It is shocking that some parents are using credit cards to purchase commercial brands of baby food. Heather Tolbert, mom to 9-month old Justin, says “When I grocery shop for the family, I usually end up buying anywhere between 40-50 jars of baby food per month, averaging about .79 cents per jar. It adds around $30-40 to my grocery bill each month, and that doesn’t include the formula that I buy, which is another $100 per month. So altogether, I’m spending about $130-140 per month extra on Justin’s baby food and formula.” When you couple that price with the regular grocery bill, it’s no wonder people are using credit, especially if they are on a fixed or reduced income.
Moms like Heather Tolbert are using credit cards all the time to supplement the cost of buying food for their babies. Especially with the economy right now in Michigan. People are losing their jobs left and right. Unless you have in interest free credit card, when you add on finance charges, you could almost buy another months supply of commercial baby food with what you pay in interest.
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With new parents frequently on a tight budget and food quality concerns on the rise, many parents are opting to make their own baby food and really enjoying the results. Baby gets healthy foods that mom or dad make for them and mom and dad get to save money either for college or vacations or a new house or whatever makes sense for the growing family.The SuppliesThe most important supply for making your own baby food is a good blender or baby food mill. At the beginning, your baby is going to need her food very finely pureed.
You will also need a storage option. Frequently, moms will initially freeze the baby food in ice cube trays and then transfer the cubes to freezer bags. If you do not have an ice cube tray, you can get one for very little at your favorite retailer.The FoodYou will probably start your baby on produce, and there is no right or wrong produce to use first. Choose produce that is fresh and in season as very few babies have allergies to vegetables. Keep in mind that corn is hard on a baby’s tummy and can be an allergen.
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Most of the baby’s diet will consist of milk for weeks yet. When he does begin to reduce his milk intake because he positively wants more, starting a baby on solids might not be such a good idea even if making your own baby food as he will still drink enough milk to provide almost all the protein, minerals and vitamins he needs. When making your own baby food for the first time thinking that starting a baby on solids might not be such a bad idea to begin with, you should know that they are needed only for their calories at such a young age – their fuel – and there are calories in every kind of food.
Your baby will get no more benefit from an expensive “high-protein” cereal than from an ordinary one. He does not need the extra protein in the expensive product, only the calories, which are in both. Starting a baby on solids and making your own baby food is a very serious matter, so choosing first foods is more a matter of avoiding the few types that are particularly likely to cause allergic reactions than selecting those that will be particularly good for him. He can have almost any food that you ordinarily serve provided it has a taste he likes, a semi-liquid texture he can easily take, and no ill-effects on his digestion. Once he has got the idea of taking food without sucking, try to offer a wide variety of flavours so that you find out, by experiment, what your baby likes and what he docs not. Even at this early stage, when taste acuity is still developing, |g have definite preferences which you should respect.
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