Starting solids...

Who would have thought I would be this excited about starting solids?! Baby S will be 6 months old in less than 3 weeks and we will be starting solids on her 6 month birthday.  It might sound silly but it is quite a milestone to me. It seems like only yesterday we were trying to teach her how to bottle feed and breast feed and now suddenly it's time to spoon feed her! I can not wait to see her reaction as she finally gets to taste something other than milk.  She already has the richest variety of facial expressions especially when she tastes something new, so I'm sure this will be good.

I decided to make my own baby food, because it will be the healthier, fresher, greener and maybe even cheaper option than buying ready made baby food jars from the store. I did a lot of research on the topic before coming to this decision because I definitely didn't want to take chances with my baby's nutrition. It can be daunting to take on something like this, especially when no one you know in real life is doing it this way.  A great website for easy to digest information on the topic is wholesome baby food

So far this is all the gear I have assembled and this is my plan of attack.

[1] Kidco babysteps electric food mill

 

If you already have a good blender or food processor you really don't need a separate one to make baby food, but I decided to get this one for a few reasons.  I wanted something small and easy to clean. The size is important because if you are only making a little bit of baby food it is such a hassle to use a full size blender, as most of the food gets stuck under the blades of a full size blender.  I did also consider getting the baby bullet but decided against it because of many negative reviews.

 

[2] Mumi & Bubi solids starter kit

 

 

 

 

 

Originally I was advised that any ice cube trays would do fine for freezing baby food, but  decided to go with this Mumi & Bubi trays because they have tight fitting lids on them to prevent spills and freezer burn and each cube is 1oz of food unlike some ice cube trays that make smaller cubes.

A good question you might have is, if I am putting the food in the freezer is it really fresh? Well I had asked myself the same question. The freezer allows me to store mini batches of food for a few days at a time. Ideally I would make a batch to last the week so the food is definitely still fresh.  I could also make fresh baby food everyday, but there would always be some left over so the freezer is the best place to store it as it preserves food better than the fridge.

Once the cubes of food are frozen solid I will pop them out of the trays and transfer them into Ziploc bags, and then I can conveniently defrost and heat up one or more cubes of food as needed.

The purchase of this kit also includes a step by step guide and 27 different recipes! You can also visit the Mumi & Bubi website for a free e-recipe book

 

 

[3] Ball 4oz Quilted crystal jelly jars

 

 

 

I bought these jars for short term storage in the fridge as well as for daycare and days out. These canning jars are for actually for making your own jams and jellies, but are also great for regular storage and are even safe for the freezer. The only down side is that the lids come in two pieces and are meant to be vacuum sealed once with a canning machine,  there is also no clear information on whether the lids have BPA in them or not, although the jars are BPA free. So I decided to go ahead and order the plastic caps that go with these jars just to get an air tight seal on my jars and also because they are BPA free.

 

I had originally considered the baby bullet storage system only because of the date dials on the lid

but the really irritating thing about the baby bullet jars is that there is zero information about their capacity. Someone over there wasn't thinking straight, because why we would buy storage jars and not know how much food they can store? No one can give a straight answer as to exactly how many ounces of food fit in the baby bullet jars, so I decided to forget those. 

 

 

[3] Ball regular mouth plastic storage caps

 

These compliment the jars above. Although the jars come with their own lids, I would rather save those metal lids and use them for canning when we are done with the puree stage. That is only if I can confirm that they don't contain BPA

 

 

[4] Fisher-Price healthy start deluxe booster seat

 

It was quite hard deciding on a high chair, I had always envisioned my baby in a traditional high chair and really never considered any booster seats like this. But when I started reading reviews and went to the stores to compare the products in person, I kept coming back to this Fisherprice booster seat.  Here is why I like it

• It is compact, and can easily be folded down and carried around for travelling, visiting the grandparents or even going to a restaurant.
•  It has an easy to clean tray, a base for the tray, plus a lid for the tray. Seriously can it get any better? None of other other regular high chairs I considered have lids to keep the tray clean between washes. The lid and the tray fit into the dishwasher for easy cleaning and sanitization.
• It is very adjustable. The height, tray and the harness all adjust to accommodate a growing baby. It is very important that the high chair gives a snug fit so there isn't too much space between the baby and the tray, otherwise they will just drop all the food on themselves.
• It can be used without the tray as a regular booster seat when the child is much older
• It can be strapped to any chair so it goes with your regular dining table chairs and doesn't take much additional space. It can also be used on its own on the floor
• Most importantly it has no fabric!! So it is super easy to keep clean. Most high chairs have some type of fabric cover and believe me I have seen how grimy and grubby they can get after a few uses. Babies are messy eaters, and they smear food everywhere. It is nice to have a high chair that can be easily wiped clean.

I haven't even started using this yet but as you can tell I already love so much about it!

[5] Munchkin soft tip infant spoons

 



There are so many different types of infant spoons out there! They have strange spatula spoons by Dr browns, color changing spoons that indicate if the food is too hot and even food dispensing spoons, but I decided to start out with the munchkin spoons pictured above. I would think that spoons are much like bottles and every baby reacts differently to different brands, so I will be sure to report back how well these are received by my little one.

 

 [6] Munchkin Multi-Bowls

I know that babies usually make a mess when they eat and for this reason most moms don't bother with bowls or plates when it comes to finger foods, usually they place the food directly on the tray for the baby  to feed themselves. There's nothing wrong with doing it that way, but it just feels strange to me. I don't eat my food directly off the table, so I don't see why I should serve my baby her food that way. Even if she throws it out of the bowl at first, she will eventually learn that this is how food is served.  I did consider getting suction bowls because they stay in place better, but none of them have really outstanding reviews so I'm sticking to these for now.

 

 

I will be sure to blog about how our first solid meal goes. Wish me luck!