Jars of baby food - which ones to use??

Carmina_Piranha_3

roo's did all taste the same yes - that's because they were variations on a central theme of sweet potato with butternut squash :rotfl:

so he had that flavour, and some that were tomato flavour. they did taste different to home-made food even if they had exactly the same ingredients, i suppose the heating process that enables them to be stored for years affects the flavour a bit but even so there were some jars that roo adored.

his favourite jars were the heinz mumsown, with a purple lid (although they might have changed the packaging since roo was a nipper). some brands he hated, he didn't like stodgy ones and i found that some needed to be mixed with lots of water to make them edible.

if yours is 4 months old then you'll need water to be boiled etc. before adding to stodgy jars so if you're breastfeeding you may not already have boiled water with you - so try each flavour at home to see if your baby likes it instead of trying a new one while you're out.

you will probably get a different answer of everyone regarding which jars to use (and you might want organic only). my friend used the boots jars which are only about 30p each but my baby hated every boots flavour.

if you want to warm the jars while out you might like to try the fisher price flask. it's an ordinary flask but the lid is tall enough to stand bottles or jars of food in.

sjpkgp

I would recommend the blandest & smoothest of the jars unless you are very concerned about organic or making your own etc.

With my four, milky stuff (egg custard, porridge etc) but also sweetish svaoury and turkey dinner and cheesy vegetables went down well, even coldish/tepid.

Don't fret about a 4 month old not getting a balanced diet, they get most, if not all what they need from the milk anyway (breast or manufactured)

Also don't think that because they seem "hooked" on porridge they won't eat veg at a later date, it's rubbish, their tastes change over time and my oldest 3 now eat loads of veg (and even the baby has it mushed up and will eat it)

The one thing that I would agree with other posters is about the cans. Go for the jars. Everything from cans tastes like cans.

hope this helps
sal xx

Sarahsaver

None.
Make your own food.:)

Becles

Sarahsaver wrote: »

None.
Make your own food.:)

I agree!

Just puree whatever you are having (within reason!). That way baby gets used to the dishes you normally eat, and you eventually end up with a child that eats almost anything rather than a fussy eater.

I pureed/mashed all sorts - pasta dishes, curries, chilli, chinese etc, as well as the usual meat and 2 veg type meals.

Kimberley

These jars are full of crap and unhealthy. I used to feed my kids when they were small on our food mashed up, much better.

I bet you wouldn't dish yourself up a portion of this tripe if you were to empty the jar/can onto a plate :rolleyes:

super41

I take your point that you only want to use jars occasionally, but agree with others homemade is best. Then you know exactly what goes in it! If you have to go for jars check the ingredients. Some are bulked out with things you don't need such as cornflour, calcium carbonate etc. Personally I'd avoid anything with meat as well.

To get round the convenience issue why not make up a batch of your own baby food and freeze in little plastic containers. Then you can take out what you need. These can still be used when you're out and about as they're just the right size. Always worth having something like a banana with you as mashed up it's an instant meal!

I'm sure you've looked into it, but it's now advised not to start weaning till 6 months. Health visitor can give you more information.

Carmina_Piranha_3

if you have frozen food how do you store it if you are going out and it won't be eaten for 11 hours? keep it frozen, chilled, warmed? i was never confident enough to take my home-made food out if we were going out for a whole day - i would rather my baby had the occasional jar of processed food than something which might not be safe if i couldn't keep it cold enough.

you can get little mashers for feeding babies on the go, those are good. but for a whole day my baby would want more than what i could take at room temp.

Juicy_Tube

Carmina_Piranha wrote: »

if you have frozen food how do you store it if you are going out and it won't be eaten for 11 hours? keep it frozen, chilled, warmed? i was never confident enough to take my home-made food out if we were going out for a whole day - i would rather my baby had the occasional jar of processed food than something which might not be safe if i couldn't keep it cold enough.

you can get little mashers for feeding babies on the go, those are good. but for a whole day my baby would want more than what i could take at room temp.

Good luck with the weaning-you have had some sound advice so far:D

Personally I opted for the home-cooked food route and didn't use a jar. As some have said, I also had some stand-by stuff in the freezer, otherwise LO had what we had. I got into the habit of cooking a meal in the evening for us and LO would have the same the next day-obviously not adding salt, sugar etc.

If I was going out in the morning then I would re-heat before I went out and use the following to keep it warm(for about 2 hours)

http://www.princelionheart.com/site_uk/t_otg_4224.html

I used a sterlised jar from a friend for this-it also gave me an idea of what LO was eating!

Re. above from CP: I always made sure I had an avocado & banana with me in those early days as this is really easy to use and mash together when you are out for a long day or travelling.. Try it, it is a great combo. I agree with Carmina that the re-heating thing was a worry and you have to be very careful. I know people who were taking out meat and fish and warming food in hot water only:eek:

Best of luck,

JT x

janb5

Just had a dentist come to chat to the postnatal group and show us the content of some of these jars and the AMOUNT of sugar in them! Yuk!

super41

re. taking frozen stuff out. Personally I just stick to veg/fruit/pasta mash purees as these can be heated up easily. Meat etc needs to be thoroughly heated, which of course is fine if you are going to have access to a microwave. As for keeping food cool, I find if I take out some food in the morning it will defrost by lunch time for eating. If any longer I have a small cool bag which I use with an ice pack.