Helpful Hint for Baby's First Foods

I was going through my old cupboards and found cans of vegetables (peas, green beans, carrots), and I realized that I would never use them because I prefer fresh stuff. So I boxed them up to ship to someone I know who has a new baby, with a note on what I thought of as one of my more brilliant ideas.

With my first child, I bought those expensive little jars of nasty tasting peas and green beans, and other than the few basics, M doesn't really like her veggies. However, with my younger two, I bought salt-free canned veggies, mushed them with a fork, and fed them that way. They seemed to love it, and they very quickly grew to enjoy their vegetables.

I didn't just stop with canned vegetables. Overripe avocadoes and frozen spinach warmed in the microwave are also great first vegetables. Broccoli that has been steamed to the point that you can mush it with your fingers works as well. However, corn can be an allergen, so I recommend avoiding that one.

I used to buy fruits when they are fresh, particularly peaches and pears. In the summer, peaches are in season, which means they are always on sale, they are very tasty, and they are ripe enough to mush with a fork. Pears can sit on your counter until they are soft enough. Both of these fruits are great substitution for jarred baby food.

So here are a few reasons why this works:

1) Money. Saving money is a very good reason to use adult canned veggies. One no-name brand of salt-free green beans is 55 cents, close to the same amount of a jar of baby food. However, the quantity you get in a can of veggies greatly exceeds what you get in a jar of baby food. The can lasts for several meals.

2) Taste. No one is going to eat their vegetables if they don't taste good. Overcooked peas are awful compared to the fresh stuff. I always tasted the baby food before I served it because I could not in good conscience feed them something that I was not willing to eat. How can babies eat this stuff? is what I thought.

3) Texture. Texture aversion runs in my husband's side of the family. Baby food has no texture, but canned veggies smashed with a fork is small enough for a baby to eat and mush with their tongue but not textureless. That helps prepare them for textures when they are older, which means they are more likely to try new things.

4) Preparation. This prepares them for table food. They more quickly adjust to the flavors and textures of adult food.