Today we explore what baby led weaning (BLW) essentials a family would need to start their journey with minimal equipment. I hope this gives you the confidence to navigate what you need to start and continue a baby led weaning journey by covering must haves like utensils, dishes, cups and a high chair.
Where to Start?
When beginning to think about the BLW journey, there are SO many options of what you ‘need’. I have you covered with the basics which will get you well on your way to a successful feeding journey.
As you begin, think of the following questions:
- Where does my family eat a majority of meals?
- How often do we want to enjoy meals together?
- How will we clean up?
- How often do we want to clean utensils?
After you have determined the answers to these questions, you will be well on your way to determining what items are really necessary.
Navigating where the family eats:
When thinking about where a family eats a majority of meals, answers might include the following: at home, on the go, at child / day care or a mixture of all the above. This is important because it will help determine what kind of chair or placemat a child needs.
A place to sit:
We purchased the Skip Hop Baby High Chair ‘Eon’ 4-in-1 a few months back and are blown away by the purchase. This is a dupe of the trendy ‘Lalo’ high chair at a fairly reasonable price. Additionally, if you have done research on the recommendations for good posture to minimize choking, the high chair comes with a variety of adjustable features to ensure food is safely enjoyed. These features include a re-moveable tray, footrest and five point harness. Additionally the chair can be broken into four different formats: a high chair, dining booster, table side booster or toddler chair.
It is easy also extremely easy to clean with minimal nooks and crannies for crumbs to fall into, the straps can be easily removed and treated with stain treatment (like this one) if needed, and the seat wipes down easily with a wash cloth. There is no cushion on the seat or back which for us was not necessary as the time spent in the high chair per day was minimal and we provide a rolled up hand towel in the back for seated support.
If on the go often, a great high chair to look for is on which can hook onto a table. This travel high chair easily locks to any table, due to the adjustable latches, folds down flat for storage and has a harness to keep the child safe. For extra added support for the feet, a towel or book can be placed underneath them to provide extra stability. A table chair placed under the high chair can act a a safety net in case the high chair were to come loose from the table. It is also easy to clean due to the material which food easily wipes off of.
Navigating how the family eats:
Baby Led Weaning can be messy. Eating is an explorative time which provides children various sensory experiences and allows them to develop through touch and taste in a ‘hands on’ approach. When navigating how a family eats, utensils, dishes and cups first come to mind.
Utensils can be optional (at least at the beginning)
Because BLW is hands on, a child primarily starts through grasping and scooping food when bringing it to their mouth. Through time this will develop to a pincer grasp and then onto utensils. At any time during the journey, utensils can be a way to help add diversity within an eating regime as well as allowing the caregivers to be more involved. In traditional BLW style, the caregiver would assist the child by putting food onto the utensil and allowing the child to bring it to their mouth to eat.
Utensils we enjoyed using include the NumNum Pre-Spoo GOOtensils. These spoons could be used with purees and foods shaped in the correct size based on ace. We liked these spoons due to the silicone texture, small handle and the shape of the spoon which was not to big for the mouth. As an added bonus, they are BPA fee. At 9MO, this is little ones’ spoon of choice.
Around 10MO, we started introducing these this ezpz Mini Utensil set. This fork and spoon set is made from silicone, though it feels stiffer then other silicone products we have tried, which enables the utensil to hold food better as the fork can pierce it. We also enjoy the shape of the spoon which curves upwards slightly to allow full lip closure around the utensil.
Additionally there are nubs on the bottom of the utensils to provide sensory awareness without having a ‘stopper’ which prevents the childs’ hand or mouth from colliding like other trendy ‘training’ utensils. Initially, it has been a bit of a learning curve for our daughter, but she has like that food does not easily fall off when bringing it to her mouth quickly.
Eating on a surface:
A plate or disposable placemat is always a good place to start. This ezpz mini mat is our favorite plate because it is 100% silicone, suctions to the table to avoid flipping food onto the ground and has curved edges which help with scooping food during the first few months. It is also dishwasher safe or can be hand washed between uses.
If you are on the go, this set of 60 disposable place mats is a great option as it sticks to the table, has fun pictures to create a narrative while waiting for meals, and is an added barrier if water is spilled. These pack easily into any bag and is a simple way to put food onto the table directly as opposed to restaurant plates (has your infant or toddler flipped and broke a kitchen plate yet?).
Drinking liquids:
We bought two different cups when starting BLW. We used the ezpz Tiny Cup and the Olababy Silicone Training Cup. As drinking liquids is a lifelong skill, we bought both cups as it was important for us to ensure both an open cup and a straw cup were introduced at a young age. If you are interested in learning more about how to teach your little one how to use a straw, Solid Starts has a great article.
While we did not use this straw cup, we know quite a few who had success when assisting their baby to drink from a straw was not occurring as easily as hoped. This cup allows the caregiver to apply slight pressure to the belly of the bear to provide water easily to the little ones mouth.
Transporting Snacks (All optional):
As many meals can be eaten on the go, this collapsible snack cup holds a variety of foods like fruit, vegetables, cereal, crackers and more. The lid allows hands to enter and prevents food from easily falling out. Once the snack is gone, the cup can collapse into a bag which is great for a diaper bag with limited space.
If purees are on the menu, these squeeze tube tops are great to prevent spills and have a stopper for when the whole squeeze pack is not finished. The tops require the user to bite the top and then suck or squeeze to make the food come through the top. This is the less messy way to enjoy purees.
One of our favorite recent purchases is a clear cross body bag. When trying to get a toddler a snack quick, this allows one to see and point easily without having to play search and find to locate the desired item.
Navigating Clean Up
One thing I remember from the newborn stage is the quote “You don’t have a spit up problem you have a laundry problem”. Cue solids and we are talking 100+ outfits a day. On a real note, we try to keep the mess contained by providing bibs during meals. The two types we enjoy are the Bumkins sleeved bib and the silicone bibs. We introduced the silicone bibs first however they were irritating to little one’s neck when she would turn her head often to look around and eat. The sleeved bib was too big until around 7 months and put a clothes pin on the back to keep the neck hole tighter. We do find bibs help to also keep the high chair straps clean too!
Our all time favorite ‘clean’ stain treaters are Miss Mouth’s Messy Eater Stain Treater and Puracy Stain Remover. Both take out set in stains and are a must for our laundry. Miss Mouth’s Messy Eater Stain Treater works magic before your eyes, taking out stains like purple sweet potato or raspberry within seconds. For more examples of it working on clothes, head to my Instagram page and click on my ‘Essentials’ Highlights.
This splat mat has many uses for various ages including a placemat under highchair to protecting the carpet from spit up or art projects. It has grips on the bottom of the mat to prevent a high chair from moving, is waterproof and easily shakes off outside. This splat mat can also be placed in the washing machine and treated with strain treater if needed.
Navigating how much to buy:
When it comes to duplicates, this is really a personal preference. Many of the above items come in packs of two, which is plenty for starting out. We send little one to daycare with a bag of her items for each day which are washed before coming home. Others may want multiple.
If we were to buy multiples, we would get two ezpz placemats, two bibs and alternate between two different types of cups. This allows for everything to be cleaned in a timely manner but to have an extra on hand when another set is drying.
I hope this blog brought clarity on the steps to begin purchasing items for the BLW journey. This chapter is so exciting!
Do you have any favorite products for feeding your little one? If so, share them in the comments below!
[…] The highchair can convert into four different styles. While our daughter (almost 2 years old) is utilizing it as a booster seat at our dining room table, we will covert it back to a high chair for our next little one. After all the kiddos are done using the chair, we can transition it into a toddler chair. If you would like to read more about essentials for a baby led weaning journey check out my blog post HERE. […]