Feeding your baby on a budget

Babies don’t need expensive food

The NHS says that, over time, your baby can eat the same foods as the rest of the family, in smaller portions. The AAP says homemade baby food can be less expensive than store-bought, and that there’s probably no need to make special dishes: start with foods already on your menu.

You don’t need baby rice to start solids (NHS). Ready-made baby food is fine when it helps, and the AAP says not to feel bad about using it. Plain family food, cooked without salt or sugar, does the same job for less.

Cheaper iron and protein foods

From about 6 months, babies need iron from food. The CDC lists beans and lentils, tofu, iron-fortified infant cereal, dark green leafy vegetables, red meat, poultry, fish and eggs as foods that contain iron. Several of these are among the cheapest foods in the shop:

• Dried or canned beans, split peas and lentils. The AAP lists them as low-cost protein, and the CDC and NIH list beans and lentils among plant sources of iron. Cook until very soft and mash or flatten them for babies: whole beans are a choking risk (CDC). Dried kidney beans need extra care, because raw or undercooked ones can cause severe vomiting and diarrhea: soak them for at least 5 hours, pour the water away, boil them in fresh water for at least 30 minutes, and never cook them in a slow cooker (FDA). Canned beans are already cooked. See kidney beans, lentils, black beans and chickpeas.
• Eggs. Usually a lower-cost option, and quick to cook (AAP). Eggs contain some iron (CDC), and they’re an easy protein for busy days. Cook until the yolk and white are firm. See egg.
• Canned fish. The AAP calls canned tuna, salmon and sardines a low-cost seafood that stores well. Most fish has only small amounts of iron, but it’s good protein, and the NIH says seafood helps the body absorb iron from plant foods eaten at the same meal. Choose low-mercury fish such as canned light tuna, salmon and sardines (FDA). The CDC lists bones in fish as a choking hazard: lift out the backbone and any larger bones, mash the small soft bones completely flat with a fork, and remove any bone that stays hard. See fish for babies.
• Value packs of meat. Buy family-size packs and freeze what you won’t use straight away (AAP). Minced meat, cooked through and stirred into a mash, is an easy first iron food.
• Iron-fortified infant cereal or fortified breakfast cereal with no added sugar or salt.

The CDC says pairing plant sources of iron with vitamin C foods, such as broccoli, cabbage, tomatoes, oranges or berries, helps your baby absorb it. Beans with tomato, or lentils with broccoli, work well. For more, see iron-rich first foods.

Frozen and canned vegetables without added salt

Fruit and vegetables don’t have to be fresh. The AAP says frozen vegetables without added sauces or butter are as good for you as fresh and may cost less, and that canned fruit and vegetables are just as nutritious, often cheaper, and last much longer. The NHS counts fresh, frozen and canned produce toward 5 a day.

When you buy canned:

• Choose vegetables labeled “no salt added” or “low sodium” (AAP), and vegetables, beans and fish canned in water rather than brine (NHS).
• Choose fruit canned in its own juice or water, with no added sugar, not in syrup (NHS). Mash it or cut it into soft, safe-sized pieces for your baby: the CDC lists whole pieces of canned fruit as a choking hazard.
• Rinse canned beans, fish and vegetables: the FDA says this removes some of the sodium.
• Skip frozen vegetables in butter or cheese sauces.

Frozen peas, sweet corn (mashed for babies), spinach, broccoli and mixed vegetables are cheap and quick to cook soft.

Batch cooking

Cooking a big pot and freezing small portions saves money and time, and cuts waste when your baby only eats a few spoonfuls. The AAP suggests freezing purées in an ice cube tray (each cube is about 1 oz), then moving the cubes to a labeled bag and using them within 3 months. Meat, fish and egg purées keep for less time: see the times in batch cooking and freezing.

• Cool food and get it into the fridge or freezer within 2 hours (USDA FSIS).
• Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge (USDA FSIS). Rice is the exception: cool it within 1 hour, eat it within 24 hours, and never reheat it more than once (NHS).
• Reheat only once, until steaming hot all the way through, 165°F (74°C) (NHS, USDA FSIS), then cool and test it before serving.
• Throw away food left in your baby’s bowl, and don’t save half-eaten portions (NHS).

Throw away any food left out at room temperature for more than 2 hours (1 hour if it’s hotter than 90°F / 32°C).

For a step-by-step guide, see batch cooking and freezing.

Adapting family food for your baby

One pot for everyone is the cheapest way to feed a baby. A few habits make family food baby-safe:

• Cook without salt, stock cubes or gravy, then take your baby’s portion out before you season the rest (NHS). Babies under 1 need less than 1 g of salt a day (NHS).
• No added sugar or honey. No honey before 12 months, and US and UK advice is to avoid added sugar up to age 4. See salt and sugar for babies.
• Change the texture, not the meal. Mash or blend your baby’s portion, or cut soft pieces in safe sizes. See safe food sizes and shapes.
• Stretch meat with lentils or beans. The NHS suggests using less meat in stews and making up the difference with lentils, split peas or soaked dried beans.
• Use leftovers. The AAP suggests turning leftovers into a new meal, such as leftover rice and chopped vegetables in a soup. If you use leftover rice, eat the soup within a day of cooking the rice, and reheat it only once.

Simple, cheap meals that work for the whole family: lentil stew, bean chili (spices added after your baby’s share is taken out), fish cakes made with canned salmon and potato, and scrambled egg with toast fingers.

Save money on drinks and milk

• Water from the tap is low-cost. The AAP suggests water instead of sugary drinks.
• Juice isn’t needed. The AAP says no juice before 12 months, and the NHS suggests avoiding fruit juice up to age 4.
• Toddler milks aren’t needed. The AAP calls them unnecessary and more expensive, and they contain added sugars. The NHS says formula isn’t needed after 12 months, including follow-on formula and growing-up milks. From 12 months, whole cow’s milk can be your child’s main drink. See cow’s milk at 12 months.

Help with food costs

WIC (US)

WIC is the USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. It’s for pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, babies, and children up to their fifth birthday (USDA). WIC provides:

• healthy foods at no cost, including fruit and vegetables, baby food, milk, eggs, beans and cheese, on an eWIC card used at approved shops and farmers’ markets
• nutrition education, including help with picky eating and food allergies
• breastfeeding support, and referrals to other services

If your family gets Medicaid, SNAP or TANF, you may already be income eligible. Apply through your local WIC agency. The AAP also points to SNAP and food banks.

Healthy Start (UK)

Healthy Start is an NHS scheme for people who are more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under 4, and who get certain benefits such as Universal Credit (with take-home pay of £408 or less a month) (NHS, GOV.UK). If you’re under 18 and more than 10 weeks pregnant, you can qualify without benefits until your baby is born. After that, you need a qualifying benefit to keep getting Healthy Start. Eligible families get a card topped up with money every 4 weeks, to spend in some UK shops on:

• plain cow’s milk
• fresh, frozen and tinned fruit and vegetables
• fresh, dried and tinned pulses
• infant formula based on cow’s milk

You can also use it to collect free Healthy Start vitamins, including vitamin drops for children from birth to 4 years. In Scotland, apply for Best Start Foods instead.

Where US and UK advice differs

• Help schemes. WIC covers children up to their fifth birthday and includes foods, nutrition education and breastfeeding support. Healthy Start covers children under 4 and gives money on a card for set foods, plus free vitamins.
• Leftovers. USDA FSIS says cooked leftovers keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge. The NHS says to use batch-cooked food kept in the fridge within 2 days.
• Canned fruit. The AAP suggests fruit canned in 100% fruit juice. The NHS says fruit in natural juice or water, with no added sugar. Both say avoid syrup.
• Fish. The FDA groups fish by mercury level and suggests about 1 oz twice a week from age 1. The NHS limits oily fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel) to 4 portions a week for boys and 2 for girls.