Weaning paraphernalia

[Happybunny]

Hi there. I am hoping to get to 6 months before I wean April, however, I am researching and making sure I have everything I need so we are ready to go. I have given it a great deal of thought and I am going to go with purees and building textures instead of BWL.

I am currently reading Annabel Karmel's complete planner book. She seems to think I need a whole new kitchen. Do I really need a mouli or is a hand blender just fine? Do I need a food processor and a steamer? Should I get special freezer pots or are ice cube trays ok?

I would be really interested to know what you use to prepare your little one's food.

Also, what brand of plates/cutlery/sippy cups do you use? How many do I need of each?

Sorry for all the questions, hope you can help!


p.s. when did you start using a high chair, which chair would you recommend?

 

[LisaJ1986]

At the minute i use a hand blender. First time i used it i got mess everywhere, cost me less than a fiver from Asda. However, i wish i went to Tesco as they have a whole kit, no mess for a tenner! I use ice cube trays and a few pots for the food. I got 3 pots with lids from woolworths for £1.50. Or 3 smaller ones from poundland. We're doing quite well at the mo with what we've got.

 

[Leese]

A steamer is really handy. She recommends a mouli for potato but I've never used one. My hand blender is permanently plugged in! And as long as they're freezable I just use whatever pots to freeze stuff in.

 

[Manda&Thomas]

i use a hand blender it does the job just fine, as for pots i brought 3 little tupperware pots from wollies for 99p they do the job just fine, also picked up some bowls with lids from woolies in the baby bit for 99p
as for spoons ect id get a few different shapes and sizes as ive got the skinny ones but thomas preferes the wider flatter spoons so i need to get more of them
oh and stock up loads on bigs as they get ruined with stains ect
as for the highchair thomas could really do with one at the moment he is in the boucey chair but hes to big for it o cant be strapped in so goes everywhere when he gets excited over food
xx

 

[OopsyDaisy]

Do I really need a mouli or is a hand blender just fine? Do I need a food processor and a steamer? Should I get special freezer pots or are ice cube trays ok?
According to Annabel Karmel, there are certain foods that you can't blend eg sweetcorn and potato. I've got the AK food grinder which I've used a few times. I've used both normal ice cube trays and the AK trays, and I much prefer the AK ones. THe trays are good for the start of weaning, as you would only need 1 or 2 cubes to start with. When the portion sizes increase, it would probably be easier to use freezer pots.

Also, what brand of plates/cutlery/sippy cups do you use? How many do I need of each?
For some reason, I've ended up buying mostly Tommee Tippee brand items. I would say to start with you only need one melamine bowl, some soft-tipped spoons and a sippy cup (I find the free-flowing type the best first cup)

when did you start using a high chair, which chair would you recommend?
We started using a high chair from about 6.5 months. Our place is only small, so we bought the Cosatto On The Move high chair which folds up very compactly.

 

[Magic Monkey]

I bought the Tommee Tippee weaning kit from Argos, which is a bargain as you save over £5 on buying it individually.
(sorry I don't know how to do short links!)

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... 199773.htm

I did buy the AK mouli for doing potatoes and it is brill for that, but I have only used it once. I went for it as it was cheap enough.

I use ice cube trays from Tesco, they are red flexible ones that cost 99p and they are great. I put purees in, put the tray in a freezer bag, then when frozen I take the cubes out and store in resealable freezer bags. I also have the food cubes from blooming marvellous that a friend leant me and they are not as good IMO as you can't get the cubes out without defrosting them, so therefore you would need loads.

 

[Squiglet]

gah.. we just have a hand blender and the set of pots and pans we have has a steamer part to it. I brought ice cube trays with lids from the cheap jonny shop. Now lil miss is beyond the single fruit and veg stage... I boil the veg and use the water in lentil or stock recepies So the nutrition is still there but I only brought some pots, spoons and cups for lil miss