Blender/ other useful equipment recommendations for weaning please.

[GBBO15]

This is my first baby,so wondering if anyone had a recommendation for a good blender to use when preparing first solids? One that's easy to clean would be good! Also, is there any other equipment you found useful for this stage??

You do know you don't have to blend the food?

Or can just steam a stick of carrot and give to them, or give half a banana or bowl or porridge

I've got my trusty masher at the ready ?? or a fork should that fail me

(Also have a mini blender/stick blender/food processor but they were already in the house before baby arrived ha ha ha)

Please don't waste time blending food! Just give them bits and pieces from your plate. So much easier for you and better for baby to learn with.

Oh and other equipment? High chair that sits at the table so they can have meals with you (all good for learning) - not the ones with big tray on front. And floor coverings to catch all the mess (yes there will be mess!)

You really shouldn't need much else. I used to dress dcs in old t shirts instead of bibs as bibs just got in the way. Or stripped them down when it was warm!

Thanks all- I thought at the first stages most stuff needed blended into a sort of purée! Well, this is good news. It's a while off yet, just starting to think about getting things ready at home.

The best advice I can give you is don't buy any kitchen equipment that you won't use after the weaning stage - so none of this "baby steamer blender mixer" bullocks. If you have a food processor already you can use that, or a hand held blender. For steaming just get a metal insert for your pots. Seriously - I wasted so much money with DC1 and didn't even touch any of this stuff for DC2!

Ignoring all the purées are bad comments above... a couple of extra ice cube trays are great for freezing big batches of fruit/veg purées for easy meals at the start. And extra food bags to transfer to/label when frozen. That and a stick blender is all the 'kit' we needed. And I do give solid stuff too btw, just not anti purée! Being able to chuck a cube of apple into natural yogurt, a cube of butternut squash in with a quick dinner etc is so handy.

I've had two kids and never blended anything except pasta sauce to sneak veg in! Wait until six months and give them nice soft chunks of veg, banana, sandwich thins (so great for baby lunches) etc.

Oh but do look at the Stokke highchair otherwise, it lasts until adult if you like

I found the ikea antilop high chair to be easy to clean (and v cheap). We could even fit the seat and tray in our dishwasher if it got too filthy.

There's nothing wrong with spoon feeding if that's what you prefer, the "stages" refer to moving from smooth purée to lumps to "proper" food. Lots of people go straight to proper food if weaning at 6 months - it's called Baby Led Weaning. A woman called Gill Rapley wrote a book about it that explains the ideas behind it, your local library will have a copy. Might be worth a read if you're interested in finding out about BLW.

I did BLW with my DS and found it great. It was fun, good for his fine motor control and I feel it has worked well for us. At 3 yrs old now he eats really well, has never been fussy and eats to his appetite.

Thanks CultureSucksDownWords, I'll give that book a read and see what I think.

we replaced our expensive tray highchair wilth ikea antilop. It is so the high chair to have....

We have the Stokke high chair but I've always wondered how f**ked up in the head DS1 would be if I make home sit in it until Dulthood...

Fifth - they are really comfy though. My 5 year old uses his still and I usually sit on it when I work at the table during the day

Ikea highchair. After a fingerfoods meal I just take it to the garden and hose it down and leave it to dry.

All in one bibs for out and about, nappy meals at home.

Small freezer pots if you make batch meals or great for transporting prechopped finger foods out and about.

Stick blender is useful for purees to add to natural yogurt or porridge but a fork does just a good a job if they are definitely ready for weaning.

We do what you'd call traditional weaning but I try and give most of what I can as self feeding food but yogurt and weetabix I just don't know how BLWers do that without a spoon.

High chair
Bibs
Spoons and forks
Plastic bowls
Flannels/cheeky wipes for cleaning up mucky faces and hands
Blender if you want/ need to purée
Drinking cups for water/ milk

MN is very pro blw and that's great if your baby is interested. Mine absolutely wasn't so we had to purée things for quite a while. She had zero interest in picking food up and feeding herself for many months. Irl most people I know do a mix of some purées and some finger food anyway.

As others have already said above the Ikea chair is fab or another high chair that's easy to clean. Only other things you need are bibs (I've found the long sleeved cloth ones the best) soft plastic spoons, cup & something to catch the dropped items (for us this is a cheap plastic shower curtain cut in half. Then at the end of the meal tip off the food & bung in the washing machine). Have fun however you decide to wean

I don't have much room for extra equipment so a universal steamer was my best buy. It fit onto my existing pans and also came with a lid.

If you don't have a blender and want to get one, consider getting a proper blender with lots of functions that can be used for all sorts of things long-term. The puree stage does not last long for most babies.

Or just mash with a clean fork etc.

Whatever you do, don't waste money on Baby Bullet type things--it will just end up being useless clutter in your kitchen after a few months.