Introducing solid foods is an important step in your baby’s development. While there is nothing wrong with feeding your infant jarred baby food, many parents don’t realize that making baby food at home can be easy and less expensive.
Processed baby foods may have added water, sugars or starchy fillers that could dilute the nutrient content of the actual food , which means that your little one is mostly getting mouthfuls of fillers, instead of the fruits and vegetables pictured on the container.
There’s a clear cost advantage to making your own baby food, especially if you use local vegetables and fruits in season. The City of Toronto Health Unit estimates that homemade baby food costs 30 to 50 per cent less than commercial baby food. By making your own baby food, you can introduce a wider variety of foods than are commercially available. This way, you’ll know exactly what goes into your child’s chow, without having to spend hours reading and decoding nutrition labels. Bonus: You won’t be adding baby-food packaging to the landfill.
When making baby food
- Offer a variety of foods.
- Steam food because it keeps more nutrients in. The more you cook vegetables and fruit, the more nutrients are lost.
- Do not add salt, spices, honey, sugar, butter, margarine or other seasoning.
- Consult a pediatrician before introducing certain types of foods
For more information about making your own baby food: http://www.toronto.ca/health/nutrition_matters/pdf/makingbabyfood.pdf
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