Once your precious little one gets close to 6 months in age or so, they may be exhibiting signs of being ready to incorporate some solids into their diet. Such a fun time! They may start acting interested in what Mommy and Daddy are eating, can sit up by themselves and might still seem hungry after a bottle; all signs that they are ready for solid food! I could tell Baby L was ready around 5 1/2 months old.
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What do I Need? – Must have feeding essentials for baby
Really you don’t need a whole lot to get started. You could easily feed them in their swing or bouncer and use small spoons that you already have. That being said, having these baby specific items will make things a lot easier:
You will want to get a sturdy high chair. This is the one that we have:
We bought this set of plastic spoons for Baby L and love them:
Here is our feeding setup:
We keep Baby L’s bibs on back of high chair using a command hook. Seriously, so easy; the bibs are always handy:
These are the bibs that we use:
We like to use these disposable ones for when we are out and about or traveling:
Wash baby’s hands!
Please don’t be insulted, this might be obvious but make sure you wash your sweet little one’s hands before they eat. ESPECIALLY when they start eating food with their hands. On days that Baby L is at daycare or we are out and about, I was his hands as soon as we get home.
Clean-Up
Your baby is going to make a mess. That’s just part of it. We keep a package of baby wipes on the table in our “food corner” for baby clean up. Depending on how dirty the high chair tray gets, I may go in after the baby wipes and use a Clorox wipe for disinfecting.
I’ve even heard of some moms using the Press’n Seal wrap on the high chair tray to make clean up easier. What a great idea! This would come in handy for something super messy like spaghetti!
Check out these homemade recipes for baby’s first solid meal:
Homemade Baby Food – Avocado Banana Puree
Homemade Baby Food – Strawberry Banana Yogurt
Homemade Baby Food – Pumpkin Puree