I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the feeding products we use with Owen so I figured I’d just write a post about the topic.
1. highchair
We have the oxo tot seedling highchair (found here), and we love it. It’s easy to clean– the cover pops off with the buckles and straps attached, which is nice because we all know the tiny crevices in those buckles are magnets to food particles. And the tray cover is removable and dishwasher safe. While I’m not a huge fan of the aesthetics of highchairs, I get past that with this chair because it’s pretty streamlined. I also like that it has wheels because I can move Owen from our dining room to the kitchen because sometimes I’ll give him something small to eat while I prep the rest of his meal. If you don’t have any need to move your kiddo around, I have friends who like the oxo tot sprout (found here), which is a sleek, wooden highchair.
2. bibs
I love these bibs by BabyBjorn (found here). They catch almost all of the food Owen drops. And he’ll even dig around the in trough, as we call it, for any leftovers he might have missed. They’re also very easy to clean. And while they may not look super comfortable, Owen doesn’t seem to be bothered by them.
3. cutting board + knife
I didn’t invest in fancy schmancy baby-related food prep products. To cut Owen’s food into the appropriate sizes, I use one of our bamboo cutting boards and a knife from our knife set. I’m so 1952. When he was younger, I would puree some of his vegetables and fruits with my immersion hand blender set, but I already owned that.
4. cup
I’ve yet to find a straw cup that I love. We have this one, but I’m still undecided about it. We’re going to try these cups soon. But I LOVE this transition cup (found here), and so does Owen. I’m not overly concerned that he’s still drinking from it because he can drink from a straw and an open cup, it’s just finding cups that he can use without getting liquids all over our house.
5. spoons
That’s right, we’re not 100% baby led weaners. Hah. Weaners. I still feed Owen oatmeal in the morning with a spoon. Gasp! And I’ll feed him applesauce because, seriously, how are you supposed to pick up applesauce with your hands? I really like these Munchkin spoons (found here). The price is pretty sweet, too– 6 spoons for $2.92.
In case you’re wondering, we used Dr. Brown’s bottles (both plastic and glass) when I’d sneak away from the house to do glamorous things like get my hair done or go to dinner with friends. I also highly recommend the Dr. Brown’s microwave steam sterilizer bags (found here) for those days when you forget to run the dishwasher and have no clean bottles. Or when you’re traveling with your kiddo. They’re also great for cleaning breast pump parts. And I don’t think you can beat 100 uses for $5.99.
6. bib with sleeves
I’m editing this post to add this handy bib. It’s great when kiddos eat really messy foods, and you don’t want to give them a bath afterward.
How about a handy dandy tip?
I store Owen’s bibs and a package of baby wipes on the back of his highchair.
I took two large, clear Command Brand hooks and adhered them to the back of the highchair.
I never use a full Kirkland wipe package because it would be too heavy. I’ll wait until a package is about half way empty, punch a hole with my hole puncher, thread a binder ring through, and hang it on the hook.
After every feeding, I use a wipe to clean Owen’s face and hands, bib, and tray. Then I’ll hang the bib back on the back of the highchair.
If you’re interested in the products I love for eating out at restaurants, see this post.
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What are your favorite feeding products?
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I saw thw Munchkin cup at Baby R Us yesterday and i was planning on buying it today. Hopefully my son likes.
What foods does Owen like?
It took Owen a while to get used to the cup, so if he doesn’t like it right away, keep trying.
When Owen was first learning to eat, a little after turning 6 months, he would eat just about everything we gave him. Now he’s become more picky. But his favorites are oatmeal, bananas, blueberries, avocados, grilled cheese + avocado sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, chicken nuggets, chicken+diced tomato+couscous, chicken+broccoli+mushroom casserole, stuffed peppers (the filling), pizza, pineapple, fruit & veggie pouches, cereal bars, yogurt bites, Joe’s Os, and Gerber puffs.
My son is just starting to eat pieces of food in addition to purees. What starter foods did Owen eat, and what did/does he eat when you go to restaurants?
We started him with purees. We’d randomly give him bites of what we were eating and built from there. He would gum the food for a while and swallow it. We didn’t follow a set plan though, we kind of just went with it.
We try to choose foods for Owen that we know he’ll eat when we order at restaurants. But if that backfires, I always have food in the diaper bag– usually fruit and veggie pouches, Joe’s Os (Cheerios), Plum little yums, and yogurt bites. If I don’t think those were filling enough, I’ll give him some food once we get home.
Those Munchkin cups are awesome! It took my guy a few weeks to really get the hang of it, but now he’s a pro. Also, extremely easy to clean, unlike some of the other sippy cups we have!
Yeah, we love Munchkin products!
Great idea hanging his bibs on the back of the chair!
Thanks! It makes it a lot easier!
Thank you so much for you baby posts! You have some of the best ideas for little ones. I have ready many of your posts and used a lot of your ideas. Please keep these posts coming!!! Thank you!! 🙂
Thanks so much, Kate! I never know if I should post baby stuff or not because I know it doesn’t apply to everyone, and whenever I check my stats after I post baby stuff I always lose around 10 email subscribers. Haha!
When my son was about a year he started drinking out of my camelbak all.the.time so we picked up a few of the kids ones for him. They are wonderful cause they don’t leak (unless the tip needs to be replaced). He still has them and uses it every day for his water.
Love all of the ideas! I’m not a mom (yet!) but I spent last year working as at a preschool in the infant room and I was all about making life easier! That being said, I have seen my fair share of cups and have a FAVORITE! It is hands down the best in terms of kids being able to use it and it being leak free. The family I knew that first used it found it via a speech therapist recommendation, which is a plus! It has a weighted straw and top, making it the best of both worlds! http://www.amazon.com/Zo-li-Bot-Straw-Sippy-Cup/dp/B0031E1GEG
Good luck!