Comparing Gerber vs Homemade Baby Food

As a parent, you want the best for your baby. You want to keep them safe and healthy and make sure that they’re getting all of the nutrients they need to grow. That’s why we’ve decided to compare Gerber vs homemade baby food: two options for feeding your little one!

When you walk down the baby section of your grocery store, you will see lots of jars of baby food. Are these as good as homemade baby foods that you prepare yourself? The answer is yes and no. The big advantage of commercially available baby foods is that they’re affordable and they’re easy. When I go on vacation or when I anticipate being out with my toddler for a long time, I will always bring a jar of Gerber food. It’s a sure way of giving my child good food with little mess. The key word here is convenience.

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Gerber vs Homemade Baby Food – who is the winner?

The short answer: it depends. If you’re concerned about the quality of the ingredients in your store-bought baby food, you might want to consider making your own. But if you’re worried about the cost, or if you’re just too busy with work and family life to spend hours making purees from scratch every day, buying Gerber can be a great alternative.

One thing to keep in mind is that the FDA requires that all baby foods sold in stores meet strict safety standards. However, those standards don’t really apply to homemade baby food—so while there’s no guarantee that homemade baby food is safer than store-bought, it can be less expensive (and more nutritious) than what companies like Gerber make available. That said, Gerber has been around since 1928 and has been serving babies ever since, so they know what they’re doing when it comes to nutrition!

Read also: Best Baby Slings and Carriers

Gerber vs Homemade Baby Food – Why homemade baby food may be better?

First when comparing Gerber vs homemade baby food you need to know that homemade foods are more likely to contain bacteria, and can be harder to store and prepare than their commercial counterparts. If you’re going to make your own baby food, be sure to wash all produce thoroughly before cooking or blending it up! So why doing it?

No additives: When you prepare your own baby food, you know what’s in it. Typically, you just add a little water to help cook the food and that’s all. Click here to learn how to cook baby food.
Do you really know what’s in the baby food jars in the grocery store? This study determined that Heinz and Gerber (Stage 2) baby foods have added water and thickening agents (Stage 1 Gerber foods were not diluted with fillers). These additives do not harm your toddler, but it’s not the best food either. Plus, it’s not a cost effective way to feed your family. Why pay for starchy thickeners?
Fresher: If you make your baby food everyday, then homemade baby food is more fresh, more nutritious, and tastier than the jars which are sitting in the grocery store shelves.Admittedly, most Moms prepare prepare baby food in larger batches and freeze it in small serving sizes. So, some the nutrients will be lost during freeze & thaw.
Variety and Flavor: at any one grocery store, you can expect to find 20+ flavors of baby food – that’s a good selection. But if you prepare your own baby food, you will have more choices! In addition to a greater variety of foods, you can also flavor the food to match the flavors & ingredients you & your family are eating. This way, your toddler will gradually accept and incorporate the table foods that your family is eating. In fact, if you have been breastfeeding, your toddler might already be primed to accept table foods.
Price: A jar of baby food is only about 70¢ so that’s pretty affordable. However, homemade baby food is even cheaper! The cost of the food itself is less than what you pay to buy prepared baby food. With homemade baby food, you only pay for the food itself; you don’t have to pay for labor, shipping, storage, and the cost of the jar itself.
Environmentally Friendly: so… what happens to the baby jar after your toddler eats the food? It goes into the garbage or recycling bin. Making your own baby food is more environmentally friendly because you won’t need to dispose all those baby jars.

Few reasons why you might want to avoid making your own food:

It can be time-consuming, especially if you’re trying to make large batches of food at once. It takes time for babies to eat through their first year of life—and if yours is anything like mine, they’ll probably want something new every day! That means lots of prep work and cleaning up after each mealtime. Not only that, but there are a lot of other things that parents have to take care of every day. You might not have the time or energy to devote to making homemade baby food—and that’s okay! If you’ve tried it and decided it wasn’t for you, that’s completely fine.
Commercial baby food is convenient and easy-to-use; some brands even come in individual packages that are ready to serve once opened.