What weaning equipment do I need?

This is your most important weaning item and it’s worth giving it a bit of consideration. You don’t need to spend a lot of money – and you will find plenty available second hand – but try to find a chair that fits with the following:

You might not have given bibs much thought until now – or if you did, it was perhaps to mop up milk dribbles. But weaning bibs are a different story. Don’t bother with the kind of bib that only covers about half a baby’s front. Go for long-sleeve bibs that tie up at the back if you can; these are much more likely to protect your little one’s clothes. Weaning can be messy and it’s much better that you’re feeling relaxed rather than worrying about clothes being ruined!

If you’re going to offer purees to your baby, you’ll need some kind of blender to prepare them, but you don’t necessarily need to go and spend a lot of money on a special baby food blender. A hand blender, food processor or something like a bullet will all do the job. If you start your baby at six months you will probably find you don’t need to use a blender for very long and you may even go straight to mashing.

To start with, if you’re spoon feeding, you’re likely to be feeding your baby yourself so it doesn’t matter too much about the types of plates or bowls that you use. You may also find that babies are just as interested in playing with them as they are with the food, so putting food straight onto the highchair tray often works well. However, it isn’t always going to be that way, so it can be useful to think ahead. That way, you won’t need to buy again a few months down the line.

Go for a deep bowl with high sides. When your baby starts to feed themselves it will be much easier for them to scoop food out of a bowl like this as they’ll have something to push against.

Suction bowls can work well - though some babies do actually find them a distraction as they become preoccupied with trying to lift them!

Soft, short handled spoons are best for feeding. Avoid metal as this may hurt your baby’s gums.

You can get spoons that will help your baby to self-feed – the heads are specially shaped for dipping and will grip food so it doesn’t matter if your baby turns the spoon as they put it in their mouth.

Dentists and speech therapists tend to recommend open top or free flow cups. Free flow literally means if you open the spout and turn it over, liquid would fall out of the cup. Other cups that babies have to bite down on or suck in a special way to get liquid out may be handy for preventing spillages or for keeping in your bag, but aren’t as good for teaching your baby how to drink or for the development of their mouth and speech. Try to go for a small open top cup at home and a free flow cup when you’re out and about.

Whether you go for covered ice cube trays, pots or small freezer bags, it doesn’t really matter as long as you are going for something that is suitable for freezing food. You will start to get used to an approximate portion for your baby (though, we’ll keep saying it – it will change day to day!) so freezing portions of pre-prepared foods can be helpful when batch cooking for smaller appetites.