A new post has been published over at the Starlight Baby blog: Homemade Vs Store Bought Baby Food – Which Is Better? Would love to hear your thoughts on this topic below!
Is the other concern whether you catually have the facilities to make and store homemade babyfood? Some flats now have absolutely tiny kitchens or kitchenettes, and there simply isn't the space to work. Without a fridge it will go off very fast indeed, and for us homemade food turned into a false economy because we were either making it fresh every night, which takes away from time you can spend with your child, or throwing away a fair amount. We ended up using store bought and then putting him onto softened versions of our food as soon as it was safe.
I remember my wife has used a baby food when our children were several months old until they could manage to eat solid foods. It is the product of Gerber. Later my wife has discontinued it and made her own baby food for our kids. At least she had saved money rather than buying the commercial baby foods. I may say that is affordable to prepare a homemade foods for the baby and it is, I think, more sanitary than that of the commercial one which you may not able to notice its expiry date and you have feed it to the baby.
I would not advocate packed baby foods as they contain preservatives. Some of them could be harmful for a baby in the long run. So whenever possible try to give him homemade food. In packed food as you know they always use chemicals as preservatives to increase its shelf life. It is understandable that otherwise they can't product it on a large scale. I heard that some baby foods has ingredients that makes a baby over weight and parents use to be happy about it. But if your baby is over weight that doesn't mean that he is healthy. In fact it may adversely affect his health and immunity power. Homemade cereals made of rice, barley, oatmeal, ragi etc. are very good for the health of your baby. If your baby is 6-8 months old baked apple provides ideal vitamin boost for him.
I always made my own baby food as I find it healthier than store bought. Nothing is better than natural I think as packaged foods have added preservatives. I would just boil the vegetables and smashed them untill they were soft enough for my baby to swallow. She enjoyed them a lot and I was happy to know she was getting her nutrients naturally. I never bought any of the packaged foods for her untill she turned one, I bought her the kids apple sauce for the first time.
Both are necessary, as a parent I can't categorically say which one is better or healthier as we need both of them. I agree that homemade food gives us the satisfaction of giving our child what he needs exactly as we know his specific needs, his likes, dislikes, doctor's suggestions and what exactly are his needs which is not the case with food bought from store. However, as I said in the beginning we cannot rule out that we have to buy food from store for different purposes.
Actually doctors suggest that babies should be provided solid/semi solid food at the age of 5-6 months so we start with oatmeal with milk to start with then we give them semisolid mixture of rice and pulse, vegetables, fruits in various forms and yogurt etc. By the age of one year we start feeding them almost everything that we eat taking a proper precaution that they can swallow the food easily and it is not heavy on his digestive system.
I think that home made food is healthier than the one from the stores. If we feed our baby with what we think is better for him and what is more natural our baby is healthy and he will develop nicer and healthy. Why should we buy food for a baby from pharmacy or shops when is so easy to prepare it at home from natural ingredients?
It is advisable to feed babies with store bought baby food for the first one hundred eighty (180) days considering the level of hygiene, though it might be expensive but will prevent the spread of some diseases which their immune system can not deal with. Six months later you can gradually introduce the home made baby food little by little till the baby get used to it.
Yes, @Taliska, it would really be difficult to make a homemade babyfood if your living space does not have the facility for it. Store bought foods would be the practical and convenient choice. You can probably cook your baby's food once in a while, like when you cook beef stew with potatoes - you can have the beef while your baby can have some potatoes, mashed of course You would also be spending less time preparing the babyfood this way, and get to spend more time with your baby.
I guess that parents do tend to overlook the fact that packed babyfoods do have preservatives, @firstcry. Good of you to point that out. These products do seem to look innocent but when you think about how they're preserve to have longer shelf life, yikes! I would say, go for homemade foods if you have the time and the facility, because others don't (like what @Taliska said).
Good for you @kamai. You're one of the lucky few who is able to prepare healthy, worry-free babyfoods. I'm sure your baby got all the nutrients she needed. And keep it up with giving her healthy foods even if she's no longer a baby!
Right on, @wallet. Natural is the way to go. Better yet, go for organically grown foods because we're better assured of healthy foods if its organic. I mean, yes, we could eat all the vegetables we want but if they were grown using pesticides/chemicals, it's not healthy and safe.
Homemade baby foods are way better than the store bought ones. But much as I would like to give my children the homemade ones, I do not have the luxury of time in preparing them. But of course, I always find ways even if it means I need to struggle my office time with my mother duties. It feels so fulfilling when you let them eat foods that you know from where and prepared the way you like them to, and very healthy. But I am guilty, I cannot do this often so I do buy some packed baby foods instead.
I think homemade baby food is better, because you will know every ingredient that's being fed to your baby won't harm them. Earlier this year I bought a blender that can puree just about anything. You can make purees of foods that you know for sure are healthy for your baby. A lot of babies would rather have table foods just like you. The best way for them to enjoy them is the break it down to their eating level. Not only would your baby's taste buds would be satisfied, but you'll share a bonding experience.
For me, home made baby food is much healthier. 1. You know what is in it. 2. It is not too processed 3. It is much fresher Now who wouldn't want their baby to ave that.