Weaning Essentials

Feeding bowlsYou’ll need a couple of feeding bowls, ideally some that you can use when you’re out and about. The Oxo divided feeding dish* is ideal. It has a rubber bottom which prevents slipping and sliding on the high chair tray, though little man can still easily pick it up/tip it over/launch it.

Cutlery


I haven’t actually bought any baby cutlery. I signed up to all the baby groups like Hipp and Cow and Gate and was sent three different lots as freebies in the post. Whilst it hasn’t saved me millions it’s definitely worth doing, plus if you sign up to all the baby clubs they regularly send discount vouchers out, we’ve just had some vouchers through for free Hipp jars and money off Aptamil porridge.

Bibs

You will NEED a good supply of bibs. The bigger the better. The more clothes that are covered, the less of your sanity you lose! We use Asda’s cover all bibs. They’re a complete god send. They mean I can feed little man without him being A. naked other than a nappy, B. have to be hosed down afterwards or C. change his entire outfit. They also wash and dry really quickly and are complete bargain compared to some of there higher end brands.

Some simple starter foods

First tastes should be simple and smooth in texture. It’s the start of a whole new world for your baby.

The Organix* range is ideal. Month by month during your babies food journey there are different products suitable for both their taste buds and little tummies. The little man absolutely loves the strawberry and banana porridge, it’s tasty and contains no nasty extras. I wish they did a big peoples version of this!

First Cup

As well as starting to wean, we’ve introduced some ‘proper’ drinking cups for little man. During meal times he gets water in a cup rather than a bottle.

We’re using the Oxo sippy cup with handles* which is brightly coloured and has easy to grip handles for little hands. The handles are removable, so when little man gets older he can continue to use the cup as a beaker. The cup is leak proof which means no soaking wet clothes. I really like the design of the cup, it’s simple but looks really modern and eye catching.

The cup is really simple to wash and is also dishwasher friendly. Little Man worked out how to use the cup really quickly and can easily raise it to his mouth with just one hand.

The only issue I have with the cup is I think it could be a little more protected. The plastic feels quite brittle and I think if the little man threw it hard enough off our stone floor it’d either shatter completely or crack.

We’ve been alternating between the Oxo cup and a Doidy cup* which I think is a completely ingenious invention. It’s such a simple yet effective idea. The cup looks quite similar to a standard beaker but has a slanted rim which allows little people to drink easily without having to have too much of a tilt or move their head about too much.  

The Doidy cup teaches little people to drink from an open cup at an early age and helps learn them how to pick it up and put it down correctly. It can be used from the age of 3 months, and should actively encouraged from 6 months during weaning.

The first time we tried it, I put a small amount of water in the bottom and instinctively knew how to raise it to his mouth. Don’t be under any illusions, your little person/floor/high chair is going to get very wet. As with anything, it’s takes time to get used too but in the matter of a week little man seems to have the knack, and spills much less and can easily pic up the cup, raise it to his mouth and take a drink.

I really like the Doidy cup but I feel the rim could be a little softer for little mouths. The edge is quite sharp and as little man is teething he does tend to ‘gum’ it a bit when drinking and I worry he’s going to hurt his gums.