Weaning Tips and Essentials – Win a NutriBullet Baby

Weaning Tips and Essentials

Weaning, like so many parenting choices, can be a minefield. Should you puree or try baby led weaning? Give lots of foods to encourage eating everything or avoid some foods because of allergy worries? Should you spoon feed your child or let them get on with it? As with most things, they is no right answer for all. These parenting decisions are all about finding out what works for you and your baby. These weaning tips and products are designed to help you test out and research some methods and products in order to figure out what will work for you. In addition, one lucky winner could receive a NutriBullet Baby, worth ยฃ49.99, to help them on their weaning journey. Check out the Rafflecopter at the end of the post to enter.

Our Weaning Experiences

I have weaned two babies and they could not have been more different. Biggest had severe reflux and it was recommended that I wean him early, at 18 weeks. For these reason, he had a mixture of traditional purees and some finger food. However, even as he got older, he never much liked to feed himself.

Littlest, on the other hand, showed no interest in food at all until around 27 weeks. She refused to be spoon fed at all and would only eat if it was entirely led by her – and so we used baby led weaning.

Two babies, two different sets of circumstances, and two different weaning methods and weaning tips: traditional weaning AND baby led weaning. There is a good explanation on the difference between each method here.

The weaning tips shared below come from a wide range of mums in order to give a broad overview of the best advice from all methods of weaning. Hopefully this will help mums who are weaning for the first time get to grips with the options.

Weaning Tips

  • Beth from Twinderelmo –ย Buy cheap plastic dust sheets from the pound shops. They are so much cheaper than ones you can get in the baby sections. These saved my floors (and purse!) when baby led weaning with my girls.
  • Beth from Bamm Boo says: Try not to keep lists of what they do or don’t eat – just because they wouldn’t eat something one day doesn’t mean they don’t like it.
  • Nicola from Nicola Says: Don’t let the fear of choking put you off trying baby led weaning. Read up on how to spot the differences between gagging and choking, do a baby first aid course and be vigilant – but enjoy, it’s lots of fun!
  • Emma from Ready Freddie Go says: We did baby led weaning and I found you just need to relax and have fun with it, even when you are out and will probably get funny looks while your little one is scoffing away and decorating the floor.. Just clean up the mess and no harm done. Also at home we have two dogs that are excellent vacuums!
  • Jaymee from The Mum Diaries says: I used to give Arthur what we were eating, his first ever meal was Sunday dinner (chicken, potato, veg and Yorkshire pudding).
  • Frances from Whinge Whinge Wine says: Be lazy. Give them whatever you’re eating. We had to start weaning early with both of mine as they couldn’t keep milk down and were under the consultant for their weight but once they hit six months I did away with the hand blender and they had to feed themselves. I’ve heard of kids still being spoon fed past 18m who won’t feed themselves – I think often it stems from the parent’s fear of the child choking, so it’s important to understand the gag reflex. I have to say if that were us, my kids would learn or starve. I get everything done while they’re eating! Oh and Antilop high chair from IKEA. Those would be my weaning tips.

  • The Frenchie Mummy wrote about her own weaning essentials.
  • Irina from Wave to Mummy said: Get them into all kinds of interesting flavours already at the weaning stage. If you aren’t an adventurous cook you can buy all kinds of pouches with flavours like curries. By the time they are toddlers they will be really suspicious of all food and it will be too late. You can also feed them most of your own foods as long as you puree them well and separate the baby portion before adding salt to your food.
  • If you want to see some great ideas for healthy snacks you can make while weaning, check out this post from Hannah at Hibaby Blog.

Useful Products

Our best buy for both children was this steamer. It is great fro traditional weaning, as you can make purees so easily, but it was also great to soften slightly harder fruit and vegetables for baby led weaning.

Hannah from The Amphletts says: Little N won’t eat sandwiches, which makes lunchtimes a little tricky when we’re out & about, so we bought a ThermoCafe Barrel Food Flask which has been a life safer – both for homemade meals & heating pouches.

Nicola from Mummy to Dex says: A coverall bib saved my sanity. We were given a BIBaDO to try and I can’t live without it now. I tried a weekend after leaving it at my MILs house and nearly went crazy! It stops a lot of food going on the floor and keeps clothes well protected. The majority of his 6-9 month stuff was stained beyond repair so I started undressing him before every meal. Such a long process with a wriggly baby. BIBaDO put an end to all that!

Kayley from Friendly First Foods says:Our weaning essential would have to be our meal planner. It was really cheap from our local supermarket but helps me to save money each week. I do my food shop and it helps me to make sure I’m offering a balanced diet to my little foodie.

Leanne from A Slice of My Life Wales said: It might be a bit extravagant to purchase just for weaning but our cordless vacuum was amazing for quickly cleaning up all the food mess.

And of course, there is the NutriBullet Baby itself. Making organic, nutritious, preservative-free baby food couldn’t be easier with the NutriBullet Baby. The NutriBullet Baby can make fresh baby food suitable for babies in every stage of development. You can switch between making pureed baby food and chunkier baby food.

You can read a review of the Nutribullet from Jade’s Journey.

And those are our weaning tips and essentials. If you want to be in with a chance of winning a NutriBullet Baby, please enter via the Rafflecopter below. Please note, you must be a UK resident and other terms and conditions apply. See Rafflecopter for details.

Weaning tips and essentials. A look at some methods and tips for weaning and some favourite products

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88 thoughts on “Weaning Tips and Essentials – Win a NutriBullet Baby

  1. My top tip is take it slowly, every baby is different, I had one that weaned easily and one that chose the bed led weaning way… just do what feels right.

  2. Don’t push it on your child, they will naturally start to ween themselves and forcing them to do it sooner than they’re ready will cause unnecessary stress and upset for you and them.

  3. Baby led weaning is the way forward. It involves offering your baby a range of foods and allowing them to self-feed when they are ready.

  4. Make it part of a game, with the spoon being an aeroplane, finding its way to landing on the tongue

  5. I started my baby boy first with baby porridge, I think this helped him get used to something other than milk before we tried anything else ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Eating with other children helps. They are encouraged by watching other children enjoy different food and more likely to try and enjoy something new.

  7. if they refuse a food you have pureed for example pop the rest of the batch in icecubes in the freezer and try again in a few weeks- don’t throw it

  8. I started weaning my twins with baby rice and one loved it and one hated it lol. they both loved fruit purees, I would say the best thing to let explore and decide x

  9. Making it fun, having a splash mat especially when they start feeding themselves, eating together and making it fresh

  10. Cook up loads of different fruit and veg purees (at the weekend or when u have time) and freeze in ice cube trays (and then transfer to zip locks – label them and keep one type to a bag so you know whats in each one). Try and get them eating a wide range of fruit and veg early and if you have problems with any flavour, try mixing that with something else. Adding a sweeter veg like carrot or sweet potato can help with veg they’re not keen on, or mix in some fruit. Try loads of combinations!

  11. Let them do it in their own time. If they don’t want to eat, don’t panic – they won’t starve! The more of an issue you make of it, the more of an issue it becomes for them!

  12. Include baby at family meal times with everyone – then they know that eating is fun and family! Not a chore x

  13. It’s not something you have to rush into, it doesn’t matter that someone else’s baby is eating different things. I breastfed for ever (it felt), never made a big deal about food, but somehow she learned.

  14. I think you have to start off with tiny amounts when first weaning and not plonk a massive dish in front of the little’un…they end up baulking at it and refusing to eat full stop. Better presenting them with smaller amounts and letting them ask for more.

  15. Expect to get messy! Always prepare for meal times, highchair, wipe-able mat underneath and a wash cloth to hand, the best way for a baby to enjoy food is let them play with it first ๐Ÿ™‚

  16. Persevere, my baby wouldnโ€™t eat anything at first but now she really is a little piglet xxx

  17. My tip – don’t rush and don’t worry about comparing your babies progress to others -they are all different

  18. Don’t rush – so many mums are keen to get their babies on solids and some start before their digestive system can really handle it

  19. Cool list of essientials โ€“ very usefull. My baby is 11 months and i have my mom to help me with stuff around the house and still at times i just fall( no partner, baby with sd) so your list and the chance to win nutribullet just comes as a fresh moment .

  20. Every child is different and that you mustnโ€™t compare one with another, yours or others as it will make you unsettled and worried.

  21. Just keep in mind that every baby is different and will be ready to wean at different times x

  22. Donโ€™t go onto sweet flavours too soon or you may struggle to get your baby to accept savoury quite so easily.

  23. make your own baby food, as it gives them the same taste that they will have when they start eating chunkier food

  24. Let them enjoy touching and holding the food. Try to allow them to feed themselves, using their fingers or spoon, as soon as they show an interest.

  25. Try baby led weaning. Donโ€™t be scared of choking and just give baby what you eat. Itโ€™s messy, easy and fun. My sons first meal was spaghetti bolognese, my daughters cauliflower cheese.

  26. Start very slowly and donโ€™t worry if baby is not impressed, do not get stressed, it will all come together in the end xxxx

  27. I’ve just started weaning my little girl, thank you for the above comments ๐Ÿ™‚ I have noted a few down! I’m finding it quite hard this time round as my daughter seals her mouth shut! I’ve found if I pretend to eat a bit first that she will try it too, also helps making it a bit fun ๐Ÿ™‚ Loads of mess but its worth it xx

  28. I think the Tommee Tippee Explora Soft Tip Weaning Spoons are fantastic – they get just the right amount on food on it and they have soft tips that won’t hurt baby’s gums!

  29. I’m not sure if it qualifies as a weaning product, but the Munchkin Miracle 360 Degree Trainer Cup’s are really great.

  30. Keep weaning foods varied and fun. Perservering, persevere and persevere! Sometimes little ones refuse to try certain foods for days and one day suddenly they love that particular food.

  31. Just not to stress. They will like something one day and not the next. Some days they won’t eat a thing! It’s normal.

  32. I foung getting my girls to ween pretty easy as I started off adding a little food mixed with breast milk and reduced the milk over time leaving just the food. Some children prefer to feed themselves but although this is messy it’s a great way to get them to enjoy new things and helps later on when introducing cutlery.

  33. Don’t panic if your baby doesn’t enjoy a taste or flavour straightaway, keep trying with the odd spoonful here and there. It takes time!

  34. Sit together as a family and try baby with a little of what you’re eating if it’s suitable.

  35. If you get cross, walk away, go into another room, do a dance or sing or pat the dog, whatever makes you feel better, plaster a smile on your face then try again

  36. I make it all fresh in batches what’s around at the time and freeze in to one portion sizes

  37. Make it look fun! There are so many ways of making the most boring looking meals interesting and exciting. And get them involved in preparing the food, I have always found this really helpful.

  38. try and keep mealtimes a schedule about the same time make teatime tummy filling thenmaybe bath read to them then bed hopefully after awhile they will automatically know the routine

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