Canning baby food

[Strysa]

So my hubby and I are expecting our first in about 6 months. I was wanting to start canning baby food now so I can keep an eye out for great deals on fruits and veggies. I was wondering if anyone had some real experience on whether or not it is actually worth it, and maybe some good resources. I have been browsing the web but everything is so all over the place. Thought I would see what my friendly roll your own neighbors might think.

 

[BarredBuff]

I am not sure, but I think it would be cost effective. Especially when you can get things on sale.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I only used baby food from the stores for my first. All the other children, just ate table food, as soon as they were a few months old, so long as I had something soft. I might have to mix some baby rice cereal with some gumbo, if they weren't old enough to chew....or redbean sauce, etc....
Now I've cooked them fruits and vegs, just for them and pureed them, then froze in an ice tray, broke them loose and stored in a ziploc...all labeled and dated. Never let them get older than about a month.
Seems like by the time they about 6 months old, I'd start them chewing on a special babyfood I"d make for them....I'd boil elbow macaroni with frozen mixed vegs, seasoned with the smallest amt of butter, to not stick and let them feed themselves. No joke. No matter if it went in their hair, on the floor, across the room (not really), they'd start feeding themselves, using their hands.
At 10 months, they were eating regular rice with sauces and chopped meats with a little spoon....again, they'd feed themselves, unless I was out with them and needed them to stay clean. I'd give them a nice size portion, to make sure that the amount they were wearing, the amount they'd throw down to the dog or whatever, was still enough so that they'd actually have their fair portion.
I'm not sure if there are jars small enough for you to can, unless you reuse old babyfood jars.....plus, some vegs would require a very long pressure time......speaking, just from my knowledge of home canning. Also, some vegs are very low in acid and would, therefore require a salt or sugar to help with the preserving, unless you really got it super hot for a tremendous amount of time. Squash comes to mind. My grandmother told me it couldn't be done, but Ball said it could....I listened to Ball.......oops. Grandma was right. Something went wrong.
If you want to make your own, I"d freeze it.
You just reminded me though that I need to ask my nieces to save me some jars......great for herbs.
Good luck, with whatever you do and hope you have an easy delivery and very healthy baby.

 

[k15n1]

There are very very few cases of botulism in the USA (about 1 in a million, actually), but many of those are children. My understanding is that canned food that can't be thoroughly re-heated is not recommended for babies. If you're the type of person who is interested in recommendations...

BTW, you can make super cheap baby food from frozen vegtables. And chances are your baby will want real food sooner than the baby industry recommends. Our 3rd gave up the commercial stuff after just a few tastes of real food.

 

[moolie]

We canned apple sauce, peaches etc. but mostly just fed our kids whatever we were eating--never bought "baby food" other than rice pablum cereal. Didn't take up pressure canning till a couple of years ago, but I'm not sure about the advice above about not being able to reheat canned food adequately? Most kids get soil-born botulism, not food-born.

First foods were rice pablum cereal, then oatmeal, then veggies pureed in the blender, then fruits, then pretty much regular food cooked really soft. We avoided eggs, strawberries, seafood, honey etc. (can't remember everything we avoided, it was a LONG time ago!) due to possible allergies during the first year.

Our kids are teens now that love a variety of healthy foods and don't have any food allergies or sensitivities.

 

[k15n1]

Yes, there are a significant number of soil-ingestion cases. I don't know how it breaks down for children, though. The other major source of botulism is fermented sea critters, which is apparently part of the tradition in certain NW communities. Or so I read. I have no experience with those traditions and haven't found any other sources.

But you bring up a good point about acidic/neutral foods. I've only heard the re-heating recommendation for pressure-canned food that's not acidic. Anyway, we aren't in the habit of eating cold green beans or venison, so we are inadvertent followers of the recommendations.

 

[Bettacreek]

Yuck. Have you ever tried, or even SMELLED commercial baby food? The meat all smells like canned cat food. No lie. I couldn't force myself to try it, and couldn't force myself to make my kids try it either. The only thing we really used was the baby cereal. Everything else, I just started feeding them tiny, tiny bites off of my plate. As for saving money, wow, YES! I looked it up online at Walmart quickly, and for Gerber, in the plastic things (I couldn't find the real cheap stuff, but whatever), it was $1.22/3.5oz container for the banana. Banana prices here are outrageous ($0.49/lb), but still, let's be VERY loose with calculations. Say you get 12oz of puree from your pound of banana, then let's give Gerber another boost and say that those tubs are 4oz tubs, so you'd be able to make three of them with your forty-nine cents. That's $0.16 for homemade, no preservatives, etc, etc, and $1.22 for one of their containers. And, that's with giving Gerber TWO boosts, by giving them an extra half ounce of product and you'd get more than 12oz off of a pound of bananas. Heck, you could even buy the organic bananas at $0.77/lb and still make out like a bandit.

 

[ORChick]

Take this for whatever you think its worth - bearing in mind that I don't have any children, but have done a fair bit of reading on the subject, and worked as a nurse in a pediatric office for 20 years. Babies don't really need "baby food", they need soft food, appropriate to their development. Mashed up soft bananas are good; mashed egg yolks; rice, cooked and pureed; applesauce, etc. If you can get over the "yuck" factor (if it is an issue; it wouldn't be for me) liver is a good early food - freeze it, and grate it on a fine grater, let it warm up and let baby eat it (raw if you can; lightly cooked if necessary - I would poach it in a little broth) - its good nutrition - best if from grass fed beef (and don't pay any attention to what your MIL says ). The best food of all in the beginning, of course, is mother's milk. If you can you should think of breastfeeding for the first 9 months to a year, at least, introducing other foods as appropriate, that is, as baby seems to need them - some babies want solids way earlier than others. If you have to prepare "baby food" in advance you are better advised to freeze it, as more nutrients are kept intact that way, and you can prepare more appropriate sized servings (even a small jar of canned food is a lot of food for a baby). Prepare what you need to, and either freeze it in ice cube trays, or plop spoonfuls on a cookie sheet and freeze. Keep the cubes or the "plops" in a freezer bag till needed. Google home made baby food for lots of good ideas. And discuss with your pediatrician what order of introduction he/she recommends.
(Story from my years as a pediatric nurse: mother was surprised when it was suggested that she might feed her baby mashed banana; banana from a jar wasn't a problem, but it hadn't occurred to her that a real banana would be good for baby. Apparently if it wasn't labeled "baby food" it wasn't really good for baby in her mind)
Remember that, until not so very long ago (less than 100 years - not all that long before I was a baby, actually ) commercial "baby food" didn't exist.
And, speaking of botulism, don't feed your baby raw honey until it is at least a year old; it is rare, but possible that botulism spores might be ingested, and a baby's system can't handle it, whereas older children/adults don't have any problem.

 

[the funny farm6]

my kids didnt eat much "baby food" either. apple sauce is very easy to make... i should know lol i just did up 8 five gal buckets of them. cut the apples in quarters, cut out the core, and you can leave the peal on if you want- put them in a pan on med-low with a little water and cook them till they are mushy. then put them in a tomatoe juicer thing and it comes out very smooth. i then freeze it in ziplock baggies- no sugar.

 

[TanksHill]

I usee ice cube tray method as well. Sweet potatoes, butternut squash roasted pureed and avocados. After that I say soft pureed table foods one at a time. Be sure to space them out so you can pay attention to your new babies reaction. Gas, allergies etc...

Good luck!!

g