Baby Shower Gift Guide: Meal time

Sometimes it felt like most of my time during Mia’s first year of life revolved around feeding her. I enjoyed breastfeeding and making her baby food, but it sure takes a lot of time!

The proper gadgets can really make this job easier. Here were some of my favorites…

Straw Cups

Someone told me quite awhile ago, that straw cups were recommended over traditional sippy cups. I did a little research and found they were right. You can read more about it here. I have 2 cups on here. The first is the one by Zoli. It’s great because it has a weight in the straw to help babies get the last of the liquid out. Lots of my mommy friends love this cup. The other is the pink one by Playtex. I love this one because you can squeeze it a little and help the baby learn how to use a straw. Perfect! We started experimenting with this one when Mia was 5 months and she was a pro by the time we started solid foods at 6 months.

Spoons

Yes, I think these Beaba spoons are a little pricey. But they really were my favorite when it came to first spoons for baby. They are super soft for baby gums, and shallow enough to allow baby to get all the food off. I highly recommend these and think they make a great gift.

Beaba Babycook

The Babycook is only for the mom who plans to make all her own baby food. This isn’t for everyone. We did it this way, and I found it a lot of fun. But buying food is totally fine too. You can definitely make food without this contraption, but I found it really easy to use. I could set things to steam and walk away without having to check on them. I like that it allowed me to steam and puree in one machine. Not for everyone, but I really liked ours.

Thermos

I loved having this Foogo Thermos. I found that I was feeding Mia a lot of soups and stews when she was first transitioning to “real” food. This was great for taking them on the go. We could go out for burgers, and take along last night’s soup leftovers for her. It would still be warm when we got to the restaurant. We’ll be able to use this for many years, its not just for baby.

Food Containers

Speaking of taking food on the go, I used the 8oz mini food storage containers almost every day. They are the perfect size to throw in a couple cubes of frozen baby food and let them thaw while you run errands. I love the screw on lids. I was never worried I hadn’t snapped them on all the way. I still use them today to hold different snacks for her.

Bibs

I love these bibs by Tommee Tippee for when they start eating finger foods. They are perfect for catching dropped food (of which there is a ton). I also like them for when we are out and about because you can tuck a dirty spoon inside the pocket and roll the whole thing up for easy transport home. I just handwash them in the sink and don’t have to wait for a load of laundry to go through. You can use smaller fabric bibs for when they are just eating purees.

Freezer Trays

Last but definitely not least are probably my favorite item that I used the first year: the Beabe Multiportion Freezer Trays. Love love love these. Like I said, I made all of her baby food. These made it so easy. I made several different kinds of fruits and veggies when I had time, froze them in these trays, and then stored them in labeled ziploc bags. When it was time for her food, I took cubes from different bags to give her a large variety of different fruits and veggies. I love the way these trays are silicone, so you can pop the cubes out easily. And the best part is, I still use them. I fill the cubes with soups, stews, pasta, meatballs to make little portions of leftovers that we can easily defrost for her to have for dinner.