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Organic baby food is all the rage, but is it really worth it? I was on a mission to find out, which is why I created this Yumi Review, to help you find out if it’s the right pick and a few other alternatives that are worth considering.
With my first two kids, I bought baby food off of the grocery store shelves. With my third, I made it all myself. I can tell you for a fact that making food for my baby in my own kitchen was the best thing I ever did. I knew where the food came from and it was such a joy to do. However, I was also staying home at the time, and I wasn’t staying home with my first two.
It’s not possible for every mom to make food for her baby, and if that’s the case, but you still want the best, where do you turn? Well, one option is Yumi. They offer a meal delivery service for babies and toddlers.
You get the best seasonal recipes every week, a pre-made assortment of your own meal choices, and plenty of stress relief about where your baby’s meals are coming from.
Their meals are low in sugar, they don’t have preservatives, and they’re packed with nutrients. They’re organic and made fresh in California. They also thoughtfully combine flavors to maximize nutrient absorption.
For instance, they pair sugars with fibrous veggies so your little one can adjust to new tastes and textures while still resting on familiar ingredients. It’s encouraging for your baby and for you to watch them expand their palette, try new things, and get the calories they need.
I'm rarely "surprised" by a company these days, but Yumi truly DELIGHTED me and our family. Transparent ingredients, quick shipping and AMAZING customer support (our kiddos have a few allergies)! Give Yumi a try. #GameChange
Use Code BABYSWAG50 at checkout to save extra
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Why Try Yumi
There are several great reasons to try Yumi. One is the totally obvious nutritional value you’ll get from the organic food they provide. The other is the equally obvious stress relief you’ll get from getting nutrient-rich food without having to make it yourself.
However, what you’ll also get is convenience. You simply sign up online, and it’s delivered to your door fresh every week. You don’t have to make an extra trip to the store. It’s just there when you need it.
Breath with me. All together now. Aaahhhhh…
Yumi Review
In this Yumi Review, we’ll check out the several different meal subscription options. You can get a shipment that includes either one meal, two meals, or three meals per day. The more meals you order, the cheaper it is per meal.
Each meal contains 4 ounces of fresh, certified organic baby food for babies starting at 4 months old.
As you sign up, you walk through building your baby’s meal plan. You’ll enter your baby’s date of birth and it will suggest the meal plan that will work best for you based on your baby’s age. It will also suggest the stage of food it thinks your baby will like best.
First, you select how many meals per day you want, then it will display the menu. While It doesn’t automatically set up your menu according to age, it will walk you through the different stages. Each of the 70 different flavors changes every week.
Stage 1
This stage is also called Singles, and it contains single-ingredient purees that are perfect for babies ages 4 months and up. These single-ingredient foods include things like dragon fruit, peach, purple sweet potato, spinach, and pumpkin.
Stage 2
This stage is also called Duos, and it contains two-ingredient purees that are great for 6 months and older. Some flavor examples include zucchini and split pea, spinach and Japanese sweet potato, carrot and mango, dragon fruit and pear, and purple sweet potato and blackberry.
Stage 3
Also called Mashables, this stage is ideal for babies 7 months and older. They have slightly more texture, but they’re, well, mashable. They also have multiple ingredients. Flavors include things like coconut cream pie, spiced pear, minestrone soup, and turnip and turmeric soup.
Stage 4
These are also Mashables, but they have even more texture and ingredients. They include seeds and grains and are great for babies 9 months and older. Flavors include bell pepper, polenta mushroom bolognese, kale and pear, blueberry chia pudding, and squash and greens bowl.
Stage 5
These Pinchables are small pieces of food that your 10 month old can hold between their fingers. They enjoy flavors like a coconut pea carrot combo, squash quinoa combo, and black bean sweet potato combo.
Finger Foods
These bites and puffs are for babies 11 months and older. They’re nutrient rich and intended for your baby to learn to snack and feed themselves. They can taste banana bread bites, beet bites, pizza bites, and southwest bites.
Meal plan options
In addition to choosing how many meals you’d like each week, you can also choose whether you’d like one stage or a mix of stages. You can choose the Starters Only option, which will ship Stage 1 purees for your young baby.
You may want to try the Variety Pack that will ship a mix of Stage 2 and 3 blends for your older baby.
If you’re at a point where your baby needs solids, you can ship Finger Foods Only, or perhaps you’d rather have a mix of Bites and Blends.
It’s customizable, which means you can get exactly what your baby needs when you need it. Yumi also offers free consultations with their staff nutritionists if you’re not sure what your baby needs, how much you should order, or if you have any other questions.
At checkout, you get an estimate on delivery as well as a cutoff date for editing your order. You can swap flavors or start over completely up until this cutoff date.
Packaging
Yumi foods ship in an insulated box with ice packs to keep your order cold and fresh. It also comes with a cute little poster that you can use to check off the meals as you try them. You can record what your child liked or didn’t like for your records.
There’s also a sheet with nutrition facts for each meal as well as some stickers.
Every jar comes with an expiration date on it so you know how long the food will last. It’s typically a week from the date it arrives. They’re good for 24 in the refrigerator after they’re opened, but you can also freeze them for up to 2 months.
Taste
I tried the purees for my baby because I had just gone back to work when he started expressing an interest in eating solid foods. I didn’t know what he would like and what he wouldn’t, so we just tried what came to see what would happen.
There are some unusual seasonal flavors, for sure, but I was surprised by what he ate and what he didn’t. I like to say I divided this list into what I would call normal foods and weird foods, so here we go!
Pear
Who doesn’t love pears? If you don’t, we can’t be friends. This puree really is mashed-up pears. It’s sweet, juicy, and oh-so-yummy. It even had that same gritty pear texture you get when you eat real pears.
I was really impressed by our first taste test, because it was my son’s first soiree into eating ‘real’ food, and it really was like eating real food. It wasn’t that gross, watery stuff you get at the grocery store.
It takes a while for young babies to get the hang of coordinating eating, and most will push the food out of their mouths the first couple of times they eat, but my son ate most of these the first time around.
Carrots
I was surprised by how these carrots weren’t steamed and then blended into a watery, unrecognizable goop. They were bright and fresh, and actually tasted like real carrots. They were delicious.
Yes, I tried them. The taste was bold, and my son liked them a lot. He opened his mouth wide and asked for more. The texture was awesome, too. While they’re certainly a puree safe for a 4-month old, there’s something very, carrot-y about them.
Apple
Apples are a pretty run of the mill baby food, but these don’t have any added sugar, which is such a refreshing delight. It was still sweet, but not overly sweet, and both my son and I loved it. He loved the taste and I loved how good it was for him.
Black beans
Black beans aren’t a weird food, but they’re kind of a weird food to feed a baby. At least in my opinion. However, they’re high in protein and fiber, so they’re an excellent source of nutrition.
And as much as you might expect the meal to be thick and pasty, it wasn’t. It was smooth, creamy, and really tasty. I was actually surprised that my son liked it as much as he did because it wasn’t sweet at all.
Dragon fruit
I think I was more excited to try this one than my son was. I’ve never actually had dragon fruit before. Yumi left really fine seeds in the puree, which I was fine with, as long as they didn’t obstruct my son’s ability to swallow it, which they didn’t.
I just love how Yumi’s purees have a bit of real texture rather than being overly blended into nothingness. This one had a really bright, wonderful color that made it even more appetizing (to me). It was tart and it took my son a few scoops to adjust to the flavor.
He twisted his face a lot while eating it. It wasn’t his favorite, by any means, but I enjoyed that he was able to express his opinion through Yumi’s flavors, and we may not try this one again.
Kale
The texture of the kale was a bit stringy, and the smell definitely turned me off. It was just too weird for me to feel comfortable feeding right away. However, I did freeze it, and it kept, just like Yumi said it would.
I tried it again once my son had more experience eating solid food. It was another one of those flavors we probably won’t try again, but he did tolerate it.
Kabocha squash
The adults and older kids in my house eat a lot (and I mean A LOT) of squash, so when I saw this one come, I was so excited. I was even more excited when my son loved it. While some may put this one on their weird list, we definitely don’t.
It was tasty, natural, and straight from the Yumi kitchen. It felt just as fresh as something I would have cooked for him.
Japanese sweet potato
Sweet potato has made its way into a lot of menus as of late. Sweet potato fries are more popular than they used to be, so I’d say this is more normal than it would have been a few years ago. I was shocked that this was probably my son’s favorite flavor. He loved it even more than the apples, pears, and carrots.
His mouth was wider than I’d ever seen it. I was frantically scraping the bottom of the jar to get him every last drop. The blend was naturally sweet and smooth, so it was a true delight for both of us, and I really hope Yumi ships more with this flavor in it.
I'm rarely "surprised" by a company these days, but Yumi truly DELIGHTED me and our family. Transparent ingredients, quick shipping and AMAZING customer support (our kiddos have a few allergies)! Give Yumi a try. #GameChange
Use Code BABYSWAG50 at checkout to save extra
Alternatives
If you’re looking for meal delivery services for your baby, believe it or not, there are quite a few options. They all have their own unique features, so you’ll need to figure out which is best for you and your baby.
Little Spoon
Little Spoon is another meal delivery service for babies and toddlers. They offer BabyBlends for infants and Plates for toddlers. Every meal comes in recyclable, non-toxic packaging. The BabyBlends meals are vegetarian, but not all of the Plates are.
However, every Little Spoon meal is certified organic, just like Yumi. The primary difference is that Yumi is very careful not to include any of the big 8 allergens in their meals, while Little Spoon isn’t so cautious, so you’ll have to watch what you order.
However, if you have an older toddler, Little Spoon is a great option to get Lunchable-type meals delivered to your door, so your days of packing school lunches for your kids are over.
A custom, fresh, all-organic baby food subscription delivery service. Better than those old jars. All I had to do was take a quiz to generate curated blends for our little guy.
Raised Real
This meal-delivery service also steers clear of big 8 allergens in their recipes for babies. They come ready to feed or you can put them in the freezer. However, the primary difference is that there are several ways you can feed these.
You can feed them just as they are if your baby is old enough to grab food and self-feed. You can also warm the food in a saucepan with 3 tablespoons of water, then mash it up and strain the water for texture. Or you can puree the food by hand or in a blender.
While it may sound like this is a lot of extra work, it gives parents more options while Raised Real can offer the same great flavors to everyone. They also try to stay away from extra sugary fruits and offer mostly vegetable-based meals.
NurturMe
This delivery service is the best option for babies with sensitive tummies. The foods are free of almost anything that causes digestive issues, like dairy, soy, egg, or gluten. They also contain the full daily recommended dose of probiotics to help your baby go, well, you know.
You’ll give your baby more immune and digestive system support than 10 cups of yogurt just by feeding one serving of NurturMe food.
There are plenty of tasty flavors of Ancient Grain Cookies, Quinoa Cereals, Power Blend Purees, Yum-a-Roos, and Quinoa Squares. Your baby can try mango, maple and cinnamon, guava, pineapple and spinach, pea and sweet corn, and apple.
NurturMe are Certified Organic and Kosher as well as non-GMO. They don’t add preservatives, sugars, or artificial flavors. Replacing rice with Ancient Grains provides superior nutrition. They’re also hypoallergenic, aid in brain development, have active antioxidants, and contain essential amino acids.
However, there’s no subscription or meal plan. You simply order the products you want online or purchase them at a retailer near you.
Yumi Review FAQs
Answer: Homemade baby food usually has more nutrients in it because it’s not processed as much as manufactured baby food. It will also taste better because it won’t have any of the additives like preservatives or GMOs.
You can also control the ingredients of your baby’s food when you make it. Luckily, if you don’t have the time or energy to do it, there are subscription services like Yumi that will do it for you.
Answer: Carrots are generally recognized as one of the first baby foods you should feed between 4 and 6 months of age. When pureed, they are sweet and smooth with high beta-carotene content.
This is a pretty good indicator that Yumi is doing something right, given that one of the first purees they send out is a carrot puree.
Answer: If you’re subscribing to something like Raised Real and you need to blend the food yourself, you’ll need the equipment to do that. The best way to puree your baby’s food is with a food processor or blender.
You likely already have something like this at home, so you shouldn’t have to purchase anything new.
Yumi Review Conclusion
I think Yumi is by far one of the best options for organic, high-quality meal delivery for your baby. However, there are plenty of other options if you want to give them a try, too. If you’re excited to try something out, try any of these options.
You’ll likely notice that your child is willing to and will happily eat solids. If they have digestive issues, these will likely improve, too.
I was impressed by Yumi’s entire process, but I do think the price is high. While it’s not a whole lot higher than grocery store brands, every little bit adds up.
You could always make the foods yourself, but these subscription services give your child the same nutrients while saving you time and a whole lot of stress. I think it’s well worth the cost.
I'm rarely "surprised" by a company these days, but Yumi truly DELIGHTED me and our family. Transparent ingredients, quick shipping and AMAZING customer support (our kiddos have a few allergies)! Give Yumi a try. #GameChange Use Code BABYSWAG50 at checkout to save extra
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