Weaning and cleaning
With thanks to Milton

Let’s face it, weaning is a messy old business. Why is it that when fruit and veg are reduced to a pulp, their colours are even brighter than in their original form? Pretty to look at but not so pretty smeared across the high chair table, down the legs of any nearby furniture or even the walls.

Babies know very little about keeping clean and tidy but having the right Weaning Starter Kit will help. The NHS advises to have the following:

High chair – your baby needs to be sitting safely and strapped in, in an upright position (so they can swallow properly)

First cup – encourage your baby to sip water from a cup with their meals (instead of a bottle). Open cups or free-flow cups (without a valve) help your baby learn to sip and is better for their teeth

Spoons – soft weaning spoons, usually made of rubber or plastic, are easier on your baby’s gums

Plastic bowls – ideally the ones with a suction base, otherwise they’re likely to end up on the floor!

Ice cube trays – very useful for batch cooking and freezing small portions

Bibs – easy to clean plastic or pelican bibs are best in the beginning

Messy mat – or even newspaper under the high chair, handy for messy eaters!

The next question is whether to spoon feed or leave it to the modern science of baby led weaning? The truth is, you can do both. The NHS recommends you offer your baby a combination of mashed foods and finger foods from the beginning. You may find your baby prefers one way of feeding over the other but they will be learning both skills at the same time.

Baby-led weaning has many benefits, including creating an adventurous palette, with some suggestion that allowing babies to choose foods themselves, is less likely to encourage fussy eating.

Lumps will be less of a problem for babies used to finger foods, than those weaned on smooth purees.

Eating as a family allows baby to learn everything he or she needs to know about the art of eating and the joy of shared mealtimes.

Less work – it certainly means less work for you in terms of mashing or puréeing food.

And The downsides? It can be time consuming waiting for a baby to consume a sufficient amount of food but babies mustn’t be left alone, in case of choking.

A lot of food will end up on the floor and it is not easy to see how much food has actually been eaten, which could lead to babies requiring more milk.

Babies’ messiness knows no bounds but they’ll have so much fun in the process. Sterilising and hygiene expert Milton is on hand to ensure the kitchen is clean and sterile before and after feeding your little one, with a range of hygiene products, which kill 99.9% of germs including bacterial and fungi.

Milton Antibacterial Surface Spray, Milton Antibacterial Surface Wipes and Milton Baby Bottle Cleaner are plant-based and therefore environmentally friendly and can be used to clean all the  weaning equipment.

Milton recommends sterilising baby’s feeding equipment until they are at least 12 months. The ‘Milton Method’ of cold water sterilising is extremely simple and effective in the fight against germs! All you need is a cold tap water and either a cap of Milton Sterilising Fluid or one Milton Sterilising Tablet inside a Milton Cold Water Steriliser. Once you have made up your cold water solution, place any plastic item inside the five-litre steriliser – bottles, teats, breast pump parts, soothers, weaning spoons, cups, teethers, and small toys. They’ll be free from any harmful germs after 15 minutes!

Even better, there is no need to rinse items before you give them to baby, as Milton is tried and tested to be safe – just take the items out and give them a shake over the sink before use.

For more information: www.milton-tm.com

Disclaimer: The views and advice given in this article are those of the guest writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Weaning World or any other organisations represented on this platform