Starting solids is one of the most fun milestones your baby will hit in his or her first year. This is some of our favorite gear to help you get ready!
1. Munchkin Fresh Feeders – These are great for eating chunky fruits and veggies that might otherwise be choking hazards. You can even put frozen foods inside to relieve teething pain.
2. Gerber Graduates Soft Bite Spoons – Charlie really liked these spoons when we started solids. The silicone makes the spoons soft for baby’s gums. We also liked these Munchkin spoons for their longer handles, but you can even use teaspoons if you want to.
3. Sassy First Solid Feeding Bowl – Do you need a special bowl to feed solids? Definitely not. But this special bowl makes feeding your baby two different purees (eg rice cereal + pear) very easy.
4. Fresh and Freeze 2 oz Baby Food Container – I loved using these containers to freeze individual portions of solids. We still use them to this day to hold snacks for Charlie.
5. Beaba Babycook – The Beaba allows you to steam and puree in one easy machine. You can definitely achieve the same results with a pot + blender or food processor. But the prospect of less dishes was very appealing to me, and we didn’t own a blender or a food processor.
6. Bumkins Waterproof Bibs – These bibs are available in a bunch of fun patterns, they’re lightweight and they’re easy to wash after each use. We also had the BabyBjorn soft bibs, but Charlie didn’t like them and they were a little big and heavy for a him.
7. Zolibot Straw Cup – Sippy cups are difficult for 6 month olds to manipulate, but Charlie took to a straw cup right away.
8. SugarBooger Splat Mat – These splat mats come in lots of fun patterns and are great for catching those inevitable spills under your high chair.
9. Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair – I coveted one of these but was too cheap to buy one… until I bought one used off my local listserv. I love that it looks like an actual piece of furniture, and that we can pull it up to the dining table so Charlie can eat with us. Our first high chair was the Boon Flair (which I also bought used), and it’s a great high chair as well. It’s on wheels so it’s super easy to move around… it just takes up a lot of space!
10. Libbey 6 1/2 oz Bowls w/ Lids – I love these little glass storage containers and use them for so many things, I purchased 2 sets! They’re where I store all the components of Charlie’s bento boxes.
11. Kiddopotamus Tiny Diner Placemat – This placemat secures to the table with suction cups and makes eating finger foods on a large clean surface easier, whether you’re at home or on the go.
What have been some of your favorite gear for starting solids?
Starting Solids – Gear Guides part 1 of 4
1. Starting Solids by Guides2. Starting solids by Mrs. Tea
3. BLW Gear Faves & Fails by Mrs. Stroller
4. First Food with Baby H by Mrs. Hopscotch
kiwi / 500 posts
Thank u for this, I’m right at the stage where I’m introducing solids and that sippy straw cup idea is awesome. Gonna try it out!
persimmon / 1255 posts
Those bumkins bibs are pricey but worth every penny! You only need a few since they dry so quickly. BTW, Costco.com sells a set of 7 for $28.
We have the Fisher Price Rainforest high chair with the snap in toy. While it leaves much to be desired in terms of style, that toy comes in really handy when you need baby occupied for a few minutes while you prep food.
grape / 86 posts
Any favourite baby cookbooks out there?
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@emmebaby – i have several baby food books including superbabyfood, top 100 baby purees, and the petit apetit cookbook. but the resource i used most was wholesomebabyfood.com.
olive / 70 posts
We used the small green containers and they were great, namely because the cap screws on and doesn’t fall off.
The Beaba Babycook was useful in the very beginning when we were making purees, but when we got to bigger portions, it was too small. You could probably get away with just regular pots and pans and a small blender.
The Stokke Tripp Trapp chair, we just got and it is fine for Audrey, now that she is almost 2. However, I don’t know how useful it is at a younger age because it doesn’t have a tray, and little ones leave huge messes. At least now, we can reason with our 22 month old.
cherry / 128 posts
I second the concept of the Munchkin fresh food feeders (there are other brands where the mesh is removable, so I’d go for those instead of Munchkin ones for easier cleaning), Bumkins bibs, Tiny Diner placemat, and the Zolibot sippy.
Here are other favorites:
IKEA Antilop high chair: cheap, has removable tray, so you can pull it up to a table. With the tray, your kid can play in the kitchen while you cook.
Portable high chair: Phil & Teds Me Too – compact, great for travel
Tilty cup sippy cup: good for oral health development, easy for kids to pick up
Kinderville Tiny Bites cups: good for purees in the beginning, and my son uses it as a regular cup now that he’s older & has better motor control.
Baby-led Weaning by Gill Rapley (book): changed my view on starting solids. Actually was more successful for us than purees.
Snack Trap with lid: I prefer the Made for Moms one over the Munchkin one because it has a lid to keep the snacks fresh. Obviously this is for after your child has developed the pincer grasp.