About to start weaning - what's the basic equipment I need? Before I go out and bankrupt me and DH...

[BettyFriedan]

Head spinning from looking on Mothercare, kiddicare and Annabel Karmel. What do I actually need to start off with??? And what can I live without??????? Please help before DH takes credit card away from me

plan trip to Ikea

6mos love the trolleys
and kick off weaning with chips in the cafe halfway round (am not kidding, they are perfect BLW food and it means you get to try out the highchairs, cutlery etc before you buy)

goes away to look up trains to nearest IKEA

jars, that's what you need. I liked Plum Organic, Organix and Ella's Kitchen. Ridiculously expensive but great for when you are at home and don't need to show off to your boring NCT friends.

seriously though, you need a highchair (get one that you can clean easily. Not the chicco ones, believe me.), a hand held blender, some tupperware boxes, spoons, a couple of little plastic bowls, and a FEW of those ice-cube thingies. Don't buy too many as before long, your baby will be eating larger portions. But I do think BLW is great. It's messy but it is easier than cooking up lots of Annabel Karmel recipies. Though having said that, my DD, aged 11m has just decided she hates spoons, so I have bought AK finger food book which has some great recipes in it. And if you do use jars sometimes (or even quite a lot in my case) don't feel guilty about it. They are great out and about. I get so fed up with the anti-jars brigade who love showing off when out and about with their sodding braised spinach and their tupperware. Just makes me want to give DD another chocolate digestive. To be honest, she is MUCH better than all those pureed fed babies with finger foods now. She munches away on all sorts of fruit (not veg, won't eat it), cheese sticks, toast with spreads, fish fingers etc.

One more tip - if your baby is one of those who refuses spoons early on (mine went through a period of about three weeks at the start when she refused spoons), try the Ella's Kitchen or Plum Organic tubes of food. She loved having them in her mouth whilst I slowly squeezed the contents in. Bizarre, but it got food into her. The main thing to remember is that some babies can be a bit tricky with their food and you musn't even show signs of frustration. After all, milk is still giving them most of what they need until they are a year old.

messalina - agree jars are fab for a fall back. many of them are just pure fruit or veg puree, nothing evil in there, just all the hard work done for you.

They are especially good for when you are out and about, or when your baby has refused all the delicious concoctions you made and there's nothing left in the ice-cube trays...

I keep jars in the changing bag for emergencies and use them occasionally but I was under the impression that they are cooked at very high temperatures and that this can destroy a lot of the nutrients.

GirlsAreLoud is quite right

if we were out I used to buy a banana, or a sandwich and give dd the crusts, or some cheese or cucumber from the middle or something

I wasn;t particularly precious about jars but I thought they were really expensive for what you got, and meant I didn't get to eat the leftovers

I think jars are handy for before DC is able to handle lumps. Not always easy to mush food when you're out, and bit of a pain having to defrost something from the ice0cube tray before every outing.

Although I did once hear a rumour that you can get a little hand-operated grinder-type gadget that will mush a meal while you're out, so you can feed DC some of your own meal, but I never found one... possibly an urban myth or only available in exclusive shops that don't feature in my local mall LOL

The stage of no lumps is so short-lived though, that I think you can manage with jars, yoghurts and bananas etc while out without buying anything special for the job

the thing is, if you start at 6m you can offer finger food straight away - the lumps are less of an issue if they're chewing it themsleves vs being fed lumps on a spoon

I know technically they can have lumps, but IME DD needed to learn to handle the lumps, as we started with puree at 6 months and then had a couple of scary moments when we introduced lumps, so I would have been wary of giving her anything that needed chewing from the outset.

I liked the way the jars were staged from smooth to textured to needing to be chewed for each age group.

oh fair enough

dd didn;t have puree at all so didn;t need to unlearn smooth food before starting lumps (iyswim)

You need some patience for sure. And ear plugs to avoid all the useless advice from well-meaning elderly relatives (ooo a bit of salt won't hurt/just put some sugar on those weetabix/etc etc).

Seriously, ikea is the place. The Antilop highchair is amazing. And all the plastic bowls/cups/plates - whole lot for less than £20.

I have a Bibetta sleeved bib which I love (was about £8 from Kiddicare tho, so quite expensive) its made from neoprene so just scrub after each meal and dries v quick. Been using for 2 years and looks like new. Soft and comfy for child too.

Ice cube trays and little tupperware pots good, I got all mine from Woolworths RIP.

I do have tons of those little baby ice cube pots which you could have! Have no idea what to do with them now.

Oh and BLW is the way to go. I didn't do it, preferring to grind my way through AK book, my sister did BLW and guess who was less stressed and with the better eater

MrsBadger - got you!

What Mrs Badger said.

I had the chicco high chair from a friend in a nearly new state as her DS would not go in it at all.

If I had my time again I would've just spent the £15 on the Ikea Antilop.

The chicco really is the mankiest and is impossible to clean when gunk gets into the padded creases ...

This is the main advice I give to everyone I know with babies approaching 6m.....

I have the Chicco chair, pain in the ass to clean, to many cracks, nooks and cranies! Although it is comfy, its massive as well! I am going to Ikea to get their chair next week. Not told DH yet!

Friend of mine has just swapped the chicco for the Ikea chair- mcuh easier to use and clean, plus you can push them right up to the table in it once they have had enough of the tray.

I just use those boxes you get your Chinese take-away in for storage and transport; microwaveable, freezable, dish-washable, chewable, reasonably durable, small enough to go in a nappy bag, decent lids and - best of all - free.

I also have a Chicco chair that was given to us. DS hates it, I hate it, it's sat in a corner taking up space and gathering dust and he uses a cheapo travel booster seat. No Ikea anywhere near us

I have no dog but instead I am definitely going to get a bokashi composter before I wean another child.

I like the squeezy Ella's Kitchen pouchy things for emergency food. Poncey but, unusually for baby mush, they actually taste alright. I also have a couple in the nappy bag along with a rubber tipped spoon.

Another vote for mixing BLWing with a bit of spoon feeding; at the very least it gives you a chance to use both hands to eat your own dinner.

Jars are full of shite. How do you think the 'food' in them stay 'fresh'? And they taste rank. Dont taste like 'proper food' at all.

Get a highchair with a tray. My dcs used to tip their plate up so now with ds his food gets put straight on the plate. Oh, and wheatabix and yoghurts are eaten with fingers here

i started weaning mine in their bumbo up on the counter (and don't shriek they were not unattended for a second). FAB to wipe down easily. Then straight to handysitt rather than highchair (no space).

fab long sleeve bibs

ice cube tray with LID better than those silly square ice cube shape pots that fall all over the freezer

spoons
hand held blender - the type you use for soups, no need for any fancy baby equipment

that's it really... book for suggestions/recipes?

I second the dog!

And more seriously the BLW - I didn't do it with DS1 and found purees etc a bit stressful - felt like I was always paranoid about whether he was getting enough, my food always went cold while I was seeing to him etc. DS2 just got on with it and at just turned 2 still loves his food and will eat anything. DS1 views anything new with suspicion and has to be really persuaded to try things

I sometimes used to 'cheat' and use a bit of one of the nice jars as a spread on bread or toast to make it a bit softer. I think it was the Plum baby ones. I also used the spinach one on pasta as a sauce when he was a bit older.

The Ikea chair is the business (and it comes in different colours now )

Thank you, thank you, messalina. My DS mainly has jars or bought food - Annabel Karmel ready meal things - with me. The ones I get don't have poisonous bits in them, and they taste fine, and have lumps too which were not a problem. (He gets a proper cooked lunch at nursery/my Mum's every day, though.) He refuses nothing, but isn't keen on bland food (so the jars need to be tasty eg carbonara/cauli cheese no good). I have good excuses...

I'd say IKEA Antilop - I've seen high chairs, and there is nothing - nothing! - as good as it. I was given a tripp trapp as a gift, and it's brilliant, but it doesn't go under the shower quite as easily due to the weight. Take yours back and get ye to Ikea!

For purees, I wish I had this as it's cheap and useful, and less faff than my food processor. (Okay, okay, I did make baby food from time to time.)

My DS was weaned on purée/finger food combo and my best buys were the Lakeland flexible ice cube trays (once the purée is frozen just pop into a freezer bag and seal), freezer labels, stick/hand held blender (just a cheapish one from Argos, we use it all the time now and rarely drag out the food processor), some very cheap pots with lids from boots (they're a basic line, purple and haven't seen them online), long sleeve bibs, a couple of pelican bibs and a food cool bag for out and about (m&s, found in the food hall and much cheaper than 'baby' ones or Lakeland).

I really wish I'd bought the ikea highchair as it's brilliant. Any spoons will do. Must confess to having bought all sorts of nice bowls, spoons etc but not really necessary. I always liked having a nice bowl with a lid when out and about but I'm a bit shallow .

I can't cook btw and I wish I'd bought 'the big book of recipes for babies, toddlers and children' much earlier - less faffy than AK, and has a bit more longevity. That said, have a read up on BLW before you decide. Also, purees don't have to have to be about months of blending food to liquid. My DS was introduced to finger foods pretty much straight away and very quickly moved onto lumps, mashed food and chopped food.

Tupperwares much better than "weaning bowls", as lids always much more water tight. Both of mine moved way beyond ice cube size portions very quickly and same tupperwares very useful for freezing meals.
Stick blender £2 in Tescos, use for everything.
Lots and lots and lots of coverall bibs (i tried the wipe clean ones, but both DC elected to eat the bibs rather than the food, which for some reason they don't do with the towelling waterproof-backed ones).
Wipe clean tablecloths for the floor (I bought a 2m length online and cut it in half, very cheap and cheerful).