Homemade Vs. Jar Baby Food

The homemade stuff is way better! Lots less sodium. I think that she's fallen victim to the marketing ploy of the baby food companies. They always put out a lot of buzz words to make you think they're better for you than they are. Some jarred foods really aren't bad, while others are atrocious.

I made my own baby food also. Good for you! Fresh is better:) Added "fake" things like citric acid, items for coloring, etc....Fresh= no added junk. I wish I had a jar to look at, but only fresh is served here:) I have a daycare in my home, and I make for them too!

I bought the baby food for both kids and think it is great! They both lost interest around 9 months and wanted foods they could self feed.

Poor mom. She THINKS she knows best. But she doesn't.
The vitamins that the companies add to their products in jars
are there to take the place of the vitamins
that were lost when they processed the foods.

When you steam your veggies and fruits,
I presume you start with FRESH items.
You cook them yourself, and include
(some of) the cooking water when you mash them up.
Yes?
You're doing a great job for your DD.

As for breast feeding . . . . I feel very sad for your poor mom.
She was sold a bill of goods.
She missed out on one of the great experiences of a mom's life.
I hope, at least, she can appreciate/enjoy seeing how you and DD
are exquisitely bonded when you feed her.

Make your own baby food. You know what's in them.

I made most all of my own baby foods for my son...then just the easy ones for my daughter and filled in the rest with store bought organic ones.

I felt the ones I made were closer to pure food with out preservatives, fillers, etc...and were much cheaper when you looked at the cost of a jar of mushed up baby bananas vs. buying bananas and mushing them myself. Also, I could feed better choices of food like avocado, blueberries...etc.

Either way your daughter is getting good food...just read the labels and avoid fillers like tapioca and other starches that just bulk up the food but provide little nutrition.

I enjoyed the book Super Baby Food(s)...taught me a lot of great recipes...but be careful the author comes across if you buy any store bought foods you are practically a child abuser...all in moderation is my motto.

Nutrition-wise I don't think it makes any difference. If you look at the labels, especially the organic ones, you'll see that they only contain the fruit or veggie, nothing else. So it's the same as you making a puree from the same fruit or vegetable. Your daughter will likely get more variety when you make your own though (cantelope? lentils and rice? etc). If you like making the baby food, keep it up. If you don't, the jarred foods are fine. Have fun.

I made my sons baby food for him. IMO its healthier and cheaper. He also still likes to eat veggies which alot of his friends don't like eating. I think he likes his veggies still beacuse it still tastes just like what he eat from when he was 6 months old. Also, IMO breastfeeding is AWESOME!!!! I breastfeed my son until he was almost 2.

Well, you have already stated she "is closed minded to breastfeeding" so it sounds to me ANYTHING "natural" you want for YOUR daughter, your mother will object to. First of all, I cannot imagine why anyone would believe anything that comes from a jar is actually better than something home cooked with positively NO additives or preservatives of any kind . Not to mention, you have no idea what the facility looks like where these foods are made at. You have no guarantee that that the fruits/veggies were the best quality either. BUT, when you do it yourself, you are the one picking out the produce, preparing it at home where you know the kitchen is clean and nothing extra was added. My mother thinks she knows more than me, possibly the way your mom feels she knows better than you. Times have changed since you were a baby and it is YOUR baby. You have been raised by your mom with all the good intentions she had for you so it's your turn to raise and care for your baby with all the good intentions you feel are best for your baby. Stick with the homemade food. I never bought jarred foods for any of my children. I bought all fresh produce, steamed it myself, and froze it in ice cube trays. Once my children were ready for "thicker foods," I had a food mill that I took to the table (or restaurants or wherever I went) and milled food right from my plate! My children ate what I ate and I would have never considered doing it any other way.

Sorry your mom is wrong. Breastfeeding is best and if you have the time to make food for your baby the it is better. There is only one type of baby food I know of that has extra vitamins added. It is Gerber Smart Nourish and they add DHA I think.
I truly believe feeding your baby the foods you eat made fresh is so much better than a jar. The only reason for using pre made stuff is convenience.

Make one and buy one and have your mom blind taste test them ;-)

Make your own. I also made my own. It is so easy, and I knew exactly what my kids were eating. I used my magic bullet to puree fruits, vegis, pasta and meats.

Jarred baby-food, will never be better then homemade. Period. The companies don't have to label additives, like extreme amounts of citric acid. Have you ever tasted it? It doesn't even taste like real food, it is so watered down and processed. You are doing good. Your mother probably comes from a time where Gerber ruled.

http://www.pregnancy.org/article/artificial-feeding-and-c...

I mashed up what was on my plate and fed it to my daughter - spices, seasonings and all.

Jar food has so much preservatives. The fact that they sit on shelves for a period of time and don't spoil has me thinking, what in god's name do factories put in them? Not that the fruit and veggies don't have hormones and the like, but the fact that your cleaning, boiling, or steaming the food is as healthy and clean as it's going to get. Just be sure to add a table spoon of olive oil all the time. Breastfeeding is the best source of vitamins and proteins a child can have. Unfortunately my children were fed formula since they were slightly smaller than the norm, nothing happened to them except that they slept throughout the night. It was very filling. You just have to wake up more often with breast milk. But big deal, it's only for a year or less if you that route. I wouldn't change a thing S.. All the best to you.

Your mom is wrong. Homemade babyfood is more nutritious than jarred. It's very similar to fresh veggies vs. canned adult veggies. The canned are okay, but fresh have more vitamins and minerals. Plus, eating fresh babyfood will help to teach your baby to like fresh-cooked veggies instead of processed/canned!

I would say that you both are right.

I made my baby food, too. Usually it's best. It's a lot cheaper. And, it allows a muuuuch larger selection of fruits and veggies, too! (with jars, you're quite limited, apple, banana, pear, peach, prunes, carrots, peas, beans, sweet potato...???) Home made does not have such limitations.

There are a couple of exceptions: carrots and spinach. Organic baby foods contain plant foods grown without synthetic chemicals. They are free of preservatives, dyes, and waxes, too. Organic baby food companies usually get the better carrots and spinach for their baby food than found in supermarket. Even organic carrots from the supermarket can get higher levels of some chemicals, due to neighboring cultures.

I never bought much jarred baby food for my kids. I only had it available for on-the-go purposes. I just give my kids whatever we're eating. I can't imagine how anything canned/jarred is better than homemade fresh food!

ok, first there is ALOT of misconceptions on this board. Homemade baby food is only more nutritious if the fruit or vegetables chosen are more nutrient dence. Products like peas are the same jarred or homemade. Both are steamed so the same nutrients will be lost during the steaming process. However there will be a difference between organic and regular as there will be a significant higher nitrate content when non organic is chosen. Organic jarred vegetables are as good as a choice as any. Citric acid is also not a "fake" ingredient..it is just from citrus fruits they use as a natural preservative. Also remember too that the longer fruit and vegetables sit on a store counter the more nutrients are lost. Sometimes store bought produce can have less nutrients than frozen, canned, or jarred vegetables.

I always made my own baby food using what we were eating that night except fish until the baby was older of course. I did use jarred food whenever we went out, but that was out of convenience. My thinking is I wanted my baby to get used to eating the foods we eat and I am glad I did, my kids eat everything, though I do have 2 who don't eat fish but that is it. Personally I believe the food we make for them is much fresher and therefore much healthier. Continue with what you are doing, I am proud of you.

When I buy baby food, I only buy the organic stuff with no extra ingredients. The only reason I prefer them to making homemade (aside from the convenience) is that it is often hard to find that variety of organic fruits and veggies fresh, especially this time of year. Otherwise, we just mash up whatever we're eating and give that to the baby. I assume that they are nutritionally equivalent, though I haven't done much research to verify that.

Absolutely not true at all!!! Homemade is a million times better nutritiously, financially, even flavor-wise. Your children will be more accepting of different textures, and will be much more likely to grow up loving fruits and veggies because you gave them the REAL STUFF early on. Sorry mom!!

The jared foods probably have more vitamins than homemade if you are useing fresh fruits/veggies. these foods lose vitamins as they sit in the store shelf or on your counter/fridge. Frozen and canned produce are picked and packaged at the peek of freshness and have less vitamin lose. I assume it's the same with baby food.

the only thing to avoid are the combination dinners and desserts. The dinners don't contain enough meat to meet zinc and iron requirements. Desserts have too much sugar.

If you like make your own and it makes you feel better, than go for it.

I was given some Stage 3 baby food one time but it was out of date so I called the 1-800 number. I was told that baby food has very minimal nutrition in it because formula/breast milk is the optimal food for babies the first year and that baby food is only for teaching a baby to chew and swallow. They don't need food, parents just think they do.

Of course all the moms out there know as kids grow they need more to fill them up. I did use formula more than most moms and only supplemented with the food.

Anyway, back to the phone call to the baby food company. She said baby food has very minimal nutritional value and that if it is out of date it has none what so ever;.Since it has no preservatives even just sitting in the light of the store is loses so much of it's value.

Hi- I did not make m own baby food but how can you go wrong with fresh fruits and veggies and such? I think as long as you use it or freeze it right away, you should have plenty of nutrients in there.

i would stick with your home made food and let baby eat table foods, that way baby will grow solely on your cooking. i tried baby food on my daughter, and have always had problems getting her to eat full meals or as quickly as she may need to.....if i could do it over, her food would've been mashed taters, cut up green beans, and anything else i could soften up for her that i also ate.

I made most of my own baby food, too. Jarred food do not have extra nutrients. When I asked my pediatrician at the time, she said there is nothing special about baby food except the consistency. I did use dry baby cereal as a thickener, b/c that does have some extra iron in it. I swear that this is part of the reason my now 5year old is such a good veggie eater. She was used to the taste of real food right from the beginning!

No mom doesn't know best here. SOME foods yes have added DHA I think. But as long as you are cooking them properly to where you don't lose nutrients, I think you are doing a better service to your child to make fresh foods with no preservatives, no added sugar, etc. You KNOW what's in your baby's food, and I think that's very important.

I do both. If it's something I can easily make on my own, or I don't see pre-made, I go to town. But for some things, like prunes, I prefer to just buy. The ingredient labels on the jars should say if it has something added, but all the ones I have looked at only say the food and water.

No, mom doesn't know best. Jarred foods don't have special added vitamins, and babies don't need unlimited vitamins anyway - they get what they need from their milk. There is a limit to how much kids need, limits in terms of vitamins, minerals, etc., more is not necessary better even if it was true that jarred foods have this. Jarred food is processed in some ways, some brands have sugar or salt added, some brands have had recalls. The good brands simply have the food item pureed, with nothing added. Your mother is free to believe in jarred foods, but they are not better for your baby. Simple, steamed veggies and pureed fruits are great foods for your baby, a jar isn't going to give her anything better.

Hi S.
I would never choose a jar of food over homemade food.
If you are making your own stict with it and good for you.
Your children will thank you with good health as they grow.
B.