Feeding Baby and Baby Food

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you can recall the issues I have had trying to get Eric to feed. Like here and here. Of course this was after my great battle to get him to breastfeed. Also my traumatic trip to Las Vegas without Eric, he has refused all bottles since. Dang he is picky, like daddy.

Well slowly I am working on getting him to take a bottle. So far I am only successful when he's hot and outside. However I was asked to share my journey of the baby food at the request of some friends and family who want to make their own.

Doctor J informed me that it is best to have a baby eating foods before they turn 7 months. He said research shows children are more likely to turn diabetic if they are not. They have no idea why, but stats show this. Not knowing if it is true or not, I wanted to get him on foods. Also nursing every few hours was getting old.

Eric didn't seem to like food and annoyed at it in his mouth. However I started to notice he liked bananas. I was also getting annoyed with feeding baby cereal. It is very messy and requires multiple clean ups. Then one day I noticed a few bananas in the house were getting old and had an idea. I threw the bananas in the blender with some pumped milked, and added cereal until the texture was just right. Then I froze it in empty Gerber baby food containers that my friend Jamiee gave me.

It was a smash hit with Eric! So I did research on making baby food at home. I learned the types of foods to start with, basic fruits and veggies. I learned that if they require cooking, it is best to steam them. Then I started watching ads for good deals on produce and off I went.

I don't cook with recipes often. When I do I vary things. So for those who asked I'll just share what I basically do.

I pick the fruit of veggie I want to start with, if it requires steaming, I do in a microwave steam bag. If it has a peel, it is easiest to remove after steaming. Place in blender or food processor, then I add fluid. I mostly use breast milk, but I have also used infant juice and pure coconut milk (good if you need to fatten little one up) then blend until food is nice and smooth. Then I add baby cereal until the texture is a little thicker than I'd like (when reheated they always come out thinner). The cereal can vary depending on eating stage. Then I poor them into the plastic food containers, label and freeze. Here is what part of my current collection looks like:

Some of the creations I have made:

Peas, pears, apples, bananas, peach, strawberry, banana strawberry, avocado, apple banana, pear strawberry, peach strawberry, peach apple, banana prune, apples and carrot, sweet potato, pear apple, mango and so on. Lots of combos of the above foods.

I just put the frozen food in the microwave for 1 minute, stir and serve.

Also in my quest to fatten my little guy up, I discovered Yo Baby organic whole milk yogurt. This stuff is the best. Eric could eat it all day if I let him. I usually give him an am one and a pm one (I use the kind with the cereal in it for pm, allows for better sleeping baby). These yogurts are also great to feed Eric when he's been outside in Phoenix weather and hot. They are also easy to take with me in a little lunch cooler with an ice pack. As you can see by my friend feeding him here, he loves it and will wait with mouth open for more:

So I hope that helps those of you who want to make your own. Do a little research online and watch what your baby wants to eat. If all else fails, I'll show you what I do. I am very proud of my transition into this domestic skill. I would have never thought I could do it. So if I can, you can too.