Anyone Make Their Own Babyfood?

Hi everyone!
I am writing an article about homemade baby food. I’d like to find out if it’s a growing trend, why people do it, how they do it, the benefits etc. I’m also curious to see if more people are turning to making their own food to cut costs in this difficult economy. I was hoping my fellow TS-ers could enlighten me on why you do it!

I know for me, I loved making baby food (much to my surprise)…I found so much joy in making different food for my little guys and putting TLC into everything I made. I discovered that doing this helped me overcome some guilt I carried about my inadequacies with breastfeeding! I didn’t make all of their food, maybe 60% or so.

Anyway, if you can, please tell me a little about why you make/made your own babyfood, any resources, cookbooks, sites you found helpful, any benefits you found (or none at all), if it was time consuming and if you would do it again.

Thank you very much!!!
Melissa

 

I loved making my own baby food. There was so much cost savings, and that way I knew what my babies were eating. As to the real reason why I did it:

It all started back in college, I was in engineering classes, and one day we had to watch a movie on genetically modified food. It totally freaked me out, and at the end of the movie the professor made us all try and guess who the manufacturer was. Come to find out, it was Gerber. That day, then and there I swore my babies would never eat manufactured baby food. (I'm not trying to diss Gerber, I know they've come along way, and claim to not use genetically modified ingredients anymore)

So with that, when my DS was a baby I made all his food. I bought 4 jars of organic baby food, and used 1 of them. The other 3 I donated when he was about 18 months old. With my girls I also made all their baby food. I bought 10 jars of organic baby food, and I have about 4 left in the cupboard.

I don't find it that time consuming. About 3 times a week, I would cook up a vegetable or fruit while I was making dinner, pour it into ice cube trays and freeze it. The part that was not convenient was travelling with it. I always had to bring a cooler/have access to a mcirowave, etc. Also there was no way to pack "emergency" home made baby food, in case we got stranded in the car, or something like that. Those were the few times that I did actually use the baby food jars.

I used wholesomebabyfood.com as a resource. I love that site.

Would I do it again - definitely.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

yes, I made my own. I didn't with my first born, but decided to do so with the twins and then did with my youngest. I started due to a cost issue. The I continued because I liked doing it. I liked seeing how beautiful the colors were in the homemade stuff compared to store bought! On vacation once I took some store bought and the twins did not tolerate it at all, they got terribly sick. That sealed it for me, I was only going to make it.

I never used a website, I just did it as I wanted. I didn't even know there were sites out there for that stuff. It was not that time consuming. I would take an evening and make all I needed for the week. I put the food in glass baby food jars and then in the freezer. I would take out what I was going to use the night before and let it thaw. It was easier for me to know exactly how much they ate if I froze it in the jars. I know some women use ice cube trays, I just couldn't get into that.

 

My babies have only been on solids for about a month and a half so I'm no expert, but so far I love making the food for them. I haven't gotten into any real recipes yet since we're just trying out different tastes (a.k.a. mush). I use www.wholesomebabyfood.com as a resource for ways to prepare the foods and which to introduce, along with the guidelines from my pedi. I decided to make my own baby food because I was afraid of the additives that are in just about everything...I wanted to know exactly what they were getting. I'm hoping to save some money, too, but I'm not sure all of these organic avocados are cost effective A big perk for me that I didn't totally expect is how good it makes me feel to do it. I love breastfeeding my twins and I was a little sad once it was time to start solids because I was proud of how healthy they both were just from nursing. Making my own food feels the same way. I know they are growing well because the are nursing and eating healthy, fresh foods. No hormones or additives to worry about!

 

What helpful, insightful and EXCELLENT responses! Thank you! If you don't mind, I'm going to PM you for more details.
Anyone else?!

 

I don't know if my answers will be any good for your article as I'm a nanny not a parent (contractually required to make my own baby food!), but just in case they are useful;

I think it's better for babies to have the healthiest, freshest, least processed food possible. By making my own food I know exactly what's in it, I can cook things in the best way (eg steamed not boiled veg), there are no 'fillers' (ingredients added for bulk), no preservatives and no loss of nutrients.
Like others have said I get a sense of pride/acheivement from cooking my own food, almost disproportionate to the effort involved because it's not that hard! I batch cook and freeze things-complete meals (which I freeze in small tupperware containers), sauces, and individual vegetables/fruits/meats (which I freeze in ice-cube trays). I mostly cook during nap time.

Can't really comment on the money aspect because I haven't done any comparisons and anyway it's not my money.

As far as resources I have a few different baby cook books, which are useful for getting ideas of what will work and as a reminder of when to introduce different foods. My favourite one is by Annabel Karmel - this is her website.

 

Melissa,
Baby food was long ago for me now, but I made all their food with the exception of cereals. But the truth behind my motivation might not work for your article--there really wasn't anywhere for me to buy other food when my girls were that age!
But as for books, I had a book from Annabel Karmmel and I loved it. It was for feeding babies through 5 years old. A British friend gave it to me, but there are American versions of her books. She has a great website too, just google her name and it will come up.
Making it was really easy because I got a little Braun handy mixer with a special baby food attachment, like a little mini food processor. I also froze things in ice cube trays as is suggested in Karmmel's books.

 

We made all of the twins baby food, other than cereals.

We decided to make baby food for many different reasons. The first was nutrition. We didn't like not knowing what was in the baby food. We didn't like the preservatives or the all of the extra sodium. The second reason was cost. We have four children now and look for all of the different ways to save money. It was so much cheaper to buy the raw ingredients and just make it. Now that the babies are out of the pureed food we still make pretty much everything except for the puffs and baby mum mum.

We used wholesomebabyfood.com as a spring board and then did the rest on our own. Love that site though. Gives lots of good ideas and suggestions.

I think the benefits outweigh any of the hardships of making the food. It really is amazing how easy it is to make though. We would take one afternoon and steam and bake everything. Puree it all and freeze it in little 4 oz. gladwear containers. Which made it super easy to transport anywhere we needed to go.

We loved doing it and would do it again in a heartbeat even if we didn't want to save money.

 

I don't know why I started in the first place, but once I bought a few jars of bought stuff, there was no way I was going to stop making my own. Have you ever tasted that stuff? YUK! With my own stuff, I could always taste a small bit to see if it was the right temperature. You only try that once with store bought stuff. Plus I wasn't keen on all the fillers.
Some people have told me they felt 'safer' buying bought stuff, but that was the opposite of how I felt. I wanted to know how it was cooked, what went into it and how long since it had been made.

 

another home-cooked food lover here. it feels kind of like im still the one who is nourishing them -
im actually a terrible cook and very rarely cook for the rest of the family (luckily dh loves to cook and is very good)
since weaning i have included my weekly cook in into our schedule - i usually do it one afternoon while the boys have their sleep.ill steam some fruit and veg and try to make 2 meals. this week i made a fish stew and a chicken risotto.
when i started i used the gina ford weaning book. it helped me to check i was giving the right amount and variety and the recipes were simple, cheap and easy (throw in a pan!)
now i just make it up as i go and just make sure i have a variety of protein, vitamins, carbs etc.
i use the anabel karmel freezer cubes. i just have 2 and after its froxen i transfer to a freezer bag.
im back to work in a month and i really hope i keep up. im planning on sending them to the childminder with frozen cubes which will defrost by lunchtime.
im not sure if it is cheaper - i hope so!
last sunday all 5 of us sat around the table and ate the same meal. we had whizzed up a portion for the boys but also gave them some whole pieces of veg on their tray. it was so easy.

i am hoping that eating solely home cooked food will make the transition to grown up eating much easier.

 

QUOTE(2boysforus @ Feb 25 2009, 02:25 PM) [snapback]1205052[/snapback]
I discovered that doing this helped me overcome some guilt I carried about my inadequacies with breastfeeding!


Melissa, you are the first one I have ever seen make this comment, but I totally feel the same way!

I loved making baby food. I found wholesomebabyfood.com to be an invaluable resource(still do!). It's really much easier than you would think once you get started, and you can do it in large batches which last awhile. It's economical, nutritious, and fun! I never did it with my older 3, and wish I would have! I highly recommend giving it a shot!

Good luck with your article, I would love to read it when you are finished! If you don't mind me asking, who are you writing the article for?

 

I forgot to say in my first post that 'my' baby is 10 months old (a singleton). I look after her 3 days/week, but I haven't added her to my signature.

 

Thank you so much for all the good info! I have lots to work with and following up on!!

Twin Nanny, thank you for the ages of the kiddos you take care of! I was going to ask you that!

QUOTE(becky5 @ Feb 26 2009, 07:35 AM) [snapback]1206219[/snapback]
Good luck with your article, I would love to read it when you are finished! If you don't mind me asking, who are you writing the article for?


No problem at all! I'm actually still in the "query" stage so I'm putting together my "pitch" and I'll send it to someof the bigger parenting magazines first and see where it leads me!

 

QUOTE(becky5 @ Feb 26 2009, 09:35 AM) [snapback]1206219[/snapback]
Melissa, you are the first one I have ever seen make this comment, but I totally feel the same way!

we're just at the very beginning of this phase but i plan on making babyfood rather than buying. i would definitely say that i, too, relate to melissa's statement. it's not the only reason, but it's definitely part of my decision.

 

QUOTE(2boysforus @ Feb 25 2009, 09:25 PM) [snapback]1205052[/snapback]
Hi everyone!
I am writing an article about homemade baby food. I’d like to find out if it’s a growing trend, why people do it, how they do it, the benefits etc. I’m also curious to see if more people are turning to making their own food to cut costs in this difficult economy. I was hoping my fellow TS-ers could enlighten me on why you do it!

I know for me, I loved making baby food (much to my surprise)…I found so much joy in making different food for my little guys and putting TLC into everything I made. I discovered that doing this helped me overcome some guilt I carried about my inadequacies with breastfeeding! I didn’t make all of their food, maybe 60% or so.

Anyway, if you can, please tell me a little about why you make/made your own babyfood, any resources, cookbooks, sites you found helpful, any benefits you found (or none at all), if it was time consuming and if you would do it again.

Thank you very much!!!
Melissa


I make my own babyfood as I like to know what´s in it plus I consider it fresh and healthier. I find that the jars have added salt or sugar, preservatives & goodness knows what else that Im not happy about. I also make it as it´s cheaper to. The preparation is more time-consuming but it doesn´t take too long. I feel quite restricted by the pedi so I feel their meals are too similar.

As for the benefits: money (it´s cheaper) and healthier (vitamins from fresh produce). Im also avoiding added salt and sugar. My two aren´t so keen on the jar stuff even though they have eaten it.

I go by what my pedi has recommended and that´s very limited. I alternate between white fish, chicken, beef and turkey and I puree it with about 4 veg from the following: courgette, potato, carrott, peas, spinach, leek, pumpkin. I have also started to add the boiled yolk of an egg to their purees from time to time. Im going to introduce beetroot soon also.

As for the fruit, Im quite limited there (again the pedi & the lack of variety) due to allergies so I make it with 3 or 4 fruits from the following: banana, apple, plum, mandarins, pear, melon. I add cereal to it to thicken it up and fill them more. As they have just been given the go-ahead to eat plain biscuits, as a finger food, I occasionally add one to their fruit but not often. I "cant" give kiwis, strawberries, mango or pineapple till 1 year. I should point out that I live in Spain.

I havent used any cookbooks or resources as yet but am sure to once the 12 month curfew is lifted! LOL!

GL with your article!

 

I love making my own baby food. I KNOW what is going into their bodies. Here is what I do. I will buy only organic fruits or veggies. I buy frozen peas and green beans (easier and already steamed)Organic of course. After I puree my baby food, I pour it into ice cube trays, freeze them overnight, then put them in ziploc freezer bags, which I mark on what food it is and when it was made. It only lasts in the freezer for 3 months. I don't use any recipes, I just puree and add water or formula..for me, it has to be water during the puree, b/c they are on 2 different formulas. Anyway, when you are ready to feed baby, or if you know what you're gonna feed them the following day, defrost it in a bowl overnight. Although I have had to microwave the cubes sometimes b/c I forgot to defrost the night before. Just be sure the temp isn't too hot. So now I have a collection of baby food in my freezer and I just mix and match their foods, after the 3 day trial of those specific foods ofcourse. It works really well for us! Goodluck!

 

QUOTE(2boysforus @ Feb 26 2009, 03:08 PM) [snapback]1206833[/snapback]
No problem at all! I'm actually still in the "query" stage so I'm putting together my "pitch" and I'll send it to someof the bigger parenting magazines first and see where it leads me!


That's cool! Good luck, and let us know if you become published!