Questions About Feeding Solids

patchen30

DS is 5 months, but my pedi said to wait until 6 months to introduce solids b/c he has eczema.  The whole world of feeding solids is very confusing to me. 

 First, I have to admit I'm not jumping up and down to make my own baby food.  I've heard that there are a lot of great store-bought options, plus I've been exclusively pumping and bottle feeding which has been a LOT of work and I was kind of looking forward to taking the easy way out on this one!  How bad is it to not make your own baby food? 

Whether I make the food or not, is it necessary to have a microwave?  (I know it's weird that we don't have one but we live in NYC and you cut corners on space where you can!)

If I don't make the food, what suggestions do you have for feeding?  Brands, types of food, etc.? 

If I do make it, any suggestions on where to start?  I am NOT a cook, so when I read about people baking fruit, etc. I am confused

Basically, I am clueless about this topic...

CMM05

All 3 of my kids were fed store-bought baby food.....and they have all survived And.....are all very healthy kids!!

I like the Earth's Best brand and also Plum Baby (comes in those handy pouches).

 I would microwave the leftovers (when they were young and didn't finish a whole jar....), but I think if you take it out of the fridge a little before hand, it will "warm" to room temp and that should be fine!

Start with single ingredients first and then you can move to the "mixed" ones. A lot of people do veggies first because fruit is sweeter so some people think the baby will take to the fruit and not to the veggies. I did this with DS1, but not with DS2 or DD and they all ate the same amount, so I don't think it really matters. They say to do the same food for 3 days to rule out an allergy. I also followed this, but not very good for DD (the life of the 3rd child! Ha!) I honestly don't hear about many babies having reactions to baby food, but do what you feel most comfortable with!

GL!

 

jdp

I didn't really make much.  I think I cooked carrots, maybe apples and just put them in the food processor. I didn't pre-make or freeze anything.  I just bought gerber, the ones with the tupperware-like container I thought were easy to use, which you could dump in a pot and heat on the stove too.  fyi, I also went against my pedi and introduced rice cereal at 4 1/2 mos even though she said to wait til 5.  I did the cereal for probably about 3 weeks before introducing carrots, and there is a 4 time rule...don't start anything new unless they have had the previous 4 times (I think 4, someone can correct me!).  We started off with carrots, then did maybe squash, green beans.  Quite a few veggies before fruits, I heard to do this so they don't just want sweets. DD had eczema too, but our pedi never mentioned that as a concern.  This early though you don't want the food to replace the bm, so it will take a couple of months before you're actually giving a meal instead of a bottle.  HTH, I feel like I was rambling a little

krissyh21

I never made my own food. Without a microwave you can warm left overs the same way you would a bottle - in a bowl of hot water to quicken it up a bit.

pamela-matt

It is not at all necessary to make your own food. I was a SAHM with my toddler and I made some stuff and bought other stuff.  My child never suffered. This time I have bought everything. I know making is cheaper but it is an accomplishment for me to get dinner on the table. I like the organic stuff...not because it is organic but they have so many more choices and combinations.  Being in NYC might be much cheaper to order through Amazon.  Organic is expensive enough in low cost of living areas

ladychicago

I made Anna's food because I wanted to and it was fun for me.   I will likely buy Harrisons food, because I don't have the time, interest or freezer space this time around.   .  You will do great.   

KiKiGee

I didn't make any baby food....  I felt bad about it actually, but I work FT and was already pumping/BFing and also... I'm not a cook. AT ALL.

Fed DS all organic:  Earth's Best, Plum, Sprout and Ella's Kitchen.  The Ella's were (by far) the favorites... anything Ella's (""broccoli, pears and peas" and "the purple one" were big hits) or the Sprout sweet potato & white bean.  He still gobbles them down.

Can't help with the microwave, I don't think I ever warmed his baby food, though we also never warmed DS bottles either, so there's that.

jcath

I've never heated any food so I don't think you need a microwave.  I started buying jars just to see what they liked.  I've made some and it's in the freezer but we'll probably always use a combination.  I'm just using Gerber from the grocery store.

Don't feel bad at all.  You can move to regular table food pretty quickly and things like bananas you don't really "make" just peel it and mash it up.