Our favourite essential baby weaning products
Our Favourite essential baby weaning products
A chair
Highchairs
High chairs are a great way to feed your little one, they’re at your level and most have a wide base and strong harnesses to keep your little one safe. Another bonus is that you can get a good highchair on a budget. The Ikea Antilop chair is only £14 and comes with great reviews, if you want baby to sit a little softer you can buy washable inserts to go in too! we use this style highchair for baby #2 and love it, I haven’t included any links for this chair because although you can buy it on amazon and other sites it is significantly more expensive than buying it through Ikea. If you do buy online it is worth remembering to check the description as the chair can be bought with or without the tray.
If you’re budget is a little bigger you could look at other high chairs with different features such as folding for storage, rotation, height/tray alterations, wipe clean cushions and a reclining back. Our favourite is the Cossato Supa Noodle. we use this one at nanny’s and have never had a single problem, our baby is always happy and comfortable, it has great features and comes in several different designs. There are also some great wooden highchairs on the market if you would prefer a more natural alternative, the Hauck Alpha + is a really popular high chair at the moment and you can buy a tray for it too!
Booster seats
we were handed down a Bumbo Multi seat and we absolutely love it. They’re really versatile and small enough to easily take on holidays or days out. this kind of seat can be used simply on the floor or attached to the chair. Using this kind of seat at floor level is great alternative if you have lots of children running around. My son has a habit of getting too close to the highchair when playing so the Bumbo offers an added sense of security and stability, the bumbo also grows with your child as a booster seat. The bumbo is slightly on the more expensive side but you can find a cheaper alternative with the Summer infant 3-in-1 support me seat.
Travel chairs
There are a wide range of travel chairs on the market at the moment, there are some the connect directly to the table, some that strap to the chair in a way similar to the bumbo and some that are of a stretchy material that goes directly over the chair. I haven’t included links to any of these because we haven’t used them enough to recommend them. you can find many great reviews from parents on seller sites if you are interested in checking these out!
Bowls
Suction bowl:
If you are doing baby led weaning I cannot recommend these enough it makes is so much harder for baby to throw the whole bowl of food over. The Easymat is a suction mat/bowl they offer a varieity of sizes including one that fits perfectly on the Antilop highchair. If you don’t have an Antilop you can find plenty of good suction bowls. Munchkin make some great stay put plastic bowls, our personal favorite though is the bamboo bamboo wooden range.
*money saving tip: already have bowls but want the suction feature? you can save yourself money by buying a suction mat instead Tomme tipee sell one for less than £5 which attaches to any plastic bowl!
Travel bowl
these are bowls with a lid and a space to clip your spoon so it doesn’t get lost. We currently use the Tommy Tippee Explora. If you are feeding your babies with homemade purees then I would recommend looking into refillable pouches too, Fill n squeeze offer a great set which comes with a masher/filling jug, reusable pouches and a cleaning brush.
Spoons
Even if you’re doing baby led weaning you will probably need a good spoon at some point. For smaller babies you will need a smaller spoon, we currently use the YOOFOSS baby spoons because of their small size but also because they are soft on baby’s gums. Munchkin make some really lovely soft tipped spoons that are very budget friendly and if you’re looking for a wooden alternative then be sure to check out the bamboo bamboo spoons.
Bibs
Smock bibs
Smock bibs are great for covering babies clothes and highchair straps. the bib which offers the most coverage is by far the Bibado weaning bib, we were lucky enough to have been given one by a friend but to buy, they are on the expensive side. you can get some really great budget friendly smock bibs on amazon though. just type in smock bib and you will have hundreds of options and designs to pick from
Crumb catcher bib
These are great if you are baby led weaning. The bib is rolled up at the end to create a pocket so if baby drops their food they can just scoop it out and carry on. As an added bonus most of these bibs are made from silicon so they can just be wiped clean rather than needing a spin in the washing machine! Many parents rave about the Bjorn baby bibs, they are really great but there are budget friendly alternatives which I honestly think are almost as good.
Cups
right now we are completely in love with the munchkin miracle 360 cup. Its great for teaching children how to use a real cup without the risk of spill. You can buy lids for the bottles to keep them clean and there is a handled version for younger children which is great, its also a first step to weaning baby off of a soft teat bottle. however if its a soft teat bottle that you are looking for there are so many great options, many of which you can purchase in your local supermarket. Our son loved the NUK bottles when he was weaning.
A blender
this one only really applies to parents who want to feed their babies using purees. you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a decent blender. You can buy a stick blender for close to £10, If you wish to batch cook though you may be better off looking at a blending unit. most household blenders will be up to the job. Cooks Professional actually sell a 2-in-1 steamer and blender which is great if you plan on using purees for a while.
Food storage
this one again is mainly for parents who want to use purees. The fill n squeeze pouches that I previously recommended are great because they are Freezer and Bottle Warmer safe. You can buy 10 pouches for around £7, they can be a little difficult to clean but are worth the effort. if you would rather use pots then NUK make some great pots which are freezer safe.
*money saving tip: pour your purees into an ice cube tray and cover with cling film (plasticwrap) and place into the freezer – no need to buy pots at all!
