How much baby food to stockpile?

[MrsPinecone]

I didn't use more than 200 jars, max. The 630 mentioned earlier in this thread seems extreme to me.

[Kayda~boo]

If your child will be in childcare you will want to have extras for them also.

[oscamaya]

I had over 200 jars in stock for DD. She is now 10 months old and has completely chowed her way through those. She is a chunkers. She is a "healthy" eater. She is not overweight compared to her height. She just likes to eat. I am now buying as I go instead of trying to stockpile but that 630 doesn't seem THAT ridiculous.

If you can start your baby on some table foods sooner then maybe 200 will suffice, but DD doesn't have any interest in table food.

[gradstudentwife]

Introduce veggies first!! Babies already have a sweet tooth, so if you do fruit first, you won't have a hope of him eating his veggies after that!
Last year we go an unlimited # of coupons from the gerber site for $1 off two.Making the jars we bought 4c or 17c (depending on the size).WE STOCKED UP!
I think looking at the exp. date is the key. Remember you can always put baby food in "grown up" dishes. I used squash in my Chili, fruit in yogurt for breakfast...
Good luck with your baby, and give breastfeeding a good go (sometimes it takes a couple of weeks to get used to it- DON'T GIVE UP!!).

[momof2inok]

Congrats to you!!!
I agree that if you are going to do breastfeeding don't give up....it can be frustrating at first. I am one to preach LOL but I bf for 6 weeks and it was fine, he went easily from pumping/bottle to breast but I got mastitis and gave up.

You will find that baby food feeding styles and Dr. advice varies a lot (I've noticed a huge difference since there is 6.5 yrs difference between my kiddos). I personally am not as enthusiastic to start baby food with ds as I was 6.5 yrs ago with dd. I find now for me it is just an advantage cost-wise to wait a bit longer for baby food. (because they are more ready for the 2nd food texture and the 2nd food is cheaper per serving, because of potential allergies and then the more mature intestinal development )

Anyhoo, my little man is 5 1/2 mos old now and have bee doing cereal for a month. Dr. said not to start anything else till his 6 mos appt, and to just do rice cereal till then. When 6 mos old I can start the oatmeal, then the veggies, wait 4 days to a week before introducing new stuff. After all that fruits.
I am stockpiling too and have struggled with how much to buy. I never could find a cheap deal on 1st. Plus now, he is eating his cereal a lot thicker so I really think in 2 weeks he will be ok with the 2nd. Like everyone else says--can always puree' down. I don't know what my reasoning was on this but I figured on 14 jars of sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, beans, squash, apples, peaches, pears, bananas and assumed I'd go through a jar of 2nd per day.

I also bought 1 jar/pack each of some combo jars like apples and sweet potatoes.
I just make sure the exp dates on everything I buy are far enough out that my I can give extras to my friend or use baking muffins or caseroles (I learned that trick from HCW) :)
Or, it was cheap enough I won't mind donating rest to food bank/shelter.

After talking with Dr. too and his protocol on "real food", I figure by the time ds is 9 mos old he will be doing yogurt, cheerios, avocado, mashed bananas, peas with no shell, pasta and some mushed up table food.

I haven't bought 3rd food jars yet and not sure what to do or if I will. I have bought a few grads since I had Q's and on sale.

Have fun learning and getting to know your little bundle.

[OBUmom12]

My daughter is 11 months and very unlike the other babies mentioned in this topic. She eats 1/2 jar of cereal in the am, then 1/2 jar of a "dinner" and 1/2 jar of a fruit or veggie for lunch (same meal for dinner) but she eats Gerber Graduates puffs & wagon wheels along with Cheerios like crazy! (She has cheerios and some of my yogurt after her jarred cereal in the am) She's cutting two top teeth right now, and I think once they are in, she'll be done with baby food!

[ecj98]

DD, who is now 14 months old, probably at the equivalent of 20 jars of baby food. She HATED it, and we went straight to table food at about 7 months. She still refuses to eat anything that she cannot pick up and feed herself.

[Abigail's_Mommy]

Originally Posted by ecj98 DD, who is now 14 months old, probably at the equivalent of 20 jars of baby food. She HATED it, and we went straight to table food at about 7 months. She still refuses to eat anything that she cannot pick up and feed herself.

My DD too! Luckily I didn't buy any. I did make some. Most of it is still in my freezer. Here is a great link to make your own; Early Solid Food Feeding and Early Introduction of Solid Foods - Introducing Your Baby to Solid Food Early. It is pretty easy to make and is much cheaper then buying it.

[fruity]

I never bought any baby food for my ds. He was breastfed and around 5 1/2 months I started introducing table food. I would just mash a small portion of whatever I was eating. I tried to make sure that I had at least one thing during meal time that he could eat, if he was interested. Mashed potatoes, carrots, bananas, etc... If he didn't want to eat solid food, then there was always breastmilk available.

[talk2ham.1]

More and more research is suggesting beginning at 6 months instead of 4 months. Baby's digestive tracts are better developed at 6 months and handle it better.

I have an 11 month old baby right now. We used stage two almost the whole way. I thickened it with rice cereal and oatmeal when he started needing more chunky stuff. (The cereals are really important at this age because of the iron they contain). Then I added pasta that I cut up or ground up myself, or mixed the stage 2 jars with cheerios to get him used to the texture changes. After a few weeks of that, I started mixing in small bits of whatever we were eating for lunch or dinner (provided it wasn't too salty or an allergen). It worked well and was more cost effective. He now eats whatever we eat. No jars, just baby cereal and regular food. He's a pretty good eater: rivals my two-year-old more often than not.