Making your own baby food

I could certainly write a whole lot more than I am writing here, but I get asked a lot about how I did solids, so I'm just going to post what I did with no commentary. It worked well for both of my older ones and I am doing it now with my youngest. I know some say to wait as long as possible, but I find this really helps me stick with breast-feeding longer – meaning past one year.

This is not advice! Simply sharing what I did personally because I get asked by friends and I thought it would be easier to write it down one time.

I start with avocado. I purée half of an avocado with some purified water in the food processor. Using a spoon and a glass bowl that has a plastic lid( so I can save it for later if need be) I start with that and see how much they are interested in eating.

I repeat that for the next three nights to make sure there is no reaction.

To begin, I only do it once a day. When I just had my first baby, I did it at lunch time. Now I do it during dinner so we can all eat together because baby notices us eating and is interested.

The next food I do is organic butternut squash. Pick one up at the grocery store, cut off the stem and slice it lengthwise down the middle. Scoop out the seeds, and place it face down on a cookie sheet – I use stoneware. Roast it at 400° for 45 minutes.  Allow it to cool, and scoop out the inside. You can either just mash it really really well, or you can purée it with a small amount of purified water-or breastmilk.

Repeat for the next three nights to make sure there is no reaction.

I like to do the same food for four days in a row so I can be sure there's no reaction. The first time you try it, you might want to do it during the day in case you need to go to the pediatrician. I have never had a problem, though.

Making and storing:

I use silicone ice trays that I got at bed bath and beyond. There are 12 cubes per tray and each cube is 1 ounce. For instance, when I make butternut squash there is a lot especially if it's a big squash, so I spoon it into the cubes and pack it down. Once it is frozen, I pop the cubes out and put them in Ziploc freezer bags. Each freezer bag holds about eight cubes. I've then label the bag with what it is. This also makes an easy way when you want to start mixing solids, like one cube of butternut squash mixed with one cube peas, etc. I never mix until they have tried both separately.

When starting, I offer 2 to 3 ounces- 2-3 cubes.

With my first baby I started with: prunes, avocado, banana, sweet potato, butternut squash, broccoli, applesauce, green beans, pumpkin. I tried to roast most things. Applesauce is the only thing I buy – and I buy the whole foods organic brand.  With her, at seven months I introduced peas, spinach, grapes, carrots,… And I was giving 1 ounce at breakfast, 3 ounces at lunch, and 4 ounces at dinner.

My middle baby was a voracious eater and by about nine months old, she was eating 3/4 cup at lunch and another 3/4 cup at dinner and still nursing 4-5 times in 24 hours. With her, sometimes I put cinnamon in her food to help with digestion.

At nine months, a few combinations I was giving her looked like this:
-orzo pasta, mixed with sweet potatoes and cinnamon

-Black beans and avocado

-blueberries, rice milk, banana, apple sauce, Cheerios on the side

-orzo, bananas, and cinnamon

My kids took to the solids easily, so by seven months I was able to give them organic puffs, which I got at whole foods.

Now, I have just started solids with my littlest baby, and I haven't been as consistent as I was because we're so busy, I'm just nursing more. But I do give solids at dinner and he really seems to love the butternut squash.

Good luck!

Edit:  I will try to post some pictures of my ice cube trays and cubes, etc.

Ice cube trays- http://www.amazon.com/Tovolo-Perfect-Cube-Tray-Dark/dp/B000QIU7X6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380498430&sr=8-1&keywords=silicone+ice+cube+trays