Even before getting pregnant with my little one, I knew I wanted to make him homemade baby food. I love to cook, the kitchen is where I feel the happiest, so there was no question about it for me. When I got pregnant, my hubby bought me a Kitchen Aid attachment that helps make baby food. I still haven't used it, since it makes for more chunkier baby food, but once I start making more complex recipes I will definitely use it! Brownie points for dear husband for knowing me so well.
This is what works for me and my son. I am not a pediatrician or a nutritionist. You should always consult with your doctor before introducing solids to your baby. That's what I did. He should give you the ok to start them and what foods to introduce first.
Anyways, at four months of age, little hungry baby seemed like he was always starving, even though I was nursing every 2 hours, so our pediatrician suggested we start introducing solids! Oh man! What a happy baby he was! He had been eyeballing our spoons for almost a month and wanted to try everything we were eating. Needless to say, he was ready!
A good way to start is with bland foods. Below you will find a list of foods that are appropriate for 4-6 month olds. I got this list from Momtastic.com and corroborated it with our pediatrician.
Fruits
Apples
Avocado
Banana
Pear
Vegetables
Beans (green)
Sweet Potato
Butternut Squash
Grains
Barley
Oatmeal
Rice
The very first food I introduced was rice cereal. I mixed one tablespoon of cereal with 5 tablespoons of breast milk. It was VERY watery, but you want it this way. You don't want to introduce something that is too different from the consistency of milk. Every time I gave my son a new food, I fed it to him in the morning (never in the afternoon) so I could keep an eye on him in case he developed an allergy and I fed him the same food for three days in a row. I introduced one food at a time and I only gave him about a tablespoon of baby food. All you want to do for the first month is introduce food, not make him feel full. Also, try giving solids in between two nursing or bottles. You don't want your baby too full or too hungry. Prepare for a mess, by the way.
Cooking instructions:
As a rule of thumb, fruits you want to boil (Except bananas and avocados, which can be feed without being cooked), green vegetables you want to steam and "starchy" vegetables you want to roast. After you make the baby fppd, you can use
these trays to freeze it. Once it is frozen you can transfer it to zip lock bags and you can keep it for about three months.
Here are a couple of very simple homemade baby food recipes:
Apple Baby Food and Pear Baby Food
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| Apple and Pear Baby Food (Apples left, pears right) |
Peel and core two apples (any kind you want). Cube the apples and add them to a pot with enough water to fill the bottom of the pot. Boil until they are tender and look a little bit clear. They will start smelling like syrup or very sugary, that's when you know they are done. Drain them but keep the water for later. On a food processor to blend the apples. Usually they are pretty runny but you can add a couple of tablespoons of the water you saved from cooking until you reach the desired consistency. Do the same for pears. Now that my son is 7 months old, pears are his absolute favorite!!!
Avocado Baby Food & Banana Baby Food
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| Avocado baby food |
Peel and core an avocado. Cube it. For older babies you can just smash with a fork and feed it to the baby, but for a four month old or if this is one of the first foods you are introducing, I suggest mixing it with a little bit of breast milk. Add the avocado and about 2 ounces of breast milk to the food processor and blend. This will be a shiny paste. This was my son's favorite baby food. He would cry every time he was done because he wanted more, so he would eat a lot more than one tablespoon of this one. Lately I haven't given him avocados but he does love them. Do the same for the banana baby food. One thing to keep in mind, bananas tend to constipate a little bit, so don't be surprised if your baby does not have a dirty diaper after giving him/her bananas. All normal. If you are concerned about this, wait to introduce bananas last.
Green Bean Baby Food
Use frozen green beans. It is so much easier to work with them and they have the same nutritional value as fresh green beans. Plus, most of the time, you can steam them in the bag, which is so much easier. Steam them until tender and add them to the food processor. Use about 2 cups of green beans and 2-4 tablespoons of water. That's it! This one is super easy!!!
Butternut Squash Baby Food
There are three ways you can do this. 1.) If you bought the whole butternut squash, you can cut it in half, and place face down on a baking sheet and bake at 375 F for 30-40 minutes or until tender. 2.) If you have already cut big chunks of butternut squash you can place them on a baking sheet and add water to the bottom of the pan and bake at 375 F for 30 minutes. 3.) If you bought the pre-cut smaller pieces of butternut squash you can boil them like you do potatoes until tender. After you've cooked the squash add to the food processor and add 2-4 tablespoons of water until you reach the desired consistency.
Sweet Potato Baby Food
Get one or two sweet potatoes, wash them and poke with a fork. Then wrap them in aluminum foil. Bake at 400 degrees for about 50 minutes or until tender. Once they are cooked and cooled, peel off the skin and cube. Add it to the food processor and blend. Add 2 tablespoons of water to reach desired consistency.
For cereals, just follow the instructions on the label. I personally do not give my son rice cereal anymore, because it constipates him, but I do feed him oatmeal cereal which he loves!
Once you've introduced these you can start mixing food, since you know your baby is not allergic to them. For example, my son loves to have his pears mixed with his oatmeal. I also give him green beans and squash together. The sky is the limit!
As you can see, it is very simple to make homemade baby food. A few of the good things about making your own baby food, you can buy organic fruits and vegetables and know that you are not feeding your baby pesticides. Fruits and vegetables are considerably cheaper than actually buying already made baby food. Lastly, you get to cook...which if you are anything like me, you enjoy it.
Ingredients:
