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Baby food battles: the mommy wars

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(Image source: Shutterstock; Umatie)

The Mommy Wars are real. Ridiculous yes, but they are very real. Natural vs C-Section. Disposable vs cloth nappies. Breastmilk vs Formula fed. And of course, whether you feed your baby home cooked or store bought meals.

Read more: A solid start
Baby-led weaning

It's evident in any of the Mommy Facebook groups you come across. Someone will ask about what solids they should be starting their baby on and someone else will inevitable wax lyrical about how they make their baby's own food, freeze them in the required portion size and worship at the alter of Annabel Karmel. They will tell anyone who will listen how this is best for baby and everything else is poison. And that store-bought jars are the enemy (*insert eye roll). 

But there are so many new baby food companies on the market who offer homemade meals, delivered to your door and frozen in portioned sizes. Some big supermarkets also do a range of fresh baby food which is popular with lots of mommies. 

They each have their pros and cons. Homemade is cheaper and you know exactly what your baby is eating. It's also time consuming when all you want to do is sleep and maybe shower.

Ordering from baby food companies is convenient and you also know what goes into it as the companies will often list the ingredients, they're using fresh produce and more often than not organic items. But this can be expensive. As can constantly buying store bought meals. While these meals can be wholesome, they are not homemade. You'll get while you do get an ingredient list there are often preservatives included and sometimes (not always) they don't taste that good. 

When my son started solids, I did a combination of the above. I homemade and froze some purees. I also had some single vegetable Purity in the pantry and I've grabbed a quick Woolies meal when we've been caught unawares.

The point is that you have to do what works for you and your family. If you're willing and able to make all your baby's food - good for you! Your kid is not going to die if they eat store bought food. Your child's brain won't malfunction and develop ADHD because she ate a few Woolies meals or a jar of Purity (don't quote me, I'm not a scientist).

No one judges a parent more than another parent. Which I find weird because you should know this struggle. 

Disclaimer: The views of columnists published on Parent24 are their own and therefore do not necessarily represent the views of Parent24.

What did you feed your baby?

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