Beaba babycook

[AngeK]

I've just started weaning DD and am making her own food and the freezer is full of various purées. I'm thinking it may be good to be able to make small portions from scratch, but the Babycook isn't cheap - does anyone think it is worth it? Also how long do you really use it for?

I thought it might be useful for weekends away/holidays when I don't want to give her bought jars of food, but if I will only use it for a few months it may not be worth buying.

Angela

[efrieze]

A friend of mine bought it and thought it was very useful but I never bothered. I was quite happy boiled the veg or whatever in a pan and then using an electric hand blender. I was also adamant that i woudl not use jars of food but actually if you look at the 4 jars or pureed fruit and vegetables they are, in general, PURE with no additives and therefore are just as good as home made cubes. I used jars when abroad if not near a kitchen or fridge. I didn't use them for meals but in the early stages pureed vegetables in a jar or made at home are very similar.

I think i did cubes of food for between 2 and 3 months until I moved on to proper recipes - maybe even less. It is a lot to spend for a short time...

[shish]

I've got the babycook and I've found it really easy to use. Because it steams, it retains all the vitamins aswell. I don't know how long I'll use it for cos i've just started weaning a few weeks ago, but I guess it can be used again if I decide to have any more babies..

[Rookiemum]

Personally as the well known buyer of all useless and gimmicky gadgets even I wouldn't recommend it.

I was very tempted to buy it but the pureed veg and fruit stage doesn't last very long and soon you could just mash up portions of veg from your dinner the night before.

If you are going away then you could take Plum baby food or Ellas organic pouches, there are no additives or nasties in them so a very good alternative to your own pureed veggies. Alternatively bananas and avocados travel well and need no cooking.

Also if you are like me you may find your stance on jars weakens considerably over the coming months, I started out very hard line about the whole thing, but then decided that a few jars every week wasn't going to kill DS provided it was mixed with home cooking for the rest of the time.

[marthamoo]

I really liked mine - I found it a lot less hassle than pans and blenders etc. And it sold very well on ebay when I was finished with it.

[AngeK]

I can only justify buying it if I can use it for quite a while. The recipe book that comes with it has recipes for babies aged 6-24 months. Has anyone actually used it for that long? Sorry, this is my first baby and we've only just started weaning so it's all very new!

Angela

[colditz]

Yu aren't going to be using that thing for your baby much past 7/8 months unless all your family meals are comprised of raw eggs and salted peanuts.

get a cheap, £5 hand blender from Argos, waste your money on a night out for yourself instead, please don't buy this silly thing!

[Rookiemum]

AngeK you won't be using it for ages, because as soon as DD is able to eat most foods then you'll probably be trying to do meals where she can just have a bit of leftovers whizzed up, hence where the hand blender comes in very handy.

Rookiebaby is 8mths and since about 6.5 months I have been doing things like macaroni cheese, a bit of left over meat whizzed up with some veggies, spag bol sauce with small pasta.

I know it feels like the peeling chopping boiling and pureeing stage lasts forever but it is really for a very short time.

[AngeK]

I think that's the thing! Each phase does feel like ages and before you know it, it's over and you're onto the next one. Looks like I'll be saving some money then

Ange