During the first year of your baby’s life, your baby will go through the most significant and rapid changes across their lifetime. One such significant change is the transition from breastfeeding, to bottle-feeding, to solid foods. Feeding and weaning can be incredibly stressful for parents, so we have found five baby feeding products that are must-haves throughout the feeding transition – they will make your life easier!
Firstly, our products on this list are chosen to consider the various stages of a baby’s feeding development. We have selected products that consider both infancy and toddlerhood. These products also consider the two basic approaches to feeding; traditional method and baby-led weaning.
Baby nutritional experts suggest that the first six months babies receive their nutrients from either breastmilk – directly or via prior pumped milk or baby formula. During this time, babies often feed little but often – parents will learn the tell-tale signs that a baby is ready to be fed. Consequently, bottle feeders become a must-have for parents and infants.
Then infant and child nutritional experts and dieticians recommend introducing babies to solid foods – complementary feeding or weaning – at around six months old. There are two basic approaches to weaning
- Traditional weaning methods
- Baby-led weaning (BLW)
Many experts suggest reasons for both feeding approaches. Still, choosing to use a traditional weaning method or a baby-led weaning method is highly personalized and will vary from parent-to-parent. For a look at a mother’s experience of using both ways, read the article: traditional weaning or baby-led weaning?
This article will be looking at five must-have feeding products to use throughout infancy and toddlerhood. We will consider the product’s benefits and considerations of each any other important information. Let’s get started!
Shatter Resistant Glass Feeding Bottles
The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) recommends glass as the safest and, therefore, the best material for Glass Feeding Bottles. The AAP report promotes glass baby bottles as the best alternative to plastic baby bottles. In comparison, glass as a material is far safer as it is non-porous, which means that it does not leach harmful chemicals like BPA and phthalates into baby milk or baby formula. Other benefits of the glass feeder bottles are:
- Does not leak harmful chemicals
- Chemical-free
- Heat-resistant
- Dishwasher compatible
- Microwave compatible
- Recyclable and reusable
- Durable
- Scratch-resistant
- Easy to clean
Read our article Glass vs. Plastic Baby Bottles – Which is Best?
Often, the only downfall of baby glass bottles is the safety risk posed by the bottle shattering. While shatter-proof bottles are not standard, shatter-resistant bottles are trendy and are great for improving baby safety at feeding time.
It is important to note, shatter-resistant glass bottles are not shatter-proof. If you drop a glass bottle from a kitchen benchtop, it is likely to beak – it’s glass! Shatter-resistant bottles are designed to shatter inwards, so if they do break, they don’t break into numerous sharp pieces across the kitchen floor.
At Wawita, our Premium Baby Glass Bottles are shatter-resistant, light-weight, gripping textured, and temperature detection system in which the bottle’s color changes when the liquid reaches optimal temperature. We are proud of our anti-colic venting system, which is created by our peristaltic vacuum-free nipple. There are various colors, sizes, and flow variations and can be purchased individually or as assets. You can purchase these Premium Shatter-Resistant Baby Glasses from Amazon or the Wawita Shop.
Silicone Squeeze Spoon Bottle Feeder
A squeeze spoon bottle feeder is a nifty product for parents beginning the weaning process. It is a specialty baby feeding product that offers an easy squeeze motion that fills the silicone spoon end with liquid or semi-solid food. It is a great product, especially for mothers and fathers who utilize the traditional weaning method.
We love the Silicone Squeeze Spoon Bottle Feeders at Wawita as it is parent and child-friendly, led by the parent simply squeezing the silicone base until the desired amount of food reaches the spoon. The three-ounce or 90 mL bottle is a great way to monitor how much food your baby consumes and is perfect for all types of semi-solid food such as fruit and vegetable puree, fruit juices, baby cereal, oatmeal, child medicine, and more.
The Silicone sections of the bottle are made using our BPA-Free, high-quality silicone. The fully detachable lid and ensure that the bottle remains hygienic and spill-free throughout the day.
We also love the portability of this product. It’s easily portable in diaper bags or purses for easy transportation and use at any location inside or outside the home. It ensures that any day outing with your baby can be mess-free and hassle-free!
You can purchase the Silicone Squeeze Spoon Bottle Feeder from the Wawita website.
Silicone Baby Suction Bowls Sets
Silicone suction bowls are a great way to minimize the mess at dinner time. The suction base creates a stronghold on the bench, high chair tray, or any other feeding surface, which means it’s less likely of your child will remove it from the surface. The silicone suction bowls have a quick-release tab, ensuring you can easily remove it from the table to wash-up.
We love our Silicone Baby Suction Bowls, Feeding Set with Spoon. It makes baby and toddler feeding time more stress-free for all parents. We also love that the Wawita microwave-compatible and dishwater-compatible, and the parents can enjoy the antibacterial properties of our bamboo feeder spoon as part of the set.
At Wawita, we are committed to providing safe baby feeding products, so we only use -quality silicone for our baby feeder bowl sets – 100% BPA-free, PVC, and lead-free.
You can buy silicone baby suction bowls and a feeding spoon set from the Wawita website or Amazon.
Read our article Best Materials for Baby Bowl Feeders.
Baby Training Cups
Pediatric doctors and dieticians advise parents that babies can have small open cups of water as early as six months, but not before, alongside solid feeding and weaning. However, there is considerable debate among health experts, especially dentists and baby feeding specialists, over whether Sippy cups are the best baby cups for your child.
Although Sippy cups are very popular with parents and childcare professionals, is there an issue of sippy cup overuse? Well, many experts argue that the overuse of Sippy ups limits the development of oral motor skills. Some data suggests that using Sippy cups can lead to a later increase in grazing milk or juice habits – a concerning trend for children’s appetites and dental health.
At Wawita, we are encouraged by data that suggests that babies quickly learn how to use open cups if given a chance to practice as early as months. There are fantastic baby training cups available that can transition your child to open cup drinking very quickly. Give babies a tiny amount of water to practice drinking in small cups from about six months; next, at 8-9 months, introduce a straw cup and use Sippy cups sparingly or avoid entirely. We love the Haaka Silicone Baby cup. It is excellent for six months old’s little chubby grip. Alternatively, you can also use any small light cup that you have at home in your cupboards. For parents looking for a straw cup, we also like the Grosmimi Spill-Proof Straw cup. We know that these cups are great for feeding on the go, and some infants may struggle to handle the training cups before 8-9 months.
Long Sleeve Waterproof Silicone Bibs
These Silicone waterproof bibs are the best mess avoidance feeding tools and are a must-have baby product that will change the way you do feeding time with your child.
As busy parents, we thank the inventor of long sleeve waterproof bibs – sometimes we go as far as to say they are the best invention for self-feeding babies. If your baby self feeds, don’t even look at any of the cotton or fabric bibs – they are useless and create regular washing. The Long Sleeve waterproof bibs are heavy-duty, hardcore baby feeding solutions – they are the rock stars of bibs!
The silicone-based material of the bibs is stain-free and will keep your baby’s clothes food stain-free also. The waterproof feature means that they clean and dry quickly for easy clean away. The long sleeve design also catches any food, so it is a game-changer for avoiding food waste.
When your baby is comfortably feeding with minimal mess, you can transition to less heavy-duty bibs. Some parents choose to reuse these bibs later on after feeding as arts and crafts smocks. So they are great for people worried about using them only for short periods.
You can purchase these bibs from most baby and infant stores and any online platform, including amazon.
If you have any questions on these products or any questions on the topic of baby feeding, please reach out to us! We would love to hear from you through our Contact page or social media platforms.
Also, check out some of our other blogs for more information!
