Home-Made Baby Food

Makin' baby food: Round 3. With an active toddler and an over-active pre-schooler running around, it can be hard to remember why I would go to the trouble again (although really it isn't that much trouble). A recent report on the news, however, helped remind me why I've lugged out the steamer basket and the blender again: Of over 400 baby and snack products tested by an independent lab, 85% were contaminated with lead, including products by Gerber, Beech Nut, and Earth's Best. (It is important to note that the products are contaminated during the processing (I would guess from the equipment), but because processing plants will often process many foods for many different brands, any product from an implicated brand could be suspect, and organic and conventional brands alike are affected.) But besides the assurance that I'm not slowly poisoning my baby with lead-laced products, I just happen to like everything about home-made baby food. It smells better (a waft from those jars is enough to put your head in the toilet), it tastes betters, I can make sure I'm using the freshest ingredients ensuring optimum nutrition, and E's meals are limited only by my imagination and his discriminating palate. For example, today E sampled eggplant with roasted bell peppers (orange ones). Go look for that in the Gerber aisle! (He loved it, by the way).

Also, apparently the American Academy of Pediatrics has updated its recommendations about introducing solids. You can read the report here. It basically states that if you are going to get a food allergy, you're going to get it no matter when you were first introduced to the food. I had read a few years ago that delaying solids until 6 months does reduce the risk of food allergy, but that after that, it makes no difference (although the reason that I delayed solids until six months is that prior to that, any solid food will decrease baby's ability to absorb iron, increasing their risk for iron-deficiency anemia).  Exclusively breastfed babies have the most protection from food allergies, with the greatest benefits seen in those children who are at risk for food allergies (one parent or one sibling with a food allergy).

If you are interested in making home-made baby food, here's a site that I have found very helpful. My baby cubes have also held up through three children and are still going strong. I've had to throw some away because the lids wouldn't close, but I think that for the price, it's a great deal.