Baby Weaning Essentials Guide

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Weaning is such an exciting time for a baby and parent, and your baby may be heading to the 6 months mark and ready for food. But what do you need? With so many things on the market its hard to know what you actually may need. So I have put together this handy weaning essentials guide to help you out. 

Lets start with the basics, spoons, bowls, sippy cups and bibs. One company you may want to look at for this is Nuby. We have been sent this cute eco set from them. 

It is all made from rice husk which is biodegradable and earth friendly and comes in a cute froggy design. You have choice of bowl, spoons, drinks cup and bibs. 

The bowl can go in a microwave and is heatproof up to 120oC which makes it perfect for warmer meals and saves on washing up being able to use the same bowl. Plus its dishwasher safe which always makes life easier. The cup which is suitable from 4 months has a 200ml capacity and 2 handles on the side for easy grip. It is also heatproof up to 120oC so it is fine to put boiling water in to be left to cool. The pack of spoons come as a 3 and are the perfect size for your little ones mouth. 

The bibs are totally different by being disposable and also Earth friendly by being biodegradable. They are perfect for on the go as it means you don't need to carry a dirty bib around with you after. A pack of them comes with 20 bibs. 

You can buy all this separate or as a set for £14.00. Head here to have a closer look at it. 

Another great brand for baby weaning is Vital Baby. We was sent a range of items that are all perfect for the first few months of feeding. 

We was sent baby spoons, a scoop and feed set and some storage pots. In the spoon set their are 5 spoons which are all colourful in design which will attract your baby to want to eat from them. They are made with your babies small mouths in mind and have a shallow spoon end to them so its easy for your baby to scoop the food of them with their tongue, they also are designed so then they are easy for us adults to hold. You can buy a pack of these for £2.89. 

The scoop and feeding set is much more than just a bowl and a spoon, it is designed to make feeding really easy. The shape of it is made so its easy for parents to hold, it is made for easy scooping and also has a build in food mashing zone to mash up any unwanted lumps. It comes with a leak proof lid and a slot for your spoon to sit. Making it perfect for feeding on the go. You can buy this for £5.29.

The store pots are super handy, especially if you are wanting to make your own baby food and prepare in advance. You can buy them in sets of 60ml or 120ml which is the perfect size to store a meal for your baby. They have special soft bases so you can pop food out of them easily and when you are not using them, they store away easily as they stack. The 60ml pots come as a pack of 6 and the 120ml ones come as a pack of 4 and you can buy these for £5.99. 

To check out all of these products and more, head here to the Vital Baby weaning section. 

You may be really wanting to make your own baby food and so the next 2 products will really interest you. 

Vital baby have a prep and wean machine that will make weaning your baby with freshly cooked food so easy. 

This clever machine does it all for you. All you need to do is provide the ingredients and serve. It steams, and then blends, all in one machine, taking the hassle out of using different pots and pans. The great thing about steaming food is that it keeps all of the foods nutrients and it also preserves flavours. This means your babies food is the healthiest and tastiest. The machine comes so its 2 tier steaming, meaning you can steam 2 things at once. You can also make it so each compartment has 2 different steaming times, for different foods. The handy guide that it comes with helps you to know how long to steam food for. You can steam all sorts of foods and it doesn't just have to be fruit and vegetables. You can also steam meats and fish meaning you baby can have a varied diet. 
After steaming you food, you can then blend it up using the same machine. You can blend so the food is super smooth or so it still has some lumps in it and this can all be set via the simple settings buttons on the machine by choosing which of the 5 blend modes you use. 

The best bit about this machine is its ease of use. If you not tech savvy then there is no need to worry as the use of it is super simple to get your head around and you will be making baby food in no time. 

This prep and wean machine is £119.99 to buy and you can see more about it on the Vital Baby website. 

The next thing to look at is a squeeze machine, this is one brilliant way to be able to store food and also feed your baby. 

We was sent from Infantino this brilliantly designed squeeze station, with squeeze pouches and special spoons that attach to the end. 

The squeeze station simply attaches to pouches where you can squeeze your home made baby food into. You then pop on a lid, and take where ever you go. The handy spoons are clever because they attach to the end of the pouch meaning you don't need to take spoons with you. Infantino do a box of 50 squeeze pouches which should last a while and each pouch holds up to 4 ounces of food. 

Head to the Infantino website to see more. 

Next you may want to think about cleaning up the mess. This is where muslin cloths become very handy. 

We was sent a pack of super soft muslin cloths from Bloomsbury Mill. These are perfect to be used as a bib or along side a bib. I find that bibs don't always fully protect a baby from the mess of eating and putting one of these on a babies knee is a great way of saving clothing from stains. 

Bloomsbury mill are all about textiles and sell all sorts from bedding to sleeping bags to these lovely muslin cloths. The pack comes with a set of 6 which are in a simplistic but patterned design. You can buy the design in blue, grey or pink. They are designed to be kind to babies skin by organic cotton being used. Which means that they are perfect for wiping messy mouths. They are also machine washable and designed to stay soft wash after wash. Which is great as they are going to be needed to be washed plenty of times. 

You can buy a pack for £13.99 from the Bloomsbury Mill website.

Next what about baby snacks? Eventually your baby will be constantly snacking and you will need to take snacks on the go quite often. So you will need snack storage. We were sent some cute little snack tubs from Tum Tum tots. 

These cute nesting tubs are the perfect sizes for a variety of snacks and lunches. Perfect for tiny sandwiches, crispy snacks or chopped up fruit. Also one of the sizes is perfect as a little dipping pot or to put some home made yogurt or puree in. 

Each tub nests inside the other which also makes them perfect for storage as they take up less space in the cupboard. We got this cute design of a sloth but there are 5 different designs available. 

The lids click on super tight to keep food fresh with a flap to make them easy opening. Perfect for babies first picnic!

You can buy a set of 4 for £9.99 on the Tum Tum Tots website. 

How about if you have a very independent baby like I have? If you do then your baby may just love their own cutlery set. 

We were sent this special little set from Doddl. Inside it has a tiny fork and spoon and travel case for them. 

These are specially designed with self feeding in mind, and babies really do love to try self feeding. The little handles are designed for easy grip and are also smooth and gentle for tiny hands. The feeding ends of the cutlery is also soft and smooth so they feel comfortable in babies mouth. Making meal times enjoyable for your baby.  

These are a great introduction to cutlery for your baby, preparing them for using cutlery in the future. The pack also comes with a travel case which keeps them clean and easy to travel when out and about. 

You can buy this set for £11.95 on the Doddl website. 

Last but not least its the food itself. 

To begin with you will probably be starting with smooth textures but as your baby grows so will their appetite and their ability to handle lumps. 

We were sent a lovely selection of baby food from Piccolo. 

These meals are for babies 7 months plus and are actually especially made for cooking. It can be hard when you have a baby to cook a full nutritious meal all the time as you probably already have your hands pretty full, so with these meals all the ingredients are provided to be able to put together a healthy and nutritious meal that is the perfect size for your baby. For example the butterfly pasta is super tiny sized so its not to big for your baby. It saves having to cook big pasta and chopping it up making cooking for your baby easier. 

The stir in sauces are just the right amount to simply stir into your pasta and are full of flavours your baby will love, such as tomatoes, carrots and sweet potato. Plus the ingredients are all organic so you know your baby is getting the best freshest produce with no additives. 

All the cooking kits are free from salt and sugar, and also try to provide your baby with 1 of their 5 a day. It is all nutritionist approved so you can be assured your baby is having a healthy meal. 

You can find these ingredient sets in many leading stores such as Tesco, Adsa and Sainsbury's. But if you would like to see more, head to the Piccolo website.  

I hope this guide has helped you on your babies weaning journey. Henry and I are looking forward to trying all this out and will be posting our journey onto Instagram. 

Which of the weaning products do you like the sound of the best?