Inside this post you can find all of the baby led weaning must haves, from the utensils, highchairs, and safety essentials.
Welcome back to the last question in my 10 questions and answer series about baby led weaning. In this question, mamas answered: “What were some of your favorite products for baby led weaning?”
To see their answers, keep reading =)
First, I will show some products that were extremely useful in our baby led weaning journey.
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Le Highchair
The essential item to have for baby led weaning is a good high chair. I am very whimsical and easily distracted by appearance over quality. Since Lennox had a mint theme going on in his nursery, I thought it would be cute also to buy a mint-colored high chair. Well, that was a stupid decision on my behalf, because the highchair featured in the picture below sucks. Don’t buy it, just don’t.
The point of this post isn’t to trash talk our highchair, but if you are curious as to why I loathe this highchair, you can ask me in the comments below =)
Anyhow, for my next babe, I will definitely get a more practical highchair. My friend has the Chicco Progress Relax Highchair, and I love it. It grows five times with your baby! Also, It has a newborn recliner with a toy bar and an infant high chair, a toddler booster, a big kid booster, and lastly, it turns into a kid stool. Pretty cool, huh?
The Chicco Progress Relax Highchair is a bit on the pricey side, so my next recommended highchair is Ikea’s Antilop Highchair. Not only is it minimalistic, but it is ridiculously cheap. At Ikea it is $19.99. That’s a steal.
My favorite part about this high chair (see picture above) is that it is not so “high as normal highchairs. This is great for baby led weaning because your baby should partake in family mealtimes, and that can be hard when he is sitting way higher than the table height.
If you do not have an Ikea near you, don’t fret. Amazon carries this high chair. It is a bit more expensive, but hey you’re getting two-day shipping, and saving gas!
Les bibs
Another important thing to have ready are bibs. One of the only downsides about baby led weaning is that it gets messy, so it’s important to have bibs on hand. Here are some of my favs, but I am not gonna lie, I’m one of those moms whose child is always naked, so if you are in my boat, then you might not need the bibs so much =)
Small shop, BibaDo, has some of the best bibs I have ever used. Not only is their material super soft, but the fabrics are adorable.
They were kind enough to let us try two of their bibs. The first bib they sent us was the Double Dribble bib which is perfect for babies. Especially teething babies.
Related: 9 Hacks To Alleviate Infant and Toddler Teething Pain
It has one two layers to it made out o 95% absorbent bamboo fabric. The first layer is meant to catch the food and protect the clothing. The second layer is to protect your baby’s chin from getting a rash due to irritation from a wet bib.
Now that Lennox has passed his drooling years, I have tucked the Double Dribble bib away for our next baby led weaner. Lennox did have fun touching and playing wth the soft fabric. See for yourself below.
This Catch-It-All Coverall is my absolute favorite. It still fits Lennox at almost three years old. Now, we use it for more than just eating. We use it for arts and crafts as well as haircuts! It’s amazing.
Below are a list of some other bibs that I really liked:
Les Utensils
It is crucial to introduce utensils to your baby at a young age because they will be feeding themselves. At first, they will use their hands, but once they start getting better fine motor control with their hands, utensils will come in handy. By seven months, Lennox was already feeding himself yogurt on a spoon. I was impressed.
*Remember, don’t confuse them by hand feeding them. Baby led weaning is all about the baby feeding himself, all by himself.
Related: Purees and Baby Led Weaning
Here are great Utensils for baby led weaning.
- Olababy 100% BPA Free Silicone Soft-Tip Training Spoon for Baby Led Weaning
- NumNum Pre-Spoon GOOtensils
- Bumkins Utensils
Le tableware
With infants, it is easiest to serve the food directly on the high chair top or tabletop. However, plates can come in handy for separating foods or attempting to contain the mess. Good luck!
With toddlers, I recommend tableware that suctions to the table because if your toddler is anything like mine, you never know when a plate will go flying across the room. Watch out!
Here are some recommended tableware items.
- ezpz Mini Mat
- Baby Dröm Toddler Self-Feeding Suction Plate
- Termichy Suction Plates for Babies
- Ali+Oli Silicone Suction Bowl & Spoon
- Munchkin Stay Put Suction Bowl, 3 Pack
Out & About
Lastly, we dine out quite frequently, these disposable placemat stickers will help your baby led weaning experience on the go!
Other important baby led weaning posts you cannot miss out on!
- Four Benefits of Baby Led Weaning
- The Pros & Cons of Baby Led Weaning
- Mamas Answer Why They Chose Baby Led Weaning
What did other mamas say about there baby led weaning must haves?
Kassandra at Adelaideandi
I really love OXO forks and spoons. The forks and curved and food stays on them well for the early fork days, and the spoons are pretty deep as far as baby spoons go, so they’re a lot easier to get food to stay on as well.
Taylor at Mindful.mom_ents
We quickly transitioned out of a high chair, he loves sitting at his IKEA table. I detest high chairs with any sort of fabric on them. Grabease spoons are nice to transition to.
Emily at This Crazy Maze
We honestly haven’t used any special products. We got bibs from the baby shower. My son sits in my lap to eat.
Sheridan M.
E-Z mini mats for plates and grabease utensils, but really we don’t use a lot of gear
Brooke at Simply Well Family
Fisher-price makes a booster seat with a removable tray that I liked using. IKEA also has a variety of baby & toddler sized utensils and dinner ware that I like.
Thank you so much for staying tuned for this baby led weaning Q & A Series. Nine months ago, I started this series, and back then, it seemed like we were still doing baby led weaning. Now, I can’t exactly call It baby led weaning anymore because, well, Lennox is a big preschooler.
Related: 13 Tips to Prepare your Toddler for Their First Year of Preschool
I hope you enjoyed this series and got some insight into the ins and outs of what baby led weaning is. I hope it helps you to help your child become an excellent eater as it did with Lennox.
Follow us on Instagram or Facebook to follow Lennox’s adventurous appetite and bilingual beginnings!!