Infant Homemade Baby Food - Circle Pines, MN

I think you just have to puree for less time. With my oldest daughter, we started out really pureed (almost runny), then moved thicker and thicker until we had little chunks within the pureed mixture. For her, this process was long and drawn out...she took more time adjusting. Once the kids are proficient at eating solids (Cherios, otast, etc) then you can try very well cooked veggies and ripe fruits. I have to add, it will all depend on your daughter though. My second DID NOT like to eat pureed food from a spoon, so we ended up moving her to small bits and chunks as soon as she had mastered the grasp. She still prefers food chunks that she can finger vs. anything with a spoon. You will know what your child can handle as she goes. She will tell you if something is too thick, or if she doesn't like the texture. Just go slowly if she's picky about the textures. Hope this helps!

Our transition stage between pureed food and cut-up food is more like "smooshed" food. Rather than cut some foods (like chicken) into chunks, I tear it with my fingers, thereby sort of smashing and softening it a bit. I found it was easier for both my kids to get used to that because the edges of the food weren't so defined, and probably had a little "pre-chewed" feel to it. This works well with really tender veggies & fruits, too.

We also did homemade baby food. As the kids got older, we pureed it less, leaving larger pieces in it. Then we stopped pureeing all together and used cut up food.
Hope this helps and enjoy your baby.
M.

HI E.,

I did do the slightly chunky stage with my baby food. I just didn't puree it anymore, I used the food processor to chop it up really small(large enough to have some chunk, but small enough to slide down if it's not going to be "chewed"). I had the thought that my son needed to experience the texture and start practicing the chewing motion. He seemed to do fine and he is great at eating. I never have to worry about him because he's had so much practice. I also introduced finger foods at an early stage though, too. About 6-7 months. But anyway, that's what I did. Good luck!

I went from pureeing to just using a fork to mash the food-which made it a lot chunkier-and I just kept mashing it chunkier and chunkier then just switched to super soft chunks for finger food. It worked great-she had no problems.

Sounds like everyone has given great advice! We did the same thing as most: pureed for less time, added less water, added cereal to it. Eventually it was chunkier and chunkier and then it was just chunks. Good luck!

I would just make as usual, but when it came time to puree it, I would jsut puree for a short time so it was still chunky. Also I would add 'pureed' chicken (cook chicken, let it cool, cut into chunks, then grind up in your processor) and I would add it to veggies like sweet potatoes, peas, beans, etc. That way they were getting more chunk and it was a healthy meal. After around 8 months I gave them chunks of soft foods, noodles, peaches, cooked peas, etc, to picku p themselves.

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