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Most of us know that whole, natural, unprocessed foods, such as fresh fruit, vegetables, meats, and grains, are the best foods for our bodies. They are both rich in essential vitamins and nutrients and free of preservatives. Since babies may only eat a few tablespoons of food per feeding at first, they need all the nutrition they can get in each bite. By feeding baby homemade food made from the healthiest ingredients, you’ll be certain that he’s getting the best possible nutrition in every bite.
Commercial baby foods can work in a pinch, but you’ll want to shy away from using them as your baby’s sole source of solid food if you can. The methods used to process packaged foods can destroy a significant amount of the natural vitamins and nutrients, making some commercial baby food 50% less nutritious than a homemade equivalent.1 Plus, some commercial foods contain fillers, preservatives, or unnecessary ingredients that your baby doesn’t need.
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Homemade baby food is pure and simple, and tastes like its ingredients. It is the perfect first step for growing a healthy eater. Baby will learn exactly what real food tastes like. He’ll get used to seeing you make his food—unpeeling a banana, mashing it up, and serving it to him. He’ll learn that when he’s hungry, chances are you’ll slice up some apple, mash up some squash, or dice some chicken. Your baby will get used to eating whole foods instead of reaching for the processed kind—and that is a good habit for you and baby!
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With your help, in just a few short months your little one will transition from eating predominantly breast milk or formula to eating table foods. You can help your baby achieve this milestone by gradually progressing the textures and flavors of his food. You’ll want to start with completely smooth single-ingredient purees, move to soft, lumpy purees, and later to finely chopped table foods. Your baby will learn new skills at each stage. One of the best aspects of making homemade baby food is that you aren’t stuck with just a few flavors or textures. You can completely customize your baby’s food so he can try a wide variety of ingredients at the right texture.
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Which feeding method seems more affordable? Taking a scoop out of your baked sweet potato and mashing it up for baby’s dinner, or opening up a jar of store-bought sweet potato puree? If you guessed the first one, you’re right! By making baby’s food at home you can save a lot of money, simply by feeding baby the same thing you’re already cooking up for yourself.
For those times when it’s just not feasible to feed baby what everyone else is eating (ahem, pizza night), homemade food still comes out on top. One cup of homemade sweet potato puree costs me about $1.12 to make, whereas the same amount of store-bought sweet potato baby food costs about $4.16. That is a savings of 62%! Even if you add in the cost of buying a blender, you’ll still save a ton of money over the long run if you make baby’s food yourself.