Introducing Baby Foods

Hi K.,

Congratulations on your little one. I made my own baby food, it was very easy. What I did was cooked the fruit or vegetable (if needed), puree and pour in ice cube trays. Once frozen, put in plastic Ziploc bags, you can write on the outside what it is and when it was prepared. Then, at night I'd grab 1 or 2 cubes of what ever I was going to feed my baby the next day and let it thaw in the refrigerator over night. I hope this helps.

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My doctor told me to carry a garlic press in my purse, so no matter where I was, or what I was eating, I could make "babyfood" for my baby. I also have a grinder from whole foods, that I used for everything. Soemtimes you have to add alittle more moisture.

My son always loved mixing his fruit with oatmeal, plus it kept him regular! I don't really have advice on making babyfood...both my kids didn't stay on babyfood too long, we just used babyfood to teach them to eat and then after they got the hang of it, we gave them what we were eating :)

I didn't use this, but I came across it from another response and remembered seeing yours. This might be a good one for internet favorites list-
http://www.savingdinner.com/products/babyfood_1.html

I make all of my baby food and find it is a much healthier way to feed them. I use a mini food processor to puree up steamed veggies. Fruit is usually soft anyways so you can puree it without steaming it. Just make sure everything is pureed and introduce that. Once my babies are eating well and have a few teeth then I get out my baby food grinder (probably find it at a baby store) and then we grind up whatever we are eating. My son is the best eater and is not picky at all. I think it is from feeding him a variety of unprocessed food. I would also steer clear of cow's milk since it is hard to digest and very filling. I never gave my children milk, but just water because I think it is a healthier choice and a better habit. Besides a couple minor colds, my kids are very healthy from this. But you have to make your own decisions on what is best for you baby. Good luck.

I did most of my baby food as well for both children. Greens first, then oranges, and then fruit (bananas make them constipated so watch for that) and then meat. I steamed or baked and made big batches, then put it in a muffin tin and then to the freezer...I just put them in ziplocks after and labeled it. I also mixed real rice with it as well, and that works by pureeing it and rolling it in a ball with a cookie sheet. Same with the meats. It's easier to do the big batches so you don't lose time. I loved it! I didn't like the consistency of green beans (they seemed too stringy), and I usually used frozen veggies for convenience (except for potatoes or yams). Just puree less as your baby gets older. I just looked up food ideas online and avoided buying books. I do know to stay away from corn and spinach, and carrots because of nitrates (but they loved that so I did it at about 9 months).

Baby food is expensive and so feeding him what you would be eating anyway, just pureed in a blender or food processor is my suggestion. The freezer cube Idea is great too. I always just took whatever we were having and pureed it and then my baby sat at the table while we ate and ate the same thing. I have four children and all my friends were buying the store bought baby food, but budget did not allow for me to do this. The one great thing that I found was that I have four children who will eat whatever I make and my friends that bought the bland food from the store have picky eaters, there are of course exceptions to that.. I guess what I am saying is don't make it too difficult give them what you eat and use tons of the soft food that is already available, bananas, yogurt, etc.

Try the book Super Baby Foods. We have followed this book since we introduced solid food to our daughter at 6 months. I have made all of my daughter's food and there are some big time saver tips in the book. She is 15 months now and is a great eater and is rarely, rarely sick! I picked mine up at Barnes and Noble but I know that you can also order it off of Amazon.com.

I haven't even started thinking about solids for my daughter yet, as she is only 3 months, but at my mom's group, the nurse in charge gave us a handout about different types of foods. She got the information from www.wholesomebabyfood.com That might be a place to start.

Hi K.,
My son HATED the rice cereal and oatmeal when we started them it but ate some of the barley. I would mix it with some breast milk and then, once he was past the 5 days, I started adding a little apple puree for flavor. Turned out, the flavor was what he was looking for! If you plan on making your own baby food, try picking up a copy of Super Baby Food. I used it and actually still pull recipes out of it, it's a fabulous resource for feeding and making your own food. My son never touched a jar of food and I enjoyed preparing his baby food! It's actually quite easy. Take care, hope this helps you

Hi K.,
My six month old just started eating last week. He's loving it! I'm using a book, Super Baby Foods, by Ruth Yaron that I was given by a friend. It has solid nutritional advice and practical ideas on making baby porridge from whole grains, cooking up batches of veggies and fruits, etc. I'm having so much fun! I'm sure it will be a great resource for you.

A little about me:
I'm a SAH or take my baby with me mom, living in a bustling city in Asia. My six month old son is sleeping soundly. Whew!

To make it simple and easy, I just take some of whatever we're eating as a family, like steamed vegetables or spaghetti or soup before I add the milk, and blend it in my magic bullet and feed it to my baby. If we're going to have grilled veggies I buy an extra zuchinni or something to grill and blend for her, so I'm not doing extra work really other than blending it. So I throw what we're eating, especially as the baby gets older and can eat more things because it's healthier.

I've also bought butternut squash or zuchinni, peas (pretty much whatever is in baby food jars) and cook it and blend it, then freeze it in an ice cube tray and then put the cubes in a freezer ziplock. I just ut a couple cubes at a time to feed her. And now that my baby is older I even throw in beans, cheese, or chicken or whatever we're eating for dinner and blend. You also do cous cous (tiny pasta), rice, oatmeal, yogurt, boiled eggs, tofu, fresh fruit. My kids love bananas and I don't really even have to mash them.

Hi K.,

Who told you rice cereal was difficult to digest? It is actually quite the opposite. It's pretty much the ONLY thing you should feed your child other than breast milk until age one, as their stomach lining is not yet fully developed.

I think it's awesome you're going to make your own baby food! I hope you will choose to use organic for your baby. Nevertheless, if you choose to feed your baby solids before age one, be sure to ROTATE his foods and try to go 3-4 days before feeding him the same food. This will minimize potential food allergies in the future.

Best of luck to you!

Warm Regards,
G. Van Luven

My favorite book: Super Baby Food!! It is wonderful! Directions on how to make everything, and month-by-month guide to when to introduce what.

Good first baby foods: Avocado, banana, yogurt, sweet potato.

Making baby food is so much fun!! Give it a try!!

You cannot skip baby cereal- it is so important for babies to get their iron. If rice cereal bothers your baby's digestive track then try Barley or Oatmeal- those were gentler on my daughter. I know there are books you can buy onhow to make baby food. Good luck

There is a great book: Super Baby Food, that is all vegetarian. I made my kids' food, including meat, and it was cheaper and more nutritious.

I did some store bought cereals, but there are lots of levels of homemade. You can do some or all of the prep without much trouble. I would made rice and run it thru the food processor and add filtered water or breast milk. I bought organic chicken, boiled it to death and after using the food processor froze bits in ice cube trays. Lots of fresh organic fruits and veggies that way too- frozen in little portions and then ready to thaw and mix with cereal and breast milk or formula.

It's a great book, and so much cheaper than those little jars. I hardly bought any baby food when my son was that age.

I hope this helps.

I made my own baby food for my daughter. I bought a little $10 food grinder from Wal-mart and put whatever we were eating in it and blended it up. Sometimes I would add just a table spoon or 2 or water to it. When I first did it I would only use one food for the 2 days then if that was ok I would give her a new food this way if she had an allergies I would know what food was doing it. I think shell fish, peanuts and berries are the foods you are suppose to wait until the child is older before you give them those foods.

Like a few other people have suggested, I highly recommend the book "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. My 3 boys (now 9,7, and 4) were all born with a blood disorder, and finding ways to boost their immune system has always been a high priority. When I found this book at the library, it changed our lives!! I loved it so much I asked for it as a Mother's Day gift from my husband. I have been using it's sound advice ever since. Although my kids are more at risk, or prone to illness due to their blood disorder, they have all done beautifully being fed whole, natural, organic (whenever possible) foods, and I tribute their wellness to the good nutrition they receive every day. No kidding, I think each son has only suffered one or two ear infections in their entire lives, and they rarely catch colds, they never suffer from constipation or any other stomach ailment. Ruth Yaron wrote this book out of the goodness of her heart -- and her advice, recipes and ideas are so simple and easy to follow -- you can't got wrong! You will be surprised at how fun and addicting it is to make your own baby food -- and your whole family will benefit from your efforts and knowlege too!!

Good luck and happy blending!!

A.

Good for you!

I use the whole "So Easy" system.
http://www.amazon.com/So-Easy-Baby-Food-Kit/dp/0972722742...
It's awesome! The book lays out what to introduce when -- and they really did their research. (I have several baby food cook books and I am shocked at some of the things they tell you in some of those books!) It also tells you how much to buy and how to pick the produce to make two trays of food (the trays come in the kit) which equals 24 servings. You make the food in batches and freeze it so you ALWAYS have homemade baby food on hand even when you don't have time to cook.
Good luck!

I'd like to recommend 2 books that were excellent resources for me when was making all my children's food. Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron, it gives a nice scedule for introducing new foods based on age as well as really healthy recipes and ideas. The other book is the Dr. Sears Baby Book. This book not only has a good schedule for when to introduce foods, but also all sorts of things that you may need to know. Good luck!

Super Baby Food is a great book, (except I dont agree with the microwaving suggestion). Another good choice is Whole Foods for The Whole FAmily by La Leche League.

I thought it was a crazy idea at first to make baby food, who has the time...But I had purchased a magic bullet blender from Target almost two years ago because I thought it would be nice to have, then I only used it a few times and it was in the box. My husband griped and griped to me about the money I wasted on it. Well, a friend was telling me the woman she nannies for makes her own baby food in the food processor and then freezes them in ice cube trays, when frozen pops them into a freezer bag after labeling them. When it comes time to eat you can pop one or two of the frozen baby food purees into the microwave and feed your baby. I scoffed at the idea until I decided baby food is just getting to be ridiculous in the store and now I only buy the meat & poultry baby food (only because I have not figured out how to puree it just right). I buy baby carrots, spinach, sweet potatoes, dried peaches, dried apricots, dried prunes, frozen blueberries, frozen raspberries and fresh bananas and cook the veggies and puree them in my magic bullet. It is the perfect size to use, easy clean up and easy to store and pull out when I need it.

As far as introducing foods, with both boys I was told you should start yellows and oranges first like carrots and squash to a baby and feed them the same one for a week before introducing a new one in case there is an allergic reaction so you know which food caused it. Doctors recommend not feeding too much fruit because it is sweeter than the other baby food and then they will only want the fruit, I say it depends on the baby. My sons like both equally. If you have the time to invest in making the food, you will save money and know what is going in to their food. I set aside time once a month or so depending on how much I made the last time, to make his food. He seems to like it just as well as the store bought and the colors in the ones I make are much more vibrant than the store bought. You can try peas, green beans...pretty much anything that is not on a no no list (for example do not do strawberries as it has a high allergy reaction in a lot of young kids and babies). Good luck and I hope this helped.

I just started my 6 month old on solids and he loves rice and oatmeal! We have tried sweet peas and are onto carrots next! Most Peds recommend starting with cereals, then veggies and fruit.I hear barley is a good choice if you are worried about digestion. You are supposed to introduce 1 item at a time every 5 days to watch for allergies. I have a lot of friends who make their own food using a blender or food grinder. I have been buying organic baby food to start, like Gerber organics and Earth's Best which can be found at Target. Some say its cheaper to make your own, but buying organic veggies and fruits can be expensive! Check out this website for helpful info: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

I decided to do something unconventional with my fourth child. Instead of doing the cereal products, I did research and started her off with bananas and avocados. They are packed with nutrition, naturally soft and easy to digest. She is almost two and very healthy.

Hi K.,
You are going to have so much fun making your own baby food. When my my daughter was six months, I did cereal for 2 weeks. I decided to do the store-bought cereal, because I didn't think I could get my own cereal totally smooth. I picked an organic brand. After that I did sweet potatoes for a week, then carrots for a week. I peeled, chunked, and steamed them in a steamer basket, then put them in the food processor. I still felt there were chunks, so I pushed it through a mesh strainer (now that my daughter is 8 1/2 months, I no longer strain it. I want her to get some textures). I didn't have ice cube trays, so I just put some parchment paper on a cookie sheet (or cutting board) and dolloped the veggies in single serving portions and slide the tray in the freezer. Once, frozen, I popped them off and put them in bags. I'd put one or two in the fridge overnight and they were thawed the next day. I found that if you do several veggies at a time, assembly-line style (use the same steam-basket of hot water each time, and just rinse the processer between each veggie), it doesn't take much time. Check out www.wholesomebabyfood.com for more guidance. Have fun!

Super Baby food by Ruth Yaron, is a terrific book about making food and when to give certain things, etc. Just start with veggies and fruit like avacado, sweet potatoes and banana. Then move into your own baby cereal. My son eats millet, quinoa, barley, oats and brown rice.Just cook it until soft and blend away, adding some water to desired thinness. Since your baby is six months her stomach can start to handle whole grains. Have fun, and I highly recommend the book.
T.

Hi K.,

I've been making my 10-month-old's food since we started solids at 6 months, and so far have had very good luck with it. We started with easily digestable foods-he wasn't a big fan of rice but he did like oats (I ground those to a powder at first before cooking them) and some vegetables and fruits. I use a steamer basket to steam his fruits and veggies (or bake some like yams), making them really easy to puree or mash. Since I work outside the house, I usually make alot at a time and freeze the food in ice trays (perfect baby serving sizes!) and that's going really well. Now that he's getting more teeth and enjoying the whole chewing thing, I feed him alot of what I'm eating- I cut food into really small peices and let him feed himself. Hope this helps!

I have not heard of the book Super Baby foods before your email. I will be checking it out. I found and liked the books First Meals by Annabel Karmel, and Baby Let's Eat! by Rena Coyle. Both had recipes for healthy meals and snacks for children from 6 months up. I particularly like First Meals. Karmel is a Courdon Bleu chef, and the recipes she provides, my entire family enjoyed.