Benefits of Making your Own Homemade Baby Food

Benefits of Making your Own Homemade Baby Food



Making your own homemade baby food will ensure that what your child

is eating is fresh, nutritious and free of additives. By making your

own baby food, you'll be saving money. Also, you will have total

control over what is put into your baby's food. You can therefore

take the extra steps to ensure that only high quality foods are

selected and used. You will be able to feed your baby according to

his or her needs because you will know what foods are best suited

for your baby from experience.



Making your own baby food also ensures that your baby is exposed to

a greater variety of tastes and textures. This will help your baby

when making the transition to table foods and also help him or her

develop healthy eating habits. See http://www.baby-

shop.org.uk/guide/ for a collection of articles on babies and

toddlers.



Baby Food Preparation Tips



1. As babies are susceptible to digestive upsets, always work with

clean hands and use clean cooking utensils, preparation surfaces,

pots and pans etc., when making home made baby food. Prepare foods

immediately upon removing them from the refrigerator and freeze

immediately after cooking any foods you want to store.



2. Steaming vegetables is the best method of preparation. This

softens them, makes them easier to chew, and preserves more of the

vitamins and minerals than boiling. A steamer basket is cheap and by

cooking fruits and vegetables in it, you'll be sure of keeping the

nutrients in the food, instead of in the cooking water.



3. To puree your foods, you can use a fork, a food mill or blender.

A blender quickly purees almost anything into the finest

consistency. When your baby first starts on solids, you'll be

pureeing things to a very fine consistency and, as baby gets a

little older, you will make foods a little coarser. You may wish to

buy a food mill which comes in large and small sizes. It is very

handy and inexpensive. The food mill strains most cooked foods to a

very smooth consistency, although meats can be a problem as they

will have a coarser texture. Remember all the tools you need to make

baby food are probably already in your kitchen.



4. You can prepare large amounts of foods at once and freeze them.

Take your prepared foods and plop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet.

Freeze the plops right away and then take them off the sheet when

they are frozen and put them into plastic bags. You can also freeze

the food in plastic "pop out" ice cube trays. Small tupperware jars

with lids serve the same purpose and stack easily. Label and date

the packages rotate them putting the most recently frozen foods

behind the previously frozen ones. Frozen baby foods can be stored

for up to two months.



5. When you take frozen foods out for baby, warm the food in a cup

placed in a saucepan of boiling water with a lid on. If you use a

microwave to thaw or warm baby food, be sure to stir the food well

to avoid hot pockets.



6. Cereals are typically the first foods given to a baby because

they contain lots of iron. You can prepare your own, by running

oatmeal through your blender. Fruits are generally given next.

Except for raw, mashed banana, you will need to cook all other

fruits till they are soft.



7. Try making your own apple sauce and pear sauce; don't add any

sugar, as these fruits are sweet enough on their own. You can also

peel peaches, plums and apricots and boil or steam them.



8. Buy and use organic fruits and vegetables. Use fresh and organic

vegetables whenever possible in order to provide the best nutrition

and flavor for your baby. Your baby deserves pesticide-free foods.

Frozen vegetables are better to use than canned.



9. Yogurt, mashed cottage cheese, mashed pumpkin, baked potato,

avocado and tofu (oriental soy bean curd) are all popular with

babies. One good idea is to blend together cottage cheese, banana

and fresh orange juice - delicious!



10. Meats should be added slowly. They can be boiled or broiled,

then put in the blender with a little milk and perhaps banana or

cream of rice to get the right consistency. Chicken is generally

the first meat baby is introduced to and usually goes down fairly

well.



11. There is no rush to start your baby on solid foods. Milk is his

most important food. Your doctor's recommendations and your own

intuition will help you to know when to begin introducing solids to

your baby's diet. Introducing solids prepares the baby for the

transition to adult food and offers further vitamins and minerals as

the baby grows. Always remember to be patient with your baby and

allow at least a few days between newly added foods to make sure the

baby doesn't suffer any reactions.



Copyright © 2005, Bridget Mwape writes for the Baby Shop UK:

http://www.baby-shop.org.uk/ which features baby information

including articles and discounts on baby products, gifts and advice

from other parents. This article may be republished as long as all

the above links are active and clickable and this author box

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