Should You Be Making Your Own Baby Food?
October 14, 2011, By Brett Westerman 0 comments
While pregnant with our son, my wife and I became obsessed with the type of food we were putting in our bodies. There is so much in the media about high fructose corn syrup, additives, BPA and sugar substitutes that we wanted to ensure our child avoided chemicals with names we couldn’t even pronounce. This got us thinking about making our own baby food. Friends said it was easy and what better way to know what is going into your baby’s belly?
When Is the Right Time to Start Solid Food?
At the dinner table, our four-month-old son would stare longingly at our plates of food, salivating while he watched us eat. Or maybe he was just tired of tasting the same Enfamil formula every day and wanted a little variety in his diet. There is a lot of information out there, and many books forcefully state their opinion on when you should start solid food. However, I am a firm believer in trusting your own instincts, reading your baby’s cues and conferring with a pediatrician.
The Homemade Baby Food Adventure
With the doctor’s support and our son exhibiting signs of being ready, we were soon standing in the baby aisle at our grocery store, staring at the many jars of baby food. While searching the Internet for information, we stumbled across recipes on Momtastic.com and decided to try DIY baby food to ensure our bundle of joy would not be ingesting scary chemicals and, on a practical note, alleviating some of the expense. While the merits of organic baby food can be debated, most parents will agree on the importance of trying to find any way to cut costs on these human money pits. By making your own baby food, you not only know what is going into your baby’s stomach, you can purchase bulk ingredients at a lower cost than individual jars.
Items I recommend in your arsenal before starting the baby food adventure:
• A good blender and/or food processor
• Lots of ice cube trays (we started off with three and ended up purchasing three more)
• Plenty of glassware containers
• A steamer basket
NEXT: Start with Simple Foods
