you'll realize that making the food yourself is much more cost effective. I made food in batches, froze it in ice cube trays then transferred the frozen cubes to freezer bags.