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  1. #1
    sdbc Guest

    Default for how long do you need to strain baby food?

    Hi everybody,

    DD is 4.5 months old. We are planning to start her on solids in about another month (ish). We'd like to mostly make home made foods for her. We have a mini-food processor, but I read that you had to strain food for babies, too. Until what age does the food need to be strained? Is it really necessary? I'm wondering if it's worth it to invest in a food mill (mouli) that purees and strains all at once? If you only have to strain until 6 months, then I'd rather just use the processor we already have and just press it through a cheap strainer (if I can figure out how to do that). Or maybe straining isn't necessary?

    I'd appreciate any tips/advice.

    Thanks!

    Sue

  2. #2
    pritchettzoo Guest

    Default RE: for how long do you need to strain baby food?

    Depending on the food, you can just push some things through a strainer (potatoes, avocado, really well-cooked fruits), but things like green beans wouldn't work very well. Food mills aren't very expensive (I'm thinking $10-$15), but if you spend an extra $10-$20, you could buy a mini-food processor. It will be more versatile and useful for longer. I use my mini-Cuisinart all the time--it is great for chopping onions and garlic. I think the mini-Cuisinart is about $35-$40 at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, and with their 20% off coupon, it's a good deal IMO. I had a knock-off version of it, but it was a PITA and didn't work for squat.

    Your DD may refuse food at even 6 months. There are several recent threads on when to start and first experiences that may be helpful to you, and one on tools discussing food mills and processors. And the length of time your DD will need pureed foods will depend entirely on her. My DD liked chunkier stuff early on, but other babies don't. It depends on how well they will mush the food up between their jaws and their own preference for texture.

    Anna

  3. #3
    Lynnie is offline Platinum level (1000+ posts)
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    Aug 2002
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    south florida, FL.
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    Default RE: for how long do you need to strain baby food?

    ...uh oh. you have to strain food for babies ?? even bananas ? and homemade chicken broth ?? and a little piece of chicken from arroz con pollo ?? and potatoes ... etc ?

    my little guy - okay, big guy, aka gordito - has been on solids since a week or so before his fourth month because the doctors advised it, and i was all for it as he was always hungry, and although he has mostly not homemade baby food, he has had mushed up things, and we never strained it. he has been fine, but of course i didn't choose not to strain it because of any reason; i didn't know you were supposed to, unless it was the type of food that would seem logical to strain ! and this is baby #2.

    i am interested to learn about this too !

    ps a friend of mine has a recipe she used to make her little girl, i will try to get it for you. she is cuban, and it is basically a big pressure cooker filled with water, some meat and veggies and beans, cooked until it is soft, then put in the food processor. i will ask her for the exact ingredients and whether she strained it. cause i would think you would want to strain black beans or the like

  4. #4
    sdbc Guest

    Default RE: for how long do you need to strain baby food?

    Thanks Anna. I saw your other response, too. So, are you saying that it isn't harmful not to strain, but rather that some babies just don't like the texture if it isn't strained? If that's the case, I'll start out just using the miniprocessor and pushing it through the strainer. If it seems like she's going to want it strained for a long time, then maybe I'll consider the mill.

    BTW, we love our mini for copping onions and garlic, too! My dh had this same one for at least 7 years and it still works great!

    Sue

  5. #5
    sdbc Guest

    Default RE: for how long do you need to strain baby food?

    Hi Lynnie,

    I'd love to have that recipe for when Aurora is a little bigger! We love spicy foods and would like to have her get used to some flavorful dishes. DH is vegetarian, so we'd probably add extra beans and leave out the meat. I'd also like to know about straining beans. From Anna's post, I'm guessing that if your son likes it unstrained, it's fine for him.

    Looking forward to the recipe!

    Sue

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Mountain View, CA.
    Posts
    1,991

    Default RE: for how long do you need to strain baby food?

    We started DD on solids at 6 months and she isn't remotely interested in strained things. She won't even eat mashed banana. I'd see what the baby is like before investing.

  7. #7
    Rachels is offline Diamond level (5000+ posts)
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    MA, USA.
    Posts
    7,253

    Default RE: for how long do you need to strain baby food?

    I never strained anything. I used the mini-prep and added a little breastmilk to thin stuff if it seemed to need it, and that worked fine for us.

    -Rachel
    Mom to Abigail Rose
    5/18/02


    "When you know better, you do better."
    Maya Angelou

    http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbo...pphire_24m.gif Two years and counting!

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