Is Shop Bought Ok

[jes]

Hi there,

i have been giving my daughter solids for 2 weeks now with no dramas :) I was just curious weather i should start cooking up some'fresh food' for her or is it ok to just give her tinned or jars of food untill she is eating more than 2 tsp per meal???


Thanks heaps

jes

[Rockett]

Hi
Shop bought is ok,but alot of premade food for babies have more than one ingredient,and because you are just starting out, if she has an allergic reaction you won't know which food did it,unless you are sticking to plain apple etc,then you would know.
You might find it more economical to make your own,if she is just eating tiny amounts you can make up a batch and freeze small portions in icecube trays,then you won't have any wastage-with jarred baby food you have to throw it out after 48 hours,you would have a lot left if she is only eating a few teaspoons. :)

[stormanet]

heya :) be carefeul with the shop bought stuff you do buy as many of them have "thickeners" in them that bulk it out for baby but don't last through the night. you might end up with some early waking :)

k

[jes]

Thanks for that, i will have to start cooking i think ;)

[nemosmum]

Yep I did the whole fresh thing too, its just alot easier and cheaper especially as your only starting to introduce solids. That said I used to give O a jar of the allergy friendly soy vanilla custard every now and again just for variety and when I was feeling lazy LOL it didnt do any harm :D

[rynosmum]

When Ry first started eating solids, I admit that I used a lot of shop bought Heinz and Golden Circle meals. He really didn't like the organics but loved the gels, fruit, cereals etc. I pureed up veges and fruit every now and again and filled seemngly thousands of ice cube trays ut could never get the consistency as smooth as the shop jars and Ry would gag on them.

Now he is 18 months old and I cook all of his meals and love it. He loves trying new things and is a big fan of Mummy's cooking. What a good little boy.... :D

[MariaO]

Have you seen the motherly cubes in the freezer section of the supermarket. They are pre-prepared cubes of organic meet and vegetables - for instance 12 beef, 12 potato and 12 brocolli. The beef cubes are actually made of organic beef, celery, split peas and a few other good things - no thickeners or any such thing.


Handy to have in the freezer as a back up, or to mix with your own frozen items.

[sugar n spice]

I must admit i did buy jar food for both of my boys but now that my 11mnth old is that bit older and has 4 teeth he starting to eat what we eat so that is great. I suppose you need to way up the options, of course home made food is better it is just that i found it more convenient though it is expensive. I now only buy the odd custard, gel or fruit cereal for the rare occasions but he is pretty much eating what we do. I am so glad he isn't fussy like his brother and he loves my cooking, he eats more that his brother at meal time. lol. :p

Oh bye the way I find motherly cubes to be great it is organic food made fresh and frozen into ice cubes, you can find them in the freezer section at coles and woolworths or safeway stores. In my point of view there better than jar food but still convenient.

[Ana Gram]

I never cooked homemade stuff when DD was a baby, as I neither had the time or patience and lo and behold, DD is perfectly healthy.

If you want to make your own stuff, go for it, if you can't be bothered the store bought stuff is perfectly acceptable!

[Jenko]

I found that if you stick to very simple food first off - like apple/pear or pumpkin/potato you didn't need to puree it in the blender or food processer. I would just cook it until it was soft and mash it with a fork or potato masher. I left the tin/jar food for when we were out and about. Much easier. :)

I guess it's up to you, both are fine.

I really enjoyed preparing DD's food and found it easy to cook a batch once a week or so and freeze it all in the icecube trays. I would then put them in a container once frozen. When it was meal time I would defrost one or two cubes in the microwave and serve up.

[reAllytee]

I do a bit of both although this last shop i did buy heaps heh purely because coming up to Xmas things are getting a little crazy with us & im being lazy hehe. Plus i find it easier if we are out to have the heinz or golden circle on hand as it means the jar or tin gets thrown afterwards so it means less to carry.
But with your little one only having tiny portions for now it would be easier as the others stated to use your ice cube tray & freeze it. I also did this no dramas when bubs first started taking solids & it does save a hell of a lot of wastage as well as not worrying about the mix of foods & allergies. Just do whats easiest for you cause its not worth you getting into a frazzle.
It does get easier once they are older & eating more as once they have had the vegies & fruits you keep on hand for yourself & you know there arent any allergy probs then you just cook up whatever you have in your fridge but id advise to keep some shop bought on hand & at least then if your feeling lazy you have something to fall back on :D

[Merlion]

I do both I cook, put in ice-cube trays, once frozen put in ziplock bags and put date when made what's in it. I make enough to last about a month. If I feel adventrous I make enough so I have a stash for mum and dad's place too. When I'm out and about I use store bought. DD is not allergic to anything that we know of so it's okay