baby's first solids: preparing and storing solid food for baby

[miksha]

do you make a fresh batch everytime that baby has to eat or i can make a batch the evening before and then store them in separate containers and then just put them in the ref and reheat them the next day? magsisimula pa lang magstart nang solids ang anak ko. pedia gave us the go signal to give her solids when she reaches 5months2weeks (so may 2weeks pa ako to prepare)

[clueless]

My baby has been eating solids for about a month. Nung una, i would prepare her food everyday. She ate 1 tablespoon lang once a day. I would steam the small piece of carrot or potato or kamote everyday when we cook rice sa rice cooker then mash it and add milk.

But i noticed that if i mash manually, di masyadong fine ang consistency ng food so last week, i tried to make a batch good for a few days. Same process of steaming but i used a hand blender instead of mashing the food manually. Then i placed the food in a covered ice tray then stored it in the freezer. Nung frozen na, i removed the cubes from the ice tray then placed them in a ziploc back. Every morning, i get one piece to be put in the fridge para ma-thaw for her lunch time feeding.

Last friday, she started eating 2x a day na, 1 ice cube each time so i made a bigger batch of food earlier today.

So far, these are what she has tried:
- kamote - she likes kasi sweet
- carrotes - ok lang
- sayote - she likes din
- potatoes - she didnt like it at first but when i offered it again, ok naman na
- squash - first that i had hand-blended so super smooth consistency. She loved this.
- upo - we started on this tody and she hated it. As in umiyak and niluwa niua. I will offer it again this afternoon and see if she takes it na.

I also gave her cold melon and cold pears, cut up in cubes and placed in a munchkin fresh food feeder. She sucks the juice lang naman, she loved it kasi cold, helps with teething.

Hope this helps.

[miksha]

thanks sis! very helpful. do you still sterilize her utensils (spoon, dish, food container, sippy cup, etc.... ) or just wash them like we do  normal plates?

[clueless]

all of her feeding paraphernalia are washed using pigeon bottle cleanser, which is also what we use for her feeding bottles. then they are sterilized in hot water, dipped lang for a couple of minutes.

[jsingson]

thanks sis! very helpful. do you still sterilize her utensils (spoon, dish, food container, sippy cup, etc.... ) or just wash them like we do  normal plates?

I have an 8 month old daughter.  Her utensils are washed using Joy Anti Bac lang.  We have a big dryer at the house, and I had the first rack reserved for my daugher's stuff only.  Her feeding bottles though continue to be washed with Cradle and sterilized.

[pinkcoyote]

Lisa, glad to find you here, what's the first ever solid food that your baby tried? The pedia kasi sabi sakin cerelac rice cereal. But based from experience, matamis ang cerelac and i think it's the culprit why my firstborn doesnt eat the usual table food  and veggies puro cerelac kasi sya when she was still a baby.

[pinkcoyote]

btw, how does a hand blender look like? And how is it different from the ekectric one?

A friend of mine naman uses a food processor. Ako i have the Ainon baby food maker set.

[clueless]

Hi sam.

The first food we gave her was kamote. Steamed then manually mashed then mixed with a little milk. But it's too thick so you may need to add a lot of milk. My sister prepared kamote for her twins good for 3 days and she used 8oz of expressed bm until she was ok with the consistency. Just so you have an idea lang of how thick it is.

I have the pigeon baby food maker set. I think this is similar to the ainon set you have. Per my experience, i get a better consistency if the food is hand blended rather than manually mashed using the pigeon masher. Mas runny kasi if hand blended.

This is what a hand blender looks like. I find it better to use this kesa the blender-blender with pitcher and all kasi it's less noisy, easier to clean and small amount lang naman yung food. My sister naman uses an avent steamer and food processor. she said ok daw pero namahalan ako eh. goid that my mom gave me a hand blender. I'vd had it for a while and found a good use for it only now.

[pinkcoyote]

oh, ok yun pala yung hand blender thanks!

[skylove]

My baby started solids a month ago and i have been feeding her with mostly homemade food. I bought organic brown rice, grinded it using coffee grinder, then yun na nic-cook ko or mix with veggies. So far she has eaten squash, carrots, banana, apple and papaya.

Question lang.. At 7 mos, how much solids can a baby take na? 1-2 teaspoons? Baby ko kasi mabilis umayaw sa food. Unless it's something sweet like apple or banana. I prepare her food everyday. I prepare her cereal on-the-spot kasi she likes it warm. Saka di maganda consistency pag galing freezer. There are just veggies na I steamed before, pureed and then put in small containers na good for 2 days.  The rest frozen muna.

Saka is sweet potato different from the regular potato found sa supermarket? I want her to try potato naman. Then sayote

How 'bout juices? Sabi ng pedia ko nothing citrus muna. I'm thinking of giving apple juice sana since lately loose ang bowel niya due to teething.

[clueless]

^ i have ground rice also, plan to give to baby next week. Do you mash/puree the veggues that you mix with the ground rice?

Sweet potato is more like kamote. That's on the sweet side so your baby might like it.

My baby eats 1 ice cube 2x a day. An ice cube is about 1.5x1.25".

I havent tried giving juice yet. What kind of apple juice do you intend to give? Juice your own or mfa ready to drink gerber type?

I order organic veggies again from green grocer for delivery on monday. I feed baby all organic except for the pears na i gave in a munchkin feeder.

[skylove]

^ Ah kamote! Hehe ok! I'll try that. Siguro dami kong pinapakain kay baby kaya mabilis magsawa. Yung half scoop kasi ng ground rice i mix with a small tsp of veggie. Baka sobra na nga minsan. Sige, ontian ko na lang. Although matakaw baby ko. Parang kahit madami siya nakain na solid, pag oras na ng milk niya, iinom pa rin siya. Di siya mapakali ng di iinom. Tabachingching tuloy!

I puree the veggies. Got a small food processor so dun ko nip-puree or mix yung food niya. Super helpful ng processor! Other than the rice, di naman organic binibigay ko. Tingin ko ok lang masanay si baby sa regular fruits or veggies. I make sure lang siyempre na ok naman quality and washed well.

Sa juice, di ko pa alam brand but sabi ng sister ko just make sure na laging may nakalagay na 100% juice lang para di na yung may iba pang preservatives na kasama.

[miksha]

when going out how do you pack homemade baby food? pano ko maiwasan na mapanis?

[clueless]

^ i put 1 ice cube in a nuby container (looks like the avent via cups). Depending on how long we'll be out, sometimes i bring 2 containers. Then i have a fridge to go that i used when i was still expressing milk sa office. I put the containers there so the food will stay cold. My baby likes her food cold din kasi.

[miksha]

for example mga 5-6hrs? ang init na kase sa labas iniisip ko di kaya ako mapanisan nang food ni baby. will insulated containers work?

[clueless]

^ fridge to go lasts up to 12 hours. I used it for breastmilk na mas mabilis mapanis kesa sa food.

[miksha]

where did you get your fridge to go sis? i have a biokips thermal bag and iniisip ko baka pwede na un and if needed lagyan ko nung ice pack

[clueless]

Playtex fridge to go available at rustans. I have a thermal bag with blue uce that came with my avent pump. Mas matagal na malamig ang fridge to go.

[pumngold]

^ Ah kamote! Hehe ok! I'll try that. Siguro dami kong pinapakain kay baby kaya mabilis magsawa. Yung half scoop kasi ng ground rice i mix with a small tsp of veggie. Baka sobra na nga minsan. Sige, ontian ko na lang. Although matakaw baby ko. Parang kahit madami siya nakain na solid, pag oras na ng milk niya, iinom pa rin siya. Di siya mapakali ng di iinom. Tabachingching tuloy!

I puree the veggies. Got a small food processor so dun ko nip-puree or mix yung food niya. Super helpful ng processor! Other than the rice, di naman organic binibigay ko. Tingin ko ok lang masanay si baby sa regular fruits or veggies. I make sure lang siyempre na ok naman quality and washed well.

Sa juice, di ko pa alam brand but sabi ng sister ko just make sure na laging may nakalagay na 100% juice lang para di na yung may iba pang preservatives na kasama.

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What is the brand of your food processor? where did you buy it? thanks!

[miksha]

dagdag na mga questions lang po:
1. do you use a separate sponge, dish rack and storage shelf when cleaning and storing baby's utensils? kumbaga hiwalay lahat nang gamit niya
2. is it bad to microwave baby's food?
3. can i introduce water to baby even if she has not yet taken any solids?exclusively breastfed kase si baby so hindi pa siya nakakatikim nang water
4. when can i start giving baby finger foods? kase kaya daw kailangan ipuree dahil wala pang teeth saka baka machoke

thank you very much!