Tips: Making Your Own Baby Food (and Feeding Accessories, by Doolbydoo.com)
When it comes to babies and their food, I’m sure most moms have questions, lots of questions!
Like,
When should I introduce solids to my baby?
How many times a day should my baby eat?
Should I buy those ready-made baby food in jars sold at supermarkets, or should I make my own homemade food?
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All my three kids started their solids when they were about 5.5 months old. All started with 2-3 spoonsfuls of very runny rice cereals, once a day.
When I had my first child, Anya, I was totally clueless about making own baby food though!
I heard how friends prepared home-made baby food, but somehow I just had NO idea what to do. They fed their babies porridge, but at the time, I didn’t know where to start or how. It might sound weird, but really, everything just sounded so foreign, and … difficult?
So, guess what?
Till Anya was about 11 months, she either had bananas, rice cereals, or jarred baby food! Really!!
When I had my second child, Vai, I learned how a small blender made baby-food-preparation SO much faster and easier! Vai had a mix of home-made baby food, rice cereals and ready-made baby food in jars.
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Things were a little more familiar when I had my third baby! =)
Again, thanks to my old little blender, Brie has been eating pureed fruits, vegetables, brown rice, etc.
Yes, I’ve been making baby food at home! *Yay!*
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Personally, I’m not against those ready-made baby food in jars. They’re fine for babies, very practical to bring with us when we’re out and about. But, they ARE costly.
So, for our case right now, if we need to leave home in a hurry, or when I don’t know how long I’ll be out and about, I usually just bring along some rice cereal in a small Tupperware container. I’d then just add water, and voila, I have baby food! Sometimes I bring along a banana too (Brie’s favourite!)
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If you are like me when I had Anya, feeling clueless about what to feed your baby, I just want to say, you are NOT alone! =)
But today, I’d also like to say that making our own baby food IS possible, and it’s not at all complicated.
It’s so much more economical to prepare our own baby food too!
[Mashed banana for breakfast. These bowl and spoon are made of corn, btw! Click HERE to read more about Dandelion Tableware!]
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Here are some tips and info on making our own baby food:
> Steam to soften food, making it easier to chew. Minimise boiling as more vitamins and minerals are lost when prepared this way.
> A small blender really saves your time and energy in food preparation.
> To make your baby food more runny, use plain water, or better still, pour some of the water left from steaming the food earlier into the blender.
[Steamed carrot pieces, ready inside a blender]
> Often, there’s no need to prepare separate meals for your baby. Simply put aside portions of your adult food (before we add seasonings to it), then grind/mash/use a blender, according to the ‘stage appropriate’ texture for your baby.
(I do sometimes just steam sweet potatoes or carrots separately, meant just for Brie)
> No need to add salt or sugar.
Click HERE to read more on why it’s not recommended.
[Petite Creation Baby cubes, 4oz / 140ml]
> Make batches of baby food at a time, and pour the cooked / pureed food into an ice cube tray (good idea to cover with cling film) or baby cubes (see picture above). Then freeze them.
> If you use an ice cube tray, it’s recommended to remove frozen food cubes from the tray and store in air-tight freezer bags.
> Homemade baby foods can be safely kept frozen for three months (but I usually prepare just enough to last for about 3-4 days)
> To slowly thaw, place frozen baby food (enough for a day) in the refrigerator. Usually it’ll thaw in about 4-5 hours.
> If you use a microwave to thaw or warm baby food, make sure you stir the food well and test its temperature before feeding to baby.
> Once thawed, do not re-freeze.
> If you do not plan to freeze your homemade baby food, you may want to consider preparing your puree every 1 – 2 days.
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Now I wonder, how is / was it for your children?
Did you prepare home-made baby food, or did you mostly feed ready-made baby food in jars?
Please also share more practical tips on baby food making and preparations yeah!
[Petite Creation Baby Cubes, 70 ml. The ‘mark’ helps in letting us know how much to put inside. As you can see, there’s ‘too much’ carrot puree here =) ]
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Here’s one great news:
To help moms in their baby-food and baby-feeding journey, we’ll be giving away bowls, plates and baby cubes, thanks to Doolbydoo.com!
And, we’ll be randomly selecting EIGHT giveaway winners!!
Here’s what you need to do :
1. ‘LIKE’ Our Everyday Things Facebook Page, if you haven’t done so =)
2. ‘LIKE’ Doolbydoo Facebook Page
3. Share this giveaway post on Facebook or Twitter
4. Leave a comment here on this post, and share your baby feeding story or baby food preparation tips!
Also, let us know which one (out of the four options) you’d like to win!
Here are the 4 items to choose from:
a) Dandelion’s Corn Bowls (2 pack)
b) Dandelion’s Corn Divided Plates
c) Petite Creation Baby Cubes (8 x 70ml)
d) Petite Creation Baby Cubes (4 x 140 ml)
…
Open to those with Singapore mailing addresses, and contest ends on Thursday, 9 Feb, 11.59pm, SG time.
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Enjoy this week’s giveaway, and I really look forward to hearing YOUR baby feeding stories and tips!
And, have a great week ahead, everyone!
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[added on 12 February 2012]
Here are the eight winners of the giveaway!!
Ready?
Here they are:
1. Sofia’s Mummy
2. Bazilah Mohamad Yusof
3. Daniel
4. Jay
5. Dina
6. Debbie G
7. Nic Wong
8. San
CONGRATS to all eight winners!! You all have won a prize from Doolbydoo.com!
And, HUGE thanks to all of you too who participated in the giveaway and shared your useful tips and stories / experiences!
More giveaways coming soon! Do check my blog out often! =)
PS: Dear winners, please claim your prizes by sending your mailing address to me within 48 hours yeah!
Email: leonny[at]oureverydaythings[dot]com
36 Comments »
Leave a comment!
Hi Ci,
What is the reason for transferring frozen solid food from ice cube tray to air tight containers? Elin is now two months old and I am nervous just thinking of when she has to start solid food. I am clueless!
Hi Vicky,
Hehe … I was so very clueless when I had Anya. Now I can say, things are actually very simple (with homemade baby food). Some people manually mash their baby food, but I’d personally recommend getting a small blender. Super duper helpful in making any kind of baby food =) When baby is bigger, just press on the blender button for a really short while (so the texture is still there, instead of getting a really smooth baby food).
Oh, getting back on the ice cube question, it’s more about keeping the food clean and fresh I guess. If it’s on ice cube tray, there’s no lid, and it’s all exposed to the air (we open and close the freezer door). But really, even if you don’t transfer it, I don’t think it’s a huge deal =) Taking things ‘easy’ kinda takes the ‘stress’ away in dealing with a baby and her many daily needs, if you ask me =D
Hope you’re doing great with Elin … Take care! =)
Hi wonder how long the petite cubes last? Can I reuse them from my 2nd after keeping for 3 yrs?
Hi Joan,
I can’t say this for sure, but if I were you, I’d give them a good rinse and use them again for the next baby =)
Hi everyone!
Thanks again for participating in the giveaway on Our Everyday Things! =) And thanks heaps for sharing your tips and stories! Really nice to read each and every comment left!
Eight winners have randomly been selected! Do check out the giveaway blog post to see if you’re one of them yeah!
If you are one of the winners, please do email me your mailing address within 48 hours (by Tuesday, 14 Feb, 11.59pm) to claim your prize!
Thanks again everyone! Hope you enjoy the prizes and do look out for more giveaways (and of course blog posts =)
Have a great week ahead!
A divided plate made from corn will definitely interest my 2 year old who is all ready to feed himself.
He has grown to be a great eater, seldom fussy with food. He loves fruits and vegetables equally. And I started him on fruits before veg when he was 6 months so the ‘belief’ on veg first doesn’t hold for him.
I have been particular about his food from the moment he was born (breastmilk) till now (homemade food). He seems to prefer it this way too and didn’t take to junk food at all. Before he was one, I prepared his purees weekly so they are kept fresh. We made sure he has fruit after every meal and now he has come to expect fruits and vegetables in every meal. He probably eats the healthiest in our family. I hope his healthy eating will become a habit that will last throughout his lifetime.
Hi Leonny,
Hmm… my story is really simple. I was waiting and waiting for my baby to turn 4 months old as I would really like to try feeding him solids. In a way this would help reduce his dependence on breast milk and I have also learned that the earlier babies start on solids the less fussy they would be in their choice of food when they are older.
Ironically, as a busy travelling mom, the first solids that I fed my son turns out to be airplane food (prepared specially for babies of course). My son loved it! Now I prepare my own food for him when we are home. I usually steam and mince them and store them in a freezer for later use. He is a pretty good eater and till now have tried lots of different food from Italian to Chinese (due to my travel destinations, he get used to different food!)
Smiles,
Jay
forgot to add… would like to win D please 😛
Hi Leonny!
Thanks for this fabulous giveaway!
I was totally clueless when I first introduced solids to my boy too! I tried reading up from websites, getting tips from friends etc. It was tough initially but motherhood is a learning process for us!
I would love to win Dandelion’s Corn Divided Plates (b) for my boy to self-feed. 🙂
Cheers,
Audrey
Thanks for the valuable information in this article, Leonny!
My 1st baby, Aaleyah Zarin is currently 6 weeks old. & I’ve been reading up a lot about weaning since i was merely 4 mths pregnant. In fact, I went for a weaning talk conducted by Friso.
I have been pretty excited about weaning and trying to learn more about it as I do want to provide the best for Aaleyah even though I am a first time mother.
As my mother-in-law is pretty old school, she told me that it is best to start feeding my baby rice cereals at 2 months old and porridge at 3 months old, which I strongly disagree. Plus she doesn’t feed babies with pureed vegetables and fruit which I think is important. I am currently breastfeeding Aaleyah exclusively and hope to do that till she is at least 6 months old. I have great intention to do home-cooked baby food for and introduce vegetables and fruits to her through weaning.
I believe that in time to come, C) Petite Creation Baby Cubes (8 x 70ml) will come in very handy for a first time mother like me when eventually I start to wean Aaleyah.
I look forward to many more informative meaningful articles by you, Leonny. 🙂
Thanks for the article, Leonny ! Frankly speaking, I’m still clueless on how to start to give solid food to my baby boy of 6 mo.
I just started from 1 week ago to give him wheat cereal from Frisocream (one meal per day), he likes it soooo much… starting from 1 teaspoon to 3 full teaspoon right now.
I want to try puree vege and fruits in few days later 🙂
For the giveaway, I would be glad if I can have Dandelion’s corn bowl.
hi, my kid love banana and pumpkin..
i would like to win a) Dandelion’s Corn Bowls 😀 Thanks
Hmm, i haf been wondering when to start solids. My boy is now 2 mths and i hear pple saying i can mix nestum in the milk when he reaches 3mths so tat it would be more filling. I wonder how true this is as i heard solids should be started at abt 6mths thereabout.
I would like to make my own baby food when i start on solids. I would love to haf the Petite Creation Baby Cubes (8 x 70ml).
*fingers crossed*
I hope I can win petite creation baby cubes (4 * 140ml).
I can use this convenient and easy cubes to prepare some fruits for my baby who do not like to eat at all. I hope this cute cubes will get attraction for him to enjoy his fruits meal without hassle. I hope to lighten my wife’s burden.
I would like to have petite creation baby cubes (4 * 140ml)
My wife have to rush for work. If she has this baby cubes, she can prepare some puree before hand with ease before send baby to our nanny care. Thanks for the giveaway.
I like the dandelion corn bowl. 🙂
I start to give solid (rice cereal) to my baby when she 5 month old.
Follow by her fav avocado and pumpkin and nicely store them in the baby cubes. 😉 and now she love porriedge.
What a timely give away. Like you I start my kids on rice cereal at 5.5 mths for all 3. It’s fun exploring the various textures and food. Steam apple, pear, prune and pumpkin, carrots, spinach follows then sweet potatoes, potato mash, brocolli, banana and avocado. Love it when they can take avocado as it’s an easy to carry around wholesome meal without need to prepare. My Braun handheld blender is my best tool for purees. My youngest just started her rice cereal so purees will be next. I would love to have c) Petite Creation Baby Cubes (8 x 70ml) in preparation for this phase 🙂
Introducing solids is such a fun thing… Though my daughter thinks otherwise. My grandson is starting his solids and I’m planning to buy organic fruits and vegetables for her to purée. These days, the internet is aplenty with information and one can just google for more ideas. There are even suggested feeding schedules available! I hope to win babycubes in 2oz to keep the purees. Thanks Leonny!
I started introduce solid to my boy at 5 months old. Started with a very runny brown rice cereal every weekend. Then slowly increase the consistency. I had no blender or steamer at first so I started buying baby food jar. Then I realized I can actually keep and reuse the container. It’s glass so no need to worry about BPA and the size is just right. Once I decided to get blender cum steamer I started to make my own puree. I had fun mix and match different food: banana, pear, kiwi, sweet potato + pumpkin (my son’s fav), broccoli + carrot, etc.
Now my son is 14 months and I still make puree for him. Now I’m trying to find more recipes for different varieties.
I would love to win the “petite creation baby cube 8 x 70ml”.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Thanks for sharing.
I’d prefer to have home-made food for baby.
I started introducing solid food when my baby is 6 mo. I prepared rice, cereal, brown rice, and mix with grinded ikan bilis or brocolli to enhance the taste.
Along when he was a bit older (9-11 mo), I added chopped meat/fish with porridge to his menu.
And every 2 days, I usually prepared puree fruits (i.e. banana, or papaya).
I’d love to win Dandelion’s Corn Bowls. 🙂
Tks for sharing ur exp! I had been making our own baby food for both my dd (2.5 yrs old) when she was a bb n also for my 6 mth old boy now.
Baby cubes are a lifesaver! Convenient n Perfectly sized for little tummies! E only change I made for no.2 was to invest in a hand-held blender as I found it easier to control the even-ness of e puree than using a larger blender/food
Processor. So far I’ve done apple, carrot, pear, peas, banana, peach, pumpkin, white potato n sweet potato puree. My son doesn’t seem to like his purees as much as my daughter did tho, sadly! He prefers e breast! Nothing goes to waste tho! My daughter gladly gobbles up any remainders 🙂
I could do with an extra set of the 2oz baby cubes! Bon appetit! *burp*
This is really timely and I hope to win (c)!
I am a first time mummy so everything is brand new to me. 🙂
My darling baby girl is turning 5 months and I am just starting her on semi-solids. In fact yesterday was the first time we put some brown rice cereal into her EBM. She seem to take it fine and we are keeping our fingers crossed.
Moving along, we will be buying a blender to start her on pureed fruits and vegetables. Once she gets used to it, we will advance to giving her porridge with vegetables, fish and meat.
Hi,
Thanks for sharing the tips. I would to win (c).
Your article is really timely and useful. I am about to introduce solids to my 6month-old girl. My older boy is 6 so I kinda forget some stuff. Homemade is definitely economical and we can control the amount and texture of the food.
I would introduce rice cereal first then pureed vegetables followed by meat and fruits. I would test the same food for 2 to 3 days before introducing another type of food. This is to see if bb is allergic to the food or not.
For my first one, I am totally clueless too. I chopped the vegetables or meat n boiled together with as porridge. I think this method is still okay if you do not have a blender and have no time to steam and mash your food.
Blending, Bananas, Biscuits!
Cooking in quantity helps to lessen the amount of cooking needed! 😀
Sweet Potato is really good too!
I think winning the 140ml will help in the long run!! 😀
Prepare stocks following recipes from book “first foods” bought from popular.. Cook stocks in large quantities as guide in book,, then freeze.. To prepare porridge fast n care-free from watching the stove.. Bring out the frozen stock from freezer the nite before. Put the stock n grained rice grain into a rice cooker with porridge mode.. Abt 1 and half hr it will be done.. I will also puree fruits or veg n freeze them.. Microwave the puree stuffs,, either add to porridge with veg/pork/chicken or instant cereal.. As the puree are cooked so didn’t further add into the porridge to boil.. As will further reduce the nutrient.. ((nt sure is it the correct way,, but try to do things in the most convient n yet able to provide the baby with more variety.. N reduce wastage.. As veg bought supermarket are in packet n the portion baby can eat is small..))
My 2nd son is 3 weeks younger than Brie and is also starting his solids. This time round, we are more relaxed (somehow having subsequent kids makes for less uptight attitude?) We have given him rice cereal and scrapped fruits – bananas n apples (both fresh). He still has some tongue thrust reflex so we are taking it real slow.
For my 1st son, my wife prepared baby purees and froze them. I used to need to manually purée the steamed food until we got a steamer cum blender – a life saver! So preparing purees became much easier. After baby had been introduced to a variety of food (introduced as single ingredient purees one at a time) we replaced one cereal feed w porridge + veg + meat.
As I foresee we will be freezing food again, winning the 140ml cubes would come in handy. Thanks!
I squeezed out breastmilk straight from my breast into the bowl of cereal and mixed till it’s runny in consistency. When my boy was slightly older, I cooked shell pasta till it’s very soft and stuffed them with mashed bananas and let him eat using his hand!
Would like to win (C). Thanks!
Whoooopi!, another timely giveaway for me! I’m puree-ing my life away at the moment! Loving it!! Would feel so blessed to win myself the baby cubes!!
I use a magimix to puree food – I just prepare meals, omitting the salt and sugar and put the seasoning on the side. So all I need to do is dish up baby’s portion and pulse it a few times in the magimix to the consistency I want. Gradually, I pulsed it fewer and fewer times so that she could learn to manage bigger lumps until now she can eat softly cooked diced veggies and minced meat.
I’m thinking that those corn divided plates are the next step for her self-feeding phase! I would love to win those.
I start to give solid to my baby when he 6ms old..but different with Brie,my son Ethvan hates banana so much 😀 but he loves papaya.so at that time,mostly i gave papaya puree then tried to gave carrot pure blend with white rice,or brown rice,spinach,pumpkins etc…Ethvan likes to eat so i don’t have any dificulties to feed him…But the tips for me is:
1. try to give solid first then breasfeed him cause if we breastfeed him first he/she maybe will fell full then don’t want to eat any solid food….at least it happen to Ethvan 😀 e.g: in the morning when he wakes up,i will give solid food,take a bath and then breastfeed.
2. Some people said,try to give more vegetables than fruit when our baby start to eat solid..because vegetables is less sweet than fruit so when he likes vegetables at the first place,then it won’t difficult for him to like fruit.
3. No add sugar or salt before 1yo.
For me,i rather choose to made my own baby food than buy an instant one,because as we know instant are not fresh food,so as possible as i can,i always try to prepare my own-made baby food.and i also haven’t try yet to frozen it,so i make it on the time he wants to eat.
I’d like to win dandelion’s corn bowl,please hehehe..hope will win it this time!!!
Thanks
My baby girl has just started on solids 3 weeks ago! So far, she has tried steamed carrots, apples, pumpkins, pears and peaches. I simply steam her food and then pureed with a strainer by hand. As her current intake is very little, I make a fresh portion every meal. But I foresee myself cooking in bulk and freeze in time to come!
I’ll love to win the Corn Divided Plates. Pick me!!!
I cook for my kids too, and the preparation of the purees was made easier after I wised up and bought a book and consulted with friends. My steamer/blender has served me very well in this aspect! I’ll also dabble with mee sua, baby pastas as well!
The Corn Divided Plates for me, please!
We are used to make home made baby food, and we bought babyfood jar only when we were traveling overseas. A blender is really helpful. we used to cook lots of pureed veggies (carrot, brocoli and potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnip etc…) and when it came to diversification, we added meat, chicken for example into the veggies! I was doing big portions as well, then I froze them. That s really convenient!
I’ve had a lot of probs introducing solids (pureed fruits/vegs) to my #1 2yrs ago. Hopefully my #2 will like his solids more more more 🙂
I’m going to start him with either Healthy Times rice cereal or Happy Belly’s rice cereal when he turns 5months+.
Thanks for the giveaway.
I like to win Dandelion’s corn divided plates
I’d like one dandelion corn bowl for my infant. 🙂