Homemade Baby Food - West Jordan,UT

BLENDER BABY FOOD is a great book, organized by age, super easy recipes. I thoroughly enjoyed using it for my little one (now 2) and there are recipes that I still use and will continue using.

I havn't used this yet, but I think i plan on buying it once my little guy starts eating baby food. It's called the beaba baby cook and is sold at williams sonoma. It comes with some recipes and they also sell a baby food cookbook.

I used The Healthy Baby Meal Planner by Annabel Karmel. It has recipes, nutritional values and when it is a good time to introduce different ingredients and how to store left overs.

Something that was very helpful to me was freezing left overs in ice cube trays with lids (OXO Good Grips, Orka, Fresh Baby brands, all found on Amazon.com). You warm food up a cube at a time so you don't waste so much. I also do this to freeze herbs in water for later cooking.

Good luck. It's work but can be much cheaper and healthier.

b.

I made most of my kiddo's food and there are lots of great recipes online. The book Super Baby Food is a good resourse but some of the advice is a bit outdated (like when to introduce tofu) but other than that, it has a bunch of recipes and is a good place to start.
I basically steamed veggies, pureed them and froze them in ice cube trays. Then you have food cubes that you can defrost and combine in different ways. It is not nearly as time consuming as people think it is and if you use organic produce it is much more healthy and still far less expensive than buying jarred food, not to mention less packaging waste. Good luck and know that you are giving your little one the best possible start.

First Meals by Annabell Karmel. I checked it out from the library, and I loved it and bought it. It starts with introducing foods, how to make purees, when to add textures to the food and even creative meals for toddlers (which I still use for dd who is now 2)

Much much cheaper! If you have a food processor, even a mini one for less than $30 works well. I do mine in bulk so I have a freezer full already. I got the book So Easy Baby Food by Joan Ahlers and Cheryl Tallman. Very helpful on learning how to pick the right fruits and veggies and also how to cook them. The only criticism I have is that they only tell you how to microwave cook the foods. With some foods, it's easier to roast them, such as sweet potatoes, so they cook more evenly. I've also heard that a website called Wholesomebabyfood.com is a great resource as well. Things I've learned along the way is to make sure it's all cooked thoroughly or it won't puree smooth, and sometimes you have to puree it for a few minutes. And just add water and any leftover cooking juices to make it puree smoothly. And even if the food isn't in season, like peaches aren't right now, I buy them frozen and puree them and it's still cheaper. I also buy puree peas and green beans. There's so much more variety of what is available in pre-made baby food if you pick out your own fruits and veggies. So puree a bunch, freeze it in ice cube trays, bag it with labels, and then when you're ready to feed him, pop one in the microwave for about 30 seconds and you're done!

http://homecooking.about.com/od/specificfood/a/babyfooddo...
This is one of the websites that gives you tips and recipes for home made baby food. I hope this helps and gl

Hi J.,

I want to feed my baby home made food as well. I am going to start with apple sauce - just cut and cook apples and then mush them and strain over the stainer with smallest holes. You ca do that with peas, carrots etc. Hope this helps.

P.

It is cheaper but it takes time to prepare it. If you need to save money but have extra time (like during naps, etc) than make your own. Buy high quality produce, organic is more expensive. Just make sure to wash and cook it well. My daughter loves fresh bananas, just squish them with a fork. Some things I fond easier to buy, like the mixed fruits and veggies when they are a little older. I also give her green beans out of a can that are the "no salt added" kind. Just watch the salt and sugar that is added to canned foods. I would always make a lot and freeze some for other days. Good luck.

The Magic Bullet (at Bed Bath and Beyond).

There is a website called savingdinner.com and she has a menu-mailer for homemade babyfood. I haven't tried the babyfood but have subscribed to the dinner one and found it to be very nourishing and have enjoyed most of the meals.

J.,

I made my son's babyfood for economic reasons. I could not afford the store-bought stuff. I had a garden, so used garden produce, but mostly used whatever was in season fresh at the grocery store and a few of the frozen vegetables that we ate. The best were (1) squash and pumpkins, (2) apples, (3) home-bottled (with the syrup rinsed off) - and fresh - peaches and pears , (4) beets, (5) carrots, and (6) frozen peas and green beans. I collected bottles from my "wealthier" neighhbors, cooked and pureed the food, and put it in the bottles, leaving 1/4" headroom. I then froze the bottles. I took them out about 12 hours before I needed them and let them thaw in the fridge, then heated them up just before serving. No additives, no salt, no sugar, no junk!

It made a huge difference both in my budget and in my son's desire to eat and enjoyment of vegetables. While most kids grow up hating vegetables, he loved (and still loves) them. (He is now 26.) If you have ever tried eating the commercial strained vegetables, you can understand why little kids don't generally like vegetables/

In the beginning, I'd focus on vegetables. Using either a blender on low speed, or a food grinder, steam the vegetables and then grind them up. Eventually, as the baby is introduced to more foods, you can just grind up what you're feeding the rest of the family. Before you know it, he'll be eating at the table and all you'll need to do is cut the food in small pieces for him. Bananas are great - just mash them up with a fork and let him dig in!

I did this with my little girl. I broucht a small food processor device, called The Magic Bullet. There have been lots of informercials about it. It worked great becasue I could either make one serviing or a couple, rather than a weeks worth that could potentially go bad. I started with simple foods. All I did was cook the vegetables, chop and stick in the machine to puree. It was very easy. You can do the same with fruit. Good luck!

Hi J.,
I'm sure you're going to get so many responses that are identical to mine, but after one bite of cardboardy-tasting jarred baby food (it's no wonder kids stop eating vegetables!), I became a passionate make-it-yourselfer.

I didn't buy any special food mills, because within a few months they want the baby to start finding soft lumps to gum his way through. I used either the blender or a food processor. Just steam the fruit or veggies longer to be sure they're really soft.

My favorite way to do baby food was to walk to the farmer's market, buy 5 vegetables (pick one you don't know, one that you don't like, and always keep some potatoes on hand.) Babies LOVE rutabagas. Parsnips are great too. Check online or ask the food seller if you need to take the core out of a vegetable that you're unfamiliar with. Potatoes, if he likes them, are a superb mixer with almost any food and helps cut stronger flavors like cabbage or fish (but I think fish is recommended after 12 months old).

You can also walk down the baby jars aisle, find a few that look good, then go buy that same combination of fresh vegetables.

I focused on vegetables almost exclusively for the 1st few months. He'll love fruit anytime, so might as well start by introducing veggies. I also got a few books from the library, then bought my favorite (Annabel Karmel's).

I hope this doesn't sound like too much work. We would usually have a nice family day out on Saturday and get some produce, then I'd spend a couple of hours steaming, blending, and freezing into ice cube trays on Sunday morning, which would last a couple of weeks. You can combine frozen cubes as well, i.e. one broccoli, one cauliflower, one potato, and a bit of cheese.

If you're going out and are afraid they won't have a microwave available, bananas are fast food for babies.

We got a babyfood grinder at Burlington Coat Factory that worked really well. I don't remember the brand, but it came in a green container, I think. I cooked a week's worth of food on Saturday and froze it in icecube trays. Once frozen, I transferred it to storage containers or plastic bags. We could then thaw what we needed at each meal. It worked well for us. I found that the grinder didn't require that food be very cooked, and as our son got older, we did raw fruits and veggies in it sometimes. It was really fun, but with his huge appetite, it made for quite the job keeping enough food on hand! GL! Have fun!

I liked the book "Super Baby Food" as a resource, though I did not follow it exactly. I made my own baby food for all 3 of my boys. I stayed home and tried to save money wherever I could. Sometimes I steamed the veggies, but other times I used canned and washed them and used fresh water to puree. I froze them in ice cube trays and then popped them out and put them in Ziploc bags. I didn't buy a baby food grinder, just used my food processor and it worked great. I usually made large batches and froze it so I wasn't doing it all the time. Hope this helps!
J.

How exciting. I made my son's food and it was great. Jared food grossed me out and there is so much more variety. I did organic for my son's food the first year.
My favorite books:
Super Baby Food -- great for when and how to introduce veges and fruits. Note: the woman is a vegetarian and super anti-meat but if you aren't (which I am not) I ignored that and focused on what I needed. The other great thing is that you can control the texture and introduce more texture to the foods as you go on.
Another favorite book: First Meals -- has great pictures and a wide variety.

Tools you'll need: ice-cube trays and some something to puree food. I love my food processor it was perfect. For super smooth foods, a mesh strainer is also a handy tool.

Some short cuts.. mash bananas as you need them. Use regular (no added sugar) apple sauce

Have fun and enjoy.
L.

He can eat what you eat, in smaller pieces. Get a baby food grinder, or give me your address and I will send you my old one. You don't have to do like Gerber does. Your own is cheaper, and you don't have to go overboard. As long as there's not too much salt or major spice (hot sauce on a burrito :p ), he'll do fine! If he doesn't like the food right off, go more slowly and offer it again in a day or two. New tastes and textures are interesting for baby. My last son had no problems with ANYTHING! At three months, he was eating a bowl of rice cereal, mushed bananas and yogurt. He would also grab my spoon while I was eating and want a bite of whatever I was having. Korean noodles with hot chili oil was one of his favorites at 6 months. I ground it up, and he pigged out! Of course, each child is different, so experiment and have fun with it! Good luck.

I used a book called Mommy made, and Daddy too! But you can basically just steam fruits or veggies and then puree them and freeze in little cookie dollops. With meat, I always boiled and then pureed and froze it. You can use spices like rosemary just no salt or anything spicy. If you can't find fresh veggies, use frozen. But not canned because they have a lot of salt. Good luck!

Check out wholesomebabyfood.com - it's an excellent website!

For sure, making your own is more economical and you get to control the ingredients. I agree with most other responses here so I don't have much to add other than I completely disagree with using canned foods because of the chemical used in the lining of the cans - bisphenol A - it's a hormone disruptor. This link has additional details.
http://safemama.com/2008/05/03/bpa-in-canned-food-tips-to...

Fresh or frozen is best. I also have Annabel Karmel's First Meals book - it's been the perfect reference for going through the stages from first foods, to solids and at what ages; the recipies are great!

Enjoy cooking,
M.

I didn't quite want to go crazy about MAKING my own baby food, but did not want to spend the rediculous amounts of money on the gerber stuff either. I would buy the canned peas and other veggies, blend them in the blender and freeze them in ice cube trays, and store in freezer bags. Canned pumpkin and sweet potatoes - my daughter LOVED them. I would buy them when they went on sale - large cans, open a can, store half in a freezer container, and the other half in the fridge so I could use it whenever I wanted. With the other veggies frozen in baggies, I could give her veggies with dinner, and the pumpkin and potatoes at lunch. She also loved applesauce - and there are cheap brands out there that are just the apples, water, and another ingredient that is not bad for them. You don't have to go overboard with the homemade "organic" food for everything. Can you imagine having to scrape the pumpkin, then cook it and strain it and mash it. That's an all day event when the canned stuff for making pies (unseasoned of course) works just fine! :)

Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron, it is cheaper, the book covers everything your asking about and more, passed on to me from 10 girlfriends prior, good luck!

Get a baby Food Mill--it is hand held, cheap and easy to use. Steam the veggies and then just grind them up! Works on meat and fruit, too. Then freeze little portions in an ice cube tray, pop them out, store them in ziplocks, and microwave the little cubes as you need them.

Jessica Seinfield just put out a cook book called "Deceptively Delicious". It is about taking pureed food and putting it into regular dishes you make to hide the veggies from your picky eaters. The purees are basically baby food. You should try that book.

I know you have a million responses, but I wanted to share with you about my experience. I buy the cereals for my little boy (rice, barley, oatmeal) and I also purchase the peas and green beans in jars because I have found that I can't get it pureed enough.

I have a small little machine that I got as a gift that purees (like a bullet or you could probably use the puree option on the blender). It's quick to make and I don't know if it's a whole lot cheaper, but it does taste better. My son hates the peaches and bananas in a jar and so do I (I tried them), but I use the peaches in a can (with pear juice concentrate so there isn't any syrup and I rinse them), you just need to add a little water, formula, or breastmilk and pureed it. Then I scoop it into an ice tray, freeze it, and then put it in a plastic bag. He eats about 2 ice cube full at each meal. I put the two cubes in a small sandwich bag and run it under warm water to thaw it for meals. He loves the bananas and peaches and sweet potatoes so much more when I make them. Other options - carrots, pears, applesauce. It makes me feel good when I do it. For the sweet potatoes and carrots I just steam them (because they don't lose nutrients that way where they would with microwaving or boiling, scoop out the insides of the sweet potato and puree).

Good luck and let me know if you have any more questions.

Hi J.,

I never had a recipe book of any kind when my son was young and I wanted to make my own baby food for him. I had a blender and put it to good use, whatever we had,(potatos, carrots, etc... roast beef, chicken, turkey) I'd toss some in the blender (not all mixed together, individually) and puree it for the baby. Easy enough! Good luck!

I have 2 boys age 3 and 10 months and I have made ALL of their baby food. It is so easy, it tastes and looks better and its more cost effective also it makes a big difference as they get older...my 3 yr old prefers veggies then fruits over any kind of processed foods...because they taste better

Here is what I would recommend...There is a kit you can order called Fresh Baby that comes with a book and 2 covered ice cube trays...it is a good beginner guideline book for what foods to start with, how to prepare them and freeze them, how to make combinations etc... The ice cube trays are great because they are 1 oz servings and and you can mix an match them (1 sweet pot, 1 green bean, 1 pear) so you know your kid ate 3 oz of food...as they get older you can buy the little Glad 4oz containers and freeze the food 4 oz at a time...

We started our boys off on Avocado (mashed), bananas (mashed) and Sweet Potatoes...They do not eat the baby cereal as grains are much harder for babies to digest and can promote food allergies...Also I see some people have recommended things like yogurt, butter, noodles, or other table foods that you eat as an adult...BE CAREFUL introducing grains and dairy at such a young age is very hard to digest and can cause problems such as food allergies...Babies should eat whole organic fruits and veggies, then meat, then some grain (rice, oat) then dairy etc. Also you should avoid salt, citrus, honey and other spices that could irritate or harm a young baby.

Good luck, you are making a great decision!!!
D.

J., here is what I wrote once:

Nursing is most wonderful thing ever, keep doing it.
In addition, you might try giving him soft food,

like mashed potatoes, with little butter in them, and milk
or even sour cream, but mash them so that it is like a pudding. This way you can mash very soft any vegetables, or raw or a little boiled or baked fruit, so that he does not need to bite, but just kind of suck her food in. he should like it, as it does not hurt.

Also, if you cook oatmeal porridge, make it simmer long,
so it's very soft, and then take a sieve (the smaller the 'holes' the better, and a spoon.
For all the cases for food now, while her teeth are 'cutting through' and hurt,
use this 'tool', to put the food in the sieve one spoon at a time,
then press the food through with the spoon in the bowl,
and give her to taste, just a little.
If he likes the taste, she'll smile soon and ask for more.
Experiment with different tastes, and give a little first, to check how he reacts. To sweeten food, I used honey always, a LITTLE, just to give it an appealing taste. natural is always better, and honey is better than any sugar: well, brown sugar is better ifyou really want it.

Any kind of porridge works this way: rice, oatmeal, buck-wheat!
I raised three kids like this.

Still, as long as you have milk, keep breastfeeding him, just adding this other food to the 'diet'.

My kids grew up were very healthy, no problems at all.

All the very best to you and your dearest ones!!!

I found this website when my daughter was starting solids and thought it was a great help for ideas and such: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/

Good luck with it all! I recommend getting a electric food grinder (Babies r us has one for around $20) - makes things go much quicker! A lot of times I would make a bunch of things at the same time and freeze in ice cube trays. Then when it was frozen I would put "meals" in sandwich bags - 1 cube equals about 1 ounce of food. It worked out perfectly!

It is tons cheaper. I just bought a little food mill with a hand grinder, but I have also used a blender or a food processer to purree food. I don't worry too much about salts and sugar for my little one, but if you do, you can buy salt free or sugar free fruits and veges, and then purree them. YOu can then pour the product into ice cube trays, and then once frozen put the cubes in a baggie in the freezer. That way you take out as much as you need without being wasteful.
The only baby food that I buy is the little meat sticks, as meat is hard to cut small enough or to grind up. GOod luck. THere are boooks out there, but I just use what I have in the pantry. A good place to start is sweet potatoes and bananas.
Good luck

Hi J.!
I have been doing the homemade baby food for my first son for about 3 months and it's surprisingly easy! We started with carrots, but it doesn't really matter what you choose. I can get a serving of baby food for about 20 cents, way chaper than the store! Plus, they are much better for them! Anyway, I've had good luck when I prepare the food while I prepare dinner. I peel, chop, and put in a pan; it cooks while we eat and when we're done it's ready to be mashed and frozen. I have had really good luck with a potato masher! You want there to be some consistency, not just a watery mess. Everyone told me to use ice cube trays, but I have had really good luck measuring out 1/4 cup servings and freezing in a ziploc. Then when frozen you can stack them and save lots of space! I made 4 different foods when we started solids, about 2 hours of time, and we are still using them today (2 1/2 months later)! Trust me it doesn't take to long! Happy Cooking!

I've made my daugheter's baby food and I LOVE doing it! A really great resource is www.wholesomebabyfood.com. No book s required... they have TONS of information there. As far as expense goes, its almost a wash for me... I come out a little bit on top making it I think. I spent about $35 buying produce and frozen foods for making her first batch, but that batch lasted well over a month, and she was eating through about $15 of gerber food every 10 days. Anyway, good luck! I love making my own baby food. =)

I made all of my sons baby food and it was super easy and inexpensive and I didnt have to smell gross baby food jars!! I really liked First Meals, I don't have the book in front of me but I got it on Amazon. I have a magic bullet little blender and it was really easy to steam some veggies and puree them really quick for his dinner. When he started on meats, I just took some out before I seasoned it while I was making my dinner and pureed it.

we had 11 kids and we always did homemade baby food -- we haven't been fans of processed food -- we liked being able to take fresh produce from the store or our garden and make it fresh for them -- we would blend it and put it in baby food jars and freeze it -- when they were older, we had a little hand grinder to do it so it was more chunky-- we would make our own combinations too -- I feel like they were healthier and not as processed -- and save money??? wow!!! absolutely!!!

you can check out dr mercola and a health site named HSI for more infomation and validation

(they ahve shown that eating locally grwon fruti an d veggies, if you have it, is more healthy for you and your little guy)

There's a really good book called "Super Baby Food." All we did was blend up the fruits and veggies (cooked) in our blender with a little water and froze the puree in ice trays. The baby usually only eats 1-2 ice cubes worth of food per feeding. So, once the puree is frozen, just pop out the cubes and store them in your freezer in ziploc baggies. You just microwave the cubes or let them thaw on the counter. It's really easy and much cheaper and tastier than the store-bought foods.

Hi J.!

I use Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. Also, this website, http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ looks good. Making your own food is more nutritious for baby. It takes almost no time, and it saves a lot of money! I bought a magic bullet to puree her food and we love it.
Have fun cooking!
H. Gaitten
www.naturalchoices4baby.com

J.-
it is easy to make your own baby food- especially if you have a food processor, but if not, a blender works okay too, of sometimes just cooking and mashing them. I would start out with the general 1st baby foods: squash, sweet potatoes, green beans, peas, applesauce, bananas, pears, peaches, prunes, ect. just add a little water and blend! Don't worry if you get them too thin, you can always thicken with a little cereal. I've found that it is cheaper, especially if you buy these things for your family to eat anyways, as some things don't keep as well as others, mainly bananas! After you've introduced all these 1st foods, feel free to mix and match and add meats and any other fruits and veggies. Be cautious with tomatoes and strawberries as they are ones that are more allergenic. I hope this helps!!! Also, when you do juice, you can buy regular concentrated 100% juice and dillute it!! Also a WHOLE lot cheaper than baby juice!!!

Also, I just read where someone had said to sweeten with honey- not a good idea. You aren't supposed to give honey until 2 years as honey has something in them and babies don't have the ability to tolerate until 2 years.

Go to www.superbabyfood.com to order the book, "Super Baby Food." An awesome book on how to prepare homemade food, as well as which foods are appropriate for which months of age. Enjoy!

Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron is a great place to start, and yes I think it's cheaper. You don't have to follow her method to a T but she is very thorough. It's only about 10$ on Amazon and well worth it. I also thought it was much easier to make the switch to solid food as the taste of things didn't change like it would from jarred stuff. At the very least, don't buy jarred bananas, mashing up ripe ones yourself is to much better and the jarred stuff tastes gross. All you need is a blender and some ice cube trays and you are set. I never bought jarred food and found it very rewarding to make it.

I (mostly) make my own and use a couple of reference books, Super Baby Food (http://www.superbabyfood.com) and Top 100 Baby Purees (you can find on amazon). Both of these have many practical tips for preparation, storage, daycare, etc. in addition to recipes.

Our son is now 10 months, and has yet to meet a food he won't eat!

Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron is a goldmine of info for homemade infant and toddler foods. My son is 9 months old and that book hasn't left the kitchen island in about 4 months -- I refer to it just about every day. She's a bit over the top on some things, but all in all provides great info.

Good instruction on making veggies and fruits (ice cube tray method is easy) and also on how to make your own cereals. Freshly made cereal has greater nutritional value, plus you can use grains such as quinoa, millet, amaranth and oats to make your own blends along with legumes for balanced proteins.

Oh, and remember you should never make your own babyfood carrots -- something about the unknown iodine levels of the soil they were grown in, even of organic. Jarred babyfood carrots are supposed to be tested for that to ensure safe levels. And on tofu, I wouldn't give it to a baby at all... there are estrogen-like qualities of soy that are best avoided until much later in life, and even then in moderation.

Making your own babyfood is actually a lot of fun -- and not nearly as much trouble as most people would think it is. Good luck!

I am actually making my own baby food now and I am using the book Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron. It has all the information you need to know what to do. Also yes I definitely think I have found it to be less expensive to make my own versus buy it. It is actually very simple to do so good luck!

Get the Super Baby Food book! It's fantastic! Tells you how to make everything from rice cereal (super easy) to yogurt!

Also, http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/ is a great source. I made all of my boy's food when he was little, and I think he's better for it.

Just as an aside, please don't just give him what you eat, even if it's pureed. If he's just starting on solids then he's too young. His tummy won't be ready, and you'll stand a bigger chance of food allergies as life goes along.

Good luck and have fun!

HI there,
Get a baby food grinder and grind up whatever your eating and give it to him! Start out easy, so you can target allergies, should they arise. We did this with our daughter and it was wonderful! We didn't have to worry about keeping her food cold when we traveled or anything. It also forces us to eat healthy, because she was eating it too! My daughter loved it when she was little and NEVER had reagular baby food. Now she is two and eats EVERYTHING! She likes salsa, lemons, beans, salad, you name it, she will eat it! They make really simple hand crank baby food grinders that are cheap and portable.
Good Luck!
R.

Making homemade baby food is so easy! I worked full time as an elementary teacher after my little boy was 5 months old and was able to do it! Yes, I think it is a ton cheaper, doesn't take too much effort, tastes better and is so healthy.

I just cooked up veggies (or fruits) until they were soft...steam or bake. Then puree in blender or food processor or by hand. You may have to add a bit of water to help blend it up. I would make up a bunch at once and then put into ice cube trays and freeze. (some companies sell "baby food freezer containers" but these are not really necessary...ice cube trays work fine...just cover with tin foil while in the freezer to prevent anything from falling in...) Once frozen, you can store the cubes in ziplock baggies. 1-2 cubes is usually a serving.

I would make his lunch the night before and put a frozen cube or two into a cleaned out baby food jar or tupperware. It was thawed out by morning and could be heated gently (only a few seconds) in the microwave to make it just warm enough. He loved it!

He is a very good eater now (at two) and likes all fruits and most veggies (never has been a fan of green beans for some reason)...but is willing to try anything. We did do processed baby food a few times and he didn't like it much at all. Less processing is better.

We did the following foods at home: broccoli, cauliflower, peas, corn (chunky...for older baby), potatoes, sweet potatoes/yams, green beans, pears, peaches, apples, bananas (yes, even successfully froze them in cubes!), combonations of the above, and probably a few I am forgetting now...

I would also recommend FIRST MEALS by Annabel Karmel - lots of great recipes from the first foods to meals for elementary age kids.

Good luck! This is a great way to provide your child with healthy, good tasting foods...and save money! And it's not too difficult!

Homemade is definitely cheaper, well it was for me. But, I wasn't extremely strict about things either. Basically, my boys ate what we ate, I just chopped it up really small. It might take their gag reflexes some time to get used to it (don't freak out when they start to gag, very normal), but they take to it fairly quickly. It's a good time to take a look at your current eating habits - it was for us. Basically, we just got healthier cause we wanted them to be healthy. Everyone seems to win, including the pocket book. On a side note, if you know you're going out and likely to stop by a place to eat you wouldn't want your child to eat from (fast food, exotic, etc.), preparing stuff from home and putting them in containers or splurging on baby food jars from the store is a good alternative. Hope that helps.