Homemade Baby Food:
Peace Of Mind Made Easy
Many new parents today are turning to homemade baby food as their infant's first source of solid foods. Don't be frightened about making your baby's food. With just 2-3 hours and a few kitchen supplies, you can actually prepare enough food to last your baby for the next 1-2 months.
During this time of transition, your baby will still be using the mother's breast milk or formula as its main source of nutrition. But slowly your baby is going to want to change its allegiance over to wholesome solid foods and cereal grains.
Easy Methods To Prepare Homemade Baby Food
During this introductory time of using new foods, go slowly and use only one new food item per every 4-5 days. Keep a constant watch and check for sensitivities that could be a possible food allergy.
- Steam or microwave any assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables. Do not boil in water on top of the stove. A lot of vitamin and minerals are leached out into the cooking water- your baby therefore misses out on these nutrients.
- Drain the cooked foods and place into a food processor or blender - puree until smooth. For very young children(6-8 months), add a small amount of water, formula or breast milk to reach a thin runny consistency.
- Place approximately 1 tablespoon of food in each compartment of an ice cube tray. Freeze until solid.
- Pop the cubes out of the tray and place in heavy-duty labeled freezer bags for 1-2 months.
- To use, defrost one cube at a time in the refrigerator before meals. Mix and match flavors as your baby grows.
Now is the time when you want to introduce a large assortment of different kinds of foods to get your child accustomed to different flavors. This will make mealtimes in the future much easier because you will not continually be using the line "eat your vegetables".
Don'ts For Preparing Homemade Baby Food
There is several precautionary features you do not want to do when following an at home food preparation program. Keep the following in mind as you cook or serve your newest family member:
- Do not cook or use any kind of spices or seasonings at this young age.
- Do not save or re-use any defrosted cubes from a previous meal or snack. What is not used at each sitting must be thrown away. Remember no preservatives are in this product to prevent airbourne bacteria growth.
- Do not start feeding your child any kind of prepared solid foods (homemade baby food) until approximately 6 months of age
- Verify there is no chemicals, dyes, pesticides, fungicides or GMO organisms in the fresh foods you purchase. Be safe and try to get only Organics.
- Do not serve any citrus fruits to your baby before 1 year of age.
- Use only fruits and vegetables at first until your baby has had time to learn to adjust to solid foods. Start supplementing with meats at a later date. This will give the baby's digestive system time to adjust to the difference in the types of foods it must process daily.
So with a little time once every couple of months or just by processing a small portion of your daily dinners, you can know your baby can have a healthy and guaranteed safe meal or snack every day of the week. The time and concern you have shown by preparing homemade baby food is just one more step in being able to hopefully prevent more infant food allergies.
Return to "Infant Allergies" from "Homemade Baby Food".
*Disclaimer*
This site is not intended to replace the advice and supervision of your professional medical treatment plan. Although all of the information is true and accurate to the best of our knowledge, we still recommend you carefully check all food labels before consuming any food product. We can not assume any legal responsibility for any illness obtained while following the advice contained on this site.
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