What do I really need

[MissTwister]

What are the basics I will need for weaning. I am going to start at 5 months and do a traditional / BLW mix.

I keep seeing lots of products but don't want to buy loads of superfluous stuff, as I did when she was born!

thanks

If doing purees and there is nothing wrong with that. I suggest a hand blender and then a baby bowl and some weaning spoons that's it. I'm a nanny and have weaned several babies about to start again and that's all I've used. Steamed the fruit/veg then blitzed it with a hand blender and then served to baby. I also had little plastic pots so I could take food out with me and freezer bags to freeze the excess purees for another day :)

A fork. Honestly. But do try and wait until 6 months as recommended as easier and better for their gut.

Soft foods you want to give mushed traditional way so banana/ porridge/ avocado/ Greek yogurt/ fish/ mashed root veg etc can just mush with back of fork and use teaspoon to feed

Other foods you can just give to her in chunks to hold and feed herself

Use normal teaplates to put her food on and teaspoons to feed. Buy desert forks if you haven't any so she has a small fork to use the first year or two, and then you use years after as desert forks so no waste.

Small plastic spoons and bowls and lots of patience and tolerance for mess. I found a basic wipe clean highchair helpful to give me an extra pair of hands, but I wouldn't say it was strictly necessary.

Why do people need ' a baby bowl? Surely just a regular bowl in your cupboard is fine? Especially those saying they will feed purée as baby wouldn't even be holding bowl themselves.

I'd recommend doing either traditional (including finger foods) or BLW rather than trying to mix them as there is a bit of a difference in approach.

For BLW, the Ikea high chair is great, and long sleeve bibs and a floor mat make clean up so much easier, as do microfibre cloths. I use plastic plates and bowls so I don't have to worry if they get thrown on the floor. Short spoons are good for offering pre-loaded (longer ones designed for spoon feeding are harder for babies to manage)

Agreed Artandco but I think the bowl needs to be unbreakable for when the baby is unimpressed with the menu and throws it at you. Mine wouldn't let me feed her, even at 6 months, so she has always been in charge of the bowl.

How - well yes mine fed themselves also, but your sitting next to them So presumably just take the bowl off them if they try and pick it up.
I don't know. It's just I have lived world over and it's only in The UK and America that people would ever buy a 'baby spoon'. Everywhere else babies grow up with eating off a normal array of stuff in your home already. Without smashing everything to smithereens

Thanks all

ArtandCo I've done a lot of reading around when to start and opinion seems to be divided. As my daughter was premature it seems it might be sensible to start her earlier in terms of avoiding nutritional deficiencies

Jessandsomeonenew I'm following quite a good book which suggests mixing them, will let you know how it goes!

MissTwister, I think I may have read the same one when I was thinking about weaning - good that you're reading around the different options and sure you'll find the right thing for you.

For me the great thing about doing straight BLW was that he didn't start to drop milk feeds until about 9 months, so I could be totally relaxed about how much he was eating and just let him experiment - friends who've done purees first seem to have found it much more stressful as the days when their babies just wanted to play with food they got stressed that they were missing meals. I also felt more confident about giving him finger food before he learnt to swallow. Oh, and it was wonderful to be able to have a hot cup of tea in peace while I let DS get on with eating!

jessplussomeonenew that's kind of the same reason as to why I'm not keen just on BLW! As she was premature apparently she's likely to be iron deficient about now (which can affect mental and physical development apparently!) and this is found even more so in EBF babies. That's why I am keen to get some iron fortified baby rice and other stuff in her earlier so as to not risk her not eating much until older.

Fair point and I can definitely see where you're coming from. You may want to read up on different sources of iron as I think the iron they use to fortify food can be tough to absorb. There isn't much iron in breast milk but it's much easier to absorb, as I understand it. I think baby rice is best avoided as it's mostly filler, fortified porridge might be a better option if you want to go down the fortified route.

Okay thank you - I will look into it!