first foods - Infant Care (up to 18 months old) Message Board

gemmalou · 07-30-2007, 01:07 PM

Hiya, ds is now 16+weeks, health visitor said that i can start to give him solids now, but just basic things like rice, fruits and veg,
the thing is i am not at all domesticated,, i dont really know how to cook but i really want him on home made food.
what should i give him, and most importantly how do i make it? lol
baby rice is easy just mix with milk, but what other things can i give him, i want to start with veg but how do i cook it? (like i said, im sooo not domesticated lol)

any tips, advice, ideas and suggestions would be greatley appreciated

tia

Tiff24 · 07-30-2007, 03:17 PM

Good for you for wanting to try to make his food. First foods are usually green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, pears, bananas, applesauce, peaches, avocado. It's so easy to make your own baby food! It's recommended that you steam all fruits and veggies (except bananas, which you don't need to cook). You lose nutrients if you just boil them. It's real easy to tell if you've steamed them long enough too, just make sure they are soft by sticking a fork in them. After you're done steaming just put them in a pureer. Beans and peas are hard to get smooth, some moms choose to strain them but I don't and my boy has always done fine. Just make sure there are no big chunks. You can use adult "natural applesauce" for baby, just be sure there is no added sugar or preservatives. It's a good idea to start with sweet potatoes, most babies like them 'cause they are a little sweet. It's also a good idea to make sure baby excepts most veggies before starting fruits, although my boy liked his veggies more than fruit at first. You should only introduce foods every 3-4 days to make sure you can pinpoint any allergies. There are a ton of websites on making your own baby food with tips and recipes. Good luck and I'm sure you'll do a great job for your little one!

Oh and you can make a bunch of food and freeze it in ice cube trays and then once frozen just put them in freezer bags. Each cube is about an ounce.

mlieteau · 07-30-2007, 03:27 PM

If you have a steamer, you can steam fresh (or frozen veggies) or fruit (I'd start with some very basic ones like peas, carrots, apples, pears) until they are very soft, add a bit of water as thinner (often there is some water left from the steaming) and mash them into a puree. I would recommend making the puree using a blender, chopper or food processor to get the puree as liquified as possible since your little one is just starting solids.

You can freeze the leftover puree (many freeze purees in ice cube trays because for convenience - one cube amounts to about a 1 oz. serving - removing the cubes and bagging in freezer bags for storage). I would try to use the frozen purees within 2-3 weeks after freezing.

There are lots of "homemade baby food" cookbooks and internet resources that provide recipes and tips, as well.

Good luck!

klr2k · 07-30-2007, 03:37 PM

Ditto on what the others posters have said - also remember to try 1 new food at a time for about a week to see if there is any kind of allergy developed towards/with the food.

Good luck!