I'm a little lost as this new stage approaches. When we had our foster baby, it was easy for us. We went out and purchased some baby food, opened up and fed her. We never worried about what it had in it or if it even tasted good. We just fed it to her. After all, it's what she was used to.
Now that my husband and I have been watching what we put into our bodies, after all, what I eat, THE MONKEY eats. We've been rethinking the whole, just-buy-it-and-feed-it-to-him routine. I want him to have the best. I'm very interested in making my own baby food. Any and all kinds. So that's where you come in.
You do want to help me out, don't you?
What did you start your child(ren) out on? Did you make it yourself? Want to share any recipes that you know of?
Thanks a bunch!
Our little ones are just about a week apart! I will be entering this same phase in the next next few months. I have also been trying to research everything before I start (cause I am trying to fins a more healthy alternative to plain rice cereal). I found a pretty cool website which you may have seen: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/
ReplyDeleteSo far I like most of the recipes and stuff on there. As this is my first, I have no other info on the best times to start, etc. I know the AAP suggests 6 month plus for intro to solids, although I am sure everyone differs and people may argue this one. Kellymom.com also has some good info on the subject. It seems hard even with all the info to make good decisions :)! I know I have been thinking about this a lot lately also. Let me know if you find any other cool sites or good recipes
I started Isla at six months as well... There are a lot of good reasons to wait until 6 months... I try to suggest my hardest to friends and family to wait until then.
ReplyDeleteIsla's first food was Nestle Rice Cereal (the one that you have to add breastmilk to). She loved it, but it wasn't that different from breastmilk. I got Isla on a schedule, every new vegetable came in four phases/days.
Day 1 - 1/4 new vegetable mixed with 3/4 rice cereal
Day 2 - 1/2 new vegetable mixed with 1/2 cereal
Day 3 - 3/4 new veg mixed with 1/4 cereal
Day 4 - All new vegetable
It worked well too... She eats just about every vegetable we give her. She's almost a year now and I still make her purees for her normal meals, and I cook her some finger foods to eat while husband and I eat dinner as well, because she will complain until we give her food from our plates.
I puree enough food for about 2-3 weeks and I freeze it in ice cube trays. Each "cube" is about 1 tbsp. I make about 6 different vegetables and freeze them individually, put them in containers, label them and pull out as many as I need for one meal for Isla.
As for recipes, I haven't really made anything that requires a recipe... But she is a TOTAL foodie now. She loves tomato sauce, Indian food and mushroom soup. Once you feel it's safe, cook with flavour like onions and garlic. Remember to go easy on it though, they're both irritants.
Also, buying vegetables in a jar and making your own... There's really no difference. Many of the benefits that come from fresh vegetables expire about half an hour after they've been cooked... So the only way to make home made better than jarred food is if you cook it and feed it to the monkey right away.
We, like most, started with rice cereal. I mixed a little into breast milk and Ava freaked out like "why have you been holding out on me this WHOLE TIME??" She quickly (like a week later) started eating veggies and even chicken. I would boil the chicken and puree it in the food processor and mix just a little in with peas or carrots or whatever. She LOVED food.
ReplyDeleteI did both making and buying baby food. Earths Best Organics seems like a good choice for buying it. It is really nice to have some to just carry around in your diaper bag for when they get hungry while you are out and about.
As for making food I think start with the veggies because if you start with the sweet stuff like fruit they won't develop a taste for the veggies.
My best tip, in my opinion, is to mix a little rice cereal or baby oatmeal into the fruits & veggies, they generally come really runny and this helps thicken them up (which make it slightly easier & less messy) and it adds a lot of nutritional value to boot!
Good luck!
It is REALLY easy to make baby food! Get yourself a food processor or even just a blender with a strainer and you'll be all set. The good thing about baby food is that you can never overcook it and they honestly don't care about seasonings. Freeze small amounts in little baggies and you'll have lots of food for weeks. Also? I use pureed veggies for filler in baking the breads my kids like to eat.
ReplyDeleteI also did a mix of mostly making my own and a little buying. It is great to make your own but sometimes it just makes sense to have a few jars of organic baby food in the diaper bag.
ReplyDeleteI started my first son at 5 months and within the first week he was already eating like a champ. I used organic brown rice cereal (Earth's Best) because I had read that it is much harder for babies to digest home made cereals like brown rice, quinoa, etc.. until they are older, like 6-7 months. When he got older I experimented with cooking my own brown rice and millet cereals (we don't eat gluten) and that worked well.
I made my son everything from spinach to broccoli and even mango and papaya purees. He is two now and eats anything I give him, he isn't picky at all. One thing I'd recommend is a little food mill. You can take it to restaurants with you, use it at home or the grandparents house, and within minutes have a little puree for baby of whatever you are eating. It's also great for avocado and banana. I got mine at target for less than $10, it's by Munchkin brand.
Added your new blog to my links as well. Good luck with the new site! And with feeding your little guy.