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Baby Hints & Tips

Puree Parties for Weaning Babies: Get Cooking with Your Mum Mates

puree party

What, you’ve never heard of puree parties?  Yes they really are a something people are doing! Any they’re actually a great idea!

But don’t feel like you’ve been living under a cloud of new baby sleep deprivation (oh, wait…you have!) because it’s just a clever way of saying gather up your friends or muster your mothers group and have a puree cook up together!

Introducing new flavours is important

It’s really important for babies to experience a range of flavours and foods when they are newly introduced to ‘solid’ foods – by which, of course, we mean pureed and suitable for babies to eat.

It’s a great way to fill the freezer – and to spend some adult time together

My mother’s group and I came up with this great way to give our babies variety in their first foods. They also give us a great excuse to socialise and connect with other, likeminded adults!

puree parties

Five reasons to get into puree parties

  • Save money making your own baby food
  • Fill the freezer with ease
  • Introduce baby to a wide range of flavours
  • Being with your friends is good for your mental health
  • Long term having your purees on hand ready to defrost and eat makes feeding baby hassle free!
  • It’s fun!

Community approach to parenting

You know that whole village people talk about? It can be real! In earlier days and other cultures, mothers take a communal approach to child raising and it works well.  The children start learning from a very young age, they’re loved on by multiple adults and there seems to be less stress on mums. Much less stress if we’re honest.

Now that everything mums do is subject to scrutiny, a small thing like introducing solids to your child’s diet can throw a first time mum into panic.  When she’s part of a group she’s more likely to relax and enjoy being a mum and that is a great thing for her and her child.

Puree parties: any excuse to get a group together (and this ones valid!)

Invite your mother’s group around or any women with babies of a similar age.  You might like to take it in turns with each mum hosting the party on a roster system.

Allocate each person a fruit or vegetable that they’re responsible for bringing along.  That way you don’t end up with too much of the one thing. If you aim to really cook a lot you might also like to bring your own stick blender or a Thermie if you have one.

Of course, you’re also going to need to get all your new freezer-filling goodness home so you’ll need to have an idea on that of what works for you. A good idea is that one mum might pop past Kmart and buy everyone some freezer trays to use. All working with the same storage means a much easier system!

Create a puree production line

You can either set up a production line or work stations, and everyone creates a puree with the ingredient they’ve brought along. There’s the pumpkin and carrot alongside the apple and apricot and … whatever you have, really.

The kids can also have their own ‘social time’ and can also taste the produce you’ve created for them. They have the opportunity to be exposed to a wider variety of foods (not necessarily in the one night) than you’d perhaps think of introducing yourself.

(Of course, if you’re craving some adult time why not leave bubs at home, after all a little girl time is good for the soul!)

baby food in bowl

Experiment with different flavours

When the kids are a little older, try mixing a few different ingredients together, apple and strawberry for example, or sweet potato and broccoli. Experiment with a few things, but don’t go too crazy.

You can even move onto stewed fruits and lightly mashed vegetables to add some texture at the age appropriate time in your bubs’ lives.

Just remember to keep plenty of bibs on hand.  A new taste experience can be pretty messy at times but that’s part of the fun, isn’t it? Puree parties are good for so many reasons, why not organise one yourself?

Not sure where to start with your purees?

Janell Fowler

Janell is the creator of Baby Button  and makes products for mums from a mum. Head over to her website to purchase large, very absorbent, adjustable bibs today! To see all of Janell’s articles, click here

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