Baby Food

Question: Baby food 6 months and up, homemade?

(Posted by: SaiTiffeh on 2008-05-31 19:19:10)

So my son is 6 months old. He has been eating rice cereal since 4 1/ 2 months. Currently I feed him in the morning either rice cereal with 1 cube of banana mixed in (I make my own baby food), plain rice cereal, or wheat &fruit cereal. He gets a second meal at supper time when the rest of us eat, he eats two cubes of veggies. At the moment he eats peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes. I was advised by my home health visitor that he should be eatting meats now; chicken, ground beef, etc. I'm not familiar with that at this stage, I thought you were supposed to wait until 8- ish months. Should I go ahead with this? So far, my son takes well to everything I give him. Also, when will I need to bump him up to 3 meals a day? For moms who make their own baby food, how many cubes do/ did you feed? And what about arrowroot cookies and the sort? I picked up some of the rice husks but they seem awful crumbly. Are they safe for him? Seems he could get large pieces trapped and choke. Thanks muchly!

Posted by: yeeharrrrr on 2008-05-31, 19:47:05

GOod on you for cooking your own food!!! I started my son on the same sort of stuff you are doing when he was 6 months. I did introduce meat around this time as well. I just used to cook some chicken then put it in the food processor so it was more like a paste. I would add a little liquid to it when processing it like stock or gravy or water or even a little lemon juice wiht the chicken. I would then mix a bit of this in with some vegies like carrot or sweet potato and he loved it. If he is taking well to the other stuff I dont think there is any harm in introducing it now. I used to just give him one cube of meat at lunch and dinner and 3 or 4 others of different or same vegies. I also started him on 3 meals around 6 months or just after as well but I was also continuing to breast feed and still am. Other things you can try cooking include corn (I cut it off the husks and then cook it/ steam it), i do up mini roasts for him ie give a bit of the roast lamb with potato and pumpkin and a bit of gravy and smoosh it all up!!! Have you tried that yum. I make lots of soups and stew they are good as you can throw in all these vegies and some chicken or beef. Cook it up for a few hours so its nice and tender and you hardly need to put it in the food processor, just use a fork to mash any bigger pieces. When i do the soups and stews i just use a few cups of stock and the rest water. He loves them. Other vegies you can steam and then put in the whizzer include cauliflower, broccolli, corn, potato, tomato (just remove the skin and the seeds) or your fruits - they love apple cooked and stir some of that thru his breakfast cereal for a change from the banana, watermelon, mango, peaches, pears, plums but keep away from the berries initially and if you give kiwi fruit watch for a reaction. Basically all my vegies and most vegies and the meat I would just steam in the microwave and then freeze into ice cube trays. Then when frozen transfer into freezer bags and label. If you have a few different ones in the freezer it makes the whole "what am i gonna give him for dinner " a lot easier. Only the chicken i would microwave, the other meats I would usually cook as casserole slowly so they are soft and tender or bake in oven slowly. Lamb shanks cooked in the over with tomatoes and potatoes and a bit of stock all covered over for a few hours is brilliant. Look on net for some lamb shank recipes. Lamb is a bit fatty but they love it. I used the teething rusks but they are hard here in australia and one piece broke off at one stage and he did almost choke, i had to perform first aid. It was scary so that put me off those. I have introduced him to milk arrowroot biscuits but have only started those with him in the last few months - he is 12 months now. The only other thing is if you are concerned about how much you are feeding and whether it is enough, my son would always let me know. When he was full he would spit it out or turn his head away. PS PLEASE DONT ADD SALT TO HIS FOOD AS ONE OF THE OTHER MUMS SUGGESTS. THEY DONT NEED IT, THEIR TASTE BUDS ARE NOT LIKE OURS. THEY ALSO HAVE TROUBLE PROCESSING SALT AT THEIR AGE, ITS DANGEROUS. THEY GET ENOUGH SALT IN THE OTHER FOODS THAT THEY EAT. SO PLEASE AVOID. TRY FRESH HERBS IF YOU WANT TO ADD DIFFERENT FLAVOURS LIKE ROSMARY OR BASIL ETC.

Posted by: A M on 2008-05-31, 19:25:12

For years mothers fed children table food from birth and so did I for 4 children. They are all healthy. Give him until he is full. If you make too much, you can always freeze it and rewarm later. I'm not sure how much a cube is though. Use a food chopper, they sell them just for baby food, or you can use your blender on puree. My last one was eating steak and chicken at 7 months, no teeth and it wasn't ground up.

Posted by: starfire978 on 2008-05-31, 19:28:55

It really depends on how "good " of an eater he is. If you see him actively chewing his foods then it's safe to attempt a cracker as long as you are right there to help him if he does begin to choke. Those crackers are designed to melt as soon as they are in baby's mouse so it shouldn't be to bad if he's already attempting teether biscuits and crackers. According to my pediatrician at 6 months if they are handling the cereals and fruit/ veggies well then its safe to give them just about anything as long as you avoid the major allergens. No peanuts, honey, cow milk (cheeses and youghurt are safe now as long as they don't have allergic reactions) and avoid choke hazard foods like grapes or other things. He's likely still to young for chunks of food but as long as it put through the baby mill/ processor then he's likely good to go. My daughter is 6 months and already takes bites out of foods. Crackers, hamburger patty(homemade with only ground beef in it formed to a patty), teether biscuits, the gerber puff stars, cheerios. She handles all of them gumming them to bits without choking at all. She cannot handle the gerber youghurt drops yet, Like her brother she's got sensitivities to milk products. Another way to test if he's ready for them is to boil down some baby carrots or similar veggie and instead of mashing them down for him offer them to him as finger food. You know for a fact that it will smash when he chews them so there is minimal choke risk.

Posted by: YE on 2008-05-31, 19:33:35

I have a five month old and I'm giving him homeade foods since four months. Now I am adding chicken and beef. I place them in water and boil them until soft and well done with a tiny pinch of salt and then puree it with other veggies such as carrots, brocolli, and peas. I do my foods weekly so I place less than half of a chicken breast and about 2 tablespoons of lean ground beef and this is enough for the weekly food I prepare. Remember babies this little have about all they need with just a few teaspoons.

Posted by: Emma'sMommy TTC on 2008-05-31, 19:50:07

The rice husks were great for Emma. They were her first finger food at six months. I broke them into three pieces/ The arrowroot cookies would not work for her b/ c she would stuff the whole thing in her mouth. Meat is in commercial stage II babyfood, but it makes Emma gassy. She is seven months old now and is just starting to do well with them, however meats do not freeze well. She ate two cubes/ per meal at 6 months.

Posted by: Catmom on 2008-05-31, 21:46:43

Congrats on making your own baby food. I did that for my 1st. I went to 3 meals a day at about 6-7 months old. For finger food, I used Ritz crackers, bananas, toast, frozen waffles, pasta noodles overcooked. For cookies, I used butter cookies by Nabisco.