Homemade Baby Food: Is It Right for You?

It is time to start thinking about the foods that you will be feeding your baby when you start feeding him solid food. Organic baby food is one of many premade healthy options. Homemade baby food is popular among parents who want to know what exactly goes into their child’s mouth.

Homemade baby food: Benefits of making it yourself

There are many reasons why parents choose to make their baby food.

• The parents know what they are feeding their babies.
• You can save money by buying food in bulk (although some parents point out that this may not be the case).
• Instead of depending on flavors selected by the manufacturers, they can choose their fruits, veggies, and other foods for purees. You will not find avocados or melons in the baby food aisle of your local supermarket.
• This will help the baby get used to eating the same foods as the rest, just in a puree form.

Myra Bartalos of Brooklyn, N.Y., found it easy to make her baby food, and it appealed to her concern about her daughter’s nutritional needs.

Bartalos says, “What sealed my decision was learning that canned food is cooked to high temperatures in order to kill bacteria and prolong storage. This also removes many of the vitamins, nutrients and flavor from the food.” I would steam or boil vegetables or fruit over the weekend and puree them in a small food processor. I would cook three or four fruits and vegetables at once, which gave me enough food to last a whole month.

Making your baby food helps you to think about what you are feeding your child, says Erika Radtke. She is the mother of an infant daughter and a 4-year-old boy in Carlsbad.

Making Baby Food at Home: The Disadvantages

Parents who have tried to make homemade baby food but have given up point out the following disadvantages:

• Time. Making and preparing many small servings of homemade food takes time. Prepackaged baby food is much quicker.
• Convenience. Baby food is prepackaged in measured quantities and ready to be served.
• Storage. Premade baby food may spoil faster and require refrigeration. This may take up space in your refrigerator or freezer if you prepare a large number of servings. The prepackaged foods do not need to be stored in the fridge until they are opened.
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Radtke admits that she made some baby food for her son, but it was “a pain.” I used to spend a weekend cooking the food, portioning it into ice-cube trays, freezing them, and storing them. “I didn’t mind using Gerber’s and Earth’s Best when they ran out.”

Do not worry if you feel intimidated by the thought of making your food for your baby. “Foods for babies are pure from the start,” says Jennifer Shu MD, a pediatrician and co-author in Atlanta of Heading Home with your Newborn: From Birth to Reality, and Food Fights: Winning the Nutritional Challenges of Parenthood armed with Insight, humor, and a bottle of ketchup.

Shu, a WebMD contributor, says that if you are concerned about your baby’s diet and do not have time to prepare your baby food, pay attention to what they eat once they start eating table food. It is a short time that they can eat purees.

Making Baby Food: All You Need

It is easy to make baby food yourself, according to Shu: “All you need are a food mill and a steamer.” (If making your food is something you want to do, steaming the ingredients is the best method to preserve the nutrients.

Many baby food makers are available on the market. These range from French products that combine steaming, blending, and warming with defrosting to simple mills and grinders. You do not have to purchase any of these products. Your food processor can be used just as effectively for making baby foods. If you do not own one, use a blender or potato masher to ensure the food is smooth and free of chunks.

Many popular books offer hundreds of recipes to make baby food purees. These include Blender Baby Food and Top 100 Baby Purees. They can inspire you with new ideas and help remind you what nutrients you should be including in your baby’s diet. However, these books are not required to make your baby foods.

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Making Baby Food at Home: 6 Simple Steps to a Healthy Baby Food

• Rinse and wash your hands.
• Peel and scrub fruit and vegetables.
• You can bake, steam, roast, or microwave the vegetables until they are tender. Microwaving and steaming preserve more nutrients.
• If your baby is able to handle more texture, mash the food in a food processor with some liquid (water, breast, or formula milk).
• Store in the fridge or freezer in airtight containers. Homemade baby food cannot be kept in a cupboard because it is fresh.
• When it is time to eat, reheat and let cool.

You can use an ice-cube tray or a variety of containers that are specifically designed for storing and freezing baby food in small portions.

You can also puree cooked meat (without pinking, fully cooked and removing fat, the skin, and connective tissues), cooked beans, and cooked eggs.

One-Step Baby Food: Homemade Made Easy

You can reduce the number of steps when preparing certain foods. Shu, a WebMD contributor, says that ‘cutting up a pear very ripe, mashing a banana, mashing an avo, is making your baby food. When you are making mashed potatoes, save some of the ones that do not have whole milk. You can add some butter or mild spices. You can modify what you eat as long as it is healthy.