weaning on a v tight budget :-(

[justabigkidatheart]

Hi all, feeling a little guilty about starting weaning my ds. He will be 6 months next week. I can't afford to buy him organic fruit, veg, meat, etc. We do eat very healthily, no microwave meals, pizzas, ready meals, etc. We have always cooked from scratch because we find this is the cheapest way. I feel so bad about not being able to give him food that is organic, free range. Most of our fruit and veg is frozen/tinned. Eggs are so expensive, we have to buy to basics, which I hate buying anyway (but thats another thread). This is not pfb itis . Please tell me I'm being stupid.

children can eat what you eat. End of.

Frozen veg usually has more vitamins in than fresh veg, because it is frozen within minutes of being picked.

I think most of us were weaned on non-organic food because that was all that was available. I don't think I have suffered from it.

Basic eggs come from chickens that have not had the best life, but there is nothing actually wrong with the eggs.

So don't worry about it. Give your DC what you can afford. At 6 months you can chop up what ever you are eating.

Your child will be weaned on healthy, homemade meals that he also sees his parents cooking and eating every day as the norm, and that he will continue to eat throughout his childhood.

His chances of having a healthy relationship with food and of avoiding obesity and other conditions linked to poor diet are much better than those of a child who is weaned on 100% organic produce, free-range eggs and branded 'health food', but whose parents eat takeaways and other crap and who will, once he's no longer a baby, join them in a family diet of convenience food and eating out, with only the occassional homecooked meal from scratch.

I'm not being judgemental about the "organic for the baby and chipper for us" parents; I'm describing my own family and dd's future if dh and I don't start making some changes!

In the nicest possible way, you're being stupid :) Your kid is very lucky.

You are being stupid! Cooked from scratch food is a great education for him and I bet he will grow up really interested in making his own food from the good example you will be setting. An apple or a potato are just an exotic to a milk fed baby as an Organic guava (Nigella's wisdom).

Re eggs - Our big Co-op do 'Value' boxes of free-range eggs ie they are all different sizes, plain packaging but chickens have the better conditions.

(disclaimer: I must admit I do sometimes buy Organic for ds, if its on offer for example but I know I am being silly and pfb-ish when I do as it is NOT necessary)

I have just started weaning ds (third child) with the other 2 I used to buy all organic foods but now realise that it is not at all necessary. I just buy a few vegggies and fruit loose from the supermarket e.g. a couple of carrots, a sweet potato, a courgette, a couple pears etc which works out a lot cheaper than buying multi packs and it is enough to make a weeks meals and freeze for the baby. You can look up some recipe ideas on the Annabel Karmel website.

Also frozen is great and as someone else said is often fresher than the fresh stuff. I think any meal cooked from scratch whatever the cost of the ingredients is better for you than ready made stuff.

We do exactly the same as you, OP - baby eats what we eat, and we buy cheap but cook well from scratch.

Nothing wrong with it. Organic would be lovely, but there's always something more to worry about, isn't there? one of my mum friends has only dressed her PFB in organic cotton, only had organic cotton crib sheets and towels - well, my PFB is in hand-me-downs and a hand towel and IKEA cot sheets cos they were cheap and we were there. You do what you can, and there's always another way you COULD be 'more organic' or whatever.
I always remind myself that I was raised on Angel Delight and I turned out fairly normal

Some research shows that it's good eating habits (cooking real food from scratch, eating together) which makes the difference, not actually the food that goes in. There's a blog called "It's not about Nutrition" that you might find reassuring.

im a nanny and i had to wean a baby on jarred food and only introduce one food at a time (which unless you have a family history of sever allergies you dont need too) and it was a nightmare finding foods in jars with just one additional ingredient. he would also look at his brother and me or his parents food whilst he would eat his mushy bland cr@p and probably wonder why he isnt having it. im not having a go at jar food babies, they are sometimes convenient if out for the day, was just hard with the way mb wanted him to be weaned.
anyway, starting him off with good wholesome, homemade food that the whole family are eating (whether you choose to puree it or do BLW) is the best start of life in terms of attitude for food. i have never understood why some children have 'toddler food' at one time of day then parents eat a completely different, often healthier meal in the evening (i understand why they eat at different times but not different meals). dont worry about it being organic and like others have said, now it seems frozen is best as fresh gets knocked about and slowly loses its nutrients whereas frozen keeps theres for longer. plus the actual fruit and veg lasts longer.

Thank you for all your replies. I think sometimes I just need someone else to put things into a different perspective to make me realise. I genuinely feel much better now. I do wonder how much it costs parents who do wean their dc on only organic food? Our food bills are (what I consider to be) v expensive even when economising.

for some people, money isnt an object (because they have it), i have had a few interviews and jobs where all the food was organic and only came from waitrose/ocado or whole foods but these people had a looot of money. i think a lot of mums have a lot of pressure and worries nowadays with organic and gina ford routines when in reality a baby is happy with parents who arent stressed and run ragged trying to 'conform' and in a few years there will be new 'rules'. relax, you sound like you are trying the best for your baby and he is going to grow having happy wholesome, homemade meals. think about your generation (dont mean to make you sound ancient) and other childen in the world today (not talking about third world or abused children), there are so many of them who are happy and healthy and most probably arent on organic.