I'm a gardener and love the idea of growing and making her food when the time comes. I also like the idea of the Infantino Squeeze Station. What I don't like is the one-time-use squeeze pouches. I imagine you'd go through so many of them only to throw them away (maybe recycle?). Plus, buying the pouches. Ugh!
Tips for making your own food? From how you store to how you serve.. and anything else?
We quickly moved to baby-led weaning and stopped purees with DS. So much easier! With that said, when we did purees, I cooked them, puréed in food processor and froze in ice cube trays. Perfect 1 oz. portions.
I'll go more the BLW route this time, purées are kind of a pain, and even babies with no teeth can gnaw most foods really well!
i loved pouches for out and about! They are so much less messy and easier to pack than jars! They definitely weren't my go-to at home, but I rarely paid more than $1/pouch for organic and my daughter learned to hold them herself after a while and she loved that!
I'm definitely going to prepare my own baby food! So much cheaper & healthier. Plus I'm always stocked up on fruits and veggies so why not? Probably gonna buy a bunch of the mini sized Tupperware to store it in. Maybe get a baby bullet.
Baby-led Weaning here as well. They learn to chew before they swallow. With purees, they just swallow, don't chew. It also exposes them more to what their diet will be in the home if you give them foods that you, yourself are eating. Just cook it well enough to be gnawed/gummed and cut it in small enough pieces that baby wont choke if they dont chew it (meats) and baby will be fine.
MMC 01/26/12
MC 12/25/12, D&C 01/05/13
BFP 03/05/13, EDD 11/12/13. HB 175 @ 9w2d. Its a Girl!
Madeline Lorraine H. Born 11/12/13 @9:10pm, 7lb6oz
DX with EA/TEF Type C & Tracheomalaysia MC @ 13wks 01/15/15
DX Septate Uterus - surgery recommended
BFP 3/18/16, EDD 11/13/16 It's a boy! Clint Kiszonas H. Born 11/21/16 @10:38pm, 9lb11oz
I want to do purees for quite a while, I just find gumming food is a lot of work/time and they get less in their tummies (not to mention half of it ends up on the floor) I don't really want to introduce too much hard chewing until there's a good rack of teeth ready to go. I saw my SIL introduce really challenging foods early on like broccoli, and it freaked me out to watch her choke on it a bit. Nope.
Me: 33 | DH: 34
TTC #1 Oct 2015
BFP Mar 26, 2016 - DD born Nov 2016 TTC #2 since Mar 2017 DX: MF June 2019, varicocele embolization Jan 2020, good improvement (14 mil, low motility) IUI#1 Aug 2020 - BFN IVF #1 Dec 2020 (ICSI) - ER, freeze-all - 15 retrieved, 15 mature, 15 fertilized. 4 embryos frozen, all day 5 blasts! FET #1 Feb 2021 - BFN FET #2 Apr 2021 - BFP 5DP5DT!! Beta #1 13DP5DT (17DPO) = HcG 1,238. Beta #2 17DP5DT (21DPO) = HcG 8,269
Kiinde foodii system has similar pouches except they are also compatible for breastfeeding. We plan to use it with one of those all in one baby food machines from Williams Sonoma that dreams and cooks and purees food all for you
Food before One is just for Fun. The majority of your LO's nutrition should still come from breastmilk or formula. Food should not be a replacement of bottles/nursing.
MMC 01/26/12
MC 12/25/12, D&C 01/05/13
BFP 03/05/13, EDD 11/12/13. HB 175 @ 9w2d. Its a Girl!
Madeline Lorraine H. Born 11/12/13 @9:10pm, 7lb6oz
DX with EA/TEF Type C & Tracheomalaysia MC @ 13wks 01/15/15
DX Septate Uterus - surgery recommended
BFP 3/18/16, EDD 11/13/16 It's a boy! Clint Kiszonas H. Born 11/21/16 @10:38pm, 9lb11oz
I want to do purees for quite a while, I just find gumming food is a lot of work/time and they get less in their tummies (not to mention half of it ends up on the floor) I don't really want to introduce too much hard chewing until there's a good rack of teeth ready to go. I saw my SIL introduce really challenging foods early on like broccoli, and it freaked me out to watch her choke on it a bit. Nope.
Gagging and choking are 2 very different things. Gagging is normal as the learn to move food around in their mouth/to back of tongue. "Less in their tummies" isn't really a problem as food in any form should be complimentary and in small amounts until after age 1.
I always make my babies food, and am pretty low key about it. We have a hand blender, which I use for cooking a lot and for making baby food. I find it easy to just steam or roast different foods, or use the veggies I've made for the rest of the family, and puree them. Once we're started I also just puree whole meals that the rest of the family eats. We also just give baby soft foods if we are eating them to gnaw on.
Baby-led Weaning here as well. They learn to chew before they swallow. With purees, they just swallow, don't chew. It also exposes them more to what their diet will be in the home if you give them foods that you, yourself are eating. Just cook it well enough to be gnawed/gummed and cut it in small enough pieces that baby wont choke if they dont chew it (meats) and baby will be fine.
This is pretty much us. I don't like making two meals so do it for as little as possible...
I do, however, buy some pouches/jarred baby food/Baby MumMum's for when we're out and about. Actually, that's going to be this baby's stocking stuffers!
Daughter #1 - Feb 2012 Daughter #2 - Oct 2014 Daughter #3 - Nov 2016 Baby #4 - Sept 2018
@ArcticSeal my 3yo DD still loves the Gerber Graduates pouches. They make for good snacks or something first thing in the morning before she's ready for breakast.
MMC 01/26/12
MC 12/25/12, D&C 01/05/13
BFP 03/05/13, EDD 11/12/13. HB 175 @ 9w2d. Its a Girl!
Madeline Lorraine H. Born 11/12/13 @9:10pm, 7lb6oz
DX with EA/TEF Type C & Tracheomalaysia MC @ 13wks 01/15/15
DX Septate Uterus - surgery recommended
BFP 3/18/16, EDD 11/13/16 It's a boy! Clint Kiszonas H. Born 11/21/16 @10:38pm, 9lb11oz
Ehhhh we weren't consistent with food under one year old, but we did make what we gave her. I bought two silicone ice cube trays that had about 12 one inch squares in each. I would make the food, pour in tray, freeze, and then take out of tray and put in freezer bag to continue to store. It was so easy just to pull out a cube and heat it up for a few seconds. Using our pediatricians suggestion, we also just puréed whatever we were eating.
We stuck to pouches simply because they were easier for me and you could buy just one of a certain flavor if you wanted to experiment without worrying baby would reject it and you'd waste a bunch of food. My daughter has been a picky eater since the beginning though so maybe that problem is unique to me.
With my first 2 I made my own puréed at first but ended up using Gerber jars.. With my third I did baby led weaning (didn't know it had a name until this LO lol) and this time I will be doing baby led weaning as well.
Re: Do you/will you make your own food?
With that said, when we did purees, I cooked them, puréed in food processor and froze in ice cube trays. Perfect 1 oz. portions.
i loved pouches for out and about! They are so much less messy and easier to pack than jars! They definitely weren't my go-to at home, but I rarely paid more than $1/pouch for organic and my daughter learned to hold them herself after a while and she loved that!
g
MMC 01/26/12
MC 12/25/12, D&C 01/05/13
BFP 03/05/13, EDD 11/12/13. HB 175 @ 9w2d. Its a Girl!
Madeline Lorraine H. Born 11/12/13 @9:10pm, 7lb6oz
DX with EA/TEF Type C & Tracheomalaysia
MC @ 13wks 01/15/15
Clint Kiszonas H. Born 11/21/16 @10:38pm, 9lb11oz
BFP 1/11/18, EDD 9/21/18
TTC #2 since Mar 2017
DX: MF June 2019, varicocele embolization Jan 2020, good improvement (14 mil, low motility)
IUI#1 Aug 2020 - BFN
IVF #1 Dec 2020 (ICSI) - ER, freeze-all - 15 retrieved, 15 mature, 15 fertilized. 4 embryos frozen, all day 5 blasts!
FET #1 Feb 2021 - BFN
FET #2 Apr 2021 - BFP 5DP5DT!! Beta #1 13DP5DT (17DPO) = HcG 1,238. Beta #2 17DP5DT (21DPO) = HcG 8,269
MMC 01/26/12
MC 12/25/12, D&C 01/05/13
BFP 03/05/13, EDD 11/12/13. HB 175 @ 9w2d. Its a Girl!
Madeline Lorraine H. Born 11/12/13 @9:10pm, 7lb6oz
DX with EA/TEF Type C & Tracheomalaysia
MC @ 13wks 01/15/15
Clint Kiszonas H. Born 11/21/16 @10:38pm, 9lb11oz
BFP 1/11/18, EDD 9/21/18
BFP 3.8.16 EDD 11.20.16
I do, however, buy some pouches/jarred baby food/Baby MumMum's for when we're out and about. Actually, that's going to be this baby's stocking stuffers!
Daughter #2 - Oct 2014
Daughter #3 - Nov 2016
Baby #4 - Sept 2018
MMC 01/26/12
MC 12/25/12, D&C 01/05/13
BFP 03/05/13, EDD 11/12/13. HB 175 @ 9w2d. Its a Girl!
Madeline Lorraine H. Born 11/12/13 @9:10pm, 7lb6oz
DX with EA/TEF Type C & Tracheomalaysia
MC @ 13wks 01/15/15
Clint Kiszonas H. Born 11/21/16 @10:38pm, 9lb11oz
BFP 1/11/18, EDD 9/21/18