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If you do want the convenience of store-bought baby food, there are new, healthier choices available from brands such as Plum Organics.

Feeding your baby will first involve breastmilk or formula, and then at some point baby food and a gradual shift over to table foods. Feeding baby can really be expensive, but the good news is that, just like with cloth diapers, the healthier option here is the cheapest. Hooray!

Now, I know not everyone is able to breastfeed, but I’ve heard scary statistics as low as 11% for the percentage of U.S. moms breastfeeding. Guys, I’m not gonna lie, that’s terrifying predictor for the health of the next generation. Formula is fine if you need it, but breastmilk is not only vastly superior from a nutritional standpoint (how can a powdered drink filled with corn syrup and vegetable oil be as good for my baby as nature’s perfect food that provides absorbable iron, a perfect balance of nutrients, and autoimmune benefits?) but it has even been shown in recent studies to kill cancer cells! Breastmilk is powerful, nutritious stuff, and if you can, please give the best food possible to your baby.

I don’t mean to preach, so I’m sorry if it comes across that way, but before you flame me for being judgmental or for not understanding how hard it can be to breastfeed, know that I have not had it easy. Breastfeeding has been a tough choice for me, but one that I stand by. My baby had thrush the ENTIRE first year of her life (I’m only now thinking we might be out of the woods at 13 months, but I’m not 100% sure), which meant painful nursing, inconvenient use of creams and nursing pads for a whole year, money spent on prescriptions and doctor visits, and a modified diet: no suguar, no wheat, no white flour, and limited natural sugars such as honey and fruit. Let’s just say this is a good way to lose the baby weight. All this AFTER the first couple weeks of nursing, which involved latch problems, nursing around the clock through jaundice, and on and on. Even with all that, I’m still 100% sure I made the best choice I could for my baby and myself (breastfeeding even helps protect against future cancers in mom!), and even all those doctor bills couldn’t eat away my savings over formula. If you want to learn more about breastfeeding and want to have support available to you after your baby is born, please contact La Leche League, a nonprofit organization that will give you free lactation consultation, group support for breastfeeding, and so much more. I couldn’t have done it without them. It’s best to go to a La Leche League meeting while you’re still pregnant, so you know whom to call when you need it.

Okay, now that’s out of the way. If you can’t breastfeed, you still have options–even for finding breastmilk. Breastmilk banks are organizations that collect an oversupply of breastmilk from nursing moms who have been screened for health problems and drug use. I believe they combine the milk and pasteurize it before distributing, but it’s possible that different banks handle this process in different ways. Breastmilk banks are not cheap–costing up to $3 per ounce (I told you this stuff was liquid gold)–but if your baby needs the nutrition of breastmilk to overcome health challenges or you want to give her the best and aren’t able to breastfeed, this may be a good option for you.

This Green Sprouts baby food mill is cuter than my KidCo mill, but doesn't come with a carrying case.

If you feed your baby formula, there are multiple ways to get it at a discount. Manufacturers will send you full-size samples of powdered formula in the mail, and you can get coupons in mailers locally or in the mail if you sign up with the manufacturer. You can also find these coupons listed on Craigslist and Freecycle for free or for a small fee for a collection of coupons. But, like I said (she belabors the point), formula can never be as cheap or as nutritious as breastmilk, so call La Leche League today, you preggo gals!

After your baby starts trying solid foods, a great way to save money on baby food is to buy a food mill, which can be battery-powered or crank-operated. Or, you can make baby food in your blender or food processor. What the food mill does for you is:

1) strain out any seeds or fibrous pieces of veggies and fruits so your baby gets an easy-to-eat baby food.

2) come with you on the go if you like to mash up table food for your baby as you eat.

I never used my food mill on the go. I just kept it on the counter and would cook one full vegetable, such as a yam, and then cut up and strain the whole thing, spooning the resulting baby food into my ice cube trays. Once the food was frozen, I could pop the cubes out of the tray and store the food in freezer-safe bags. Please label your bags, because they’ll last a long time. I discovered that these baby food cubes started to taste like jarred baby food–i.e. not fresh–after they had been frozen for a few months, so don’t make huge batches. Just one or two cubes melted with a little hot water into a miniature ramikin or baby food bowl makes instant baby food. Baby food costs $1-2 per jar. Making organic baby food yourself takes about an hour per batch (which will make about 5-12 meals) and will cost you about $3-4 total. So we’re talking $6-24 worth of baby food for $3-4 and a little elbow grease. Again, the nutrition is superior: how can you compare fresh/frozen produce with canned (which contains BPA, by the way, because 99% of food jars have BPA in the lid lining: see The Soft Landing to learn about BPA-free baby feeding options). Oh, and those baby-food storage freezer trays you can buy? They’re just for those of you who want to know how much baby is eating. One cube is usually one ounce. If you don’t care that your cubes are a certain size, check your ice cube trays for the recycling/plastic number to make sure they’re safe to use. Mine were.

Well, I hope some of this info helps you out. I had to search high and low for some of these answers, so I’m happy to be able to pass along this info to you all in one place. Thanks as always for being a 29 Diapers reader!