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Making your own baby food ensures that
what your child is eating is fresh,
nutritious and free of additives such as
chemicals and food preservatives and you
will have total control over what is put
into your baby's food.
In addition, making your own baby food
will save you money. You will be able to
feed your baby according to his or her
needs because you will know what foods are
best suited for your baby from
experience.
Making your own baby food also ensures
that your baby experiences a greater
variety of tastes and textures, helping
your baby make the transition to table
foods and also help him/her develop
healthy eating habits
Preparation Tips
1. Babies are susceptible to digestive
upsets so always work with clean hands and
use clean cooking utensils, preparation
surfaces, pots and pans etc. when making
home made baby food. Prepare foods
immediately upon removing them from the
refrigerator and freeze immediately after
cooking any foods you want to store.
2. Steaming vegetables is the best
method of preparation as this softens
them, makes them easier to chew and
preserves more of the vitamins and
minerals than boiling. A steamer basket is
cheap and by cooking fruits and vegetables
in it you'll be sure of keeping the
nutrients in the food.
3. Puree the foods using a fork, a food
mill or blender. A blender quickly purees
almost anything into the finest
consistency. When your baby first starts
on solids, you'll be pureeing things to a
very fine consistency and as baby gets a
little older you will make foods a little
coarser and a fork will be sufficient. A
food mill strains most cooked foods to a
very smooth consistency. All the tools you
need to make baby food are probably
already in your kitchen.
4. Prepare large amounts of foods at
one time and freeze them. Take your
prepared foods and freeze the food in
plastic "pop out" ice cube trays. Small
tupperware jars with lids serve the same
purpose and stack easily. Label and date
the packages and rotate them putting the
most recently frozen foods behind the
previously frozen ones. They can be stored
for up to two months.
5. When you take frozen foods out of
the freezer, warm the food in a cup placed
in a saucepan of boiling water with a lid
on or use a microwave to thaw and warm the
baby food, being sure to stir the food
well to avoid hot pockets.
6. Cereals are typically the first
foods given to a baby because they contain
lots of iron. You can prepare your own by
running oatmeal through your blender.
Fruits are generally given next. You will
need to cook all fruits except bananas
until they are soft.
7. Make your own apple sauce and pear
sauce; peaches, plums and apricots can be
peeled and boil or steam them, but don't
add any sugar as fruits are sweet enough
on their own.
8. Preferably buy and use organic fruit
and vegetables. Your baby deserves
pesticide-free foods.
9. Yogurt, creamed cottage cheese,
creamed pumpkin, baked potato, avocado and
tofu / soy bean curd are all popular with
babies. A suggestion is to blend together
cottage cheese, banana and fresh orange
juice - your baby will love it.
10. Meats should be added slowly to
their diet. Meat can be boiled or broiled
then put in the blender with a little milk
and perhaps banana or cream of rice to get
the right consistency. Chicken is
generally the first meat baby is
introduced to and usually goes down
well.
11. There is no rush to start your baby
on solid foods. Milk is his most important
food. Your doctor's recommendations and
your own intuition will help you to know
when to begin introducing solids to your
baby's diet. Introducing solids prepares
the baby for the transition to adult food
and offers further vitamins and minerals
as the baby grows. Always be patient with
your baby and allow at least a few days
between newly added foods to make sure the
baby doesn't suffer any reactions.
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