Baby Food

Question: What is the best way to puree baby food?

(Posted by: Kitchenwitch on 2008-01-01 15:38:37)

Hi! About to begin weaning and wanting to make own baby food- I have a stick blender but wondered if it was worth buying a food processor? (January sales and all that!) I'm in UK so American models might not be available to me. Any tips much appreciated. Thanks!

Posted by: Momma P on 2008-01-01, 15:41:31

The best thing I have found is the 'BULLET', that was advertised on television. Try Bamzoo.com

Posted by: mystic_eye_cda on 2008-01-01, 15:45:11

DON'T puree your baby's food. Allowing a baby to self-feed allows them to continue to control how much they eat so they don't over eat, prevents them from starting solids prematurely, protects them from allergies, and encourages them to accept a wider variety of foods. All mammals are protected by the same thing -they can't physically eat food until they are physiologically ready to digest it. For humans this means picking up the food, placing it in their mouth, gumming it, moving it back with their tongue, and swallowing it. The most obvious of course it the tongue thrust that newborns have -this reflex actively keeps food out of their body until they can digest it. But the other steps all have safeguards as well. For healthy, full term infants the ability to eat food develops around 6-9 months. In recent years there have been numerous studies looking at the risks of certain things (allergies, asthma, anemia, etc) in relation to when solids are started and almost all have shown that the lowest risks are when solids are started between 6-9 months. However it should also be noted that babies with allergies may refuse solids for up to a year, and that breastmilk is nutritionally complete for at least the first year of life despite earlier statements that it is not. An unpleasant feeling in the mouth is often a first sign of allergy and may cause babies to spit out rather than swallow allergenic foods. This is a very useful safeguard that should not be overridden. kellymom.com/ nutrition/ solids/ delay-solids.html The following organizations recommend that all babies be exclusively breastfed (no cereal, juice or any other foods) for the first 6 months of life (not the first 4-6 months): * World Health Organization * UNICEF * US Department of Health & Human Services * American Academy of Pediatrics * American Academy of Family Physicians * American Dietetic Association * Australian National Health and Medical Research Council * Royal Australian College of General Practitioners * Health Canada borstvoeding.com/ voedselintroductie/ vast_voedsel/ rapley_guidelines.html#choke It appears that a baby's general development keeps pace with the development of his ability to manage food in his mouth, and to digest it. A baby who is struggling to get food into his mouth is probably not quite ready to eat it. borstvoeding.com/ voedselintroductie/ vast_voedsel/ rapley_guidelines.html#early The babies who participated in the research were allowed to begin at four months. But they were not able to feed themselves before six months. Some of the younger babies picked food up and took it to their mouths; some even chewed it, but none swallowed it. Their own development decided for them when the time was right. Part of the reason for this study was to show (based on a theory of self-feeding) that babies are not ready for solid food before six months. It seems that we have spent all these years working out that six months is the right age and babies have known it all along! It seems reasonable to predict that if parents choose to provide babies with the opportunity to pick up and eat solid food from birth they will still not be able to do it until around six months. The principle is the same as putting a newborn baby on the floor to play: he is being provided with the opportunity to walk but will not do so until about one year – because his own development stops him. But: everything depends on the baby being in control. Food must not be put into his mouth for him. Since it is very tempting to do this, it is probably safer to recommend that babies should not be given the opportunity to eat solid food before six months. borstvoeding.com/ voedselintroductie/ vast_voedsel/ rapley_guidelines.html#choke Many parents worry about babies choking. However, there is good reason to believe that babies are at less risk of choking if they are in control of what goes into their mouth than if they are spoon fed. This is because babies are not capable of intentionally moving food to the back of their throats until after they have learnt to chew. And they do not develop the ability to chew until after they have developed the ability to reach out and grab things. Thus, a very young baby cannot easily put himself at risk because he cannot get the food into his mouth in the first place. On the other hand, the action used to suck food off a spoon tends to take the food straight to the back of the mouth, causing the baby to gag. This means that spoon feeding has its own potential to lead to choking – and makes one wonder about the safety of giving lumpy foods off a spoon.

Posted by: maegs33 on 2008-01-01, 15:48:00

It's worth buying a food processor just to have in the kitchen because they are useful for cooking, full stop. I used my food processor to process baby food for my first son, before I found out about the new recommendations for baby-led weaning. Gill Rapley, who was a health visitor for 25 years and now works for The WHO/ UNICEF has studied purees and found them unnecessary. UNICEF is now going to change their child-feeding guidelines to remove purees from the 'necessary' list. I'm just letting you know because I was intent on making my own children's food and after I did more research, I am a proponent of baby-led weaning. Best of luck.

Posted by: Heather Y on 2008-01-01, 15:50:24

I used a stick blender. It does a great job and cleans up in seconds.

Posted by: carol anne on 2008-01-01, 15:51:34

I used one of those electric hand blenders ( to make smoothies and such) it worked fantastic!

Posted by: Lauren F on 2008-01-01, 15:53:53

You could try a food mill. I just used hand held mashers once I steamed fruits or veggies. Also when my daughter was really young I'd use a blender and then put the food through a strainer/ colander. You don't really need fancy gadgets; it's pretty easy. Then I froze the food in ice cube trays, and transferred the cubes to labelled freezer bags. It's so inexpensive and convenient, not to mention you know exactly what your baby is getting. Good for you! Try this website; they have great information and ideas!

Posted by: Rocky Raccoon on 2008-01-01, 15:58:38

I'm not going to give a real lengthy answer with tons of references, but I will share that I have 4 kids and found very little use for my blender or baby food mill with any of my kids. When they are able to sit up and show interest in your meal, just take aside some of your food and mash it with a fork. They do appreciate some texture, just don't feed a young baby chunks of food that are big enough to choke on. Use common sense and don't give the baby foods that risk allergy. The first year is a time of experimentation and play, relax and allow your child to learn about food. Allow the baby to have breast milk or formula and then offer solid food.

Posted by: RM on 2008-01-01, 17:43:39

The stick hand blender is really all you need. That's all I ever used and it worked well. The only thing I can think of as to why you might want to get one is if you were making very large batches or for other cooking.