Gerber Baby Food Plastic Containers

I made 90% of my daughter's food when she was a baby, and used this site all the time:

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

One of the best tips I had was to freeze the food in covered ice cube trays - you can make big batches but easily defrost meal-size portions.

Another vote for www.wholesomebabyfood.com. I'm pretty low maintainance, so if it was difficult...I probably wouldn't have done it. But it was easy, cheap, & I'm proud to say my daughter never ate food from a jar...never. I made everything for her & it was simple!

Oh, & www.onestepahead.com has some cool containers you can use to freeze the food in. However, I just used ice cube trays & popped them out & stored in ziplocs. Again...I'm all about easy..LOL!

i made my own baby food by just cooking the hard veggies or fruit (steaming works best to keep nutrients in). Cook them until very tender then put in a blender till smooth. Some foods need some juice (apple is most versatile) but you can use water too to make them blend well. Easy as pie. Keep out the stuff he will eat for a couple of days and freeze the rest.

A book called Super Baby Food is the best. I may all of my daughter's food. It's easy and doesn't take much time at all. You need a food processor, icecube trays, ziploc bags and a freezer. You'll be amamzed at how much water is in food to get the right consistency. I spent about 1-1 1/2 hours every week to do it and that's it!!! THe Super Baby Food book also gives great tips on what to feed at what time in your child's development, etc. Very easy, short reading bouts. You don't need to read the whole book to get the idea!!! Good luck and have fun-I actually really enjoyed it and never thought I would so much.

It's not difficult at all to make your own - and then the variety you can offer is far more than Gerber.

I used this website as a resource http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

My shortcuts I recommend to others:
* Get a handheld blender - they are inexpensive, easy to use and clean up - after steaming the food, blend it in a pourable mixing bowl using the cooking water to thin. Then pour into your containers or trays.
* Freeze food in ice cube trays, then pop out into large freezer bags for future use
* Use bags of frozen veggies and fruits at times instead of starting with fresh
* Find "babyfood" in the grocery store outside the baby aisle (large jars of unsweetened applesauce, cans of plain pureed pumpkin, frozen pureed squash and mashed potatoes in the freezer section)

Good luck!

Two online resources I use are:

www.wholesomebabyfood.com
www.homemade-babyfood-recipes.com

I have a mini food processor with a glass work bowl. I just steam veggies or use whatever veggies and meat that my husband and I are having (before seasoning it, of course) and then quickly puree it. One key to successful pureeing is to use enough liquid. Try to use the coooking liquid from the veggies so he gets more vitamins. You can always thicken up a puree afterwards by adding baby cereal or a mashed, boiled egg yolk. I make sure to add organic butter or cream cheese to the meal when warming it up. First, because babies need the extra fat, and also to help him absorb the fat soluble vitamins. Get a bunch of glass canning jars to store/freeze the extra portions. It's great to get a variety of meals in the freezer--then you have something on hand when you are pressed for time.

Have you considered just smashing some of your meals for your son? It will be a little thicker but be a bigger variety and get him used to eating the same foods as you do. Plus its cheaper. It also got us more conscious of eating vegetables more often.
simple things to start with- squash, bananas, homemade applesauce, yogurt

Hi M.!

I have a seven month old and I make all of his food at home. It is super easy!

You can buy empty, glass, baby food jars. Then when you are doing your grocery shopping get some extra fresh veggies (or whatever your son is going to eat, just get it fresh). Veggies you can steam, then puree them in the blender (or better yet, just moosh them with a fork and leave some texture in them). Then fill up your empty baby food jars and you've got baby food ready to go!

I will typically take one day a week and make up a bunch of baby food. I keep two to three jars in the refridgerator and put the rest in the freezer... just remember to take out of freezer and put in fridge two days before you're going to use it... that way it has time to thaw. It's best not to microwave the baby food (1. because it takes all the nutrients out and 2. when you microwave the food continues to heat for a bit after you take it out and it could get too hot) but you can add a bit of hot water to it and stir it around to warm it.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Avoid store babyfood if you can and just make it at home. There is a book called I'm Yours, Feed Me that talks about good ideas for meals, etc. To make your own babyfood, just cook veggies or meats, then put them in the food processer to puree with a little fruit juice, water, or broth. Put them into ice cube trays and freeze. You can remove them from the trays frozen and put them in Ziploc bags. When you need them, let them thaw or microwave them. Each cube is close to a serving and it's easy! Good luck! (You will notice too that the "fresh" babyfood you make looks completely different than the stuff you buy in the store - scary huh?)

I bought a small inexpensive coffee grinder. Sounds weird, but I used this to make food for my son. I thought it worked great and was just big enough to make a jar or two of food. Take the jars that you use from Earth's Best and place left over food in these for later. I just took what I had for dinner and made it for my son.

There's a great book available called "Super Baby Food" - I'm sure you could find it on Amazon or at a used book store. The other easy thing is just to steam any fruits or veggies or cook up any meats that you want to feed your baby and then puree them in a blender or food processor. You can freeze leftovers for a month or so...It's really quick and easy.

I work from home too, so I know that shortcuts are really helpful! Good luck! This whole plastic problem really sucks.

Your baby can eat everything that the rest of family eats. I used a food processor and gave all my kids whatever we were eating.

Hi!
While I occasionally used Gerber and Earth's Best I primarily made my own baby food. The website: www.wholesomebabyfood.com has great recipes and instructions for making your own baby food.

The easiest thing to do is steam, boil or bake the veg/fruit/meat and then stick it in the blender. You want to cook it just slightly longer than you would for yourself (or just until they are no longer crisp-tender... for meat, just make sure it is fully cooked). When cool, plop them in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth (or desired consistency... my daughter always liked them a little chunky). You can use the cooking water, or formula, or breast milk to thin if needed. I then poured the puree into ice cube trays for easy 1oz servings. You could use any freezer safe container.

As my daughter got older, I would just put what my husband and I were having for dinner in the blender and then give her that (saving some for lunch leftovers too!) This also helped her get used to the tastes of our usual diet so when she moved to solid food, she was already familiar with the taste.

Best wishes!
A.

I maybe wrong but i think fred meyers still maycarry the gerber brand in the glass bottles. I dont shop there too often but i remember seeing them not to long ago it is worth a shot if you dont think you will have time to make baby food

Making your own baby food is SO easy. I've been doing it since my one year old starting eating solids at 4 months old. I work full time out of the house and I am able to fit it into my schedule. All you have to do is cook whatever food you want to feed him and then mash it with a fork. If you want a smoother consistancy you can add a little water and puree it. I make batches ahead of time and freeze it. When I need more I take it out & defrost it in the fridge. You can mix bits together so he has a more varied meal (say, squash & green beans). Not only is it easy, it is less expensive and you know exactly what your child is eating. Soft fresh fruits & veggies are even easier (banana, pear, avocado, melon,...)because all you have to do is peel it. I've been using Super Baby Foods as a guidline. The author is pretty hard core, but still, it's a good guidline.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who noticed this! it seems they've even packed all those easy fruits in the same plastic the peaches,apple sauces, pineapple...nice eh?! not to mention Starbucks new line of to go mugs are all made out of that plastic too, and bpa leaches worse when heated or frozen! watch out for your baby bottles many are made out of that plastic too, especially all of the AVENT bottles!

So, I have this great baby food grinder and we grind up just about everythinghttp://www.amazon.com/Baby-Food-Mill-1-unit/dp/B00016X0GY... it is called a food mill.
it is amazing!! I even make fresh apple sauce that you don't have to cook, just cut up the apples and grind them up! what ever you are serving for dinner just grind it up!

Also, the magic bullet works wonders as well.

good luck!

Some easy make at home foods I used with my son:

*Peas - put thawed peas in the blender with just enough water to get it smooth. No need to cook!
*Acorn sqaush - bake in oven until soft, then scoop and mash
*Avacados - straight from the peel!
*Yams or Sweet Potatoes - steam in microwave until tender, cut in half to scoop out flesh
*Mangos - small cubes or blended in the blender.

A small food mill (find it at Babies/Toys r Us or online) works great if baby has some teeth. Just put in whatever you are eating (that's appropriate for baby), grind, and instant baby food!

Also do a google search for "home made baby food"... there are several websites out there.

Good eating!

It may have been mentioned already, but if you don't want to use ice cube trays to freeze the baby food you can use silicone mini-muffin pans. I also have 2 silicone ice cube trays I got at IKEA that are triangle shapes. I like them because they fit together in the ziploc bags like a puzzle and 2 of them make a perfect serving (I can use one each of 2 different flavors together) :-)

I've been making my own baby food using the Super Baby Food book by Ruth Yaron. You can make a batch and freeze a bunch (of course, you have to freeze it in plastic ice cube trays-apparantly there are stainless steel ones coming out sometime this year) so I think it's pretty easy. You invest the time to whip up a sweet potato or two and then you freeze it in cubes so you have quite a few servings. You get the idea. You might save some money too! Good luck!

its great you are taking your babies health so seriously. plastics are a huge concern for our growing little ones! unfortunately its not just bpa we have to be concerns about. there are hundreds of carcinogenic chemicals is ALL plastics. once you start looking its everywhere! we use pyrex glass containers to store baby food we make. we also use the super baby food book. it takes VERY little time to make your babies food and it is much more vital then getting it from processed jars. we have also worked hard to only use wooden toys and bath toys that are natural rubber rather then plastic. have fun making food, your little one will thank you!

I did not get a chance to read the other responses..so if this is a repeat, sorry....I acutally make my food from home...it's very easy. I buy whatever veggies and steam them all in the same pan (I don't feed my child meat however)...then I either mix a little breastmilk or water depending on what I have available at the moment blend in the magic bullet (but any blender should work) and then pour into ice cube trays. I freeze this and then crack the trays and place each set of foods in a ziploc bag. I have several trays so I can actually make a months worth of food all in about 30 min. I would say...bananas,avacados, and anything that easily turns brown does not last as long (maybe a couple of days)....I have also learned that breastmilk makes everthing sweeter so for those hard to stomach veggies, it makes it a lot easier to swallow. Good luck.

I made it in larger batches, then froze it in ice cube trays, which I later transferred to a tupperware container. That was a real time-saver!

Hello M.,
I don't have a lot of information on making baby food, but I've been following the BPA topic for a few months now. The number 7 doesn't always mean the plastic contains the BPA, it just means it may contain it. 7 is used for plastics that do not fall into other categories. A great reference page (if you decide not to make your own baby food) is safemama.com. They have been finding information on that topic daily. They even have a quick link to the BPA information.
C.

Hi I made almost all my little girl's baby food. It is easy to bake yams, stew apples and pears(those were her favorites). I also boiled potatos. I bought myself a little baby food grinder. I would add small amounts of the lowest fat, hormone and antibiotic free burger to the yams or potatos to include some protein in her diet. She seemed to really enjoy it. I would also boil pasta until it was really mushy and then grind it. You can make a lot of combinations. I figured out the price and it is less expensive to make babyfood than to buy it. Good luck!!!

There are a ton of books out there about making your own baby food...personally I didn't use any. My son's pediatrician said for the most part it's pretty common sense what they can have and when. Your sons 8 months old, like mine, and is probably eating a good variety of things by now. And well as far as making it goes all you really have to do is blend it to your own desired consistancy. The harder things are green bean and peas because of the skins, but if you just boil them in a small amount of water for a few hours they blend pretty well. And the best way, as you have already heard is to put it in ice rays and then transfer to baggies, both of which are plastic. But I've done some extensive research and found a couple of good options. One is a company called kid co. All of their products are BPA and Phthalate free and they make ice trays that come with lids. They are a little spendy...about $9.99 at babies r us, also commonly found at a lot of baby boutiques. And then as far as baggies go, you can use glad! All gladware products are garrenteed to be BPA and Phthalate free! This is wonderful! We use gladware mini tupperware bowls for my sons cereal and then I just saved some of the glass jars from the earths best baby food that we use before and washed them up real good. I use the jars to microwave a cube of baby food at mealtime. For my son 1 cube is the perfect amount! What I like best about making my own baby food is that one I don't have to worry about things like BPA, and two is the food looks so much better! And my son really seems to enjoy it more. He eats less of it at a time then he did the jarred food, but I think it's because the food to water ratio is lower. I tend to leave the consistancy a little thicker, more substance. It is somewhat time consuming to make baby food, but if you split it up troughout one day you can make enough baby food to last until your son's eat just table food! Yesterday my son and I made what will probably be our last batch of baby food....he likes to help push teh button of the food processor. In the morning he played in the kitchen in his walker for about 20 min. while I peeled veggies and fruit. While he was napping later in teh morning I came back and put some thing on the stove to cook for a few minutes, and some things in the oven to bake...sweet potatoes and squash and thigns of that sort. The later in the afternoon my son helped me bland it all up. Making different combos. Then I throw some in the freezer, and the rest in both in the fridge. Once one batch is done freezing I put in the glad bags and freeze another batch. Like I said its a little bit of a process but if you do a bunch at once it's done and over with...spliting it up takes way more time. A couple more things...don't freeze bananas or avacados they turn yucky and brown. Some people tell you to add lemon juice and it won't turn colors but, my son wouldn't eat it with lemon juice. Don't add any salt or sugar to anything obviously. I think thats about it. Sorry that was so long! If you want some more info on the BPA and Phthalates I have some great resource I've found online that help you determine what products are safe and what isn't. There's so much more to it then just the recycling number. And there are people out there who's job it is to research it all. Anyways, they've been a great help to me and I'd love to pass on the knowledge. Let me know and I can send you the links. Good luck! -R.

Check out the Super Baby Food Book. I am a VERY busy mom (who isn't, right) and used the system with both my kids and LOVED it! Saved lots of money and I knew I was giving the best to my kids!

I had a baby food grinder. I put the rice and veggies that we were eating in it and fed it to baby. Make extra for later and freeze what you won't use in a day or two. Also, you can chew the food and give it to baby. The saliva from your mouth will help baby digest the food. I know it sounds gross, but it is the best thing for baby. If you don't want to feed baby what you are eating, while you are cooking dinner make a baked yam, boil some broccoli and/or carrots, or whatever veggie you want to feed baby. Make a couple different one. The yams you can mash and feed baby, freeze unused portions. The other veggies, put in the baby food grinder, or blender or food processor, and freeze what you don't use now. I only bought baby food for when we were going to be out and baby needed to eat.

Making baby food isn't hard, just mash up whatever you're eating, and let him eat it, he'll love it. If it's something that doesn't mash with a fork, use your blender, or get one of the small blenders so you don't have to try to get a small amount of something out of a big ol' thing.

He'll enjoy the flavor of "real" foods much more than the baby food that comes in jars!

The best babyfood book is SuperBabyFood! It's a big purple book.

This stuff scares me but I have to say that I have 3 kids that used plastic bottles and toys. All three of my kids are smart and out going, no problems, very healthy. (ages, 13, 10 &5) I would also switch because there is more info out there now but I would not worry too much. I guess I say that because my kids are OK.
You can try some Beech nut, they come in glass. You can also try making your own. It's super easy and cheap. You can google homemade baby food recipes and use your own containers.
You can now purchase the old fashioned glass baby bottles online. :-)
D.
SAHM of tree

I find it pretty easy to whip up baby food and it doesn't take a lot of time. I have a black and decker veggie steamer that I use to make the fruits and vegies soft. Then I put it in a food mill that I bought at Whole Foods to make the baby food. I store the food I make in ice cube trays in a gallon size ziploc bag to keep it fresh..... I think its better for my baby and the variety of things I can do is endless.

I made all my son't baby food. It's super easy if you have a food processor or blender. I have the magic bullet and it worked wonders.
Here are a few sites that you can look at. I also just looked what the stores had to sell and then bough the fresh food and made it myself. It's so much better for your baby, easy and cheaper.

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/
http://www.homemadebaby.com/index.php
http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blbabyfood.htm
http://www.nncc.org/Nutrition/make.babyfd.html

Good luck!

Hi M.,

I e-mailed gerber and they deny that the NO.7 plastics are harmful. Personally, I do not beleive them. I have switched as well to Beechnut and Earths Best, I also love my Magic Bullet for gringding up foods that the rest of the family is eating. That are safe for my son.

There is also a Billion $ lawsuit agains these companies that use the No.7 for their baby foods. I would stick the foods that come in a glass jar to be on the safe side.
These are some pretty serious claims about how the BPA's affect our children. I hope that many people read your post. It is also in Bottles that are of the shiny clear variety.(For the moms that bottle feed). I think that the FDA is using us all as guinea pigs and we should be concerned.

Absolutely! I've made almost everything that I've fed my baby and it's all super easy. I've been using a book "super baby foods" as a resource and it's great. I'd also invest in a blender/food processor/magic bullet. I know costco carries the bullet for less than $30. It's really easy to make baby food, freeze it, and then just put it in the fridge the day before to defrost.

I'm going to sound like an info commercial, but I strongly recommend getting a magic bullet if you are going to make baby food at home. It grinds up anything super fast and is easy to clean. Many foods you don't need to do anything with but chop up and put in the magic bullet. We ground up everything since we had a child that had sensory issues and it took him until 2 before he was really willing to eat solids. I think all the variety is what made him such a great eater at 2.5 years old (there isn't a veggie or fruit he won't eat now since his taste buds were exposed to everything). Also, Beachnut comes in glass containers and has some great varieties. For baby food, they also have some of the best nutrients (not so great for some of their toddler food though).

Please consider just giving him bits of your food. I never did any sort of "baby food" - store bought or homemade - with either of my daughters. I just waited until they had a tooth or two (you could start even with a toothless babe though) and then started giving them bits of mashed (between my fingers) food from my plate.

This is, by far, the easiest, simplest, and cheapest way to feed a baby. Until a year old (especially if you're breastfeeding) food is just for fun and learning about tastes and textures anyhow. I think this approach would also help to prevent pickiness since the child is never used to having a special meal different from the rest of the family.

Best wishes!
~B.

Making your own baby food is soooooo easy, and so much cheaper in the long run. And, is tastes WAY better than any jarred food. My son is 8 months old as well, and has loved all his homemade baby food. Check out the website, www.wholesomebabyfood.com. They have great ideas, charts on when to introduction certain foods, and recipes. The book Super Baby Food is a good reference too. Good luck!

P.S. I just found a website with information about the Gerber plastic. They use a BP-A-free plastic. Check out the following website. http://safemama.com/2008/02/26/gerber-baby-food-and-numbe...

Blenders are good. If you have a Kitchenaid Mixer, it has an attachment for grinding up food which works really well. Also, carrots and potatoes are mashed up really easily when cooked - you can add a bit of salt and butter.

The food you cook at home can all be pureed. Not to mention it tastes about 800 times better than the baby food. Have you ever tasted that? No wonder the kids hate their veggies after that. It's worth the extra effort.

Get a Magic Bullet, then just start pureeing parts of your own dinners. Freeze extra in ice cube trays. Super easy.

Super Baby Food is, indeed, a great resource.

Hi M.!

Making baby food is really super easy. There are a couple great book resources out there:
1. Super Baby Food
2. Blender Baby Food

All you really need is your imagination, a steamer pot and a blender. My baby is also 8 months and for breakfast I have made him an oatmeal, banana and peach concoction. I have also steamed a boatload of veggies and blended them up and then just freeze them until we are ready for them. You can add in barley, rice, quinoa, lentils, chicken, lamb, beef, whatever and then just blend it to the consistence that your baby likes. You can also just steam the veggies until they are soft and chop them up into finger foods. It doesn't take too long either. In an hour you can have enough meals for the week.

Have fun with it!
A.

I used the book "super baby food" with my now 4 year old daughter and now brought the book out to use with my 6 month old son. It's a GREAT book with ideas on making your own food as well as toddler ideas and other homemade stuff like playdoh,wipes,arts and crafts stuff. This book was the best purchase I could have ever made. I would say I use this system 90-95% of the time..when don't, I use organic baby food. I encourage you to get it. Try amazon or ebay for the book to get it cheaper.

this is a great book: http://www.superbabyfood.com/

The Super Baby Food Book was mentioned by almost everyone in this post. I also LOVE this book. One of the other great things about the book (not mentioned in other posts) is that it lists month by month the food your baby can eat. This ensures you give you baby food they can handle at each development stage.

It really isn't hard but certainly takes a bit more time than opening a jar. Though, it is MUCH better for your baby.

I also worry about those plastic containers by Gerber (for when we travel and I feed him pre-made food).

R.

Making your own baby food is actually really easy (and a lot cheaper and healthier than canned food). All you need is a steamer, a food processor and/or baby food mill, and ice cube trays. We would just grind up what ever food we were having for dinner (which also helped us eat healthier) and then froze the left over portions in ice cube trays. There are some really good baby cook books out there that have recipes for meats and more combo blends, but fruits and vegetables are really easy. My son loved carrots and avocados, and for a short time he actually ate spinach too! When you warm up the frozen portions, you can add breast milk or formula to make it more nutritious too. Give it a try and you'll probably find it's not as time consuming as it seems.

I made almost all of our baby food at first, as she got older and didn't eat it as regularly, I made less and less. It's really easy and there are shortcuts, such as buying organic canned fruits, pureeing them if needed and freezing them in ice cube trays. One book that I would really recommend is "Super Baby Food" (http://www.amazon.com/Super-Baby-Food-Ruth-Yaron/dp/09652... ). There is great info on how to make baby food, toddler foods and even crafts. Get some ice-cube trays, baggies for freezing, and start blending. :-D

I made all my babyfood with my last 3 children (with the exception of a jar that stayed in the diaper bag for feeding emergencies!(lol)
I bought a Magic Bullet knock off and would set aside one day a week and knock off a bunch of baby food. Prepare, cook, ice cube trays the whole works. I used the book "Feed Me I'm Yours" and it was a good one. As they get a little older you can just mash up what you are eating, but when they are just starting out the basics work good, applesauce, bananas, peaches, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, squash that kind of thing!