What to buy for baby weaning?

[trrk]

FTM so not sure what I’m doing. Planning to buy sone supplies for weaning in the Black Friday or pre-Xmas sale and not sure what to look out for. Any recommendations on the best brands for baby cutlery, tableware and cups? Other essentials?

So far I have brought a few Bibadoo bibs in their sale and a hand blender which I planned to buy anyway for other reasons. We have a Stoke Tripp Trapp already and just need to buy the highchair conversion.

I plan to do mostly BLW but will include some purées at the beginning. I don’t have a steamer so will it be OK to boil or bake veges for purées and BLW? I’ve seen lots of specialised containers for freezing baby food but guess I can just use normal Tupperware and an ice cube tray for this?

I’m probably over thinking this but just want to know which things you considered good buys for weaning and what was a waste of money?

Flannels, loads of flannels and a cover for the floor - we used a PVC table cloth. I brought some cheap plastic plates & bowls from Ikea, a water cups, some little tubs for freezing or taking snacks out and some child sized cutlery which didn't get touched till 18 months. You don't need much especially if you do BLW. DS just had what we had from day 1 of weaning (chopped into appropriate sized pieces obviously)

Splat mat, child sized cutlery (introduced from day 1 but only took more interest in them around 12 months), plates and bowls, water cups, snack box (for on the go) and bibs

Maybe get a couple of silicone bibs to use over the top of the bibado because bibado is hard to clean. You need to spot clean it and it smells bad when it's clean for some reason.

Pretty much everything specially designed for weaning is unnecessary. If you're doing BLW then you won't need a hand blender as no purées needed. Bibs, if you prefer to use them, a high chair, baby cutlery/plates and cleaning cloths and that's about it. I did find that plastic bibs with a scoop at the front were useful in the early days so that baby can pick up things that were dropped for another try.

You can get a little fan collapsible steamer thing that will fit in any saucepan. I'm sure it'll just be a couple of pounds. I think they say steaming preserves nutrients. My one year old much prefers roast veg though (who can blame them?)

I use bibado bibs, I've got three and just put them through a 15 min wash at the end of each day. I used to just do them in the sink but they took too long to dry.

It's free but the solid starts app and Instagram are brilliant for BLW. I didn't have a clue either!

In addition to what you've mentioned, I bought some large silicone ice cube trays. I use them to freeze home made pasta sauce for a quick dinner with lots of veggies. Just freeze the sauce, then pop out the cubes into a freezer bag. Would be good for purees if you're planning on using those. I also bought floor mats so that I don't have to get on my hands and knees scrubbing sauce of the floor several times a day. You don't need a steamer... just boil or roast veg as you said.

most useful thing for us was a handheld hoover for the crumbs….

And a set of cheeky wipes which I just store dry in the kitchen and then run under warm water and use for giving their hands and face a wipe!

We don’t have a steamer either and we just boil or roast the veges. I did a whole bunch of purées in the early weeks in the special trays (and then into ikea bags in the freezer) but he very quickly moved onto finger food and now I’ve a freezer drawer of purées that he won’t eat!

We pop our bibados in the wash too and they’ve been fine.

This plate below has probably been our best purchase, along with an an oil cloth from only oil cloths to go under the high chair.

Thanks all for the great tips!

Also remembered I bought silicon cupcake cases which I froze purées or leftover bits in small portions. Easy to pop out while still frozen and reuse the cases, also once you no longer want purées you can use for cake forever.

I just got plastic cutlery out of ikea. I've 3 kids and big fan of plain old traditional weaning, which is a mix of spoonfeeds and finger food. I always just mash whatever we are having for dinner (normally cooked from scratch, no added salt etc). I just use a good old fork, and adjust the consistency by adding water or milk. At 9 months, my baby is on 3 spoonfeeds a day and 2 hand held snacks. The biggest victim is the floor so find a way to.clean it afterwards that works best with your mental health limits 😄 For quick meals I cheat with ready made mash (don't judge me), scrambled egg, weetabix. Lidl often do frozen veg like chopped pumpkin/squash and I ping that in the microwave. Bananas are a miracle: ready made and in their own packaging. Just need to be mashed or broken up when out and about. Snacks are little rectangular sandwiches with cream cheese or peanut butter, sometimes baby biscuits if I'm feeling particularly lazy or the cupboards are bare!

What you have, plus a microwave steamer and small Tupperware from Sainsbury’s - that’s all you need! Oven baking takes way too long but a baking tray is good for millions of sweet potatoes……

Don’t get bamboo crockery if you have a tiled floor - they smash!! The plastic bowls with a lid are the best as you can store leftovers in them. We found the ready made pouches in conjunction with homemade good. Easy to transport, all organic, and good for trying out different flavours without spending your whole life cooking! Frozen veg is a life saver. We always have a bag of roasted Mediterranean vegetables in the freezer, just defrost in the microwave and add some tinned tomatoes or passata and rice or pasta - dinner in minutes!! Orzo is also good as it’s small and you can cook in the sauce so no extra pans!

Long sleeved bibs

Flannels or washable wipes

PVC wipeable tablecloth (you'll still be using this when you have teenagers.)

The Ikea cutlery is lovely - a few sets of this.

Loads and loads of patience.

I agree on the ikea cutlery, bowls and plates - cheap and cheerful and they can choose their favourite colours