Beaba Babycook

[Lyoshka]

Anybody use one? It's pricey, but the reviews say it's so convenient to have one small machine that does it all-which makes sense to me. It will steam, puree to any consistency, defrost and reheat. Here is the LINK.

We are coming up on 6 months here and I will start Lukas on solids within a month. While i have a steamer and a blender, I know I won't get those out every.single.day to cook him fresh food... with this thing, I could see it happening (or at least every other day), since it's so compact and an all-in-one solution.

It's pricey ($149), though Buybuybaby has them and i can use the 20% coupon, so it's $120(ish) then.. still a lot of money, but I'm really wanting to make 80-90% of the baby's food at home.. I'm torn, but leaning towards getting it. I'm guessing not having to buy many food jars will pay for it in a couple of months..

any reviews?

[Mandi]

Never heard of it.

Seems kind of gemicky to me. Sort of like pushing Dreft when most detergents will work just as well and are far cheaper. I made all the kids food myself and never needed anything special equipment. I did use a small food processor, but I already had that. I know quite a few people who just used their blenders.

I don't know.. IMO I wouldn't waste the money. But if it's something that you really want, then why not.

[Karri]

I have to agree w/ Mandi. I did it the old fashioned way (steamer, blender/food processor, ice cube trays, thaw in fridge) and never had any issues -- not while working or while SAH. The 'reheat' part kinda reminds me of a bottle warmer...a total waste of $. Takes too freakin' long.

I guess -- to each their own. I am more of a simple folk who doesn't like more gadgets to clutter when I have things that already suffice.

[marcy]

I just used our existing items to steam, puree, etc. And I froze food cubes so it's not like I was making a fresh meal every day.

[EricaW]

I've just been cooking big batches of things and freezing in ice cube trays and thawing when needed. I doubt I would use that everyday when it is so easy to have a stash of babyfood in the freezer (and a few jars in the pantry ).

[kalm]

I made Brendan's babyfood and agree with the others -- it's easy enough with existing kitchen equipment. At over $100 for something that I'd use for probably less than six months doesn't seem worth the investment. Plus, I kind of liked making a decent sized batch of food for him that I could freeze and have it at my finger tips. I usually would spend a Friday evening steaming/pureeing/freezing stuff for the next week or two. I used a small food processor for most things as I recall. Brendan moved to table foods really quickly (all that watching the older siblings and all), so I didn't puree for long.

[Lyoshka]

All that rationale (waste of money, too expensive, another thing on the counter, etc..) has gone through my mind... So I keep going back and forth.

Another con that keeps popping up is that if Lukas follows in his brother's footsteps, this thing won't get much use: Nikita was never crazy about pureed texture, and while we started cereal at 6 months, he still BFed 80% of the time until 8.5 months, and then the babyfood stage lasted 2 weeks or so, and he went right to diced pieces..... But then again, if he is ok with purees, we'd use it till 1.5-2yo.. so who knows...

Anyway, thank you for your opinions. I may just wait and start with the babyfood with my regular steamer and blender and see how that goes. I know that BuyBuyBaby has the Babycook in stock, so if it keeps popping in my head, I can always go and get it...

[kika]

I actually saw this thing today at Buy Buy Baby (that place is freaking great) and Rich gawked at the price.

We steam all of our veggies everyday anyway for the family, and we just used a baby food mill to grind it.

Nasir is only 14 months old, and he stopped eating pureed food months ago. He pretty much eats what we eat, just cut into bite sized pieces...So you may not get 1.5-2 years out of it. Maybe only 6 to 8 months?

But hey, I am a gadget person, too, so I totally get your attraction to it. If you buy it, you can sell it to me in 6 months.

[Lyoshka]

You are most likely right, Kika, on the timeline.. if he is like his brother, I probably won't even get that long out of it.

I decided for now to hold off on buying it-thank you, all, for appealing to my logic. I will probably aim to make batches 2-3 times a week and freeze some and see how it goes.

[Karri]

Originally Posted by Lyoshka

But then again, if he is ok with purees, we'd use it till 1.5-2yo.. so who knows....

I think its fairly normal to move your kids to table foods between 9-12 months. I've never heard of a baby/toddler eating purees much past 12 months unless they had a feeding issue.

[Lyoshka]

Ok, well does sound right. Like I said, Nikita never took to pureed food and was eating table foods by 9 months, after 2 weeks of purees, so I don't know what the normal range is So, really, then, even if Lukas likes baby food, we'd be done by a year? But what about stage 2 and 3 jars? don't they go till an older age than 12 months?

[kalm]

None of my kids would ever eat anything stage 3 -- it was either purees or table food, none of that puree with lumps for them! I always felt like stage 2 is the same as stage 1, just in a bigger portion, but I have no idea if that's right.

Connor and Lilly were almost exclusively on table foods by 10 months (except for some cereals and maybe a fruit mixed into that). Brendan was on table foods even earlier than that (due to the wanting to keep up with the big kids, I suspect).

[Karri]

None of my 3 would eat anything lumpy. I tried to make a textured food and they wouldn't have it. They went from puree to cooked table foods. A

[pam]

Originally Posted by kalm

I always felt like stage 2 is the same as stage 1, just in a bigger portion, but I have no idea if that's right.

That was what I always thought. They don't really seem any thicker than stage 1.

[Lyoshka]

Originally Posted by Karri

None of my 3 would eat anything lumpy. I tried to make a textured food and they wouldn't have it. They went from puree to cooked table foods. A

Same here. And since Lukas has an older brother to watch, I have a feeling we'll go from 2 weeks of purees to table food again ..