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LockedHome Made Baby Food

posted on November 24, 2009 at 10:30AM Inappropriate?

 I'm reading about more and more parents that are making their own baby food instead of buying it. It seems like a great idea for both economical and health reasons...but you can't deny the convenience of the pre-packaged stuff!

replies: 8 latest post: December 16, 2009 at 08:37AM by SHC-AllissaD
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posted on December 12, 2009 at 08:45AM
 

I have to agree! I have tried to make my own baby food and it was not as easy as I thought it would be. I like the idea of freezing home made food in ice cube trays. The shelf life of store bought baby food is generally only 3 days. My son was sick this week and I opened a jar of store bought food and ended up throwing out half of it since he did not want to eat solids. Freezing the food makes me not feel bad about throwing away part of one cube. I was amazed that 3 carrots fit into 2+ jars of the 2.5 oz jars! It might have been more but there was a mishap with the blender.  Those lids can be tricky :)  What takes out carrot stains?

posted on December 12, 2009 at 10:40AM
 

I did it with the vegetables right out of my garden last year.

 

posted on December 12, 2009 at 10:48AM
 

I can see your feeling that it is healthier, but I don't think baby food is expensive.  Beechnut has yummy fruits and yummy veggies as low as $7 a case with coupons inside! Please don't feel guilty feeding the baby food to your baby. Here are a couple examples when baby food is better.

It is a great way to test for allergies and teach portion control. The fiber is balanced and the particulate is smaller, like formula with "comfort proteins". I know a woman who ground up lima beans for a 6 month old girl and she had to go to the hospital. Remember, that babies cannot eat honey at all and raisins are like prunes to them. I found that out the hard way.

It also teaches what food groups go together and a love of veggies. There is too much sodium, as with any canned food. The toddler foods, kids cuisine, and Gerber Graduates is where it gets tricky. At that point, the stuff is like Chef boyardee and you might want to feed them what you are eating, in smaller portions. Any questions, check with pediatrician.

posted on December 14, 2009 at 11:05AM
 
In response to laughterisgood4u's post from December 12 2009 08:45AM

Guess I'll plan on buying baby food for a while and maybe once he get older I'll supplement with "made from scratch".

posted on December 14, 2009 at 11:32PM
 

I liked the prepackaged but once my son started to eat solids I switched to making all his food and ussally feeding him off the dinner plate. The small jars and plastic containers made it eaiser but I like that the cost is much lowwer now that I can just cut up a vegie on my plate and feed it to him.

One other point is if you are looking at doing homemade baby food you have to look up the do's and Dont's there are a few and it will help make a healthy / happy baby

posted on December 15, 2009 at 10:06AM
 

Thanks for all the feedback!

posted on December 15, 2009 at 10:30AM
 

I was hoping you wouldn't be offended by my comments. You can buy beechnut at any grocery store and KMart carries like every flavor of Gerber. When my 15 yr old daughter was hit by a jetski,  I actually kept her alive on Gerber juice and applesauce, until she had some surgery. She is now 21 with a baby of her own, who eats Gerber.

Again, I didn't mean to be pushy but so many parents are pressured to make the baby food. You will find a gradual shift from jars to mashed veggies over the next year. It's a fun time. ENJOY it!

posted on December 16, 2009 at 08:37AM
 

Not at all---you brought up some great points. It's great to hear different perspectives...that's how you make informed decisions!

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