We have just hosted our second parent and baby drop in at the clinic and again had a fab time. It was nice to see some new faces, as well as ones we have seen before (amazing to see how much some of them have grown in just a month!!).
There was plenty of coffee, tea, elderflower fizz, cakes and dairy free cookies to go around, with the babies who were nearing weaning very interested in what we were eating.
This got us onto the subject of baby led weaning and weaning for babies with allergies and intolerances, which the brilliant Laura (The Practical Parenting Coach) had some great ideas about.
A question was raised about the best tableware for weaning babies, and would using some of the trendy compartmentalised bamboo baby plates cause delays or fussiness around mixing foods together. Laura felt that this was not the case, but raised the excellent point about the bamboo plates not really being suitable for the dishwasher, which is a bit of a hassle for busy parents. She also had spoken to parents that had thrown them away after a short period as they did not last because they became swollen after washing. Lauras tips are to go with the no frills stuff, as well as plates and bowls with suckers on the bottom. These are great to allow babies the freedom to explore their food, without tipping on the floor and causing more work for parents!
We also discussed first cups for little ones to drink from. Some parents like the traditional sippy cup, with a spout and holes. This stimulates the action and reward response for the little ones, without making too much mess.
Others felt that their babies didn't like the feeling of the spout and preferred the Dinky cup, which is small and soft, so easy for babies to handle.
The Doidy cup was also mentioned, as this is slanted with handles and helps to stop babies from tipping the cup too much.
All of these can be found on Amazon and we have included the links for each of them, so you can check them out. Just click the pictures and you will be taken to them.
If you would like to come along for our next parent and baby drop in, or you'd like to keep up to date with what we are doing here in clinic then follow us on Facebook or Instagram, or sign up to our email list.