how often do you feed your baby with commercial jar baby food?

Question

i m a vegetarian so i do not cook much meat. so i feed my baby with commercial baby food chicken lamb beef fish. but other food i cook myself

i bought mince meat boiled it and i tried to puree it in blender but i couldn't puree it properly..he eats once a day commercial food now

Answer 1

Mums Own (Heinz) do jars of pureed beef, chicken and cod - you could make your own vegetables and just add these to it.
Its all organic too.......

Answer 2

I am not a vegetarian and I feed my daughter very little meat. I will buy organic chicken boil and puree or give it to her in chunks for finger food. I don't feel like she needs a lot of beef so I rarely give it to her unless it is in a jar and I need something in a pinch. Beef is hard to digest and her little colon doesn't need to be clogged up with red meat at this age. Humans were not meant to eat meat everyday, once or twice a week is enough. What I do do is feed her a lot of beans. I will make black beans and rice, I use the Gerber rice cereal because it's packed with iron and nutrients. I cook the beans until they are mush and put it through the food processor, the consistancy is perfect for a baby. You can also do chick peas, green slit peas, lentils, etc. I will also buy bags of frozen or fresh veggies steam them, puree and mix with beans. There are times where I will buy a jar of lamb and mix with the pureed veggies. I have made my own chicken stock and mixed pureed veggies with the chicken stock, she loves it!
To answer your question I only feed my daughter about 1 or 2 jars a week and that's only when I need something fast and easy.
By the way I have bought ground sirloin, cooked it and pureed with water. All I can say is it looks and smells awful! I'm waiting to add more meat to her diet when she's a little older.

Answer 3

I also do not eat red meat, but I do cook it for my baby. I rarely (only in an emergency) use commercial food.
I know it may gross you out to cook it, but just think the sacrifice you are making for the baby.

I am not against commercial food and I am sure it is fine. My concern is, how do you put chicken and beef on a shelf ? I know the jar may say "no sugar or salt" but what preservatives are used to allow chicken and beef to sit on a shelf for 2 years. Like I said, I do use it in an emergency, but if you are able to make it, not all of us can, make it.

Here is a trick that may help and this way you only need to cook it once a week.

1) Buy the silicone muffin trays
2) Make a meat & vegetable recipe or chicken/vege/rice recipe
3) Spoon into muffin trays (you will need 3 or 4)
4) Freeze
5) Tip them out and put them into a ziplock with the name on the outside
6) Microwave when it's time to feed.

This way you have a bit of a variety, but you only need to cook the meat once a week. My daughter is 17 months and I still do this sometimes as emergency backup just to avoid the commercial food or for when we are going visiting.

Answer 4

I don't use commercial baby food. We tasted it in our mum's group and it wasn't very nice. It generally didn't taste like the ingredients (ie chicken and corn just tasted like corn and left a horrible residue in my mouth).

If you don't/can't cook meat then what about getting someone else to cook you up some and then you puree it etc? Maybe you could pick up some roast chicken or grilled fish from a takeaway shop, You might be able to get lamb or pork in cooked slices from the deli section of your supermarket. Or you may have some family/friends who are really nice and will cook you some extra when they are making a meal.

If you are going to the effort to cook the other food yourself (way to go! It's much healthier anyway) then I'm sure there's a way you can get real meat without having to cook it yourself.

Answer 5

I guess it depends how old your baby is. When they're very wee (eg. below 8 months) then those jars can be quite useful. But when food is getting to a more 'mashed' stage ie. stage 2 jars I found my son rejecting them - and when I tasted them I understood why! I've found making a batch of chicken stew (saute a chopped up chicken breast in olive oil till slightly browned, remove from pan + cut into baby bite size pieces), do your veg + garlic +basil, add tomatoes and chicken back to pan, cook for @15/20 more mins) and freezing it in meal size tubs a good way of getting a hassle-free nutritious tasty meal together. All I need to do is cook the rice and microwave defrost the tub. Also those baby jars don't contain a lot of meat - 8% if the title puts the vegetables in front of the meat on the label (eg. vegetables with rice and chicken). Try also Annabel Karmels liver casserole (2nd stage weaning recipe but we still use it). I know it sounds unlikely but my son laps it up and its a good source of iron...Hope this helps

Answer 6

My son is almost 10 months old and he has breakfast (usually oatmeal with apples or some variation), lunch (I try for veggies/fruits), and dinner (veggies or one of their dinner variations). He also gets the toddler crackers, fruit/veggie puffs, meals, etc. The thing about the commercial baby food is that everything is premeasured so there are no additional additives. My son also gets some table food (which he prefers anyway). The only thing he can't have is seafood, peanuts, milk--until he's 1 year old and then my pediatrician said that he can have anything. I'm trying to wean him off so many bottles during the day also and replacing them with sippy cups of water, juice or formula. Once he started on the solid food, he couldn't get enough. Now the formula isn't nearly enough to keep him satisfied. Good luck!

Answer 7

hi there

i hardly ever fed my little one on jar baby food, i made her all my own foods. I found that jar food is unsatisfying and doesnt fill baby up for very long. Hence you end up feeding baby more often throughout the day. Once i started making my own food i found that my baby would be satisfied for longer - going 4 hrs between meals. She is now 19months old and still follows the same pattern and has her meals every 4 hrs throughout the day.

When she was young i made lots of fruit and veg purees then started introducing meats, cheeses, bread etc. There is a book id strongly recommend for you - Annabel Karmels baby cookbook, its full of nutritious recepies for children of all ages 6months onwards and i think there is a section on vegetarian cooking aswell.

Hope this helps. Best wishes to you and your child :)

Answer 8

I am vegetarian too, but I do cook my baby meat & fish - I use the jars maybe once/twice a week - I find it easier to cook 4/5 dinners at the same time & freeze them - saves me handling fish/meat every day!

Answer 9

Check with your childs pediatrician. It also depends on the childs age and how they are handling the other foods. We didn't start feeding our son the plain meats until he was about 1yr old. Before that we were just giving him the different baby foods with meat in them.

When we did start giving him the plain meat we gave him that at dinner time and the other baby food during the day.

Answer 10

For your baby's sake, please cook the meat at home if you want your baby to be healthy. I did feed mine the commercial food and regretted later. My son could not eat any regular food for a long long time. So pinch your nose with a clothes line clip, wear gloves if you have to, but cook it if you must feed your baby meat and fish. Otherwise there is no harm in feeding it vegetarian food.

Answer 11

Hi, Buy the time they are on baby food, (approx 6months) they should be happy for two-three baby food meals a day, topped up with regular bottles of milk etc.

If you are unsure after this, or if you think baby having too much or too little, I would suggest consulting your doctor or even the midwife team.

Hope this helps