Baby Food Disclaimer

BABY FOOD DISCLAIMER:

       I want to begin by saying I am not a nutritionalist. I am not a dietician. I have no culinary degree. I am just a mom. I have made some observations about the nutrition of babies in our culture and decided that I want to know exactly what is being put into my child's body. Not in a controlling way, but in the interest of her health.

    Here is a link to some baby food basics: http://www.babycenter.com/baby-solid-feeding-basics
    And some information on ages and introducing new foods: http://www.babycenter.com/0_age-by-age-guide-to-feeding-your-baby_1400680.bc

     I decided when I became a mother that I would not feed my child anything that I would not eat myself. Baby food is gross. I have eaten it. Try some chicken broccoli dinner sometime. I DARE you. You will gag and choke and wish you were dead. And we feed this to our babies? The individuals that we value and love?! My blog entries about baby food are just my journey and search to find nutritious, tasty food made for babies. I found myself highly interested in how I can improve baby food. Both the taste and the nutritional value.

      Have you read the ingredients of a jar of baby food? Very simple. Basic. I read the ingredients of many jars before I said this is nuts! I can make this! and when you are going all or mostly organic, making your own baby food is more cost effective as well. I do buy mostly organic or natural ingredients. The debate on whether or not they are actually better for you or not is for another day. But my conscience feels more clean buying these products, when I can afford them.

        The one problem I find with my recipes is the fact that I use water in them. The recommended liquid ingredient for all baby food is breastmilk the first year of life and whole milk thereafter. I work part time and take care of my baby girl the rest of the time. Breastmilk goes bad very quickly and I soon found that if I used it in my baby food that I had to make new baby food every couple of days. The CDC says that breastmilk is good in the fridge for 5 days
(http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/recommendations/handling_breastmilk.htm) but I found that mine went bad more quickly. I tried this and became overwhelmed. As a result I use water, make my baby food thick, and then add breastmilk or whole milk to the bowl when I prepare the food for my baby on a bowl to bowl basis. That way the bulk of the baby food stays fresh for a longer period of time and my baby still gets some milk in her baby food. Every time I say water in my recipe, please know that I recommend breastmilk or whole milk. My baby girl has never been below 83rd percentile on the weight scale so I feel confident that she is not lacking nutrition.

     I do not add any salt. Some of my ingredients may naturally have some salt, but as a rule I use low sodium ingredients. Especially any canned products I use. Always get the low sodium or the less sodium version. Here's a link as to why too much salt is bad for babies:
 http://wholesomebabyfood.momtastic.com/saltinbabyfood.htm

     I also never add sugar. I have found that putting plenty of varieties of fruit in baby food create a natural sweetness that is very pleasing and my little girl finds delicious. Here is an article on refined sugar, even though it's not specific to babies, I find it very informative. http://www.livestrong.com/article/441681-the-effect-of-refined-sugar-on-the-body/#ixzz1T8hXx9Xk

     I use lemon juice as a preservative. Please read an article about lemon juice as a natural preservative here: http://www.livestrong.com/article/301425-what-are-some-natural-preservatives
Please note that you have to be careful if you do use any milk with lemon juice as it will cause the milk to separate. 

     I also find fat important. There are many articles stating the importance of fat in the diet of children under the age of 2. You can read one here:  http://www.earthsbest.com/resources/articles/infants/importance-healthy-fats 
If you have ever read any ingredients of baby food and instant cereal you will notice they have little or no fat. Of course babies get fat from their milk, but I find it strange that we promote the importance of fat on little baby brains and then give them an essentially fat free diet. Therefore I add olive oil to my baby foods. Just enough to give them a little healthy fat. Once they reach the age of 12 months, I have added some unsalted butter to baby foods to add flavor and fat as well. 

     Again, I have had no training in child nutrition. Please if you feel uncomfortable with any of my recipes or methods, refrain from feeding them to your child. Personally, I have fed all my recipes to my daughter and feel confident they provide her with good nutrition. I decided after reading dozens of baby jar labels that even if I am not perfect in my quest for good nutrition, my baby is still being fed better than if I just cracked a jar open and shoveled it in. And don't even get me started on yogurt that you don't have to refrigerate. Or the salt content of some of the baby "meals." 

    Judge free zone however. I have bought baby food on weeks I am overwhelmed and exhausted. I have just fed my child some butter on a piece of bread because I'm out of baby food and I haven't had my coffee yet. Life happens. Life is hard. Do what you can and accept what you can't. If you can make your child's baby food a few times, and my recipes make the process easier for you, I will have accomplished my goal. To improve baby's nutrition, one blog at a time.