what should I buy for baby led weaning?

[1990shopefulftm]

We'll be starting the end of april/ beginning of may so want some time to find good deals on what we'll need?

So far I ve got 4 tommee tippee bowls and some spoons which i think he'll be able to hold himself and his high chair.

I got some long sleeved bibs and some sippy cups. Some little pots with lids are good if you're going out and you might find a couple of ice packs, like the ones you use in sandwich boxes, useful for the summer.

If you're got a nice floor, a cheap shower curtain will help to protect it.

Spoons might be a bit optimistic at the beginning

A bibado weaning bib - saves whole outfits and kitchen floor mess - expensive but worth it.

Nuk food cube trays to freeze any purées or dinners you make.

A morphy Richards hand blender - brilliant for blending fruits and veggies (about £10 from Argos)

A Bamboo Bamboo bowl in one of there animal shapes - they wash well and have sectioned parts.

Their* whoops

The bowls with the rubber sucker on the bottom so they stay on the high chair are v good’

Bibs, long sleeve.

I would see how you go tbh.

You can put the food directly on the highchair tray for now. As they won't be having that much anyway for the first few weeks, they might just have munch on a strawberry/broccoli floret or chomp on a piece of toast.

I feel that with babies and the joy of 24hr supermarkets or same/next day delivery, you can just wait and see what happens and buy as you need 👍

I used normal teaspoons with mine.

Making and freezing portions of soup/stews/pasta etc is a good idea. You can get the "big" ice cube trays which are perfect.

That way you can always have a hot meal on the table in a few minutes, as babies are hungry NOW. :)

@BunnyRuddington our floor isn't worth much but I ll get a shower curtain, anything to help with the mess :) I just got spoons more because they were cheap in a Lidl baby event.
@lemorella how many of the bibs did you get? If it saves on washing it sounds like a good investment. We ve got a decent blender already :)
@OnlyFoolsnMothers I ll get looking for suction bowls.

I only came on to say a plastic sheet for the floor

Don't forget, you can always just take the clothes off them for meals 😁

I found it easier to clean the floor than clean the table cloth/shower curtains etc.

Unless it's a carpet floor, then yes, protect against spills (and flinging of food !)

@00100001 I was worried about injuries with normal teaspoons but I guess they aren't sharp. Yes he is used to almost instant milk with his prep machine and has about 40 Oz of formula a day so I m hoping he ll have as good an appetite for his vegetables

BLW 3 children. My advice is:

1. Big coverall bib for outside of the house, inside the house just strip them.
2. IKEA antilop high chair. I used to put the seat and tray in the dishwasher on bad days.
3. Only put bits of food out at a time. Less goes on the floor that way.
4. Bowls/plates are for bigger babies, at first they’ll just get tipped and flung.
5. Big old fashioned terry squares for wiping.

I don’t miss this phase at all :)

We bought nothing, not even a high chair to begin with, just used a towel and sat him on the floor... but we didn’t even have a dining table until we moved a few months later.

I loved blw with my two kids. The things we got the most use out of were plastic spoons, plastic plates, suction bowls, and the 360 munchkin drinks cups. Also long sleeve bibs, I got some on amazon, in packs of 3. We use face flannels for wiping hands and faces afterwards. Never used a blender for either kid, they just had what we had, in sensible sizes and portions. Our high chair stands on a tiled floor so easy clean up, otherwise I would have got a plastic mat.

@Flibbertygibbertywoo thank you, we ve got tonnes of muslins we can use to clean messes.
@problematicbehaviour we ve got a dining table we just barely use it, his highchairs just the right height for our breakfast bar.
@katmarie I ll have a look at those cups, he's got massive hands so need decent handles on one for it to last a while.

Yeah, I never used a blender or ice cube trays. My must haves were:

• floor mat / shower curtain / old tablecloth, basically anything you can put in the washing machine if it’s really bad
• IKEA Antilop high chair
• Tommee Tippee sippy cup (free flow)
• doidy cup (I used for soup, you may not need it but we eat a lot of soup)
• high necked, long sleeved, absorbent bibs (absorbent is important, else liquid just pours into their lap)
• mat that suctioned to table for when I was out and had a high chair with no tray (can roll up and take to bin, empty, rinse, re-use)
• flannels (others use muslins or baby wipes, this is useful for your hands too!)

@SilenceIsNoLongerSuspicious thank you, I hadn't even thought about what we ll do when we take him out, never even changed a nappy out and about because of covid.

I got one bibado bib but they do an offer on the website and Amazon where you save some money if you buy two. There is probably a much cheaper alternative out there if you had a browse.

never even changed a nappy out and about because of covid.

You've never had the pleasure of a baby changing station? I think that makes you lucky

@milkamamma i ll see if i can find a cheap version of them.

@BunnyRuddington never had the pleasure of one, it's going be a baptism of fire really when we can go to more public places.

I found Little Chomp bibs brilliant.

My biggest tip would be don't fret about blw/purees - you can do both. Personally I limited giving mine spag bol etc as BLW when they were tiny because it just caused a massive mess. So for that I'd apoon feed, but maybe give some potato wedges on the side they could eat themselves.

I found this made everything much easier and meant baby could have pretty much everything I cooked.
Also - if you have a garden eat outside in the summer and u can hose the high chair down when it gets grim!

Having some sort of mat or shower curtain type thing under the high chair not only protects the floor from spills, but means that you've got a clean surface so any food that gets dropped on it can be picked up and put back on the tray.

@BunnyRuddington

never even changed a nappy out and about because of covid.

You've never had the pleasure of a baby changing station? I think that makes you lucky

Honestly I’ve never seen anything so rank in all of my life. Rather do it on my knee or in the car 😂.

I came to say points 3 and 4 from @Flibbertygibbertywoo list! Lots of good advice from PPs

If you've got a fancy comfy looking chair then I'd go and buy the £14 one from IKEA. It's amazing and lasts forever and super easy to clean!

@OhToBeASeahorse I m just keen on BLW as I have a coordination disorder so wanted DS to get the experience of feeding himself incase he's like me , but we ve got a blender ready if a meal makes more sense to be pureed for whatever reason.