My take on weaning essentials as a baby and child dietitian
Here's what I recommend as a baby dietitian and a mum in terms of weaning equipment for babies. All things I’ve used myself or stuff that other parents have raved about to me! No brand association to any of these products, just genuinely found them useful…
YOU NEED:
A decent highchair – supportive + easy to clean.
You ideally want one that grows with your baby, and has an adjustable footrest
I like the IKEA £15 chair with an added custom footstool- you can find loads online- and you need a cushion in the beginning to support baby- which you can get from IKEA or buy separately - again there are loads online! It doesn’t grow with your baby but it’s super cheap, really easy to clean and you can grab them second hand easily and just replace the parts as needed (IKEA sells spare tray tops and cushions)
I also love the stokke Tripp trapp if you have a bigger budget as this one grows with your child! You can also find loads of these going second hand from various places for much cheaper than full price- just check it isn’t damaged in any way first - and remember that guarantees including safety guarantees may not apply)
Cup wise: I like to have a few little small open cups/tumblers (silicone or plastic) - for practicing to drink water- you will likely need to support with this for quite a while and it can get very messy. Then for on the go- a closed sippy cup prevents mess, ideally one which still flows somewhat when you tip it upside down. You can take the straw attachment of a straw cup with handles for a sort of mid-way option. I did this with the little moonkie silicone handled cup and it worked really well for practising free flow cup drinking independently. Or you can cut the valve end of the straw off so it free flows
The really cheap Tommy tippy one - the free flow first cup actually works really well for out and about- it’s about £2-3 from most supermarkets
Soft, shallow silicone spoons for first tastes if you are doing spoon feeding. I also love the cheap Ikea ones for babies a little older- so good and such a reasonable price!
I also love, love, love a double-ended spoon for baby-led weaning with puree textures (like the double ended bibado spoon) or any spoons designed to hold liquid or mashed foods for babies to be able to self feed with them! You can dip them into purees and mashes and let babies hold them and explore the tastes but sucking and licking the spoon from all angles.
A mixture of long-sleeved bibs for messy meals, wipeable silicone bibs for quick snacks or less messy meals, and a few cloth bibs are also quite handy as you can wipe babies mouth after when you are out and about
Lots, and lots, and LOTS of snack pots! I actually love the little moonkie pots, but any you find will do
Lots of little plastic bowls! For cooling down food and putting little baby portions into
Ice-cube trays- go for the big chunky ones! And freezer bags. You can then pop the frozen food into freezer bags and re-use the ice cube trays. I would recommend freezing homemade sauces and any leftovers of baby-friendly meals, your future self will thank you!
I actually highly recommend a mini-chopper- its been a lifesaver for us- family meals can be whacked in the mini-chopper to create a very finely chopped texture. I would then serve this alongside some appropriate finger foods-from our own meal- this way my daughter was involved in most of our meals - so that was great
High chair tray covers- these were AMAZING - literally whip them off and chuck them in a hot soapy bowl of water rather than scrubbing away at the highchair and getting water everywhere
A floor mat! We actually used a washable shower curtain and would literally roll it up and chuck the crumbs outside after each meal or chuck it in the wash if it got really mucky!
I’M UNDECIDED ON
Suction plates or bowls- personally these just didn’t work that well for us in the beginning. I found they lost suction easily and ended up being launched on the floor. Although they probably did survive a few accidental knocks from turning into an absolute disaster
I would say they came in more handy for the toddler stage though - so maybe not a weaning essential
But I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving one full of food in front of a bowl-throwing baby or toddler (maybe I had too high expectations on this one though?!)
TO SKIP
Similarly, weaning table mats- I love the idea of mess free weaning, especially when on-the-go- but they would just get thrown on the floor! Instead a good few re-usable wipes and some cleaning spray/wipes for out and about wiping tables does the trick!
Special baby food makers – your normal blender/chopper/steamer is absolutely fine
I hope you found this helpful- share with someone just starting out with weaning :)
Christina x
