Mashed potatoes or baby food jars?

Baby starts to eat with a spoon and you wonder if you should opt for purees and sauces home or small pots. What is the best option for your baby but also for you? Here are the advantages and disadvantages of one or the other.

Baby food jars

Benefits of baby food jars pout : 

- Small pots are easy and quick to use, they require no preparation or dishwashing. Convenient for moms or pressed for travel;
- Their consistency is smooth, without lumps, perfectly suited to the infant begins to eat with a spoon. Baby adapts easily;
- Their composition is guaranteed by legislation (Decree of 01.09.1976 and amended on 01.11.1994). Standards are provided for contents of additives, pesticide and nitrate, bacteriological safety is total. The levels of vitamin A and C in the little potty are also comparable to fresh fruit;
- They are extremely useful early in the diversification of food for your child. Was added then two, then three teaspoons of jar in a bottle baby to accustom to new tastes. 

Disadvantages of baby food jars : 

- Small pots n'éduquent not the palate baby. They are bland and the addition of vitamins false taste; 
- The texture of purees do not vary. Baby may have a hard time to move on, especially smaller pieces;
- Visually, purees and sauces from jars are not very attractive;
- It is impossible for a baby starting to eat alone to enjoy his little pot with the fingers;
- Sizes of pots are not always appropriate; 
- The labeling is not always appropriate. Submit strawberry or kiwi sauce for 4 months is generally not recommended, for example because of the risk of allergies.

Homemade Baby Baby

Advantage of Homemade Baby Baby : 

- Purees houses cost less than small pots ;
- 100g of puree or applesauce home contain half the sugar a little pot of equal capacity. In fact they contain sugar or starch grains to "bind" the industrial processing;
- Same conclusion for the meat, pureed meat of a small pot is twice as rich in protein and fat than meat prepared by you. And richer in sugars. This difference results from the addition of flour and potato starch;
- You control the exact composition of baby food. You can control the sugar, salt, and avoid certain foods that may cause allergies; 
- Baby's plate is full of colors, textures and tastes clearly identifiable; 
- You can share your meal with baby, and even cook with it.

Disadvantages of purees and sauces home

- Your refrigerator should be constantly filled to prepare sauces and purees;
- Prepare yourself baby food requires time and organization;
- When baby only eats a few tablespoons of vegetables per day, prepare a mini mash every day is a waste of time;
- At the beginning of the diversification of food your child, you need a mixer adapted to mix for the vegetables very finely;
- Difficult to store and preserve fresh fruit purees; 
- There are risks of excess nitrates or pesticides in some fruits and vegetables.