I breast fed Adley and supplemented with formula until she was about 4 months old. That’s when her pediatrician recommended I start her on cereal. By that time, she sort of took herself off the breast milk. What little I was able to produce couldn’t compete with formula AND cereal! I started Adley with easy rice cereal first, then oatmeal and then multi-grain or mixed oats cereal. Adley never had a problem with any of it, thank goodness! I fed her each flavor for a week at a time before starting a new one. There are a lot of flavors out there! I found: rice with apples, rice with apple and banana, oatmeal with sweet potato and apples, multi-grain with bananas, and even oatmeal with bits of strawberry in it! By the time I was able to feed her baby food she had already “trialed” rice, wheat, whole grains, barley, oats, apples, bananas, sweet potatoes and strawberries without incident!
I went back and forth about what baby food to feed Adley. There are several different brands on the market with tons of different flavors and fruit and vegetable combinations! There’s cups, jars and even super convenient pouches! All the brands offer vitamins and minerals and, of course, they are all “the best for my growing baby.” I was so confused about which ones to start out with. Some of the packages say they are great for 4+ month old babies, but her pediatrician strongly recommended NOT feeding her baby food till she was 6 months old. I had read in different places where you should hold off on feeding your baby certain foods until they are 9-12 months old, but the combinations of fruits and vegetables in certain brands were of those foods I thought she should wait on. What about the serving sizes? Is one container a serving, or should I half it? I know I was probably over thinking it, but as a first time mom, how was I supposed to know?!
She was patiently waiting to eat!
So, I found this AMAZING website!!
wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com
This website was a life saver! It was so simple to follow and understand. The recipes were straightforward and completely uncomplicated. It gave suggestions of recipes categorized by your baby’s age, but to be on the safe side, you can check with your pediatrician if you aren’t sure. Also, it gave nutritional information, as well as, storage information. It gives several different recipes for certain foods, like, if I want to feed Adley apples, I can find recipes for her that contain apples, and are age appropriate and nutritious! I love that it gave options to steam, roast and “barely boil” fruits and veggies, so depending on what you have available and your preference, making the baby food was really fun, easy and fast.
So, I went out and bought a “Bullet” blender. They make a “Baby Bullet”, but it was $10 more expensive than a regular Bullet and it does the exact same thing! Also, I bought a bunch of these disposable 4 ounce containers that can easily fit in my refrigerator or freezer to store her food in.
Yes, this blender came with the drink cups. the shaker lid and a “grinding blade”, but all I ever needed was the chopper blade and these 2 cups. I used the bigger cup more in the beginning as I made baby food for a week or more at a time and I froze it. Now that Adley is older I use the smaller cup for individual meals.
I have to say, I really have enjoyed making Adley’s food! First of all, I love to cook and it’s been fun coming up with my own combinations of foods. I have learned that she is, even at this young age, sensitive to flavors and textures. I love that I am controlling her salt intake the most. I figured you never really know about what really goes into processed foods and it doesn’t take that long to make food for my daughter that I know is safe! That makes me feel good!
Related articles
- Baby Food Ingredients | Myth (plumorganics.com)
- Baby foods ‘lacking nutrients’ according to new study (walesonline.co.uk)
- You Should Make Your Own Baby Food (slate.com)
- Baby foods ‘lacking nutrients’ (belfasttelegraph.co.uk)
- Commercial baby foods fail to meet weani (mypregnancytime.wordpress.com)
- Store bought baby food inferior to homemade (mnn.com)