The best and worst baby food brands to buy
The nutritionists of expert dietitians share their choices for the best baby food brands on the market.
Probably one of the moststabulable milestones that a reached baby starts solid foods. What is cute that a baby covered with head to foot in pure bite squash baby foods? Other than babies dressed like food on Halloween, nothing.
While presenting solid foods for baby is a rite of passage, choosing the most appropriate baby food brands for your small nugget can pass from stressful excitement in a second. We walk in the alley of baby foods and you will see a sea of different brands, combos, consistency and cartoon characters. How does a parent know which one choose?
We put together a guide to what dietitians are looking for in the best food brands for babies,
Why does your baby need baby food?
First, break down why a parent can choose a pre-packed baby. After all, most baby foods are simply mashed food in a container. "Parents have often bought pre-manufactured baby foods to have a nutritionally available nourishing options to offer or other guardians to offer as solids are introduced," says Ashley Smith, Rd, MPH , a pediatric dietician and owner of the Nutrition Board ServiceVegetables and virtue. "This can provide comfort, security and confidence of new parents as their baby has dense nutritious options for anyone to feed them safely."
If baby food is pre-made or made from scratch, it benefits the baby in many ways. "Baby foods can benefit a developing child by providing the necessary nutrients to support healthy growth and development, and sometimes by filling out nutritional gaps that may otherwise be difficult to meet, explains Nutritionist Sarah Stakiewicz, RDN, co-founder ofCultivate: Nutritional Content + Strategy.
"Baby food is a brand new world for baby! He exhibits a baby with new smells, flavors and textures. When babies start eating baby food, it helps support the development of necessary food skills and gives them a sensory experience that supports the development of their sensory systems, "explains Stakiewicz.
How do the dietary nutritioners choose the best food for babies?
Dietitians notes that there are several factors to keep in mind when selecting the "best" baby food:
- Baby trends on the growth card
- beliefs and preferences of parents surrounding factors likeOrganic Foods, GMOand plastic packaging
- Unique nutritional needs of baby
While each dietician has its own criteria for what they consider as a "better" baby food, some factors are common on their list of mental control.
- High vegetables and low fruits: "To choose the best baby food, I recommend searching for a combo of fruits and / or vegetables more fat content," said Kacie Barnes, MCN, RDN, LD and owner ofMom knows nutrition
- Healthy fats: "As a baby starts to make the transition to less breast milk or formula and to increase solids, it is important to maintain good fat consumption," says Barnes.
- The variety is the key: "It's also important to consider variety," says Barnes. "For baby to have the best nutrition, it will have to eat a variety of different types of foods. This will also help protect any potential problems, such as excessive heavy metals in some baby foods. So it is important to Avoid entering a routine to serve baby the same food day and day. "
- Avoid salt and added sugar: Meghan McMillin, MS, R & CSP, LDN, IBCLC, a dietician who is also a certified specialist of the board of pediatric nutrition, a lactation consultant of the International Commission and the owner of a private practiceMom and sweet peas in Chicago, accepts. It adds that parents should avoid baby foods containing salt and / or added sugar.
Concern for allergies in baby food
While some parents are trying to avoid babies containing ingredients comprising the 8 top 8 allergens (including peanuts and eggs) for fear of exposing their child too early and trigger an allergy in their small peanut, theAmerican pediatric academy"The position is that this exposure prior to allergens can cause less allergies in the long run. Factors such as family history and recommendations from your personal pediatrician should be taken into account when following these tips.
A note on heavy metals
While many consumers avoid someBaby food marks find heavy metalsIt is important to note that these contaminants naturally exist in the environment and it is impossible to avoid them, especially when considering foods grown in the soil.
Although many dieticians have not swept away to choose a brand on another on the basis of the heavy metal report, many encourages to limit or avoid rice-containing products. This is because research shows that rice absorbs the arsenic of the environment.
Dietitians also encourage babies consume a variety of foods when adapted to age to provide food consumption that can contain heavier metals with other foods that are not exposed.
The best baby foods, according to dietitians.
Choose from one of these 11 best dietary-approved baby food brands according to your baby's needs.
1. Spoonfullone
One of the most-based concepts on the proof on the market is a brand of food calledSpoonful. If a parent wishes to follow the guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatric Pediatric Penalties to the Allergenic Foods of the Beginning of Life, the food items of this company support this objective.
The spoonful was made by a pediatric allergologist and provides baby with small amounts of all food groups associated with more than 90% of food allergies.
Starting from 4-6 months, baby can be fed from the mixing powder, the transition to the puffs and finally the crackers of oats! Unemployed, they found a way not to taste them as a fish-aroming aroma mess (their products really taste really good).
2. Serenity Kids Baby Baby Food
"The reason I likeSerenity Kids Do they offer an alternative to truly sweet fruit purees and focus on vegetables, high quality proteins and healthy fats, "says Barnes". If you are going to buy baby food vs. Make your own, I feel like a serenity children are the closest you will get a healthy meal and cooked at home in a wallet. "
3. Tiny Organic Human Food, Cold Pressed Baby Food
Small human food was created by a mother who felt frustrated to find refrigerated and fresh food for dogs to buy, but nothing even for her baby. It took the matter between its own hands and creates a baby food made in small batches and pasteurized using high pressure pasteurization instead of heat (can change the composition or vitamin content of certain foods). The food is sold in the refrigerated section and contains no preservatives. This baby food brand has received thePurity price by the project of clean label, which provides consumers with the insurance of the purity of the ingredients.
4. Fresh tray for toddlers
When baby grows up in a young child,Flat is a wonderful option when it is ready to be introduced on a variety of tastes and textures that support a diversified palace and set the scene of healthy eating habits for life. Because small flat dishes are "heat-and-serve", they are a wonderful solution for the days loaded when a homerocoké meal is not always possible.
5. Fresh belly
Without sweet goop hidden,Fresh bellyIncludes tasty-herbal seasonings and real spices - which are almost never included in baby food (thinking with garlic). This teaches young palaces to love salt food instead of sugars and install them for a lifetime of good eating habits.
Vegetables are served like vegetables and fruits are served with fruits without hidden sweetness.
6. The best organic of the earth
"I appreciateEarth Like all their baby products are unsuccessful, unrecuted and contain no artificial flavor, colors or preservatives, "says Alex Caspero, RDN, CPT, a dieteticist and co-founder based on herbalPlant-based juniors. "Finally, they carry out rigorous product tests to guarantee quality and security."
7. Square Baby Baby Baby Baby Food Map
"I likeSquare baby, "ExplainParker Elizabeth, MS, RD, author ofExpect at the best, your guide to eat healthy before, during and after pregnancy. "Their food is organic, fresh and much lower in sugar than other brands. In addition, the company the jelled book at your door. CEO is a certified dietitian who has designed each of the personalized meal and meal plans for each step. of development. Square meals offer 100% of a baby's nutrition, which takes prevention of child's diet. I also like the company to have taken the question of allergy and offer food with a peanut, soy, fish, dairies and eggs. "
8. Once a cold pressed farm, biological food
"I recommended and personallyOnce a farm, says registered dietitianColene Stoernell, MS, RDN, LD. "The ingredients are all real foods and are as close as possible to reach a preset article that is almost as good as homemade."
9. Lil 'Gourmets
"I recommend the brandLil 'Gourmets. They are organic and have amazing spice mixtures that offer babies to a wide variety of flavors! "Explains McMillin. Vegetables are the star of these meals with 70-95% vegetables and complex mixtures of spices.
10. Bambino frozen babies food
Bambino baby food was created by a doctor who comes from a long line of farmers, so she understands the importance of quality agricultural practices. They come from products grown in Alaska. Why is it important? Because Alasa is more recent for agriculture, farmers use fewer pesticides and herbicides compared to other parts of the country.
Bambino provides proteins and vegetables (no fruit) to familiarize baby with foods that are not so nice. You will not find any pot or pockets in any of their packaging; Their foods come in a frozen shape of a star to allow the baby to grasp the product and self-supply if it is appropriate by age. As baby ages, the parent can defrost the star and mix it with other products like Quinoa to add more texture.
11. SPORT
"I am fan ofGerminate organic biological foods, as they do not contain ingredients or artificial sugars, and they lead with vegetables, "explains Sharon Palmer, MSFS, RDN,Dietitian powered by the plant. Sharon adds that the products "are organic and have a wide range of plant foods, including beans, lentils, squash, cabbages and spinach".
The worst food for babies to buy.
There are red flags that dietitians pronounce to evaluate baby foods.
Baby foods that contain a large amount of rice
For one, many choose to avoid baby foods containing rice. "Rice cereals have been recommended as a first food for babies because rice is not a common allergen. But we now know that it is not harmful and it is actually beneficial to go right to A variety of foods, including various fruits and vegetables. Rice is less nutritious than many other foods and is also known forcarry large quantities of arsenic, which can be more dangerous for babies because of their small size, "says Barnes. A better alternative would be oat-based food.
Make sure your food does not include the following ingredients:
- Honey (babies should not eat honey until they are aged a year)
- salt
- added sugars
- artificial colors
Foods for babies packed in pockets
Another expert factor says a baby food like "worse" has less to do with baby food and more to do with the packaging. Ward explains that she does not care about baby foods packed in pockets, which encourages babies to suck their food in a pocket instead of learning to eat a spoon, which interferes with engine development. "
Expert panels echo the concern about baby food delivered in pockets. "Complementary foods marketed in baby food pockets often have a high energy density and are mainly extremely extremely extremelyHigh sugar content, with up to 90% of the total energy content. Regular consumption supports the risks associated with the provision of unbalanced nutrients and the increased risk of dental and overweight caries, "according to a position document published inMolecular and cell pediatrics In 2019.
If you use pockets, experts suggest serving baby food by pressing it directly on a spoon instead of feeding baby directly from the pocket.
Low
At the end of the day, as long as the baby is fed, to grow appropriately and reaching important milestones, your baby probably risks sufficient nutrients to meet his needs.