I got a lot of questions when people found out that I start to make my own baby food shortly after I realized that the baby food in jars was nasty. Seriously have you ever tried to eat a spoonful. Imagine getting all of your nutrients from that stuff.
Yuck!
It is also easy, and you can get a week's worth done in about an hour. It sure beats lugging the jars home from the store.
I didn't use anything special, just the blender and some pots that I already owned. I would make a puree by mashing it (bananas ands avocado) or boiling it and blending it (practically everything else). Then I would freeze out in ice cube trays and store it in freezer bags. I think this was the website I used as a guide on momtastic.
You may have noticed that I mentioned purees before. The reason is that your baby is not that great at self-feeding in the beginning. It's giving them mushy, gummable foods, and letting them feed themselves, essentially. Peas, cooked carrots, broccoli, apples, ect. shredded meats, bananas, anything like that really. There's no need to start off with purees. "Food before one is just for fun". At 6 months, they are capable of "chewing" soft foods, and whether it be purees or self-feeding, the first month or so, they won't be swallowing much anyway.
Their skills will develop and he will get better at it. It's a gradual transition toward eating more and more solids. If you wait until 6 months to start solids, there is no need at all to feed them purees. Purees are for people who decide to start their baby on solids at 4 months, before baby has the necessary skills to feed himself (like sitting up and grabbing things and maneuvering them effectively).
And even if they are eating most of a baby's diet still comes from breastmilk/formula until 1 year anyway, so that's not a huge issue.
Yet we followed the motto "food is for fun before age one."
They can gum up an enormous amount; it doesn't have to be too soft. My baby is nursing so I don't worry about "enough" food going in.
They recommend starting with things like broccoli since it has a sort of handle. We went through a lot of steamed asparagus, broccoli, whole wheat mini pitas topped with pesto and veg and cheese, apple slices, cheese curds. Most of which helps them out with self feeding, rather than spoon feeding for months, which can put them a bit behind on learning how to feed themselves with their hands.
There aren't any rules for what constitutes "enough" anyway; babies are well-programmed to take in what they need.
