I've recently started to wean Anastasia onto solid foods. At 6 months, she was becoming less satisfied on breast milk alone and when she cut her first tooth - I decided it was time to hang up the nursing bras. Despite going through this process twice before with Scarlett and Savannah it has been an entirely new experience. Every baby is different and you never quite know how easy weaning is going to be, so my tip before you embark on this journey is to be prepared with all the modern day essentials to make it as stress free as possible! Here are the items I have used and recommend.
Highchair
Making sure your baby is comfortable during meal times is essential. She will need to be fairly upright so that she can easily swallow pureed foods. I am using the stylish Stokke Tripp Trapp chair. It offers great support for this stage with a detachable baby set, but has also been designed to transform into a chair for older children that is the perfect height for a regular dining table.
Image Credit: Stokke
Bibs
This is a great design by BabyBjörn that has an adjustable neck band to last her until early toddler stage and is nice and soft to avoid any discomfort or get in the way. It will catch all food waste and can be easily rinsed ready for the next meal time.
Image credit: BabyBjörn
Spoons and Bowls
You can't have enough spoons and bowls! The collection by Babymoov are dishwasher, freezer and microwave safe and all come with lids so you can take them out and about. These are also a great size for snacks when they get a little bit older. Go for small, shallow spoons for the early stage - the best I have come across are by Avent.
Image Credit: Babymoov
Blender
The NutriBaby by Babymoov is absolutely genius and it's no surprise that it has won so many awards. It is so compact and takes up very little space on your kitchen counter and allows you to make huge batches of pureed food to freeze for your baby. Using a simple electronic programme on the front of the machine, you can steam the food using the double trays and then transfer the soft food to the blender to puree. Add water from the catching tray (ready made vegetable stock!) to make it the correct consistency and hey presto! Baby food done! This product can also warm bottles, heat through food and even defrost your frozen food. It is absolutely brilliant and so much easier than the hand blender process I've used in the past, it means making batches of food uses far less cooking utensils and creates far less mess.
Image Credit: Babymoov
Emergency Reserves
Whilst I am all for home made food, there is nothing wrong with having some ready made meals stored in the freezer and when this brand came to my attention I immediately stocked up! Kiddie Cubes would have made my life so much easier in the past and Anastasia seems to really enjoy the flavours. This frozen food is as fresh as if you had made it yourself using only organic ingredients and stored in ice cube portions so you can take out just what you need on the day. I would also recommend starting off on these to get an idea of what your baby likes, there is nothing more frustrating than making an enormous home made batch to discover your baby gags at the taste!
Image Credit: Kiddiecubes
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