Baby Food: Back To Basics
Abbie @ MMB
As the time
approached to start feeding my son solid foods, I felt overwhelmed and intimidated by all the gadgets, devices, and special containers that I would need in order to make good homemade baby food. Little did I know that I already had what I needed in my kitchen.
I remember confessing to our pediatrician that I just didn’t think I would be able to make baby food even though I wanted to. I wasn’t sure if I could spend the money on everything I would need or if I would have time. Those concerns received a confused look from the pediatrician. Luckily, she offered me an insider tip that it could actually be cheaper for me to make homemade baby food and it was really quite simple to do. She also equipped me with some helpful websites and guidelines on introducing solid foods.
Once I broke down the barrier between myself and the thought that I needed special baby food making appliances, I discovered that it was such an easy, cheap, and healthy thing do for my baby. The items that I needed for my son’s first feeding of solid food were so basic: an avocado, a knife to cut the avocado, a fork to mash the avocado, a bowl to put the mashed avocado in, a little bit of breastmilk to mix with the avocado to make it a thin consistency, and a baby spoon. He loved it. After a few days of feeding avocado, I moved on to the next food. It was the same process to prepare the food, but with a banana.
Some baby foods required a little more effort, but not much. For example, sweet potatoes needed to be baked and then mashed and apples were steamed and then made into apple sauce. When it required a little more time and effort, I made sure to make a good amount that I could freeze a supply of for a later date. Again, I used what I already had and froze baby food in breast milk freezer bags. And sometimes, I would need to get out my mini food processor or blender when I wanted to make sure that meat was ground up enough for my little guy. He loved when I started mixing foods. Ground meat was a much bigger hit when it was mixed in with applesauce or even sweet potatoes.
Homemade baby food doesn’t only have to be enjoyed at home these days. Reusable food pouches are great for storing food in and feeding a baby when you are on the go.
We used the baby led weaning method for offering solids to my second baby. I can count on one hand how many times my daughter let me feed her with a spoon. She saw her big brother eating with his hands and she wanted to do the same. That was okay with me because it was much more convenient for me to offer her whole foods than having to mash them first. Either way, it is important for parents to do what works best for them and their baby when it comes to feeding solids. As a stay at home mom, I had the time to put into making and freezing baby food and I enjoyed the process.
Sarah Cole is a freelance writer who lives in Colorado with her husband and two children who are 3-years-old and 5-years-old. She misses the days when her children weren’t able to talk and give their feedback on the foods she served at meal times.