Finally…..our list of top 10 baby feeding essentials! After our Top 10 Newborn Essentials post, we received several emails asking why there were no feeding products or recommendations on that list. The main reason was because I chose to breastfeed and didn’t start Baby E on solids until 6 months, so feeding products weren’t on my radar when she was a newborn.
Once we started solid foods, I quickly learned what I liked and didn’t like when it came to preparing food for and feeding Baby E. I have to giggle here a bit because if you had told me 10 years ago that I would be a breastfeeding, baby food making, stay-at home mom I would have laughed hysterically and told you you were mistaken! My, my how things change… And thank God things change! So here it is - my list of top 10 baby feeding essentials I couldn’t do with out.
1. Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker: At 16 months, I still make the majority of Baby E’s food and use this baby cooker daily. Do you need one of these to prepare homemade baby food? Not necessarily. But if your brain turned to mush during pregnancy and still hasn’t bounced back (like mine), then this is a lifesaver. It cooks and purees, and is electric with a timer so Bear no longer has to worry about me burning down the house. Whew!
2. Petites Frites day-of-the-week bib set: These are so cute! Magical Monday, Tickle-Me Tuesday, Fancy Friday??!! Love them. Great quality, baby friendly fabric, they wash beautifully and are made in the USA. What more does one need? We use them every day. I prefer bibs that tie around the neck over velcro because they are adjustable in size, she hasn’t yet learned to remove them herself and I hate washing anything with velcro. The packaging is really cute as well so they would make a great shower gift!
3. Green Sprouts Eco-Friendly Silicone Freezer Tray: I use these to freeze baby food purees. The eco-friendly material is great, and I love the flexibility of the silicone. Makes them so easy to use and clean up. Perfect 1 ounce portions.
4. OXO Tot Feeding Spoon Set: OMG – Corinna is so tired of hearing me talk about these spoons! I’m obsessed! They are the only spoons I will use. I take them to restaurants, travel with them, etc. They are the perfect shape for both scooping food and feeding Baby E. The feeding end of the spoon is sort of a rounded, rectangle shape with a nice silicone coating for little mouths, and the handle portion of the spoon is perfectly contoured for scooping. Love these!
5. Sugarbooger Laminated Lunch Sack: Love these soft sided, laminated lunch sacks. They are easy to clean, sturdy yet squishable (is that a word??) so you can store food in it securely, but still stuff the lunch sack into your oversize handbag or whatever contraption you are carrying that day.
6. Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet Cookbook: A cookbook for baby food?? Come on…..steam and puree! Why didn’t I think of that cash cow??!! That was my first thought when I received this as a gift from a very dear friend that lives in the wine country. I was a bit naive when it came to feeding little ones. This book has been a great reference for introducing food, proper preparation, and has great recipes and ideas for feeding baby well beyond ‘steam and puree’. I should have known that considering the giver. She is like the Sonoma County Martha Stewart. She grows her own fruits and veggies, is an amazing chef, teacher and writer, and a great mom as well.
7. B.box Essential Sippy Cup: Now this is an idea I wish I had thought of! These baby safe sippy cups have a soft, regulated, food-safe silicone straw that is weighted at the bottom and follows the liquid as your little one turns it all about. Brilliant! And worth the price.
8. Happy Baby Organic Puffs: Or as we like to call them….baby crack. Or ‘puff puffs’ in front of Baby E (don’t want one of her first words to be crack). These are great melt-in-your mouth, beginner finger foods for little ones. They are a good size and texture for perfecting that ‘pincer grasp’. At Baby E’s first birthday party, she had zero interest in the homemade vanilla cake with butter cream frosting her mom and Nana made……she simply wanted her puff puffs!
9. Peg Perego Siesta High Chair: This is the SECOND high chair we bought! We didn’t use a high chair the first few months as Baby E was a tiny one and the bouncy seat seemed to work well. When she was finally ready for a big girl high chair, we purchase the OXO high chair and had an overall bad experience. Out of the box it was damaged, and when I saw the chair in person the materials looked very cheap. When we put Baby E in it, it seemed huge and didn’t have the ability to recline or adjust the way the Peg Perego chairs do. When we returned the OXO, we brought Baby E with us and pulled down several display model high chairs to see what would fit her best and the Per Perego Siesta was the clear winner. It is also easy to fold up and put away if you are having guests over and don’t want them to feel like they are dining in romper room.
10. Green Sprouts Polypropylene Freezer Cubes: We still use these glass feeding cubes every day. They easily hold a 2 ounce portion, can go from freezer to refrigerator and have so far been indestructible. I also like the shape for feeding Baby E with my favorite OXO spoons…. A perfect pair!
I love my Beaba and my Green Sprouts Polypropylene Freezer Cubes. They made making baby food so much fun and SO EASY! I loved that I did not have to buy expensive baby food and could make organic food for my little one.
April@ illistyle recently posted..Disneyland Ticket Giveaway and Our Dinner with Friends
Hi April! Totally agree – and it is so easy to do. But most importantly it is good for baby, good for the environment and easy on the budget. Glad to meet a fellow baby food making mama!