Do the stages of baby food really matter?

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Forum -> Parenting our children -> Infants

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amother

Sun, Mar 01 2015, 7:55 am

I gave my baby one of those bags of baby food puree and didnt realize it was meant for 12 months+. She loved the flavor and ate it so happily. I can't figure out why some of the foods have different ages on them. I'm not talking about things that include peanuts or other known allergens. She's 8 months, since she enjoyed it ate it easily (it was puree) and had no negative reaction is there any reason not to give it to her again? It contained sweet potato, apple, carrot, cinnamon and chia seed. Other than the chia and cinnamon I can't think of why it would be 12 months +.
TIA

amother

Sun, Mar 01 2015, 8:03 am

I think the point is to give one food at a time first to isolate allergies but if she's had all the foods already and it's not a choking hazard I don't see the problem. My baby wasn't liking stage 1 foods and seemed ok with a stage 2 jar. I also got her cereal with is officially for a slightly more advanced baby (says crawling off stomach which she is not yet doing) and she had a great time putting it in her mouth, chewing it up and spitting most of it out. Also, throwing it all over the room. Just make sure to watch your kid carefully and make sure it's not a choking hazard.

imasinger

Sun, Mar 01 2015, 8:10 am

IMO, these stages were conceived when people routinely started solids at 1 or 2 months.

Many people today make their own baby food and never worry about the texture.

In terms of ingredients, for a long time, the thinking was to introduce one new thing at a time, so as to be aware of possible allergies.

Since she enjoyed it and did fine, of course you can give it to her again!

greenfire

Sun, Mar 01 2015, 8:29 am

probably labeled 12 months only because it wasn't one single food ... I never checked these things - then again I have babies that didn't go for the jars [have you tasted the bland stuff] - mostly the cereals with fresh mashed fruit or cooked simple things that we ate like sweet potatoes or veggies from the chicken soup

as long as she ate it & liked it - there is no reason to avoid it & so long as there aren't any choking chunks

amother

Sun, Mar 01 2015, 8:33 am

I've been giving her food for awhile and many of the mixes are labeled 6 months up so its weird that this one was 12+. Now that she is eating more foods I am giving her more real stuff pureed because I'm a little neurotically worried about chocking embarrassed

I just worry I'm stunting her food development.

morah

Sun, Mar 01 2015, 8:50 am

I do baby led weaning, my kids didn't really eat purees at all, just soft, mushy regular food. The stages are just a ploy by the companies to keep people buying their products.

zaq

Sun, Mar 01 2015, 11:17 am

45 years ago there were no "stages" baby foods. there was baby food which was pureed whatever, and that was it. The "stages" were a brilliant marketing ploy cashing in on parents' insecurity. Back in the day, either your baby managed to grab something off your dish and eat it before you knew what was happening, or after a while when your baby basically inhaled the puree in two seconds, you would gradually give him thicker foods. And you would get tired of mashing bananas or sweet potatoes so you would get a little lazy and leave in a few chunks and when your baby ate them with gusto you would gradually mash less and less till you were not mashing at all but cutting the well-cooked food into small pieces.

Ruchel

Sun, Mar 01 2015, 1:56 pm

I don't do stages, purées, isolating elements or anything.

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