Making Baby Food

In order to start making baby food, I did a bit of research. Sort of an overview on making baby food, so I’ll get the general idea before actually doing it. I must say, I learnt a lot! The best thing was that the basics of making baby food seem pretty simple. That’s a good start for me.

The Advantages of Making Baby Food

There’s no question that making baby food by yourself can lean to healthier and more nutritious food. The ingredients are fresh and there are no unnecessary additives , which means more vitamins and nutrients.

And the fact you are getting this healthy food at lower cost than commercial baby food turns making your own baby food into a winner. I read a calculation by this mom who figured she spent only 30$ on making baby food in her baby’s first year, compared to 300$ she would have spent, had she bought it instead.

Making baby food not only saves you money, but it can also saves you time. Can you believe that? Since you can make baby food in bulk and freeze for later use, you don’t need more than a couple of hours to make baby food for days or even weeks.

When to Start Making Baby Food

The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends keeping babies on breast milk or formula until the age of 6 months. Then you can start making baby food along with breastfeeding or formula and switch to just baby food around 1 year old.

More signs that indicate your baby is ready for solid food is the ability to hold up the head, seems hungry after regular feeding, and loosing the reflex to push anything but liquids from the mouth.

How to Start Making Baby Food

Purees are the easiest way to start making baby food. Fruit and vegetables like potato, squash, apples, bananas, avocado, peas and more are the simple ingredients  to start with.

The best way to cook these fruits and vegetables is steaming or baking them. This method insures that when you are making baby food, you’re keeping all the vitamins and nutrients. Then simply puree them in a food processor and add breast milk, formula or water to get to the desired consistency. If you do use water to boil the fruits or vegetables, use the cooking water for your puree.

Scoop the puree into ice cube trays and freeze them. Once frozen, transfer them into freezer bags (label them with the content and date). Now you don’t have to worry about making baby food for days or even weeks. All you have to do, is take a few cubes, defrost and serve in room temperature. Each cube is approx 1 oz, so you know exactly how much food you’re baby is having.

Some Warnings about Making Baby Food

• New foods should be introduced one at a time with a few days in between to make sure there’s no allergic reaction.
• When making baby food there’s no need to add any sugar or salt. Do not add hot spices.
• No honey until 1 year old due to risk of botulism
• Minimize sodium – if you can’t use fresh produce, then frozen vegetables is usually better than canned
• Don’t use a microwave to heat your baby food. It tends to form “hot spots” which can burn the baby’s mouth.
• Don’t limit the fat intake while making baby food. Babies need this fat in order to develop at least until the age of 2.

Making Baby Food – More to Come

As I said, I’ve learnt quite a lot about making baby food from my research, and I’m sure there is plenty more out there. Next time, more tips and recipes.