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Homemade Baby Food on a Budget
Filed under: Babies, Feeding & Sleeping
You can save money making your own baby food, but it will cost you some time. Credit: Getty Images
Some opt to make their own baby food because it gives them more control over what their baby is eating. Others believe homemade baby food costs less than store-bought. But is it more economical?
On a recent trip to our local grocery store, we compared apple prices with packaged baby applesauce prices. For homemade conventional, non-organic baby applesauce, it would cost $1.69 per pound. Bought jars: $2.97 for nearly a pound.
For organic homemade baby applesauce, it would cost $1.69 per pound. Store bought jars: $3.87 for nearly a pound.
We also compared the prices of sweet potatoes and jarred sweet potato baby food and found homemade, non-organic sweet potatoes would cost $1.29 per pound. Bought jars end would up costing $2.97 for nearly a pound.
At those prices, it's cheaper to buy the actual food, cook it, mash it up and feed it to your baby.
However, you will need to factor in additional costs when you make your own baby food. Many companies sell food mills, baby food-making blenders and special storage containers. But really, if you have a blender (or even just a fork) and some ice cube trays, you can make and store baby food.
It does take time, though. If you plan, most of the work can be done while you're cooking dinner, and you can make a lot at one time, freeze it in clean ice cube trays and then, once frozen, store the food in a Ziploc or similar freezer bag.
If you are feeding your family fresh vegetables, whole grains, unprocessed meat and dairy products, you can feed your baby the same foods. Just mash them with a fork or puree them in the blender to avoid choking. Also, make sure you're only introducing one new food at a time, and wait three days before introducing another new food just in case there is a food allergy.
Some other ways to keep homemade baby food costs down:
- Go to your local farmer's market or farm stand and ask if they have "seconds." These are fruits or veggies that may have some blemishes. Often, you can get them at a discount. Simply cut off the odd looking parts before cooking.
- As you empty a freezer bag, wash and dry it, then reuse it.
- Before you make a huge batch of a new food, make a small batch and let baby try it a few times. Sometimes a new food will be refused 10 times before a baby decides he likes it, but never force a baby to eat a food he doesn't want. Forcing food can lead to food issues and picky eaters and will just make feeding time unpleasant.
- There are lots of items on the market to freeze your homemade baby food in, but the easiest and cheapest is a simple ice cube tray.
- Check this list for foods you should make sure are organic, and which ones are OK to purchase non-organic. Usually fruits and veggies with thick peels can be conventionally grown, since chemicals don't penetrate the thick skin. Bananas, for instance, don't need to be organic. This will help save some on your grocery bill.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
9-23-2010 @ 4:58PM
jackemama said...This is an interesting article! I have read that 75% of women make their own baby food so this is a great resource for them...you can find those stats at the skinny scoop . com - they do a lot of great polling and this was a question on their site.
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10-26-2010 @ 5:41PM
Holly Oswald said...We eat healthy and put extra in the "bullet" to puree with a little water and she eats what we eat. When we are out we feed her sprout babyfood. Packages are about $1 and they are organic, in a pouch so it is easy to transport and you do not have to worry about breaking jars. Tayler has been great and willing to try everything. Now at 9 months she likes pretty much everything, including chopped liver, lemons, strawberrys, dill pickles, broccoli, sweet potatoes, chicken. We let her try everything. No one is allowed to say "yuck" about any foods to the baby.
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10-27-2010 @ 4:10AM
Megan said...I think Yuck is the worst thing you can say around a baby eating. That and making the yucky face. Kids pick up on those signals and I think that's how most picky eaters are "made". I also have a "No Yuck" rule around my son.
I've been using my cheap food processor ($5 at walmart on Black Friday sales) and have made pretty much anything I can think of. Peaches, plums, bananas, corn, green beans, carrots, peas, squash, triple berry (raspberry, blackberry, strawberry), blueberries, cantalope, mango, kiwi, you name the fruit you can find in the grocery store. Except apples. We buy the big jars of unsweetened applesauce. We also add the apple sauce to things that we feel he might not like at first and the little bit of sweet catches his interest. then every time after that when we make it, we add less and less apple sauce until we aren't using any. Works wonders. to this day, he only refuses avacado (but then again, its got a funny taste, I think). He's even eaten pinto beans!
also, instead of buying that expensive baby yogurt, buy the all natural vanilla (or plain) yogurt (like $2-3) and use that instead. Just watch out for all the added sugars and anything you can't pronounce. Has helped us save a BUNDLE!
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