Truly Scrumptious Baby: My complete feeding and weaning plan for 6 months and beyond. Holly Willoughby
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A basic saucepan with a lid is great for boiling vegetables and poaching fruit for purées – and that is how they have been cooked in the recipes here, with some of the cooking water then being used to thin purées in the early stages – but I’d highly recommend you invest in a steamer. This doesn’t have to be an expensive stand-alone steaming gadget; just one of those little metal baskets that sit inside a lidded saucepan will suffice. Steaming is a good way to preserve certain nutrients, and the minimal cooking water will be easily absorbed into your meal, retaining more of the goodness of the ingredients.
Microwave
There’s no doubt about it – a microwave is a wonderful modern convenience when it comes to speedy reheating or defrosting. It’s a super-easy way to steam vegetables too. Just make sure that you are well versed in how your own microwave works, so that you know how to use it safely in terms of having it on the correct cook and defrost settings. If you’re reheating food, be careful about ‘hotspots’. Pause it and stir once or twice during cooking to make sure the heat is evenly dispersed. And, as with everything, make sure the temperature is just right before you offer it to your baby.
Potato masher
Once you’ve moved on from smooth purées, you’ll need something to mash the cooked food so it retains more texture. Depending on how much you’ve made, a potato masher is handy, or just use the back of a fork!
FEEDING EQUIPMENT
I think the bottom line when it comes to purchasing anything baby related is to try making do without it and if you feel you absolutely can’t, then pop out to buy or order it. The biggest budget-busting mistake all new parents make – and I’m no exception – is to rush out and buy everything on ‘the list’, thinking they’ll fail without it, when every baby’s needs are different and some just pass certain stages altogether and suddenly you’re left with a load of gadgets that haven’t even seen the light of day! But here are a few trusty basics that I couldn’t have managed without.
Baby chair
You don’t need to spend a fortune on a baby chair! In my experience, the more expensive they are and the more space age they look, the trickier they are to clean and the less supportive they are. There are plenty of chair options on the market, at a range of prices to suit your budget. Whatever you decide to go for, it must be supportive. If your baby is at the weaning stage, she should be strong enough to sit up straight and have good head control. The Bumbo-type seats are suitable for really early stages and some even come with detachable trays. If you are putting your baby straight into a high chair, make sure she’s comfortable, well supported and strapped in. Ones with detachable trays have the advantage of flexibility, in that your child can either eat on her own or the chair can be pulled up to the table. If you’re opting for a chair that either attaches to or pulls up to your own table, without a detachable tray, make sure it’s safe. Chairs that can be clipped onto the table or fold up are especially good if you’re short on space.
I used a Bumbo, followed by a Tripp Trapp high chair that pulled straight up to the table –with a baby harness for when my kids were really little. But that’s just what worked for me, allowing me to sit and eat with them. The chair, which can be adjusted as your child gets bigger, was particularly handy when the second and third children came along as they could then eat with the older ones. It’s no coincidence that Chester is my best eater. He’s learned by example from watching the other two with their ever-maturing taste buds, and, at two years old, I can honestly say there’s nothing that child won’t eat. (Except mashed potato, that is. He hates mashed potato!)
It’s quite a good idea to let your baby become acclimatized to her new high chair in the week running up to starting weaning. Giving her a weaning spoon to play with, along with a plastic bowl, plate or cup, while you eat your dinner, is a good way of introducing her to sitting down to a family meal and getting used to it before you add food to the party! Babies don’t miss a trick. They’ll be taking it all in, watching and learning, so by the time their turn comes, it won’t feel so foreign.
Bowls and spoons
There are all sorts of brilliant feeding products on the market. You can now buy silicone bowls and spoons in heat-sensitive materials that change colour if the food’s too hot, and I think that’s a terrific idea. If I was going to go out again now and buy a set for a first baby, I think I would definitely go for the bowls with suckers that attach to the table so that they can’t be knocked sideways! But any bowl that won’t smash if it ends up on the floor is fine.
The only must with weaning spoons is that they need to be made from soft plastic or silicone. This is to protect your baby’s gums as she eats. It’s worth having a couple of spoons as babies often respond better to being fed if they are also holding a spoon and feel like they’re doing it themselves. Giving them this sense of independence helps them develop their motor skills, too, and it won’t be long before they’re scooping up their own spoonfuls and accurately popping them into their mouths.
Sippy cup
From six months, you can encourage your baby to take a few sips of water from a spout beaker or ‘sippy’ alongside her new ‘solid’ meal. You can get ones with handles, to make it easier for little hands to control, and she’ll love the feeling of independence that comes with this new experience. I would advise investing in a cup with a lid, but one that allows the water to flow freely rather than the non-spill type. This teaches your baby how to sip and drink properly, and it will stand her in good stead for when it’s time to lose the lid and start drinking from an open cup with the sipping control they’ve unwittingly learned. Teaching your child how to use a straw early on is also a godsend. Once they master this, it makes things so much easier when you’re out and about. Mine learned by watching me and Dan. I’d suck liquid through the straw and then let it go and blow a few bubbles. I know this sounds as though you’d be teaching your children bad habits, but it’s enough to spark their interest and show them how to draw up liquid and watch how it moves up and down the straw. All of mine learned really quickly and it definitely helped with learning to sip and drink properly.
Bibs
When my babies were at the milk-only stage, I used those super-soft milk-feeding bibs with the padded ridge around the neck, which soaked up all the drips and leaks, helping to prevent rashes. But bibs for weaning are a totally different ball game. Essentially, you still want one to catch the excess – but this time you’ll want one you can wipe clean, or you’ll be spending a fortune on stain remover! You can get silicone ones with inbuilt trays. Inevitably they don’t catch everything – but I’ve always been glad it’s there.
Face cloth/muslin/wipes
You’ll need something to wipe your baby down once they’ve finished eating. Just make sure it’s something clean – and not the kitchen J-cloth! Equally, if you’re using baby wipes, try them on your own face first. Some are fine to use on little hands, but quite scratchy on their sensitive faces and you won’t know until you try it yourself. As a rule, try not to wipe your baby’s face too much mid-feed, even if she is covered in goo. You risk aggravating and distracting her before she’s full.
Sterilizer
You only need to sterilize your feeding equipment if you’re weaning a baby under six months old. Any work-surface or microwave-bottle sterilizer will work. After that, it’s fine to hand wash or put everything through the dishwasher.
HAPPY MEALTIMES AS A FUNDAMENTAL PART OF HAPPY FAMILIES
The first few weeks of weaning aren’t really conducive to the conventional family meal, given the mess and your baby’s short attention span. Nevertheless, if you can, it’s still important to seat your baby at the table and let her experience the whole family coming together. The early days of weaning are more exploratory for babies in terms of food, but even