so do you ever give jarred stuff?

[octobermom]

I started my LO out using mostly jarred foods but not the traditional rice cereal ect order and it was mostly just to get a few first tastes and see if shes had any reactions...
Shes is now pretty much all on whole foods... But I do every so often feed from a jar Margaret loves the earths best breakfast blend foods
http://www.earthsbest.com/node/35 I ussually toss a jar into the diaper bag along with a spoon and its jsut there in cause we end up someplace where the food isn't really what I want I find it easier than anything else other than of course nursing but with DH thats not always easiest.. plus shes at the stage where she likes to "eat" like others.. I'll also try to encourage a jar if shes clearly hungry in the evening but for what ever reason seems to be playing around with solids and not nursing well. I wont force feed by any streach but she seems to be almost a bit comforted with the jarred food in these cases.. In the end I think I'm going through about 2-3 jars a month hardly a huge amount I know I could make my own stuff ect but I'm flat out lazy SO does everyone who BLW ONLY do whole foods are do you do some more mainstream food.

Deanna

[Knitting Mama]

Well, first, I view BLW as mainstream food and jarred food as baby food...

That said, I don't do any jarred food, and Cecilia hardly eats any whole food either. She nurses for all of her nutrition, and basically just plays with her solids. She ingests maybe one piece of food at a sitting, and I don't give her solids every day at this point. I have really taken the "under one, just for fun" idea to heart. She doesn't need more than my milkies at this stage.

[Adaline'sMama]

Nope. Occasionally I will give DD a little bit of Ella's Kitchen Organics, which are packaged in a bag like capri sun. I bought a few at whole foods, and I like to mix them with water or frozen breastmilk and put them in her sippy cup so she wont be so grumpy when shes stuck in her carseat and Im driving. But, usually she only gets pureed food if I make it from scratch and its something I would eat (mashed sweet potatoes, baked applesauce, lentil soup)

[MJB]

I don't think my now-kindergartner ever had a jar of baby food, but if she likes it and it's convenient, what are you worried about? It's not like the BLW police are going to come arrest you for keeping a jar of baby food in the diaper bag! My current baby isn't old enough for solids yet, but I can see giving her a jar of food when we're out once she's got the hang of solids.

[rhiOrion]

We do. Not all the time, but sometimes. I'm a WOHM, and sometimes the jarred stuff is just what I need to use on a hectic night.

If you're doing purees anyhow, I see no issue with the jarred stuff outside of the extra waste it creates.

Most of the stage 1 and stage 2 jars are only the ingredient it's supposed to be, water, and maybe some citric acid. I like the Earth's Best, also. Lots of good combos.

I have a baby who happens to like purees just fine. We do a mix of that and slightly mushed finger foods. I'm about as crunchy as slightly stale granola, so some here will generally disagree with me.

[Lauren31]

I don't. I have never bought jarred food, though and have never fed the baby purrees. I tried with yogurt the other day and it was just a disaster bc she kept wanting to grab the spoon for herself and is not good with her spoon quite yet. So I stick to easy to grab and eat things. If she does not eat three meals, I don't care. She rarely eats two to be honest. Mostly just gets dinner with the family whatever it is that we are eating. If we are out, I do not really sweat it.

[HappiLeigh]

Originally Posted by octobermom

But I do every so often feed from a jar Margaret loves the earths best breakfast blend foods
http://www.earthsbest.com/node/35 I ussually toss a jar into the diaper bag along with a spoon and its jsut there in cause we end up someplace where the food isn't really what I want I find it easier than anything else other than of course nursing but with DH thats not always easiest.. plus shes at the stage where she likes to "eat" like others..

That's what I do. I keep a jar, bib, and spoon in my purse. He doesn't generally eat purees at home but I don't know what will be available if we're out, and he would be *furious* if we ate without him. Plus usually if we eat out it's with an older relative (grandma or auntie) who loves to feed him and is of the generation that doesn't "get" BLW, so it works out.

[Dena]

Originally Posted by MJB

I don't think my now-kindergartner ever had a jar of baby food, but if she likes it and it's convenient, what are you worried about? It's not like the BLW police are going to come arrest you for keeping a jar of baby food in the diaper bag! My current baby isn't old enough for solids yet, but I can see giving her a jar of food when we're out once she's got the hang of solids.

MDC needs a "like" button like Facebook has so I can press it for this comment.

[JudiAU]

No, we've never bought any jarred stuff. But I did always have homemade purees on hand. My first ate a lot of them; dd eat very little of them. At 3, he'd probably still let me spoon feed him all his food.

[hakeber]

No. I don't have access to any organic stuff, only gerber here unless I'm willing to pay 6$ a jar, which I am not. Gerber has all these fillers, just didn't make sense. She only gets soupy things in puree form, and she is pretty good with her own spoon, except I need to load it for her. Everything else is a soft mushable solid in baton form. We have yet to go to a restaurant where they don't have at least a bread stick for her to gnaw while we eat, and I usually have a banana in my bag for her, too.

With Ds's brief puree phase we had a food mill, and just popped our food in it and fed from there, even when out, though most places had somethng to offer or were willing to make something off the menu for him.

[Deir]

yes-
am I still part of the MDC community?

Those pouch things are so cool I have to add. I don't stock up on jars of baby food but she gets some.

[Nicole730]

I pick up a jar or two here and there when they are on sale and keep at least one in the diaper bag with a spoon/bib also. Everytime though, I think nasty! when I taste them.

[alicewyf]

We did give jarred (organic only) baby food. I tried the homemade but it just got to be too much for me. I really wish I had bought the book Feeding the Whole Family before my DD was already eating table food. I think it would have helped me to plan meals that could be easily pureed. But yeah, she ate jarred food starting at 6 months and is a woderful eater now at 15 months!

[octobermom]

It's not like the BLW police are going to come arrest you for keeping a jar of baby food in the diaper bag!

Sure?? J/K I know and I'm no at all worried or anything I was jsut courious what others did. I'm happy and comfortable with our methods.

Deanna

[pbjmama]

Sure, when we went to visit my mom she always had jarred purees for ds, he liked them and she enjoyed feeding him/watching him eat them.

[CherryBomb]

I have with my girls. I make my own and use jarred. I don't buy the jarred stuff that's got sugar or other junk in it, but it's convenient for travel or days when I'm not up to making my own.

[dakotablue]

Once DS got the hang of solids we back peddled to purees.

I've gotten earth best on sale 5 for $2. It tastes really good at least the ones I tried (DS likes to feed me when he's done eating. I'll usually take one bite) and the only thing in them is veggies and water.

I couldn't fully do BLW because I became pregnant and my supply dropped. that's why we back to the purees I wasn't making enough to feed him and he couldn't self feed enough to not need my milk.

I wouldn't ever feed him non organic baby food though...Its kinda gross what's in them.

When it came down to it, I made the choice to feed him organic food jarred than non-organic homemade. (we do eat some organic but not puree friendly foods other than fruit which he could self feed)

He'd eat no more than 1 jar a day, we were/are still breastfeeding and were/are still self feeding.

[SunRise]

We keep a few packages on hand.
I do like earthsbest but I dont like having all the little jars leftover. I did make applesauce and other stuff to put in them, but they don't keep long enough.

We are leaning more towards SPROUT (organic baby food) now. It comes in a package. Nice combination's too. These are a little pricey, but to keep a few on hand is worth it for us.

We have also tried Beech-Nut brand. It is not organic, but the price is much easier on the pocket. And there doesn't appear to be any extra ingredient beyond what is (peas, squash etc). But there is the jar to re-purpose.

Tip: Starbucks is starting to carry snacks for toddlers and babys! Peter Rabbit baggy snack. applesauce / grape mix and mango/banana mix.

But my 8 month old prefers less pureed type food. She likes mashed stuff.

[mumkimum]

We've picked up one jar to give, just for fun, since dh wanted to. Other than that it's been mostly 'regular people food'. We did the same with dd1 and she had 1 or 2 jars (though she hated purees and barely ate them) - though once she was eating more different foods, we picked up a box of those frozen babyfood purees (happy baby?) just so we'd have something appropriate for her in case she wanted it and we didn't have something around.

In that sense, pretty much the same as OP's use of the jarred food.

[Ambystoma]

I do a combo. DS loves BLW, but he also loves smoothies, soups, and other puree to liquid stuff. So, I always have a few Ella's organics or Plum organics pouches around (I like plum because we don't have to carry a spoon, and DS sucks them out of the pouch like a straw). Ella's is thicker consistency, so I pre-load spoons for DS and he grabs it and takes the bite himself. He just hasn't gotten the hang of using a spoon to scoop foods yet.

We just make sure he gets a variety. I mean, I eat gazpacho, hummus, and other pureed stuff-why shouldn't he?