Does anyone make their own baby food?

Do any of you make your own baby food? I am debating on doing store bought or homemade. Is making your own cheaper? Do you use organic or non organic fruits and veggies? What is the storage guidelines on making your own baby food? What do you package yours in for storage and transporting?

3 Likes

We did baby led weaning, so never used purees. That’s another option to look into

2 Likes

YouTube has so much information on this.
You can also talk to a dietitian that can give you a plan and storage information. It’s a great option if you can afford it!

Baby bullet had a SUUUUPER useful book and guide that came with it

I bull made mine for all my kids and a friend shop bought, I saved about ÂŁ25 a week in comparison to my friend but all kids are healthy and happy do what you feel is best for you

I made my own baby food with my 3rd child. A friend of mine gave me her Baby Bullet because she made her own food as well. It’s really not that hard and honestly I think it’s better for your child. You can look up online about the storing options and such online. But I pretty much made enough for a week and put it in my freezer and just pulled it out the night before so it had time to defrost.

Waited until 5 to 6 months old and would mash veggies and fruits from the table, however I did purchase meat in baby food my choice was gerber

I’ve made my own with both my babies. Steam them and use a hand blender- bought containers at the dollar store and just freeze those.

Just skip the purées And go straight to regular food starting at 6 months as long as requirements are met.

6 months old, can sit unassisted for a least a minute (good trunk support is important)

Baby Led Weaning for Beginners and Beyond is a wonderful group to learn more!

1 Like

Ofc, why would i buy if is easier to cook? I was making food for my kids from 6-7 months and further

Baby bullet is amazing! It comes with a booklet on different foods to try and what age to try them. You can freeze foods for around 3 months. It’s saved A LOT of money. Highly recommend if you have the time

Yes pretty easy and cheaper. I used fresh and frozen veggies and fruit. I used just a regular blender depending on age etc how much it needed to be puréed. Just starting I froze in ice cube trays then put in zip locks in freezer. When little bigger so larger portion I got silicone trays so easy with those

1 Like

I actually used a coffee bean grinder. Worked perfect!! And I did both. Bought some and whenever I made dinners I’d puree it or chunk it up and put it into ice cube trays. So good!!

Making your own is cheaper and fun!

With my second son I didn’t use baby food. Other than oatmeal he hated it. I just used soft table food. Mushed up bananas, bread ect.

Started with store bought and moved to homemade then baby led weaning. When making my own, it was always what was on sale at the store and what we could also eat (so if I bought apples we might also have an apple dessert too that week etc) also bought from Costco a lot too. That didn’t last long and he got tired of purées by 7/8 months so then we just did a modified baby led weaning where he legit ate whatever we were having (but in good portion size for him) he LOVED the independence it gave him and I was able to monitor for allergies better.

1 Like

I make my own, and also have purchased some from the store.
I used organic, pureed it with breastmilk for consistency, and froze it in ice cube tray, then put it in a freezer safe container once solid. If we don’t use it within 3 months I toss it.
I like making my own combinations for her, because I can make stuff that I cant find in the store. I find that it’s cheaper to make my own, but can be more convenient to just grab a jar on the go if we are out and about and I didnt bring any.

3 Likes

I made my own. Super easy. Peel it, steam it, blend it with some of the water used to steam it, pour into ice cube tray and freeze it

I made ours just because I couldn’t stand the smell of jarred food. I froze purees into ice cube trays and then stored the cubes in bags in the freezer - popped cubes into small containers each morning for the sitter. Used mix of organic and non, fresh and frozen depending on what was on sale or in season. Definitely cheaper.

1 Like

Used Gina fords book on weaning. Was a great little coaching book for inexperienced parents.

I just pureed 2 days worth at a time so I’m not sure on the length of storage beyond that but it was super easy and way cheaper… you dont have to use a baby bullet, you can just use a normal food processor

My daughter-in-law meat all of her baby food

I tried both but it wasn’t filling my baby up so the daycare told me to mix it with cereal. So ultimatel because I worked I stuck to store bought food.

Made my own. It’s super easy! I added breastmilk to mine. I froze them in an ice cube tray and once frozen, I put them in freezer bags and dated them. Started feeding her one cube til she got the hold of it then did 2 cubes two times a day. I mainly made sweet potatoes, green beans, squash, bananas, pears, and peaches.

Look on pinterest. Lots of recipes and information. Yes it is definitely cheaper and healthier…if you have the time. Buying frozen fruits and veggies are a good choice for making baby food too. A little faster.

Skip purees and do baby led weaning. So much easier,healthier and cheaper

I find babies fed on homemade food are far less fussy than children that are fed jars…

I made my own, super easy and cheap. I normally make for a week. I used baby bullet, it comes with a book that gives you some easy meal instructions.

My daughter is a little over 10 months and she’s been eating purées since 4 1/2 months, just starting to introduce different things and branch out but up until now I’ve made all her fruits and veggies. SOOO much cheaper and you know exactly what they’re eating.

I’ve made banana and sweet potato. I cut a sweet potato in half then boil it. Then I peel it after it’s cooked then mash it. I mix it with formula when I’m about to feed it to her

I’m using store bought mostly rn cuz we are in the process of moving and it’s easier but I buy all organic and when I do make my own I buy all organic and I’ve noticed my son does better with the homemade stuff he doesn’t spit it all up. It’s easy to make it too I’ve syeamed it and put in the the baby grinder and froze it and actually I was told of a better way to do it yesterday was put in thru a vita mix then there’s no need to put it thru the bay grinder and the vita mix goes fast enough to cook it ig and so your not steaming out some of the nutrients

with my son, we made our own! we’d spend less than $10 at a time, on fruits & veggies… & it would make on average between 30-40, 4oz containers of babyfood.
We used a regular blender on the purree setting. Label/date what you freeze so you can keep track of storage life.

I make my own. It’s safer and healthier

I make my own it is cheaper. I use which ever I find thAt looks the best. I usually make enough for a month and freeze it and only keep what I’m gunna use within 3 days in the fridge. I used breastmilk bags to store it in,it was easier to defrost and laid flat in my freezer .

Any that’s works for you

I make my own. They can be in the freezer up to 3 months, but I only make 3-4 weeks at a time to make sure it’s still good. I use a baby bullet. It comes with a booklet that tells you what fruits you should buy organic and which are fine regular. It has been way cheaper for us!

3 Likes

I do both. I cook roast dinners, mash them up and give them. I mash fruit up and give that to him. I give him jars from the shops too. X

1 Like

I made my own baby food for my daughter and I think it’s cheaper to make it because you get a lot more you also know what exactly is going in there and I stored it in big containers and whenever it was time to feed I would just spoon some into a her little bowl

I made my own and purchased organic fruit and veggies. I thought it was cheaper than store bought-even when the store bought was on sale. I used baby food mason jars to freeze it.

I made my own, was super easy then stored in the freezer til I needed it. Never bought the premade or really used the oats

I do :raising_hand_woman: I use organic fruits and veggies. I make it fresh every day because I don’t like the way some foods look the next day after putting them in containers.

1 Like

Between 4 and 6 months, I just mashed up veg for dinner/tea, porridge/baby cereal for breakfast, then when he turned 6 months he ate whatever we were eating

My daughter never fed my granddaughter baby food, she ate what everyone else eating, it’s called baby led weaning

Making it is cheaper and healthier. I used to make mine and it tasted better than jar foods. No preservatives or chemicals. I used to make it every sunday and freeZe it for the whole week. I did it for my two kids. Better than those jars full of crap. I used to buy some organic and when i couldnt i used to buy normal veggies.

I tired to make my own but ultimately ended up buying it. For me it was overwhelming with a baby, working and life.

I used the Baby Magic Bullet. I milled all of the oats I ordered, made his cereal, made all of his purees, including meats and I know it sounds like a lot, but babies start slow. One type of cereal. Maybe 2 types of fruit and vegetable puree. Buy organic frozen when you can’t buy fresh. It was so daunting when I started, but I am 100% glad that I chose to do it.

I do both. I let cool and scoop measurments in freezer bags and freeze. I put in a bowl of warm water before eating. I freeze up to a month. Some says 1-3 I do one. Apple’s a bag is 1.49 I can make 5 4ounce babyfood when one jar is 1.00 for 4 ounces. However chicken and berries you sometimes only save 10 cents. But its fun to make

Bought organic fruits & veggies, put them in the blender & froze them in ice cube trays. That way you can just defrost/nuke what you need. Meats were hard to purée. Tofu & chick peas work well for first foods they can pick up themselves & not too messy. Soak the tofu in apple juice or put some soy sauce on it or whatever baby likes.

1 Like

We did Baby Led Weaning and loved it

So much cheaper !!! And I use all organic!!! And tasty for him :blush::blush::blush:

What ever I do for lunch and dinner gets thrown in the blender

Where I lived when my LO was small and on baby food it was cheaper to get store bought. But he didnt like baby food

I always made my own… Alot cheaper in the long run as you can freeze them… I’d buy the store cans from time to time if we were going out etc… Our son loved pumpkin and apple mashed together :blush:…

I make my own with organic ingredients and it’s a hell of a lot cheaper

I did a combo. With my first I wanted to do everything right. By right I mean my mom & her sisters way. So I would puree veggies I made for dinner & put it in icecube trays. Id pop out a cube or 2, defrost & feed him. #2 ate mostly jarred food because I had WIC. But her father was critical of everything I did. He didn’t think my purees were smooth enough, or that I fully defrosted it. He thought jars had too much preservatives, had shars of glass in it. No matter what there was a problem. So I never stuck with anything With #3 he hated purees. I just made sure whatever veggies I gave him were soft. My kids never ate meat. They didn’t have fruit until over a year. That was only as jelly on toast or in oatmeal, as a dip for pretzels, things like that. When they enough teeth I just gave them pieces of fruit.

Homemade, cheaper, healthier. I followed the same system with my both kids, and I end up with boy whom loves all food from veggies to fruit, to beans, to everything. Now my daughter in progress and she is showing since to love everything as well. No sure if the system I followed or happened to be that they like food. At 6 months I started with one type of food like I steam sweet potatoe, I feed her a little for that day, then evening I do rice. Next morning I give banana, then sweet potato , then broccoli. So the idea that I swing from vegies to fruits in the same day but stay in calm tastes moving forward to mix 2 or 3 things together. 8 months she eats our food. Anything I make for us before I spice it up I take enough to serve her blend it with some bone broth to get the consistency and all done

I made my own for about a month and then figured it out to be the same cost. The only thing that was cheaper to make was butternut squash. It adds up to the same cost with buying store-bought a few cents cheaper without the headache of buying all the storage containers, an extra freezer to store it, and the mashing and cooking process. Not to mention if you buy a blender or other processing equipment. My boys started eating table food at 6 months so the cost was definitely not worth it to the amount of work, money and time you have to invest.

The benefits to making your own is u can add or take out things like sugars, salt and put in ur own ingredients. Make sue to use a variety of proteins, carbohydrates, fibres. Things like chicken stir fry, stews, mild chillies. Investing on a baby bullet( food processor) is handy for making appropriate serving sizes but u can always add more depending on babes eating habits

Making your own is SO much cheaper and so easy!!
Steamed, pureed and frozen in ice cube trays…then stored in gallon bags

2 Likes

I was told by a pediatrician i trust that homemade baby food doesnt have all the added nutrients that baby food has.

1 Like

Yes, it’s safer and your child will be healthier

I suggest not doing it your self or atleast dont do it then freeze it some things dont dethaw right and its very nasty.