I'm not a parent, but a girlfriend with 4 kids has gone thru 2 of those in about 8 years. She swears its the only way to NOT have issues with babies reacting to artificial colors or additives.

No - but I did make all of my daughter's baby food myself using the stove or oven when necessary, a blender...and some ice cube trays and storage bags. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of my homemade baby food days and can't recommend it more!

That contraption looks very cool, however. I don't know that I'd shell out the $140 for it, though..especially considering you can't make larger volumes of food with it. It's so much easier to make up bigger batches and freeze them in cubes, then defrost them as needed.

If you're truly interested in making your own baby food, I highly recommend checking out Wholesome Baby Food.

Edited at 2008-06-26 02:57 am (UTC)

http://www.happybabyproducts.com/kidcofoodmill.html

this is the one I used and one of the wonderful things was you could take it and use it anywhere with ease. cheap too :) It made it through two babyhoods :)

No, but what a great idea!

I made a fair bit of steamed-veggie food for my kids when they were that little. I used a Bamix (dunno if you guys have them in the States) to blend it all up in the pot, then I'd portion it up and freeze what wasn't going to be used immediately.

No, but it looks really cool. :-)

No I haven't but I have been eying it for months. Making your own baby food is a pita if you ask me, but that thing makes it look like it would be a lot easier!

Wah me. I never had the money. The fanciest I got was a powered breast pump http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=188312&catid=26912&brand=40598&trx=PLST-0-BRAND&trxp1=26912&trxp2=188312&trxp3=1&trxp4=0&btrx=BUY-PLST-0-BRAND&cmbProdBrandFilter=40598 but found the variety that cost $100-300 less http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/601-7110145-0107324?ASIN=B000HUENLK&AFID=Froogle&LNM=B000HUENLK|Avent_Isis_Breast_Pump_with_2_Bottles&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=B000HUENLK&ref=tgt_adv_XSG10001 worked 20 times better. Ugh. I smashed their food with a fork, but that's just me.

OMG, that contraption looks awesome! I am planning to make my own baby food so I'm bookmarking this. ;)

No, I didn't but I am a working mom (who commuted for 2 hrs a day) who still made all my dd's food. It's so easy that it seems very wasteful to purchase a machine just for the task...besides, all those little containers are annoying to wash.

I am all for making your own baby food, I just don't think you need a special device for it (I'm a little anti-gadget). All you need is something to steam/cook the veggies in and mash it up with a fork. It's really that easy. The only thing I will say because no one told me this is that your baby might not like bland foods! Turns out I was making food that was too bland for her. She wouldn't eat it unless it was more flavorful so we got very use to adding herbs and spices to her foods. Seems like kids either like it really bland or very flavorful. Once we found that out, it was pretty easy.

Oh, and congratulations!

I just used the stove, blender, flexible ice cube trays, and ziploc bags. Cheap, easy, no fuss. And I found these marvelous little soy sauce dishes at Target in which to defrost the frozen cubes. Save the dollarz for diapers, whether you're going cloth or disposable. I hate buying diapers!

I currently make most of my sons baby food (somethings are just easier to buy) I work full time, AND have an 11 year old. And yes I even find time to sleep!
I honestly didnt even know that existed..huh. Looks cool as hell though.
But for my uses it's a bit small.

I have to second the making it in big batches and then freezing it. That way you're only cooking hardcore every two weeks, if that (I would just make a big batch of carrots, peas, sweet potato's, fruits ..or whatever and then freeze it in cubes..then pop them in a ziploc bag in the freezer)
Plus when doing it that way you have the added benefit of being able to mix it up easily for each meal, pop a carrot cube in with a peas, and a potato and viola..veggie sheppards pie (he loves it don't mock)
Or even better when I make dinner for us, I just puree whatever is leftover and sharable and then freeze it in ice cube trays.

One tip, Trader Joes jarred mangos? Best thing ever, you can just mush em with a fork and they're ready to go.

I'm past the point of needing something like that since the monkey boy figured out how to be a crumb snatcher, but damn did it set of my kitchen gadget love vibe. :D Although, I think a smaller monetary investment in just a good old food mill and some extra ice cube trays might be a better course.

That looks spiffy! Given that you have a gift certificate, making the price a non-issue, the only thing I would point out is the small batch vs. big batch thing that's already come up. I did all of mine in large batches and froze and it was amazingly easy. I was surprised at how easy and it didn't take as much time as I had thought either. Making your own baby food is definitely the way to go regardless of how you decide to do it.

It looks cool, but, like most of the moms here, I just cooked and mashed whatever we were eating. and besides, if the kid can't pick up the food and place it in his/her own mouth, the kid probably shouldn't be eating much solid food anyway. We push solids on our kids way too young in the country.

I remember making up something I called "connor food" after my son: I boiled carrots, tofu, and ring pasta in chicken broth with a little garlic. At about 9 months, he could pick up and eat all those little tidbits, and he loved the flavor!