Just out of curiosity (as I think about the 5 jars of Stage 3 baby food in my cupboard)...
Did your baby like Stage 3 foods? None of my 3 kids would touch it, yet, with each kid I bought a few jars just to try it out.
You're right, NBinMN, most baby food I won't buy, but I do like the Earth's Organics brand because they keep it pure.
Ick. I could never even bring myself to buy the stuff. I just put my kids on table food and that is how they got their meat. I will say though that both my kids loved Vienna sausages and although those grossed me out too, at least I did buy those! ;)
I have done home daycare for 15 years and never once bought #3 jar food. They are doing table food by then. Besides many of them do not qualify for my USDA food program (many #2's do not qualify either) as they are meals or mixed things with fillers of tapioca and such. We can ONLY serve fruits and veggies with only water added. NOTHING else. Read the labels.
ETA~I almost exclusively make my own babyfood with a cheap smoothie maker now for daycare. Just the fruit or veg, with a bit f water to get is smooth enough. I will bake/steam or whatever the veggies if needed for mushing! But every once in a blue moon I want some variety, so loo to buy some organic kinds and looking at jarred stuff makes me NUTS! So many have fillers and are NOT just baby food! As I said on the USDA food program we are not allowed to serve any combo meal stuff (like your chicken noodle whatever or mac and cheese or what-nots), but even the fruits I am usually seeking variety in have gelatin, tapioca or other additives..i am usually just looking for a cranberry applesause or some variety flavor!)
Best to stick to my home made I guess!
My kids wanted "real" food and wouldn't touch baby food : )
We stopped at Stage 2 but only because our son was pointing madly at what was on our plates and refusing baby food entirely. Who knew the child would enjoy curry...chuckle.... I know I still have some jars of Stage 2 floating around in the cabinets.
Nope. My daughter only wanted table food and breastmilk by 7 months.
We never even got to stage 2. After the first pears and such we went straight to regular food. I did try once with my first as I needed something to travel with and he would not eat it.
We never did 'baby food' so I don't know. We just pureed our own food. Started with single ingredients and then moved on to the whole dish (pureed chicken w/ dumpling or pureed lamb stew etc). Later on we just pureed to a chunky consistency.
I don't use jarfood at all. I have a food puree machine. Just work the way up to solids. Stage 3 is just table food shoved in a jar. You could make your own and it'd taste much better. I make large amounts of pastas and veggies and mix them together for multiple meals. Fruits are easy. I love the new Dole fruit jars that have fruit juice not syrup. They're cut up and soft so no work there.
My daughter quit jarred baby foods at stage 1 - she didn't want to eat ehm, and after tasting them, I knew why. They're vile.
I jsut started mashing up whatever I was eating and feeding it to her, spices, seasonings, and all.
We did a few of the stage 3 but mostly at that point my kids just ate off our plates...they preferred this.
Yes. My son liked it. My daughter did not.
