A step-by-step guide to feeding your baby - with a homemade option!

7 months | pear puree homemade baby food

2012-04-15T09:00:00.003-07:00

Ok, she has done well on the cereal, sweet peas, and sweet potatoes so now we are going to add some pears.

We are adding pears for two reasons.
1) We want her to get some fruit!
2) She needs some fiber as the new food as messed up her digestion a bit - she's had some hard poops!

It has been painful to watch her struggle - so we are hoping the pears do the trick. She has really started looking forward to her meal times. You can tell if we feed her an hour later than usual she is not only hungry - but a bottle will not suffice! The girl wants some food!

In addition, we have also added some Mum-Mums for snacking purposes. These little rice snacks dissolve quickly, minimizing choking hazard. In addition they have to work at it - and thus it is a fabulous way to entertain your little one while a mommy needs to, say, sit down for 5 minutes!?!?! (Please not they still need to be supervised at all times while eating!)

Daily Routine
Morning: 2 tablespoons of cereal mixed with formula / breast milk with 2 tablespoons of pear puree
Evening: 2 tablespoons of cereal missed with formula / breast milk with 2 tablespoons of alternating veggie (currently sweet pots or peas)
Snacks: a mum-mum!

Bottles: every 3-4 hours during the day and 1 at 3 am

Homemade Option: Pear Puree
1. Purchase at least 8 pears at the store (I like the organic Bartlett pears)
2. Allow them to ripe on the countertop until they "give" about 1/4 of an inch when you press them with your thumb
3. Steam them in a steamer on your stove top.
4. Scoop the soft pear into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add water for desired consistency.*

*remember, start out extremely smooth and increase consistency as they get older

6 mo 3 wks | sweet potato homemade baby food

2012-04-01T19:23:00.001-07:00

We decided to add sweet potatoes as the second veggie! Now we head to the produce department. On a side note, if you buy organic veggies I think Sweet Potatoes are a great indicator of the enhanced quality of organic produce. They look SOOOO much better than their regular counter part.

Daily Routine

Morning: 3 tablespoons of cereal mixed with formula / breast milk

Evening: 2 tablespoons of cereal missed with formula / breast milk with 2 tablespoons of alternating veggie (currently sweet pots or peas)

Bottles: every 3-4 hours during the day and 1 at 3 am

Homemade Option: Sweet Potato Puree

1. Purchase at least 8 sweet potatoes at the store (I like the organic sweet potatoes)

2. Poke them with a knife or fork

3. Place them on baking sheet

4. Bake at 450 for 1 hour

5. Cut them down the middle

6. Scoop the soft sweet potato insides into a food processor

7. Blend until soft, then add breast milk / formula until desired consistency (I added almost 5 oz, as I wanted it very soft to start. It also helps them like the taste a bit more as they recognize the flavor of the milk). *

8. Scoop the sweet potato puree into the storage containers

9. Freeze

10. Defrost and serve as needed

*remember, start out extremely smooth and increase consistency as they get older

6 mo 2 wks | sweet peas homemade baby food

2012-04-01T19:20:00.002-07:00

We introduced the first veggie! After two kids I think that this two week threshold is ideal - because if you add too much to their digestive system - it freaks up and they get unhappy and constipated! Adding more foods and flavors at a slow and steady pace is what I have found works best for my kids.

Now the research I have done says to stay away from fruits for the first few weeks because they are acidic and hard on the baby's digestive system. So, we started with sweet peas. This is where the cooking begins!

Daily Infant Feeding Routine

Morning: 3 tablespoons of cereal mixed with formula / breast milk

Evening: 2 tablespoons of cereal missed with formula / breast milk with 2 tablespoons of sweet peas
Bottles: every 3-4 hours during the day and 1 at 3 am

Homemade Option: Sweet Pea Puree

1. Purchase at least 4 bags of the organic sweet peas in a steamable bag at the store (huge time saver!)

2. Microwave bags according to directions

4. Scoop the soft sweet peas into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add breast milk / formula for desired consistency.*
5. Pour sweet pea puree into storage containers
7. Let cool, then freeze
8. Defrost and feed as needed

A few notes on food prep:

As I mentioned above, a key tenant of efficiency is mass production.

Each Sunday night I move enough containers from the freezer to the fridge for the next 5 days. The next week is easy as pie as all my baby food is ready to go!

Getting Started | Making Homemade Baby Food Supplies

2012-04-01T13:38:00.002-07:00

First off you need supplies. I have used different methods, but here are the two I recommend:

Baby Blocks Food Storage - These are both freezer and fridge safe. I like these because you can use them for storage and as a feeding container! They also travel well and can easily go to school or day care. They are the ideal. However one of the time saving tips is mass production of your food - and these are expensive. So, I mix these with freezer trays. Now, I prefer these to your run of the mill ice trays because they have a top that seals them shut and prevents freezer burn. In addition, you can pop one or multiple out when you need to feed your child - bonus!

Oxo Tot Food Freezer Tray -

Now, the next thing you need is a food processor. This is a key purchase because you need one with large capacity - this again is another key time saving tip! This Cuisinart has 7 cup capacity and is still reasonably price. Trust me - this is an investment in your time over the next year. It is worth every pretty penny (about a $100).

At this point you have everything you need to get started - except food!

Now to each her / his own - but I prefer organic veggies. I head to the local Whole Foods or Central Market (another choice for organic food where we live).

6 mo | getting started - infant cereal

2012-03-31T06:44:00.026-07:00

6 Months

Now, some people decide to feed their babies earlier (4 -5 months), but since we had such a rough bought with food allergies with baby #1, we decided to wait until the very day baby #2 turned 6 months to start iron fortified cereal. Now while it is possible to make your own cereal, I do not! Plus, these cereals are iron fortified - a benefit you lose with homemade cereal. However, the introduction of iron can sometimes back babies up! Now we either mix with breast milk or formula - but you could do water. If baby is constipated I have also mixed with prune or pear juice to get some extra fiber!!

We initially started with the favorite - rice cereal (we chose earth's best organic whole grain rice cereal but there are tons of different brands):

However, baby #2 hated it. She literally shuttered over and over again when we gave it to her, so we pulled out the oat cereal that baby #1 loved: Happy Bellies Organic Oat Cereal.

Daily Infant Feeding Routine

Morning: 2 tablespoons of cereal mixed with formula / breast milk

Bottles: every 3-4 hours during the day and 1 at 3 am

A few notes on feeding principals:

Now since my kids go to daycare, I always cherished the time for feeding. I don't want daycare to get that fun experience - selfishly I WANT IT! So, we choose to feed our kids at night when we get home from work. However, the first time they try a food we make sure it is in the morning. This is important to make sure they do not have any dangerous allergies. You also want to make sure that you introduce one food at a time - isolating variables just like a science experiment! You can't figure out what doesn't mesh with her system if you try 5 things at once! This is important.