I can’t believe I’m writing a post about how to feed a baby solids. A year ago I wouldn’t have thought that I would be writing a guide to giving a baby solids. But, here I am. Writing this post from my experiences with my first two babies and most recently with baby number three. Baby number three! And, what a blessing baby number three has been to our family. Our little Lucy-Mae has brought so much love into our home but also so many lessons to be learned and I’m relearning all the baby stuff I seem to have forgotten from my first two kiddos.
By now I would have thought I’d have this feeding thing down but this little girl of mine is great at reminding me that every single child is different. Oh yes! My other two babies were a breeze to feed. But Lucy-Mae just doesn’t quite get the concept of eating as easily as the other two did. Don’t get me wrong she loves the food and doesn’t have any aversion to textures (phew!) but the whole tongue in the way thing and actually swallowing the food without having it all come out of her mouth thing, well we’re still working on that!
How to feed a baby solids
Every baby is different and every parent is different. Every mealtime is an adventure from preparing the food, to eating the food and then to clean up the mess. We’ve got food all over both of us by the time we’re done.
For the last few weeks, baby food has been on my mind for a huge chunk of my day. I’ve been getting back into making food, storing food, introducing new foods, cleaning up after eating food, and naturally looking at accessories and appliances I use most when feeding my little bunny. Basically, I’ve been re-learning all of the baby solids essentials that I need to know. And remember what I used to love, hate, and what I never made use of.
This post is specifically geared towards the products that make my baby feeding journey easier. I’m going to list the items in the order I seem to make use of them not in order from favourite to least favourite.
Baby Probiotics
Before I introduced solids I pumped up the amount of probiotics I gave Lucy-Mae. This is a tip I received from a midwife years ago just after I had Lilah and it’s worked like a charm to prevent cramps when my kiddos started solids. I’ve heard of so many babies from my friends that all struggle with cramps when they start solids. This is normal because a baby’s gut needs to learn to process the new foods just like they did when they started breastfeeding. But, I’m not one for sleepless nights and screaming babies (please, no) so I will do all I can to avoid getting back into a crampy situation.
So, I have given all three of my kids this. Each squirt contains 2 billion CFU (colony forming units) of Bifidobacterium Infantis (THE GOOD STUFF). This stuff is like liquid gold and I use it from birth. It’s great for helping with gut issues as well as nappy rash and thrush. What I love most though is that it doesn’t need to be refrigerated. So, it lives in my baby bag.
Baby crockery
You honestly don’t need anything fancy. Your baby won’t care what the food is served in as long as it’s served. So in the beginning, this is largely for mom to be happy. Aesthetics and was of use are important for me. I don’t have a “grabby” baby who will knock my bowl over (yet). So, I often use glass bowls, simply because they are smaller than most baby plastic bowls. Lucy-Mae doesn’t eat huge portion sizes at the moment so glass ramekins, as well as sauce bowls, are my go-to at the moment.
My absolute favourite it this Le Creuset baby ramekin set and spoon. It’s classic. It’s beautiful. And, not always practical but I can’t help loving it.
I pre-make my baby food and heat it up in the microwave or quickly smash some food up with a fork and that’s why I love using glass at the moment. It works for all of my current needs.
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Le Creuset baby ramekin set
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The baby spoon
Now, this is something I’ve had a big struggle with. Either the spoon is too deep, too long, too wide, too hard, too soft, or just plain wrong. The spoon I’m loving most at the moment is a little green wavy spoon. The handle is short so it’s easy to keep control of the spoon and the chances of Lucy-Mae knocking the spoon out of my hand is a lot less. The waves are great because the food sits in-between them and it’s relatively flat so I can push the spoon into her mouth with food on and without pushing the food to the back of the spoon (this is what happens with bigger spoons).
Lucy doesn’t like to open her mouth for food. She wants it and she will moan if she doesn’t get it but getting it into her mouth is not something that she seems to think is her job. If she could talk I’m sure she would say “Mamma, you figure out how to get the food in. I’m just gonna sit her.” So the green wavy spoon just works so so well.
Where is the green wavy spoon from? NO IDEA! It’s a spoon I bought for Hayden when he was a baby. It came in a set of two (one green, and the other orange). There is no distinct brand name on the spoon. It does, however, say MATTEL on the back. So if anyone can figure out what spoon this is, please let me know and I will gladly update this post so that other awesome mammas can use this spoon too.
Baby spoons I love (that I do know where to get)
The other spoon that I love (but don’t have). I really should have this spoon. I need to go buy this spoon. This is the Pigeon baby soft tip spoon. This is a spoon that I got for Lilah when she was a baby and I think I gave it to her to play with her baby dolls when I thought I wasn’t going to have another baby of my own again. Anyway, It’s also part of a two pack. I still own the soup spoon (great for soup by the way) but not the little spoon. I loved this spoon because the food never gets pushed to the back (it has a little stopper that keeps the food to the front of the spoon). And I need this right now. I really gotta go get one again.
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Pigeon baby soft tip feeding spoon set
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And, the last spoon is also a spoon that I don’t own but my sister-in-law does and I have used it. The Munchkin baby spoon. These spoons aren’t only super cute, they are also small and so perfect for when you’re just starting out with feeding your baby and they start eating bigger amounts. Also a spoon I need to go buy.
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Munchkin heat activated colour changing feeding spoon
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Wow, my shopping list is growing. Because I’m doing a post on how to feed a baby solids you’d think I would actually own every item on this list. I don’t but they are most definitely tried and tested and I owned them at some point with my kids.
The baby chair
Some people HAVE to have a special baby chair and others simply don’t. For my first two kids I used my bouncer 90% of the time when feeding them at home and later I used the Ingenuity Baby Base. This time with number three I seem to find myself alternating between the bouncer chair on my kitchen table, the IKEA Antilop high chair in my dining room, and the Ingenuity chair outside , in the lounge, and wherever else I may need it.
Lucy definitely knows what she wants and she automatically gravitates towards the IKEA antilop high chair. I understand why she feels this way. It sits nice and upright giving her body the space to digest her food and she is strapped in securely too so no wobbling around. Lucy has quite chubby legs and so I feel the Ingenuity Baby Base is very snug at the moment. It was snug for my son Hayden too but once he started moving around he lost a lot of his baby fat and the fit was a lot better after a while. Lucy also seems to get tired in this seat a lot quicker so maybe it supports her body differently. I’m not complaining about her preference though because the IKEA high chair is by far the easiest chair to clean. I also love this chair because it’s a simple chair, that creates a minimal invasion into my “adult” dining area.
Baby feeding chair pros |
Baby feeding chair cons |
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Ingenuity Baby Base
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Ingenuity baby Bouncer
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IKEA Antilop High Chair
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How to feed a baby solids in the perfect baby bib
PLASTIC. PLASTIC. PLASTIC. Reusable obviously, but most definitely plastic. Why? Oh, I have so many reasons. Material bibs absorb liquids and Lucy is always wet after eating. The food also stains the bibs so I land up having to rinse them out directly after using them and then rubbing stain remover onto the bib to prevent stains. Plastic bibs keep little Lucy dry and they are so easy to clean up. Just a quick wipe or rinse down under running water and all the mess is gone.
With my previous two kids I used this Tommee Tippee plastic bib, but I felt it was very hard and it’s so bulky so this time around I’ve opted for no particular brand but a soft plastic bib. These bibs do take slightly longer to dry because of the velcro at the back and the stitching along the edges but they fold up super small and so I can take one with me wherever I go. Once I’m done I rinse it off, hang it in the sun for a few minutes, and I’m all done. A little pouch in front is also really handy to catch any food that may fall while feeding.
As far as baby solids essentials go the bib is such an important essential. Without a good bib, your mess will be so much bigger and so much more effort and time will be needed to clean up after feeding your baby solids. Both of these I’m not a fan of.
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Tommee Tippee plastic bib
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Soft plastic bib
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Making your baby solids
There are so many different ways to make baby food. Right now, I’m still feeding Lucy mainly vegetables and some fruit (no meat yet). I use different methods to cook her food. Sometimes, I steam her veggies, sometimes I mash raw fruit, and sometimes I even roast her vegetables.
One kitchen appliance that has been super useful is my Nutribullet. Nutribullet has also created the Baby Bullet which is super cute and comes with some fantastic storage compartments. It’s so cute, but I don’t own one. I just use my Nutribullet. If this was my first child and I knew for a fact that I was having more kids then I might have gotten the baby bullet too, but I don’t feel I need it.
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Nutribullet
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Baby Bullet
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I also use a hand blender, which is great for smaller amount of food that you quickly need to puree. And then, a fork to mash foods like banana and avocado.
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KitchenAid Hand Blender
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Storing your baby solids
I am a big fan of using zip lock bags for EVERYTHING! I use them to store breastmilk, baby food, and even pasta sauces. Once I have frozen my baby food into ice blocks, I pop them out into zip lock bags, mark them with the date and pop them back into the freezer for storage.
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Zip lock bags
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When I’m out and about I actually use the Tommee Tippee milk storage containers at the moment. It’s tiny (so easy to travel with) and the perfect size for the amount of food Lucy eats right now. I know I’m going to have to move onto bigger containers at some point but right now, I’m loving these.
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Tommee Tippee milk storage containers
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A big part about how to feed a baby solids is personal preference and everyone’s opinions and ideas as to which products are best will differ. These are the products I love most.
Lucy is loving her baby food at the moment and even though her tongue gets in the way we’re still going strong and trying as many different foods as possible. I’d love to know from you if there are any specific products you love using and if there is anything you would like to know about how to feed a baby solids?
*Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and all information in this post is from personal experience. Always consult your Paediatrician or Nutritionist about what to feed your baby and at what age.
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