Making Your Own Baby Food

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends starting your baby on solid food between four to six months of age. The tongue reflex will cause the baby's tongue to push substances, like food, out of his or her mouth until about four months old. Also, the digestive system is not yet mature enough to manage solids and does not produce the necessary enzymes for breaking down food.

Once your baby is old enough to start eating solid food, you may be concerned about the food that you introduce to your child. A good way to know exactly what is going into your baby's food is to make it yourself. Although this may sound difficult, it is easy with the right tools and is more cost-efficient than purchasing jarred food.

You should have a food processor, steamer basket and ice cube trays at hand. It is best to purchase organic fruit and vegetables when making your own baby food. It is now easy to find fresh, frozen or canned organic vegetables in your local grocery market. For a quick food serving with lots of vitamins and nutrients, mix a can of organic pureed pumpkin with some pumped breast milk and put the mixture into a clean ice cube tray. You can also steam some organic frozen peas or some fresh carrots. Steam the vegetables until soft and put them into the food processor. You can add a little breast milk to thin out the mixture if you have trouble pureeing the vegetables. Put the mixture into an ice cube tray and freeze.

Not only has no sodium or preservatives been added to your baby's food (be sure to check the label if using frozen or canned food), but you now have serving sizes that you can store in the freezer with less waste than jarred food. With jarred food, once you open a jar, you have to serve it to your baby before it spoils. With the frozen veggie cubes, your baby can have a variety of food at any given meal rather than you trying to serve the rest of the open jar. Simply thaw or reheat one or two cubes and serve to your baby!

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