The Mom Crowd

You’re probably thinking, “who has time to make their own baby food?” I can assure you that you have time! Making your own baby food is a lot easier than you think and will save your family a lot of money. There are other benefits to making your own baby food. Gone are the days of reading labels and watching for hidden additives. Making your own baby food ensures that there are no hidden ingredients in your baby’s food that he or she may be allergic to. Serving homemade baby food to your child will make their transition to table food less stressful because they’ll be exposed to a greater variety of tastes and textures. Another benefit to home made baby food is that you can make sure that your babies food tastes yummy! Have you ever tasted jarred baby food? YUCK!

1. Prep Work

Wash, cook, and peel fruits and vegetables. The microwave is an extremely quick way to cook your vegetables! Try to always buy organic. Some great foods to start your baby on are avocados, sweet potatoes, bananas, and baby cereal.

2. Mash and Puree

Some foods, such as bananas and avocados, mash easily with a fork. Others, such as mangoes and broccoli, may require the use of a blender or food processor. I like to use my Oster Hand Blender or my Black and Decker Food Chopper to puree my baby’s food. Babies who are just starting out need very smooth foods, while older babies can have more textured foods. I haven’t had the need for a big food processor, although I imagine having one would make this process even quicker!

3. Freeze

Scoop pureed fruit or vegetables into ice cube trays. Put foil over tray and put the covered ice cube tray of pureed food in the freezer.

4. Organize

After cubes have been in the freezer overnight, or about 12 hours, pop out each individual cube, and transfer the cube to a freezer quality zip lock bag. Don’t forget to label the bags with the name of the food and the expiration date. You can store fruits and vegetables for up to three months in the freezer. Some fruits and vegetables can technically be stored in the freezer for longer, however fruits and vegetables can start to lose nutrients during the thawing process after being in the freezer for too long. It is best to serve your frozen baby food within 3 months.

5. Thaw and Serve

You can thaw frozen cubes by placing them in the refrigerator. Please use this baby food though within two days. You can also microwave the frozen cubes straight out of the freezer when your baby is ready to eat. Just make sure your baby’s food is not too hot before serving!

Resources:
For more detailed information on making your own baby food, you can purchase or check out from the library the book, “Super Baby Food” by Ruth Yaron or visit the Super Baby Food website. In the book you will find all the details of making your own baby food, including:

• what foods baby can eat at what age
• how long you can store every fruit and vegetable in the freezer
• how to easiest cook your veggies
• a really fun toddler recipe section!

Libraries, pediatricians, parent-groups, midwives, and other baby care professionals can receive a free copy of the book “Super Baby Food” by clicking here.

Helpful Tools:

Oster Hand Blender
Black and Decker Food Chopper
Nifty Frozen Cube Storage Option

What is your baby’s favorite food? Do you have any tips or tricks on making this process even more simple? What homemade baby food books do you like?

A reader asks The Mom Crowd:

I need advice from other moms on how to get my baby to take a bottle! She took a bottle as her last feeding before bed and then it came to an abrupt stop in August (short of turning 2 months). I’ve done just about everything and have researched tips online and in parenting magazines, but hoping there would be a sneaky trick a mom may be able to provide. Thanks!

I have heard that sometimes it is better if someone else gives baby the bottle. I think the baby can smell you and knows your presence. The one time Ace drank a bottle of breastmilk I was not around when my mom-in-law gave her the bottle.

Do any of you have any tips or tricks to get your baby to take a bottle after she has been breastfeeding?

These links may be helpful:

“Baby Refuses the Bottle” at Berkeley Parents Network
“A situation has come up where I need to feed my baby from a bottle. Can you help?” At the La Leche League
“Alternatives to Bottles” at AskDrSears.com
“Introducing Bottles and Pacifiers to a Breastfed Baby” at Storknet.com

I bought my nursing cover from Rosanna a few weeks ago and I love it! I have used the cover a few times in public and it works great. I am not one of those suave mothers that can whip their boob in and out before you even know what happened. I am clumsy and modest; I need security that I am not going to flash all of Ikea.

The nursing cover is large enough to conceal everything. The ring in the strap is adjustable. The best part is the wire at the top of the cover that forms an opening for me to watch Ace and for her to see me. She doesn’t seem to mind being under the cover. The material is not very heavy. There is a terry cloth corner that weighs the material down and can serve as a burp wipe. I have not tried to wash my cover yet, so I don’t know how it comes out in the wash.

Rosanna has many beautiful prints to choose from. You can’t beat the price at $25 each. She only charges $2 for shipping. Most covers I looked at were $35 plus. When you buy from Rosanna you are supporting a local mom and not a corporate chain. Rosanna was prompt to answer my emails and ordering was easy.

Next time you need a beautiful and functional nursing cover for yourself or a new mommy check out Nursing Covers by Rosanna.

Amelia,

I need mom advice… How do you know if your breast milk is not working for the baby? My baby is totally having gas problems. The Dr. wants to put him on Prevacid. He had a ultrasound yesterday to check for reflux, but it came back fine. He gained almost another pound …10.15 now.

He has this terrible cry and painful look in his face like he needs to pass gas several times through out the day. It’s hit and miss when he gets fussy. I tried gripe water but it is not helping.

My husband’s grandma thinks it’s my milk. She keeps telling me my milk isn’t rich enough or something is wrong with it. If that is true, I will be totally sad. I guess I dont want to think that it could be it…I’m having a hard time with grandma being here. I’m a total emotional roller coaster. I love her, BUT she is driving me nutzzzzzz. She has toooo much to say and tooo much advice and talks too loud….

I would like your opinion about the breast milk. Not sure what to do. Your advice is needed my friend.

My response:

First let me start off by saying that you are doing a great job as a mamma! I’m glad the reflux ultrasound came back negative.

It sounds like hubby’s grandma has some old information. She is telling you things she heard back in her time of breastfeeding. Your milk is the best thing for your baby and the fact that he has gained over 2 pounds since his birth a month ago is a great sign! His pain might be worse if he were on formula instead of your milk, which is more easily digested.

I can understand how difficult it can be when your baby is crying as if he is in pain. It is hard for a mother to see her child in pain and as moms we try to do what we can to minimize our children’s pain. Try to remember that his digestive tract is young and immature and that he will eventually grow out of it.

There are a few things you can do in the meantime. Check your diet and make sure you aren’t eating a lot of the common foods that are known to bother babies like dairy, broccoli, garlic, onions, and chocolate. Sometimes babies are sensitive to what a mother eats. You can eliminate one kind of food at a time and see if there is an improvement in his gassiness/fussiness.

Also, you could try feeding the baby from only one side. Some babies become less gassy and fussy when they eat from one side at a time. Research has shown this to be true for some babies. When babies eat from one side they get more hindmilk and that seems to improve the problem. If your baby has bowel movements that are green and frothy it can be a sign of hindmilk/foremilk imbalance. When mothers produce large amounts of milk sometimes the baby gets full on too much foremilk and don’t get enough hindmilk. One way to remedy that, especially when feeding from both sides, is to pump a little or manually extract some milk from the first side before the baby eats to make sure the baby gets more hindmilk. Also feeding from one side per feeding can help too.

Having family to help after you have a baby can be wonderful but it can be difficult too. As hard as it may be, I would encourage you to tell grandma, “Thanks for your input, but I don’t think my milk is the problem. The doctor doesn’t either and I would appreciate it if we could agree to disagree and not talk about it anymore.” Or something like that. You could also ask your husband to talk to grandma and have him tell her that her negative comments are hurting your feelings and that it would be better for her to say positive things about your decision to nurse your baby. It might be better coming from him since it is his grandma. It sounds like she is a direct person, and often times direct people need to be spoken to directly.

Breastfeeding is such an intimate experience and it is common for mammas to be very vulnerable to negative comments. It is so important for you to have others around that support your decision to breastfeed. Hang in there and try to ignore grandma’s negativity.

Starting to breastfeed your baby can be the most frustrating and difficult two to three weeks of your life. I personally found it more painful than childbirth. Here are seven things that helped me get through those first few weeks.

1. Have a vision.

When I first started to nurse I had a lot of pain and difficulty breastfeeding my daughter, Ace. I talked about what I was feeling with a friend who was just finishing her first year breastfeeding her baby. She painted a picture for me about how she found joy in nursing, how easy feeding her son had become, and how she loved the connection that she had with her son. At the time I thought she was nuts, but I clung to that picture of the future. I had hope that nursing was going to get easier.

2. Knowledge is power.

Breastfeeding is easier when you know the biology of your body and your baby. Also, knowing how to hold your baby and the different holding positions will help you and your baby learn this new skill faster. Go to a breastfeeding class! This was by far the most informative class that I took in preparation for my new baby. In addition, don’t leave the hospital before you meet with a lactation consultant. I had learned how to hold the baby in class, but having just given birth I was having difficulty remembering what they taught me. I was thankful for the reminders. Finally, read books about breastfeeding, search websites and learn as much as you can!

3. Remember the benefits.

During the first few weeks of nursing I asked my husband to make a giant poster of all the benefits of breastfeeding, so I could read them while I was enduring the pain. I would have him recite all the benefits to me again and again. I would even list them in my head. Remembering the advantages of breastfeeding will help you stay motivated.

A few benefits of breastfeeding are:
- Your immunities and antibodies are passed to the baby making them less likely to become sick
- Saves you money
- Less likely to be a SIDS victim
- A greater bond with your baby

For more information about the benefits of breastfeeding check out the La Leche League and Breastfeeding.com.

4. It is a sacrifice.

Know that breastfeeding is a sacrifice. Yes, you will have to watch what you eat. Yes, you will have to feed almost every hour to three hours during the day. Yes, you might have a uni-boob when wearing certain nursing bras. Yes, you will have to juggle feeding your baby in public places or going home to feed. But in the end, the sacrifice and hassle is all worth it.

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