You’ve been waiting for this moment: It’s finally time for baby to eat! But what exactly? Don’t go down a feeding internet rabbit hole and get super stressed out. We’re here for you. Here is our round-up of delicious, healthy options depending on your style and how much effort you want to put into making it (including none, which is TOTALLY okay).
Make-It-Yourself
If you’re committed to making it yourself, a babyfood cooker is a worthy investment, and this one is the most popular for a reason. It gets the job done easily and quickly – just 15 minutes. Plus, it steams and blends in the same container, which means less mess and, more importantly, less dishes to clean. Bonus points for its compact size and one-handed operation.
Food-grade silicone (including the top) storage trays blow away the competition. Food pops out easily, the material is super-safe (even by European standards), you can bake mini muffins in them, and you’ll use them long after puree days are done (hey, round ice cubes and popsicles!).
Catherine McCord is like the fairy godmother of feeding your family. From baby purees to nutrition-packed smoothies to packed lunches to family dinners, her recipes are easy, healthy, delicious crowd-pleasers. Bookmark her site stat.
Baby-Led Weaning: The Essential Guide
If you want to follow this popular new method for introducing solids – skipping purees and going straight to finger foods – you should buy the book for guidance. By serving baby what you’re serving everyone else (only cooked a little longer and cut it into tiny pieces), they establish healthy eating habits from the get-go.
These 99 super-easy recipes make eating as a family (including a baby) totally doable and actually enjoyable. Okay, except for the mess your baby will make while thoroughly enjoying his first stir fry.
Deliver It!
Grass-fed, pasture-raised, free-range, and wild-caught meats and fish are blended with organic veggies (there are just veggie options too). These ethically-sourced, paleo purees have the ratio of protein, fat, and carbs that babies need to thrive and aren’t packed with sugar from fruit like most pouches.
Plant-based, flash-frozen (to preserve nutrients) meals that come in bite-size pieces you can mash, puree, or serve as-is (i.e. baby-led weaning) – depending on baby’s age. And each one has less than 5 grams of sugar and plenty of fat, protein, and carbs for the win.
Nutrient-dense blends concocted from 80+ organic ingredients are designed to help baby meet developmental milestones and are rigorously tested for harmful heavy metals found in most grocery store baby foods (so you don’t have to think about that).
Photos courtesy of Little Spoon, Raised Real, and Kiddo Feedo Storage.
