Smart storage cubes for solid foods

Product name: Brother Max Six Food Portioners (www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk/sp+Baby-Weaning-Mealtimes-Brother-Max-Six-Food-Portioners+B6734)

What is it?Plastic food pots with a clever design that differentiates them from other similar products by (a) being ‘clickable’ so that you can store several of them tightly together and save space in the freezer and (b) having a soft base that helps you ‘push’ a frozen cube of food out of the pot more easily

Why did it catch my attention?I bought them on impulse at my local JoJoMamanBebe store when shopping around for splash mats and long-sleeved bibs a couple of months into weaning

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was 7 months, but this product is relevant from the moment you start weaning baby on to home-made solid foods

What value does it add for us?They make it smoother to ‘pop out’ frozen food, e.g lowering the barrier for me to actually cook real food for my son instead of buying ready-made jars and pouches

What does it replace?Other baby food pots or ice cube trays. Before finding these we used Happy Mummy Baby Cubes, which also are good but lack the two differentiating features described above

How did my baby respond to it?He is completely unaware of its existence, but I am guessing he would treat them as a teething toy if he saw them

How much does it cost?£6 for a six-pack at JoJoMamanBebe

Can I see any drawbacks?No, we have been very happy with both the functionality and the quality of this product

Raincoat for weaning babies - UPDATED

Product name: Lapp på Lapp 416 Förklapp Laban gul (http://shop.textalk.se/se/shop.php?id=12282)

 

What is it?A bib with arms, made from a raincoat-like material and with a handy ‘pocket’ at the bottom, which protects baby’s clothes when eating solid foods

Why did it catch my attention?This was a Christmas present for my son from his grandmother – very well timed as we started weaning him only a few days before Christmas and quickly discovered the new challenge of avoiding to get vegetable puree all over him when eating

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was 5,5 months when he got it, but it is helpful from the day you start weaning your little one

What value does it add for us?It keeps the colourful, orange, carrot-based vegetable puree that has become his favorite dish at lunchtime from splashing all over his clothes

What does it replace?Other bibs, using a raincoat when weaning or unnecessarily frequent washing

How did my baby respond to it?He lets me put it on without protesting and seems to like the funny ‘Spöket Laban’ pattern

How much does it cost?SEK 140 at the Lapp på Lapp webshop

Can I see any drawbacks?At the very early stage of weaning where my son is for the moment, it would have been even better if his fingers were covered by built-in gloves as well since he tends to get it all over his fingers and then use them to spread the food all around his face, nose, eyes etc.

** SINCE THIS POST WAS WRITTEN I HAVE FOUND AN EVEN BETTER PRODUCT: SILLYBILLYZ LA-LÄTSCHEN**

The main advantage with Silly Billyz is that the back is closed with a popper instead of tying two laces together as on the Spöket Laban one. Otherwise a fairly similar product and still no gloves!

Baby's own lunchbag

Product name: Ella’s Kitchen Organic Baby Food (http://www.ellaskitchen.co.uk/)

What is it?The original innovation from Ella’s Kitchen when it started back in 2006 was the wrapping – packing the food in a pouch instead of a jar makes it even easier to bring lunch along when you are out and about with your little one, and the colorful illustrations on the outside are made to appeal to babies

Why did it catch my attention?A friend of mine with three children under the age of 5 who tends to take them out quite a lot pointed me to the brilliant pouches with baby food

How old was my baby when I bought it?I bought it for the first time when he was around 6 months, but this product is relevant from the day you start bringing solid food along for the baby to have a meal anywhere else than home

What value does it add for us?It makes it even easier to bring his lunch along and the wrapping provides some entertainment for him when waiting for the food

What does it replace?Baby food jars and cubes of home-made baby food. Since 2006, several other producers have imitated Ella’s clever packaging

How did my baby respond to it?It depends on the flavour, for the moment his favourite is the surprising mix of broccoli, pears and peas!

How much does it cost?From around £1 at Sainsbury’s and other grocery stores. Originally invented in the UK, the poaches are now also available in grocery stores in the US, the UAE and the three Scandinavian countries

Can I see any drawbacks?At the early stages of weaning the content of the pouches is too much for one meal, which in our case has resulted in throwing a lot of leftovers away

Chameleon weaning spoons!

Product name: Boots Heat Sensor Weaning Spoons (http://www.boots.com/)

What is it?Yellow weaning spoons with a purple coating that turns pink above a certain temperature

Why did it catch my attention?I was at Boots looking to top up our stock of normal weaning spoons when I found these that the gadget girl in me was unable to resist

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was 6 months old, but this product is useful from the day you start weaning – potentially even more so at the early stages of weaning, before you get on top of it

What value does it add for us?They help me avoid serving too hot food to my little one

What does it replace?Normal weaning spoons without heat indicator paired with some common sense

How did my baby respond to it?He does not understand the difference and has so far not experienced the spoon turning pink either

How much does it cost?£2 for 4 spoons at Boots

Can I see any drawbacks?Because of his mother storing his baby food jars in the fridge, they would be even better with a cold indicator as well. Without being a chemical expert I am not sure if I want to know what material the coating is made from…

Freddie the Firefly from Lamaze

Product name: Lamaze Freddie the Firefly (Lamaze Freddie the Firefly)

What is it?A toy made for stimulating hand-eye-coordination at the stage where babies start developing the fine motor skills of their fingers and get interested in grabbing things that make rustling noises

Why did it catch my attention?My son’s nanny brought this toy along an evening after having noticed that he had started to get into grabbing things with his fingers

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was 4,5 months old

What value does it add for us?This has become one of my son’s favorite toys that he enjoys playing with and because it is relatively easy to attach to buggies, cots, baby carriers, car seats and airplane seats it tends to come along when we are travelling, adding the extra benefit of being a familiar item that makes him feel safe in new places. He never seems to get tired of it - it can keep him busy for hours!

What does it replace?It has the same function as a lot of other eye-hand-coordination toys and items such as gift wrapping, pieces of paper and cloth, but this has proven to be the favorite over time

How did my baby respond to it?Love at first sight!

How much does it cost?£7,95 at Amazon UK

Can I see any drawbacks?He misses it when I happen to forget it

Jukebox for exercising back and neck muscles

Product name: LeapFrog Learn & Groove Activity Station (http://www.leapfrog.com/en_gb/families/learn___groove/0/learngroovestation.html)

What is it?This is a little jukebox that allows a baby with a relatively stable back and head control to have fun while strengthening his/her back and neck muscles

Why did it catch my attention?I was looking for something that my son could use to practice sitting up – and his legs were to chubby for the Bumbo!!

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was around 3 months old, but seen in retrospect he was too young (to be read as too unstable in his back and neck) to be able to use it unsupervised

What value does it add for us?He has a lot of fun while practicing to keep his back and neck up straight. This is one of the few toys I have come by that plays ‘happy’ music (e.g. not lullabies that make your baby drowsy) and it has a built-in teething toy (the microphone)

What does it replace?In our case it was meant to replace a Bumbo, but any entertainment station with similar items and where the baby is sitting/half-standing fulfills the same objective

How did my baby respond to it?The toys, and in particular the teething-microphone immediately caught his attention, but at the age of 3 months he was so wobbly that he fell forwards and did not really enjoy his time very much. When he started to be able to use it for real at around 4 months the interest had moved on to turning the pages of the ‘music book’ and to pressing the keys of the colourful keypad to play music

How much does it cost?Around £60

Can I see any drawbacks?It is not the kind of activity centre that you can leave your baby to play in on his own (at least not until he/she grows a bit older) and as with all noisy toys the parents’ might get tired of the tunes and noises. It is not especially neat and a bit clumsy to store away

Finding my feet with rattle socks from Lamaze

Product name: Lamaze Gardenbug Footfinder set (http://www.elc.co.uk/)

What is it?A pair of black and white striped socks with rattles on the front, designed to help babies find and play with their feet

Why did it catch my attention?A good friend, who shares my passion for developmental toys, bought my baby these socks

How old was my baby when I bought it?He was about 2 months when he got them, but the first time I saw him reach out and play with them was the day he turned 4 months

What value does it add for us?This is a great toy to help stimulate baby to get control over his/her feet, which according to most sources I have found typically happens (the average baby) at the end of month 5 - a good 2 months after they are able to coordinate their hands properly

What does it replace?I have not actively scanned the market, but this is the only toy designed for the purpose of stimulating feet coordination that I am familiar with

How did my baby respond to it?I tried a few times without any reaction, but the first time I saw him demonstrate any interest in them he was a bit reserved, but curious and spend a long time concentrating on understanding what it was and how it all fit together

How much does it cost?£8 in a bundle with Lamaze wrist rattles at Amazon UK Lamaze Garden Bug Wrist Rattle/Foot Finder Set

Can I see any drawbacks?This is a one-size-fits-all-product, and babies with small feet will easily kick them off and therefore have limited entertainment from them