What Brand of Baby Food and Why?

Hi K.!
We are in the same boat:) We have just recently been adding a scoop or 2 of cereal to her bottle to see how she does with it (so far so good)! I also want to make my own baby food so I asked the peditrician and she told me that as far as the rice cereal you are better off just buying it rather than grinding up rice (which is what I wanted to do) because the bought rice cereal is fortified with iron (that the baby is now losing her supply that she got from you in pregnancy). She also told me that when vegetables are introduced, any "root" vegetable (potatoes,yams etc.) should be bought organic because there is a pesticide in the soil that could potentially harm the baby-which I thought was interesting because I have never heard that. I probably wasn't much help but good luck! And if you ever want to compare stories let me know:) I am also a first time mom to a beautiful baby girl who brings me more joy and more confusion than I ever thought possible:) Take care!

I started off using organic and switched....I don't eat organic and seem to be fine so I'm hoping my child will be as well. I have tried making my daughter food and it hasn't worked out so well. She wants nothing to do w/ homemade peas or green beans...after trying about 5 different times she will eat applesauce and tonight I have just cooked some sweet potatoes....we will see! It is time consuming but it's cheaper and then she doesn't get additives!

I make my own baby food and it is super easy and saves so much money. As long as you have a food processor, it is really quick and easy. Plus, you can give them things that might not traditionally be found in the baby food aisle. Wholesomebabyfood.com is a good website to visit if you haven't already.

Hi K.,
I see that you have received many responses, so I will try to make this quick. I made and still make, all my girls' food. It truly is EASY and so rewarding. The wholesomebabyfoods website that several people suggested is good. But I also found that sometimes I needed something tangible, right in front of me, rather than running to the computer for recipes all the time. So I highly recommend: Top 100 Baby Purees - 100 Quick and Easy Meals for a Healthy and Happy Baby, by Annabel Karmel ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-8957-3. You can find this one and several others from the library. Check them out, they will give you many great ideas, so you don't feel stuck in a rut of just feeding your baby the same 2-3 veggies/fruits. Plus this one provides very helpful tips on this whole subject. I learned a lot about food myself from it. =)
Good luck! This is a very exciting time.
J.

I am not sure why, but I went strictly by this for her food! =0) http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/
I introduced food when my daughter was 5 months. She didn't really like their recipes for meatballs- but I did give her pretty much every vegetable! The only one I don't remember seeing on there is bell peppers and that's what she doesn't like now!? (Of course, it's one of my favorites!) I would bake a big batch at a time- like 2 different squashes and peas. I would say it was worth it!!! (How many kids do you know that really like spinach or brocoli!? Mine does!) I ususally just used the mixer, but then I got out our food processor, but it was little. It worked best for peas and stuff that was a little more difficult.
Good luck!

I originally had my son eating gerber and delmonte. I have no problem with either one. However Kroger carries Beechnut and they were cheaper than gerber and delmonte so I tried them and came to find out that they were all natural too. When I have the choice again i will go with beechnut.

I heard something recently and loved the sense of it. Instead of starting your child on cereal start her on mashed bananas and mashed avocado. They are easy to digest and have wonderful nutrients. Cereal is just a filler and may be the reason most people are "carb addicted". As your baby gets older, try different things that you are already preparing for your family. However, you do not want to add sugar or salt to your babie's food. Having brocolli for example, Your food processor is your best friend. I never used jarred baby food....you'll be surprised how you just won't need it. Good luck. C.

Hi! Don't laugh... I am from Holland and I am 1/4 Dutch and we are known for being frugal to a fault... I tend to use Gerber because I get the most coupons for that brand. I use the manufacturer coupon with a store coupon while it is on sale when ever I can.

I did buy a cheap baby food mill and I LOVE IT! I paid $7 for it and it has paid for itself. It is easy to use and my son likes my cooking better! I am thinking about using the one I have for when we are out and about and buying a different one for home. The one I have is made by Munchkin and it is a hand crank style. I want to get an electric one that will work even faster and will make larger quanities to be eaten later.

Good luck on your venture into solid foods!

I have a 2 year old and a 9 month old. I did make some baby food for my first child. I thought it was a pain in the neck..!!

I found that by the time you peel and core a piece of fruit.. that it did not make much baby food at all. For example a pear only made enough food for about 2 servings..It was also hard to get nice ripe fruit all the time.

vegetables were a bit easier as you can cook a couple of sweet potatoes and blend them in the blender and then you can freeze them. HINT-- freeze the baby food in an ice cube tray once they are frozen you can pop the cubes out and store in a zip lock baggie. When it is mealtime just take out a cube or two and zap it in the microwave.

I buy all brands of baby food. I like beech nut the best. I do not like Gerbers plastic squares of baby food. They are hard to open and when you do open them they sometimes spray food everywere.

I would caution you to read the ingredients. The fruits and vegetables are generally exactly what the labels says.. Bananas are bananas..Dont buy anything called fruit desert or tutti frutti.. that is baby junk food. (Beech nut does make a fruit desert that is only fruit... I do buy that for my son.)

But when you get to the mixed dinners... (turkey rice dinner etc...) The number 1 ingrdient in most of the mixed dinners is CARROTS !! The carrots are sweet and babies like them... there is nothing wrong with a carrot... but I dont think you need to eat carrots everyday..

LIsa

Hi K.,
I have 5 girls 8, 4, 2 that are almost 2 and a 7 month old. I also have 2 nieces that I pretty much rasied until my parents took over that are 13 and 11. I feed each one of them Gerber. I never had a problem with the foods, and they have a wide range of different things. They also now have the plastic ones that are easier for outings and reclose better as well. I love Gerber foods, and still by the twins their big kid meals as well. Gerber is also growen in MI (where I am from) and I believe in buying things that are made localy. You can also sign up for special offers from Gerber and they will send you coupons all the time for food, juice, cups, plates, just about everything they offer. It's great and I love it. They also offer Organic if you are intersted in that as well. Good luck.

Yes, I made my own and LOVED it--so did my kids! They were NOT picky at all until they were older!

It is convienent, inexpensive and easy! You can make a bunch ahead and freeze in icecube trays! You should try it!

GL:)

K.,

With my son (now 4) I bought Gerbers. My daughter is 5 mos and I'm considering going to Whole Foods to check out their organic line. I didn't have any problems with Gerbers though.

Although I agree with one of the other Moms-- read the labels and be aware of what you are feeding your child. The foods should not have added starches, sugars etc. Also-- I never gave my son the baby food "meat". I thought it was sooooo gross. I waiting until he could chew real meat and just chopping it up really good. I also tried to stay away from the graduates food b/c it can be overly processed.

Once my son was about 12 mos we ate a lot of small frozen veggies and cut up fruit (instead of the graduate veggies). It was much cheaper this way.

I made my own for my youngest two children. With my son, I bought fresh fruits and veggies, washed them, cooked them and then put them in the blender. Poured them into ice cube trays and froze them. Emptied the trays into tupperware or freezer bags. The cubes are a good size for thawing out just the right amount. I did squash (baked), Sweet potatos (baked), bananas (fresh, I didn't freeze them), apples (boiled like you would to make applesauce), peas, green beans, carrots. Add some "fruit fresh", it's just citric acid which keeps the foods from turning brown in the freezer or frig and adds vitamin c.

For my daughter, I just did everything up fresh at the table while we were eating. She was "chewing" foods much earlier than my son. I never bought baby food for her at all. I only purchased a few jars for my son for when he had to go to grandma's. He had a lot of food sensitivities and I wanted to know exactly what he was eating.

Hi K.,

This is such an exciting time. When I introduced food to my son at 6 months, we just went with Gerber (mostly organic) rice cereals and waited slowly to introduce vegetables and fruits. I loved making my own food for him. I did have a couple of receipe books that you could use--they were helpful and there are a ton of them on the market. Basically though--I could buy organic veges and fruits, cook them with no added starches or preservatives, and feed him what I wanted to. To store, I woudl make the carrots in a steamer and then use a small food chopper to grind them up. I did use some of the steamer water in the steamer to give them a smooth consistency. Then, I would dish them in to ice cub trays, cover the trays, and freeze for a couple of hours. I took the frozen cubes out of the trays and dropped them in to freezer bags. I did this with all kinds of fruits and veges in the beginning and could make him a meal that was well rounded and different all of the time. Sometimes, he would get corn, sweet potato, and chick peas or lentils mixed up. I would add cheese sometimes. I did the same thing with chicken too. He really did well. He is now starting to eat table food, but I keep the frozen veges on hand so that we can supplement them with what we are eating (for example, if our vege is salad, he won't eat that). So he gets our meat and potato/pasta and some veges that I have frozen for him. You can really get away with cooking for the baby every couple of weeks if you do decent sized batches. Also, I got away from making my own fruit, since it seemed that I could not find really good fruit in the winter. So I just often buy the organic jars. I know that it is a lot of info, but it is worth the time and money I think! Good luck, M.

I made all of the baby food for my son. It was pretty easy and tasted so much better than the packaged food (in my opinion - even versus the organic brands)! I bought some containers with lids that you can freeze (made for babyfood), and usually 1-2 times per week I would make several batches of various foods. It usually just meant steaming the veggies or fruit and then using a blender or food processor to mix them up to the desired consistency. I also bought a few books with some interesting recipes. (My son loved peas with curry and onions!) I will definitely make all of my baby food with my future children as well.

Hope this helps!

actually, making your own baby food is a lot easier and simple than you think! oh, and a lOT cheaper! I personally believe that making your own foods introduces the actual foods to your child in a much better way than the stuff in the jar. Eating uses all 5 senses, making the transition to cut up food a lot easier. You just dont get that with the jar. My kids eat just about anything now.

I am a mother of twins, and have had NO support here in michigan. My husband was unavailable during the first year to help much, b/c of working long hours.

If you (or anyone else) is interested in my recipes, tips and timesavers, please email me.

It is a LOT easier than you think its going to be.

My mom loved buying baby food for when my boys were at her house, but I hated to spend the money so made my owe. I found if very easy to steam veggies (like carrots), put them through the blender, and then put them in ice cube trays. After they froze, I'd pop them out and put them in a freezer bag. I could grab however many I thought I'd need and microwave them. It does take a little time, but it is much cheapter and you can pick fresh produce.

My LO is 6 months old and I make her food. It's pretty easy since we only have a few things at this point. Sweet potatos I just bake in the oven until tender and she will eat from the same sweet potato for many meals. I steam apples, pears, carrots and then mash up with fork. Steaming is really quick. Bananas are just served mashed up. We have used a few jars of baby food because my MIL bought them. They were Earths Best organic. Pretty expensive.

D.

If you are going to do puree's...then go organic and I would suggest make your own. It's really quite easy. There are alot of good sites online for suggestions.

Also... if you wait until 6 months (which typically is better since their digestive systems are more fully developed then) then often you can just skip puree's and go right to steamed veggies and baby learns to feed themself!

http://www.borstvoeding.com/voedselintroductie/vast-voeds...

Good site to get you started.

I used Gerber Organic baby food. I figured my little bundle would get enough chemicles in his tummy later on in life so why start off from the gate.

Its not much more expensive then the regular maybe 20 cents a two pack. The doctor actually applauded my choices so I guess I did the right thing.

I completely reccomend making your own baby food...it is hard to know what preservatives are in store bought baby food and the price of making your own is much much less! I used the book "Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron. She has a few extreme ideas, but her recipes and some of her guidelines of introducting food to your child are great. I usually spent an hour or 2 on Sunday evenings making the food and then I would freeze a bunch to have on hand throughout the month. Now, when I say I spent an hour or 2, a lot of that time was spent doing other things while the vegetables steamed etc. It really isn't that hard...I was working full time the entire time I made baby food...Good Luck!!

Consider organic whatever you do. Whole Foods or Better Health carry organic products, including baby foods. It's a better, healthier way to start your baby out. Even if you decide to make your own, use organic produce to do it. That includes meats if you're introducing meats.

Best of luck!

I made babyfood for my dd. I didn't find it time consuming at all, and for the added benefit of no preservatives and saving money it was worth it. I just made up a batch of whatever fruit/veggie and froze it in ice cube trays. That's a great way to portion it out. When they first start they only need a cube or so, then you mix and match easily for new tastes when their a little older. I found that if I spent about an hour making baby food one night, I would have 1-3 weeks of servings depending on how much I made at once. There's a great site, www.wholesomebabyfood.com I found great recipies there.

Making your own is really quite easy provided you have a blender or food processor. I bought and made but found quickly that my son prefered home cooking. For example: For sweet potatoes, buy them, wrap them in foil and put them in the oven (like a baked potato) when they are ready just put them in the blender. I was worried about the chemicals in the baby food (my kids are older, before these big companies were outed for putting sugar and crap in the food). Good luck!

I hardly ever gave bottled food. Only if I was traveling somewhere. I didn't even think about it for some reason. One of the first foods I gave my 5 month old was ripe avocado. It's a "brain" food and high in good fat, plus not too sweet so they don't get to used to that. Sweet potatoes were great. I'd cut them up, steam them then mash them. I'd mix things with rice cereal. steamed carrots may come a little later. Banana's are the best traveling food. They come in their own wrapper. I only gave organic foods, because I don't want the pesticides building up in my baby. Have fun!

Hi K.,

It is very easy to make homemade baby food. There are also verious sites on internet for making babyfood at home.

eg: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Also, GERBER Brand is what I gave my baby sometimes. Its better to give Gerber foods sometimes and stick with home made foods as much as you can. The reason for giving GERBER is they get used to it, so that when you have to go on a vacation or someplace where its not possible to make food you can give them gerber.

Hope this will be helpful

Thank you
P. Deshpande

I make my own fruits and veggies and it is very easy. All you need is a blender and ice cube trays. I cook the sweet potatoes and squash in the oven until soft, about an hour @ 375, then puree in the blender. Add some water if it is too thick, then pour into ice cube trays and freeze. It is only good for a month. Carrots I boil or steam and do the same with the blender. Bananas just throw them in the blender when really ripe. Pears, apples and peaches I boil in the microwave until soft and then blend and freeze. It really is very easy. I do buy the Gerber peas and green beans, it is just too hard for me to make those (I tried and they didn't blend well enough). Hope this helps.

I buy as much organic baby food as possible. Why? Because I don't want to feed pesticides to my infant twins. I always read labels to make sure there is nothing but fruit (or veggie) and something like ascorbic acid (to prevent discoloration). Even if the front of the jar says Apples you should read the label to make sure there is no other type of food in the jar. I notice that a lot of mixed foods (spinach & potatoes, or apples & bananas) also have other foods in them as well. This is important because you want to feed your child one thing at a time and do so for a few days to see how she tolerates the food and to rule out allergies. I would stay away from berries, corn, peas and lentils for the first year.

Making your own food is easy. Just bake or steam veggies and puree them (blender, food processor, food mill, or immersion blender). Put the food into little portions, either in small ziploc bags or ice trays, and freeze. Thaw one portion at a time. You can always mix something like potatoes with some breast milk (if you are nursing) to thin it out and make it a bit more moist. I would do this after thawing the cooked potatoes. Ripe bananas can just be mushed up as you use them. You can cook fruits such as apple as well. With pears, if you buy them and let them ripen, should be able to puree them without cooking them first. Avocados are good as well - just mush it up as you need it, and maybe thin it out a bit with breast milk.

I used Gerber's organic line or DelMonte Natural Goodness(No artifical colors additives or preservatives)-last child but I don't think Gerber has it anymore. This time I have used Delmonte but mostly Beechnut. You can get coupons if you sign up at their website. I don't usually grind my own because I know my diet isn't balanced, so I wouldn't even try to assume I can balance my child's in a blender.
Good luck.
C.

Since I work, I gave DD a lot of the jarred baby food - various brands since they all have different options once you get out of the 1st stage. When possible, I made foods for at home using the info at this site : http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Everything you could ever need to know about making your own food is at that site. They have easy to follow recipes and good advice and tips.

Good luck!

With my third I have started using the organic gerber. I started with orange veggies, then green veggies, and just beginning the fruits. I read an article while I was pregnant with the third that 80% of the cancer causing agents that a person comes into contact with are all within the first 2 years of life. I think it had something to do with levels that are safe for adults aren't necessarily safe for kids. It also stated that most baby food contains traces of pesticides. I decided to go the organic route this time around.

When my girls were young, we were on an extremely tight budget,with only one income. We went with whatever was cheapest, and often went to places like Save A Lot, because we could get it even cheaper. We tried making our own with our first daughter, but discovered quickly that it was time consuming and took a lot more vegetables to make a decent amount for a little one than we thought.

I have made all of my children's babyfood. It really isn't all that hard or time consuming, you take a few hours every now and then and make it up and then freeze it.
I usually steamed the vegetables then blended them up to the desired smoothness. My kids love vegetables and fruit to this day. In fact I also have a 5 month old that I am starting on solids as well.
I did buy some carrots and fruits because of cost, and I have read not to try to make your own carrots for your child because of nitrates so just buy those. Gerber was the brand I chose and now i think they have an organic line.
Good Luck and have fun with it!

I made most of my daughter's food. It wasn't too time consuming and it wasn't very difficult. All I did was made a couple each weekend. I got a food mill and for example, would just cook up a couple of yams and freeze them in ice cube trays. I found it much easier than buying and storing all those jars. Also, I didn't make it as thin and runny as the store bought food, so I think she got used to more texture early on.

Making your own baby food is not very time consuming and is extremely easy. There are also many sites with free recipies. You can then freeze the extra in ice cube trays or buy a baby food tray system.

Just a couple of free sites include:
http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/
http://www.cuisinartstandmixer.com/recipes/index.php?reci...

We love Natures Goodness and Beechnut... my daughter doesn't care too much for the Gerber brand. I've bought it a few times because the others were sold out of the flavors we wanted and she refused to eat it.

Beechnut has been around for ever and is very reasonably priced. Nature's Goodness is priced well also.

If you go to the Beechnut website you can download a short form with your address on it. when you've saved 48 upc codes from the labels you send it in with the form. They in turn send you 4 $1.00 off coupons which then makes it the CHEAPEST jarred baby food out there! And they have the largest variety!

Making your own food is good, but there is no guilt in not doing so either. beechnut, nature's goodness, and gerber do NOT add anything unnatural to the foods.

We wanted to make our own, but we both work full time so we wanted to spend that time playing, going to parks, etc. instead of making food.

When I first started baby food with my daughter I used Gerber, how ever once we got into the meat I switched over to Natures Goodness. I love it and so does she. Natures Goodness blends the meat with veggies. As with gerber I think the meat taste for my daughter was over powerful, due to most of the dinner were meath with rice or something else. With Natures Goodness they doe a Veggie with a meat. I also switch because there are more varitey of dinners for her. I hope this helps.

I used Gerber brand for cereals and meat by products meals, since it was the brand my mother used for my sister and I. Also, I would make things from scratch, fresh organic vegetables and fruits that are pureed are the best. Hopefully, you have a minimal amount of time to microwave or cook the food and bag it for freezer storage. I love that I did things from scratch.

I liked Gerber the best and only because if you look on the back at the ingredients, they have the less amount of chemicals. Not that something will happen to your child if she should eat another brand but I think our food today has way too many chemicals and too many processed foods are no good for any human being. For example if I picked the chicken and rice, on the back of the Gerber one it would say, chicken, rice, water, and onion powder....while the others include those ingredients and many many more that I don't know what hey are. Especially Beechnut...they have so many ingriendients in something so simple as green beans and rice. Hope I helped....Oh, and my opinion on making your own food is I personally think its alot of preperation time and alot of cleanup. As your daughter gets more active and you want to be apart of that activity, I think you might reconsider jar food. Too much time involved. Good Luck

I would recommend that you make your own. It is SUPER simple and VERY cost effective. I only recently started making veggie purees to supplement my toddlers regular food. I bought the Jessica Seinfeld book, which gives you recipes and tips on how to hide veggies in your family's food. I have a picky toddler, so I found this to be a great way to incorporate more veggies into his diet. But had I known how easy and cheap it was to make your own purees, I would have done it for his baby food.
Good luck!

We started my son on veggies...we would steam frozen peas, carrots and green beans and then puree them in the blender and freeze them in ice cube trays...each cube is about 1 ounce of food and my son loves them. It hardly took any time at all. We would make over a weeks worth of food on a Sunday afternoon.

I thought about making my own and got a lot of good advice about it, but I never actually did it. I think we CAN go overboard with insisting that it all come from mommy's hands and I knew I could trust the Gerber name, regardless of the extremists who will insist that the government is trying to kill my child! I'ts up to you though, if you have time to make it, by all means do it...if not, jarred baby food will be just fine! Don't make yourself crazier than motherhood already will! LOL
~L.

When my children were small we did not have money to buy prepared baby food so I made my own. Purchased a small food grinder or you could probably use a blender and would grind entire can of green beans, peas, carrots, pears, peaches, etc. and then freeze them in ice cube trays. Just pop out a cube and warm. The servings are small and very little waste. My girls favorites were sweet potatoes and squash. D.

The brand doesn't matter. Check the ingredient label for the most simple ingredients. Sometimes there is oil added to increase the absorbtion of ?iron-- that is great. My doctor had me start with carrots, so the ingredients were carrots and water. Making your own is fun and easy. Just boil your cattots or whatever vegetable and puree with some of the boiled water until you like the texture. Whether you choose to make your food or buy it, organic is always a good choice. Guten apetite!