Baby Food/feeding baby on a budget!

Sarah2490

Hi all

I am hoping to get some help as I am struggling to make my food budget stretch. My budget needs to be £32 a week online plus £6.20 healthy start vouchers used at the local co-op this is for me and my 2 children (4 years & 8 months) I am going over this at the moment and I am then struggling in other areas or going without at the end of the month!

I have worked out I spend around £12-15 a week on just "baby food" (jars/pots/cereal/snacks) and that doesn't cover all his meals as I give him normal food as well. I am not really into the whole BLW stuff and prefer to feed him but he will have finger foods/snacks

The other slight problem is my little boy has a milk allergy so no milk/milk derived products or soya milk/products either. He also has a bowel problem so although wheat is no off the menu it has to be limited. He can have a small amount such as a little pasta/half slice of toast/a little wheat based cereal but never more than one small portion per day maximum. He has formula (boo hiss) prescribed and this can be used to make things with but it doesn't heat very well really.

The only other note really is his breakfast need to be mushy so I can mix his medications into it as he is not yet at the age where he can take this on its own.

Any tips/recipes/ideas would be much appreciated

Tigsteroonie

If he definitely has a milk (lactose?) allergy, then visit your GP and ask whether he can be prescribed any suitable formula/milk so that you don't have to buy it.

Our son is on super-fortified milk replacement (Fortini) and we get that free on prescription.

SailorSam

Maybe i'm not the right person to be answering this but why is it necessary to buy special jars of baby food. Can't you just get a whizzer and mix more or less the same food as you're eating yourself.

http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/

Sarah2490

It's a milk allergy not lactose allergy where the body fights milk like a foreign body instead of digesting it. Poor little thing ended up in hospital for quite sometime as he was breastfed for the first 8 weeks and it completely damaged his digestive system. He now has long term damage but it will get better

We get neocte on prescription and I hate it but that is another story altogether!

Sarah2490

SailorSam wrote: »

Maybe i'm not the right person to be answering this but why is it necessary to buy special jars of baby food. Can't you just get a whizzer and mix more or less the same food as you're eating yourself.

http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/

I'm not sure pizza/chicken wings/chips/processed crap would be any good for a baby :eek: I need to sort my eating habits out too but one battle at a time for now

Thank you for the link though I will take a look

RAS

Is wheat the problem or it is gluten?

rach_k

What do you feed your 4 year old? What do you plan to feed your youngest when you're not spoon feeding him? Just do that now and blend it, if you're really into traditional-style weaning. We did BLW with both kids and just cut the salt/honey/whole nuts etc out of our own food - very easy to do - but even with pur!es there's no reason at all to be buying expensive pots/jars/pouches. Just cook normal good food yourself (you're going to have to start doing that soon anyway, you can't feed baby food forever so may as well start now!) and blend it if you feel you must.

Shoey1610

It was seven years ago now (faints with realisation!) but when my daughter was a baby, breakfast was usually milky porridge made with oats in the microwave. Porridge is good to mix medications in too - I used to do this as a nurse if care-planned for people.

I bought some ice-cube trays from the poundshop/local cheapy shop and then once a week I would cook and puree some vegetable or fruit combinations and decant them into the ice cube trays. Wrap the trays in cling film and put them in the freezer. Then you could just pop out a couple of cubes each morning and they would be defrosted by meal time. If her appetite increased I could increase the portion size easily with an extra cube.

I'm not sure how old your baby is, but although you might have pizza/chips/processed food etc perhaps you sometimes have a roast or a shepherds pie? You can do the same ice cube tray trick with pureed meals like this. Roasts are particularly good because you can make chicken and carrot puree, chicken and pea puree, potato and parsnip puree for example, and you don't need a lot.

Sarah2490

As ashamed as I am I must admit that my 4 year old doesn't have the best diet either. I try to ensure there veg such as peas/sweetcorn or salad things with each meal and at least 1 fruit a day but she does eat a lot of processes/frozen/convenience food.

I know it is not right and that is why I am here. Although this post is specifically about feeding a baby I am using the forum to get tip on how to sort my crazy life out

I need to make things better but I need help

Sarah2490

RAS wrote: »

Is wheat the problem or it is gluten?

I'm not sure really it's not that he can't eat it but his bowel is very sluggish due to damage done by the milk allergy. If he eat too much wheat based food he becomes constipated and I have to up his meds that he already takes to keep him regular.

The consultant thinks that over time as his bowel heals and becomes stronger the problem should go away and he should be ok to eat wheat without a problem. Until then I have to keep his intake limited but not cut out altogether as his body needs to learn to process it...bit like exercise for his bowel muscles lol

squeakysue

Definitely do some bulk cooking of veggies etc for the freezer. Maybe you could try once a week cooking a meal that all 3 of you could eat eg a roast/cottage pie etc and gradually build it up to eating the same stuff more often. Will help you with your eating habits and encourage your kids to eat well too.
I'm not too clued up on allergies but how about simple meals of beans on toast/scrambled egg and beans etc, really cheap and easy and simple to mush up for babies.
Porridge for breakfast is perfect for adding medication to, yoghurts are also good for adding medication to (maybe soy yoghurts would be suitable)
I would just cut out the jars completely, you will save a fortune, get yourself down the market for some cheap fruit n veg

Good luck x