homemade baby food?

[e_roehm23]

Does anyone process their own baby food? I have an 8 mos old boy. I bought 2 bannanas thinking it would make about 4 3.5 oz servings, but after mixing it only amounted to about 2 servings. I am hesitant to do this often because I don't know if it will actually be cost effective. Also, another reason I considered this is because of the additives in jar food. However, the main priority is healthy food at a budget price. Any suggestions/ experience, please?

[alegna]

No need to process something like banana- just give him soft chunks to feed himself!

-Angela

[tessie]

Originally Posted by alegna

No need to process something like banana- just give him soft chunks to feed himself!

-Angela

Or, if you don't want to go that route, mash/chop leftovers from your own meals (or take a portion out before adding salt etc) and freeze. I don't think I ever bought food especially to make baby food.

I actually did a mix of mush and self feeding which worked very well for us.

[e_roehm23]

thanks for the comments/ suggestions! I hadn't thought about letting him feed himself... Although, I think he has some texture issues. He won't eat mashed potatoes from my plate, and when I just mash the bananna he won't take it either.

[treemom2]

My DS hated pureed baby food. . .soooo, he ate soft chunks of things (banana, avocado, overcooked sweet potato, etc. . .). If you are having veggies for dinner, just make a little extra and freeze then you can thaw them when you want them. My kids also really liked frozen cantaloupe (I'd just whir it slightly in the food processor then freeze it in ice cube trays). . .they'd eat pretty much anything in popsicle form

[Drummer's Wife]

I agree with self-feeding completely. There's no reason you need to puree, mash, or blend anything - just give small soft pieces of whatever you are eating and let your LO pick them up and bring them to his mouth. Spoon feeding, IMO, is completely unnecessary. Well, by spoon feeding I meant that another human spoon feeds the kid You can definitely give him a bowl of oatmeal and a spoon to have at it.

[EMS]

I think self-feeding is great, but when my babies were first starting out, they always gagged if there was the slightest lump in the food. So I blended everything up with water or breastmilk until it was really smooth. Just until they got the hang of it.

[alegna]

If they need liquids for food then they're not ready for solids

-Angela

[rmzbm]

Generally speaking, self feeding is best, but some kids may need baby food. I recommend to puree your own.

[Bellabaz]

We did this for dd1 and we will do this when dd2 is old enough. We usually just mashed up whatever we were eating and froze it. We have a simple plastic mill that you grind by hand. I had these little containers that fit into a tray similar to an ice cube tray for storing and sending to the sitters. I think an ice tray would work just as well. just cover it.

I think it saves a lot of money because if you look at the price of jar baby food and realize how much baby will eat its pretty freaking expensive. You could also just wait until baby is older if you wanted and can eat chunks. DD1 was really interested in our food early on (5.5/6 months) and needed her food mashed.