Baby weaning represents a new, interesting and fun chapter of your infant’s life, but sometimes it can be challenging for you, as a mommy. When you begin weaning, besides the concern for healthy food recipes for your baby, you need to consider what feeding equipment is best suited for this process.
I decided to write this article from my own experience, so I could help other moms make a good decision when it comes to feeding equipment that can make things easier for them when they start weaning.
Weaning your baby from milk to solids will require steaming, blending, grinding and mashing solid foods into delicious recipes for your infant. At the beginning, the texture of your baby’s food should be as smooth as possible, without lumps or large pieces (especially if your baby is under 6 months old). It’s a good thing that nowadays there are loads of electrical kitchen appliances to do the work. The difficult part comes when you have to choose the best feeding equipment for the job.
When our daughter was 5 months old, me and my husband began to search for an appropriate steamer and blender. We had to be ready in time for our baby weaning (we started weaning when she became 6 mo) and we only wanted to feed her homemade foods because we consider it to be the healthiest option.
In our research we considered the following criteria (in the following order):
- BPA Free – BPA stands for bisphenol A, a substance which is included in all polycarbonate products, like baby bottles, made for everyday use around the home. It is considered that long-term exposure to BPA could result in health and developmental implications for infants and children, especially if the products have been heated to a high temperature.
- Blended food`s texture – we wanted a blender that could make a super smooth puree to feed our baby when we started weaning (and a suited kitchen appliance for mommy`s smoothies, too).
- Ease of use – we decided that a 2 in 1 appliance (steamer + blender) is more useful in our situation (we didn’t have a steam cooker and we didn’t want to boil our baby’s food on the stove on the or cook it in the microwave).
- Cleaning – it should be easy to clean, preferably safe to wash most of its components in the dishwasher.
- Capacity – we wanted a small appliance that will fit well in our kitchen, with a capacity up to a liter.
- Price – a product that is worth the price, a good deal or a discount, eventually (not as important as the other criteria).
We didn’t look for a heater or sterilizer that could also warm and defrost because we already had one (we’ll write its own review later).
Thus, we narrowed our search results to the following items:
- Philips AVENT SCF870/21 Combined Baby Food Steamer and Blender (the product we decided to buy)
- BEABA Babycook Pro – Dishwasher Safe Baby Food Maker-Cooks & Processes (this would have been our next choice)
- Conair Cuisinart BFM-1000 Baby Food Maker and Bottle Warmer
- Baby Brezza Food Maker Glass Large 4 Cup Capacity
We liked all the appliances above, but we chose Philips AVENT over the other three, based on the following considerations:
- We have experience with other Philips Avent kitchenware and baby products and we like them (ex. Philips AVENT SCF330/20 Comfort Manual Breast Pump and Philips Avent BPA Free Natural Infant Starter Gift Set);
- It is BPA free;
- Prepares food for every stage of weaning;
- It is small, with a compact design and fits well in our kitchen, it has a single recipient for both steaming and blending; it weighs 2 kg (16.5 cm round base and 30.8 cm height);
- Its capacity is 800 gr solid food and 450 ml liquids.
- It is extremely easy to use: first steam fruit, vegetables, fish or meat and then simply lift and flip the jar over to blend it, with no transfer of food required;
- It has a powerful blending performance, great for smooth and soft purees;
- There are very few parts to clean, and you can wash them in the dishwasher;
- The steamer helps preserve nutrients and texture, it has an efficient steaming cycle and retains cooking liquids;
- Automatically shuts down after a cycle of cooking (beeps);
- It is very easy to fill the water tank (the water tank volume is 200 ml);
- It has a safety lock system for lid and bowl detection.
We have been using Philips AVENT SCF870/21 Combined Baby Food Steamer and Blender for more than 3 months now, and we are very happy with our choice. I think it is worth buying. It is extremely easy to use and clean and it saves me a lot of precious time.
What were your choices regarding the feeding equipment used during weaning?
