All three of my children have been breastfed exclusively up until around 5 months. At this point I started offering rice Cubes of Pureed Food cereal, which was mostly breast-milk with a little rice cereal mixed in for texture. None of them were crazy about it and I only fed them a little here and there when I was in the mood. Rice cereal has very little nutritional value and I didn't want to fill them up on empty calories so I found that I rarely felt like it was worth cleaning up the inevitable mess created when they spit out it anyway. Once Lauren, our first who is now seven, was old enough to start trying fruits and vegetables, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at making my own baby food. While perusing a popular parenting magazine, I came across an article about preparing and freezing individual portions of homemade baby food in an ice cube tray and it looked easy. I bought fresh organic produce--apples, broccoli, spinach, pears, bananas or sweet potato and cooked and pureed them in my blender. Then I spooned the food into an ice cube tray, wrapped them in a plastic freezer bag to prevent freezer burn and then froze them. I loved that I could take the cubes of food out to thaw individually as I needed them. I also loved feeding our children fresh organic food and that I knew exactly what was in it. Sure there was some work involved in the preparation but it was well worth the effort. I'm glad I did it and I recommend trying it if you have a baby who is ready to start eating solids. It's so easy, it saves money and best of all, you don't have any glass jars to recycle or tote around. You can easily thaw and bring the food in a plastic baby bowl with a lid. At seven, four and almost two, my child have a wide variety of preferences for food. Lauren will eat broccoli but won't eat a blueberry to save her life. She also likes things like spinach salad with goat cheese drizzled with vinaigrette. Kate loves fruit and veggies but won't eat pasta. Cooper on the other hand, loves both fruit and pasta but won't touch meat or vegetables. It's tough to find one meal that will fill everyone's belly. I often find myself longing for the days when breastmilk and pureed baby food were all they needed. Do you make your own baby food and if so, how do you do it? Do you use your regular blender or one made especially for babyfood? Please share any recipes that your baby loves because if you are like me, you might sometimes get stuck in a "babyfood rut" and end up feeling like you are feeding your child the same favorites over and over. Happy Feeding!
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After breastfeeding exclusively for six months, I wanted to prepare every bite my baby ate. At fourteen months, I can honestly say preparing and freezing fresh produce, and even meats and starches is not difficult, but the pouches that contain nothing but puréed organic produce are easier!
i have made all our baby food from the start! i just either steam or bake the food and then throw in the food processor. one thing i find helpful though is to leave the purees thick and then freeze them in ice cube trays. the reason i leave them thicker is that my daughter (who is 8 months now) quickly started liking much thicker foods, so i was happy that my frozen stash of food wasn’t all super thinned out ;)
Not yet but plan too.
I just started baby-led weaning with my six month old. She loves it! Purees lasted all of a week and she would barely eat a thing. She did like to put the spoon in her own mouth, but the food was rarely on the spoon by the time it got there. So, instead I cut an avocado into spears and she could not get enough of it. This weekend, she started on squash sticks – she loves them, too. Basically, if she can get it into her fist and then find a way to get it to her mouth, she’ll gobble it up.
I have been making baby food for my 8-month old daughter for a couple months now. I love how easy it is and I feel great knowing that she is eating the best I can give her. Unfortunately, she is not very interested in eating and most sessions end after only a few bites. :( I’ve tried various methods and foods without much success. I am hoping that she soon learns to enjoy it more and I know I will then, too! Any advice on getting her to eat more would be appreciated! Thanks!!
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