To not buy a fancy baby food steamer/blender?

[Aliveinwanderland]

I've seen several baby vegetable steamer/blenders around the £100 mark.

AIBU to buy a cheap (around £8) microwave vegetable steamer and then blend in my food processor?

I don't cook vegetables for me or hubby for tea so a quick way of cooking one portion for baby is ideal so the microwave ones looks fab.

It's unnecessary. Steamed vegetables are better than boiled (bleh), but you can do that easily enough without any special equipment.

You and your husband don't eat vegetables?

I use old Chinese tubs/Tupperware tubs to cook my son's veg/fruit in the microwave and use the water for sauces/thin other meals etc... or just throw it! (We cook out veg in salt!) if I'm doing a few days worth I do it in my small pan on the job!

I would not use plastic to cook food in. especially not plastic of unknown origin...
we just use ordinary stoneware plates/breakfast bowls.

If you are weaning at 6 months there is no need to puree the veg anyway, mashing with a fork will be better to help your baby get used to texture (unless of course your baby has a particular problem which means he needs puree). Baby puree is a hangover from when they were weaned at 4 months.

What do you have with your tea if you don't have veg? What are you going to do when babe starts eating the same meals as you?

Use a pan. And a fork.

I am aware I need to modify our diets when baby is copying us, however at the moment that isn't easy for me to do.

We eat a lot of pasta, fish and potatoes, sausage and mash, pizza. DH will eat vegetables, he just doesn't because I don't eat them so he doesn't cook them for one.

Absolutely fine to do that. I used to boil up a pan of broccoli, mash with a fork (or blitz with a hand blender if I was feeling fancy!) and then freeze into silicone ice cube trays. Ikea do good ones. I also did chicken and cheese sauce to get a bit of everything in there.

It takes time to get it properly puréed, I preferred it chunkier.

BLW - don't blend anything. It's so much easier and much more fun for them.

I just stick mine in glass bowl with bit micro cling film on top, but water in bottom and pierce cling film.

I really wouldn't buy a microwave steamer...although the word 'steamer' sounds healthy, the fact is that it's still being blitzed in a micro which isn't great.

We have an electric steamer which sits on the worktop and is great - was about £25 and it's a big, three tier family sized one. I'd imagine you can get small ones for a decent bit less and would get one of those.

I used a glass dish with lid and chucked veg in with a small amount of water in the microwave and used a stick blender.

Second child insisted on feeding herself so 'blw' by default. What a messy, wasteful faff. My purée weaned child is by far the better eater.

We got this one www.tesco.com/direct/vonshef-2-in-1-baby-food-maker/140-8128.prd?source=others

Was only £20 at the time. And it was great. We still use it for steaming fruit to mix with plain yoghurt and making sauces etc

My BLW child is the far better eater, tries anything. My purée weaned child sees food as an interruption.

Things like butternut squash you can roast. I just used a stick blender.

Improving your own diet is very important I think. DD is 14 months and just wants whatever we are eating. The broccoli is going to have limited appeal if they're watching you eat pizza.

If I steam food I just do it in the microwave with a bit of water in a covered bowl and mushed / hand blended if required. DD has survived

My friend gave me hers and I never used it... regular steamer is fine

I also would avoid plastic (even BPA free can have stuff leaching into the food). We often use a large glass bowl (Pyrex) with a plate on top, but any tip of bowl or dish should do as long as you have a lid.
I don't think the waves from the microwaves are a problem (they just agitate the water molecules and that's what make the food warmer). The only thing is that it can be very hot in some places and cold in others, but if you mash it or mixes well then not problem.

I have never seen any scientifically reliable evidence they put me off using a microwave. I agree there no need for a special baby blender. I used steamed/roasted veg and a fork/£5 stick blender.

Glad you've identified a need to eat veg and role model. Appreciate it's easier said than done. When DH lived alone, he quite liked the individual frozen veg packs for microwaving as they were no effort- maybe an option for your DP?

£100? What a con. Ha ha. I never used any specialist items. Oh no, correct that, at the very early stages I used an old ice cube tray. Does that count?

You don't have to be in one camp or another, you know? You are actually allowed to do a bit of both : mushing up carrots and also a bit of blw aswell. God forbid!!

Hardcore BLWers get very upset if you say you BLW if you ever spoon feed anything.
I didn't do puree and DD fed herself finger foods from the off. But I did spoon feed porridge, yoghurt etc so wouldn't dare to say I did BLW

A stick blender and a pan does perfectly well.