tempted to use jars

[emz31]

i started weaning my 6mo at 4months and am getting a tad fed up with the pureeing lark as it seems to take up massive chunks of my day! - i use jars on days out etc and must admit DS seems to prefer these to my loviningly hand prpeared veggies. it's tempting to ditch the liquidiser and use jars instead (leaving me free to get on with my life!) but i was just wondering if anyone knows how nutririous these are and if DS will be missing out on vital nutrients because of my laziness?

[Lonelymum]

Don't know about the nutrients business, but I did what you sound like you are doing now, used both. Jars more convenient when out (restaurants won't heat your own food but will heat jars for you). As your child eats more foods, it is easier to puree a meal for them. You can just put a spoonful or two of your completed meal into the pot and whizz it up there and then. HTH

[Merlin]

I know what you mean - all that fiddly filling of ice-cube trays!! Got it all to come again with baby due April! DS (now 4) had homemade and I also used quite a lot of the Hipp Organic range which he really liked. In fact, even now he will quite happily eat their rigatoni in tomato sauce rather than Heinz spaghetti hoops etc!!!!

[Furball]

How about making bigger batches and freezing some of your own pureed stuff?

I fed DS on a mixture of both, he definately prefered the jars to my mush but it's blooming expensive. If you go for Organix and similar, I think that they are mainly what it says on the tin ie Just Apple or Just Carrot.

[Lonelymum]

Oh I quickly gave up with the ice cube trays - I couldn't get the cubes out without taking shards of plastic with it. I used small plastic pots with lids (Almost any place sells them) and froze a whole meal which could then be defrosted properly.

[emz31]

i use the organic range too and he loves all of them - guess i'm feeling a little guilty at the thought of wanting to stop lovingly preparing ice cubes for my DS as everyone i meet at M&B groups seem to have a competition as to who can make the best/most homemade stuff for their little ones and there's me not even wanting to admit that i'm a terrible cook and want to switch to jars. someone did comment though that jars can't be too bad, particularly if you boil your veggies, freeze them, then mike them up again, how many nutirents will be left after that?!
sorry, guess i'm just trying to justify my laziness! has anyone ever used jars entirely?
also how much should a 6mo be eating? he has a tiny bit of breakfast cereal, half a jar (or 1 cube) of savoury and half of sweet for lunch and dinner and a few BF's in between. is this enought??

[GreatBigFatHeiferEnid]

making your own is more nutritious and much cheaper than jars. Have you ever tasted jars - they are grim and all taste of cardboard, if your baby gets them too often they will get used to bland, processed food.

Spend the extra money on decent freezer tubs (mothercare and lakeland do good tiny ones) and do a cook up once a month.

you know it makes sense!

[pinkmagic1]

I believe the jars are sometimes better nutritionally as they have added vitimins and minerals but I have heard they can lead to picky eating habits.
I personally use a mixture of jars and home made. If we are having a meal which is suitable for baby (7 months) I just put a little in the blender and also sometimes save some in a little plastic pot for the next day. I rarely cook food especially for my son. If the meal we are having that day is not suitable he has a jar.

[Flumberrysauce]

I used jars about once a day and home made the rest. Kept all the old baby jars and about once a month had a cook up. Pureed and mashed loads of variety of foods. Put it in the cleaned out jars and froze them.

Then just defrosted each day. Quite easy. Especially if you work full time like me and baby starving at 6pm and doesn't want to wait while you whip up a creamy pasta extravaganza.

DD loves the jars, goes mad for them. But loves my homemade too, bless her.

[Flumberrysauce]

Oh yeah and it doesn't go on that long. DD now 11 months and now just has what we have mashed or chopped up.

Means she eats slower and I think therefore eats less

[Hayls]

IN a couple of months he'll be eating pretty mch what you're having every night so it's less of a faff but in themeantime don't feel guilty! IF you've got time then yes do make it yourself but if not go for the jars. My dd has had a combination but preferreed my cooking- she's now nearly a year and has the same as us most nights.

[jane313]

I used jars as well as my own food from the start because we go away a lot and it would be impossible to take your own food then.

[walliamsbabysmum]

The organic jars are fine - don't let anyone tell you otherwise! Some of the cheaper ones use fillers, such as cornflour (I think that's what it's called), so maybe use them once in a while rather than every day, but otherwise I would say a mixture of jars, for when you can't be bothered or it's not convenient, and home made stuff frozen in big batches is probably the most sensible approach.

[Twiglett]

well personally I'm an organic jars person all the way

the mush feeding lasts such a short time .. why drive yourself mad

personally I prefer my child to have organic food but wouldn't buy organic everything .. so its actually more cost effective to buy Hipp jars

also they are tasty ..have very little additives and are just bloody convenient

I start off for a couple of weeks maybe a month with home made purees and mushing up bananas then end up with jars

DS will be 4 in February .. and he's NOT a picky eater .. he eats anything and everything and will try new things .. but all kids have their funny ways

DD 8 months is on jars and finger food (not jars of course) and in a couple of months will be on our food

Don't guilt yourself .. there's plenty nutrients in the right mix of baby foods .. and the baby will probably get a much wider mix of foods and vegetables than batch cooking

(see now I've admitted it I bet more people will come out of the woodwork )

[OldieMum]

I used a combination of jars and home-cooked food until dd was about 11-12 months, then moved to giving her our food mashed only. If you use organic jars, they will have fewer additives, though you still need to watch the salt and sugar content. Jars probably are slightly less nutritious than a diet of purely home-cooked food, but I reckoned that once a day max, and coupled with fresh fruit, they would be OK.

[GreatBigFatHeiferEnid]

there was a study recently which showed that organic jars had the highest level of pesticides of all baby jars....

[OldieMum]

Oh God.

[Twiglett]

why do people think organic jars are less nutritious than batch cooking own food and freezing .. they're both preserved foods .. not freshly prepared and will have the same nutrient loss surely?

[Twiglett]

and where's the study on the fruit and vegetables we take home from the supermarket????

[walliamsbabysmum]

I thought the whole point of organic was no pesticides? Who funded the research?

[Twiglett]

I just copied and pasted this from the Hipp site

"All the ingredients in Hipp Organic baby food are grown without the use of harmful synthetic pesticides or chemical fertilisers. Not only are all the ingredients grown to organic standards, but they are also thoroughly tested before use, to ensure that they contain no harmful chemical residues."

yes its a marketing statement but I REALLY do not think you can say the same for fresh products bought from any shop in the UK

[Flumberrysauce]

Certain pesticides are permitted for use in Organic foods. The rules governing organic food production are quite old. The pesticides permitted are older pesticides that are not as efficiently flushed from foods as newer more technologically advanced pesticides.

Therefore most organic foods do have more pesticides on them than non-organic. However most vegetables cooked at home are peeled. This vastly decreases the pesticide content in the actual food consumed.

Also the pesticides used on organic foods are less effective and therefore the food is far more likely to contain disease elements of some nature than food which has been grown specifically for safe human consumption.


I do not know if baby food manufacturers peel vegetables before use.

I read this quite recently and will try to find a link on it.

[Flumberrysauce]

This article it was a broadsheet paper, but not sure which one. Was basically saying that organic foods are a total rip off really.

[hunkermunker]

There's always something like that. I always ask who funds the research when I hear of one small article that seems to go totally against the rest.

Bit like the research that 'proved' that hot air hand dryers 'blew germs' around the loos and paper towels were better (despite bins of them, chopping down forests to make them, not drying hands properly, etc). Turns out the research had been funded by...guess who? A paper towel company...

[Flumberrysauce]

I can't find it. Anyway thats what it said. No idea if its right or just opinion or what.

[LittleMissShy]

I used a combination of home made and organic jars for my ds now 3yrs 7mths. My dh's grandmother was horrified that I fed him on anyhting but home made, but I did work full time (and still do)so didn't always have the time to blend stuff. He also didn't like the babyrice that you are supposed to start them off with, he spat it out and if it was in anything he refused to eat it!!!

I am happy to report that he now eats anything and everything, he loves broccoli (sp?) carrots, peas etc. and a whole range of fruit. But stranger still he now loves rice, (the type we eat).

Don't feel guilty giving jar food, as somebody else said they don't have if for very long and they will be eating off your plate (cos it tastes nicer off mums plate) before you know it.

HTH