Titus enjoying food!
Titus is eight months months old this next week. Boy, does time fly! He is a hungry little guy and I can hardly keep up with his demands for food. As we just begin to introduce solid foods into our little guy’s diet, I wanted to share with you a few of our favorite tools.
Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder – This is one of my favorite feeding tools, especially at the beginning. It enables your baby to munch away independently. Fill it with a small slice of stemmed carrot, apple, pear, or various fruit/veggies and let them explore to their hearts content. We used this frequently when we are on the road and the baby needs a little something to hold him over. During our car trip to the beach, Titus was kept quite contented while munching on a nectarine slice in this feeder. Beware! It is messy! But that makes it all the funner to watch and enjoy their delight in food! They are a bit challenging to clean, but a scour pad and the dishwasher do a pretty good job for us.
Kidco Baby Food Mill – There are lots of expensive equipment out there for making your own homemade baby food, but I have found this simple tool (along with a blender) to be all you need. This tool is great because it transports easily for a quick meal when you are out. I love it for grinding up bananas or other small portions of foods. If you chose the pureeing route of introducing solids with babies, this is a great way to go!
Bumbo Seat (as seen in picture)- We found this seat off of Craigslist and have found it to be a worthwhile purchase. 
It is perfect for Titus to sit in and enjoy his Munchkin feeder or for him to just sit and play. It gives him full support even before he was sitting up fully on his own.
Foogos Leak Proof Thermos Food Jar - We just recently purchased this food thermos and absolutely love it! It is stainless 
steel and BPA-free thermos that will keep your baby food warm or cold for 6 hours. Insulation helps inhibits dangerous bacteria growth. You can use it to keep milk/formula warm or just throw some veggie chunks in the jar and away we go! We have used it numerous times in the last few weeks. Aaron has even used it a time or two for a coffee thermos. Most reviews on Amazon describe using it for children’s school lunch, so it is very multi-purpose!
Those are our favorite tools! What are yours?
I like using my finger when I first start to introduce my little guy to solid food. I dip my finger in my applesauce or whatever I’m eating and let him taste! It’s like my own portable spoon
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I’m very curious as to the top that Titus is wearing in these pictures. Is this a “cover – all bib” or is it a shirt? It looks like it might be something that would solve my problem of my children refusing to wear bibs.
IKEA bibs! They are the best!
I’ve found that less is more as far as equipment. My last 2 babies have been much more apt to accept new foods if they can feed themselves. I embrace the mess and just cut up food that we are serving (anything soft and mushy)into tiny bites and let them have at it! My 9 month old has eaten beets and cabbage this way–not foods that are typically popular with kids!
I can’t believe he’s already 8mo old!! ANd look at him! He’s SO CUTE!!!
I’ve read a LOT about those Munchkin Fresh Food Feeders, but we didn’t get one for our youngest (13mo old now). I will for our next baby for sure!! I read about Bumbo seats on another blog I enjoy … and, after seeing pictures of her lil’ one sitting in it, WE got one — with the tray. Our littlest LOVED it. Unfortunately, she outgrew it waaaay too fast. My babies are always lil’ chunkers LOL … and her thighs were getting squashed. It’ll definitely come in handy for the next baby, whenever the Lord blesses us with another, though!!
We have used the Baby Mill for the last two children and plan to use it on this next one once it arrives
I can’t believe I never knew about it previously!! It is such a favorite tool of ours that it is my number one favorite baby gift item to give. There is nothing like feeding your baby the same foods you eat and it sure does save money on food!! No more jars!! I purchased mine at Burlington Coat Factory in their baby department, but they are readily available online.
my baby never like the texture of the mesh munchkin feeder until I put a frozen banana in it. Now I freeze all kinds of pureed foods in narrow ice cubes, it has been so great for teething!
I have been reading your blog since you were pregnant with Titus. I gave birth to twins four months ago and have successfully nursed them thus far. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your post about caring for little ones. I was happy to find this post today as I have been pondering how we should go about feeding the babies. Did you do things different with Titus than with Karis? I plan on waiting until the babies are at least 6 months before I give them anything.Maybe even longer.
Just trying to put together my plan of action so to speak.
I just purchased the Ikea sleeved bibs for my 7 month old and I love them! For my four year old and two year old I have them wear old adult T-shirts over their clothes to keep them stain-free. That was a tip from my Grandma. I also use a pizza cutter and kitchen scissors to cut up bite-sized pieces. It’s much quicker than cutting with a knife.
While we didn’t love the mesh feeder (never could get it 100% clean) we love an item you pictured but didn’t mention…IKEA sleeved bibs. And if I remember right, they are a STEAL. I think we got a 2 pack for like $2.99! My mom even took one (that lost its waterproof backing) apart and made bigger ones for my boys so they can continue to have them as they grow! If you need another mesh feeder, we’ve got one we’re not using
) I’d be happy to mail it.
I like to use the Munchkin mesh feeder as well. Henry love to suck on frozen grapes and peaches through it. Where did you find the baby food mill? I would love to get one of those.
We got it through Amazon…click through the link above to find it!
I have also used the mesh feeders for my babies, they are messy but babies love them. My other favorite feeding tool is my son’s 8 year old brother! He often feeds the baby while I’m finishing up everyone else’s dinner, they both love it!
Thanks for this post! I’ve been a fan for a while now and love your blog! We’ve been going down this health road for many years and its taken us a lot further than where we first started. We went from the standard american diet (S.A.D.) to drinking raw milk and eating fermented foods. We have seen our health go from my husband having the cholesterol of a 70 year old (unhealthy) man, to being 60 pounds lighter and fit as a fiddle. The proof is there!
I came to your blog the other day searching for info/tips on starting baby on solids. Our third girl is about to start solids and I was curious about your take on things. Needless to say, I walked away informed yet again. Thanks for speaking the truth in so many ways.
I went to Weston A. Price (love those peoople) through a link that you posted. I was so excited to see that the first foods recommended egg yolks and lots of meat and veggies (as opposed to jarred baby food and oatmeal/rice). We didn’t do this with our first two, but I’m curious to see how things pan out with our third.
Oh, and another blessing of changing our eating habits is that it led us to purchase a farm in which we raise pastured meats and eggs so there is plenty of eggs and meat available to feed our little one.
Thanks again for your blog! Its been a wonderful resource for me! I’ve sent lots of people your way as of recently with cloth diaper questions. We just started these a few months ago and its going great!
Great to meet you:) in the blog world!
Lynsey
Brenham, TX
We loved the mesh feeder also! I didn’t really do purees as we started mostly with finger foods. (that is honestly my favorite aspect of starting solids – skipping the purees/spoon feeding) We also have a little suction bowl that has been helpful when they started using a spoon on their own.
I remember when you recommended the IKEA bibs a while back and was disappointed that our IKEA didn’t have them in stock. If we have more babies I think we will purchase a Bumbo and tray. I didn’t think they looked that useful until I saw the tray!
Sara, just wondering how you skipped pureed food. What age did you start on solids an how? Our third little girl is almost eight months and I’m getting ready to introduce fruits and veggies, but the smushed up kind…interested in how you do it.
We LOVE our mesh feeder! It is an absolute life saver when my son is teething. I put slices of frozen fruit or frozen applesauce cubes in it, and he’s a happy camper.
The Bumbo and Munchkin Feeder are both very loved products in our home. We’ve been using them for more than four years now and I can’t say enough good things about them both. I am interested in the food mill but never knew anyone who owned it. Thanks for the info.
I’m so glad you mentioned the mesh feeder. I have one that I bought for my first child (now 2.5 years), but I never used it. Now, my second is almost 9 months, and she’s having a hard time with new textures and tastes. It appears she has a very strong gag reflex. I’m going to try some of the foods you mentioned in the mesh feeder and see if it helps her.
We have very much enjoyed the Kleen Kanteen sippy cup. It seems pricey but it is totally worth the investment with the BPA free top by avent and it is indestructable stainless steel. Very good for our household with boys! It doesn’t make anything taste like plastic! We like it so much the whole family has one.
We also bought regular mini-silverware for our little ones to eat with – the yucky plastic kind were melting in the dishwasher – very bad. We had to look at cocktail type of spoons and forks but this time of year those can be found inexpensively. We are so glad we switched that too!
Thanks for your blog. We read it all the time and tell everyone about it!
My sister and I were very blessed to be able to find the child sized KK for our little ones on sale for just $10 (w/the sippy adapter!!), as well as the 40oz size, for just $20! We love ours and would agree- Very worth-while investment!!
I can’t believe your little guy is 8 months old…that seems so crazy! Although, my little lady is going to be 9 months and he was born right after her!
Something we love is our magic bullet when they are eating purees, because you can stick a little bit of everything into it (assuming they’ve tried the foods before)!
PS-tried your sloppy lentils and it was a big hit with the hubs and kiddos! Definitely adding that to the menu more often! Thanks for sharing,
Sarah M