The Minimalist Baby: Baby in the Kitchen

Friday, January 29, 2016



Feeding a baby can be very fun!  Fox started eating solids at about 5 months, and he was obsessed with all food.  If we were eating it, he wanted some.  Because food was such a novelty, we tried really hard to diversify the food we gave Fox, so he could try as many things as possible before he started expressing opinions about his food, and getting picky.  We have entered that stage now, but hopefully we gave him a good foundation.  Then again, this week I tried to feed him a delicious vegetable pot pie that only contained peas, carrots and potatoes, and he refused everything but the crust... baby steps.  

Janssen did an awesome post about baby-led weaning, and said many things that are more eloquent and useful than what I will tell you today, but I wanted to tell you a little about our experience with keeping baby stuff in the kitchen minimal. 

I don't like buying baby food or most baby products, because if it is marketed for a baby, it probably costs a lot. So we use as much as we can from our existing tools, and food that we are already eating.  In the equipment department, I have purchased one or two things for him, and a few things were given as gifts.  

As he gets older, we may need to invest in a plastic plate or two, and maybe a plastic cup, but I keep hoping that we can just have him eat off regular plates, with a broken plate or two along the way, and never have to buy plastic plates.  I guess we will see if we get that lucky, or maybe I am just a rookie mom who doesn't know that that isn't possible (if it isn't, I don't want to know).  


Kitchen Equipment  
- Blender/Immersion blender/Food processor (the links are all the same model or same brand that I have at home) - any of these will work, depending on how much you want to puree (the blender or a full-sized food processor will have a hard time pureeing small amounts of food).  Typically I like to take my immersion blender and stick in a smallish jar and blend his food up there.  A very small mess that is easy to clean up, and I can use the jar to feed him out of and store any leftovers.  Plus, jars are great for storing stuff after your baby isn't a baby anymore.  

A lot of people figure if they are going to be making baby food, they might as well make a lot and freeze it.  That sounds pretty great, but I never did that.  I usually just blended a soft pear, a microwave-baked sweet potato or an avocado with a tablespoon of coconut oil.  Simple things.  Plus, it was so fast, and cheaper, healthier and fresher than store bought.  

- Containers to store food - My favorite are glass canning jars.  I also like my Weck jars, but the seals tend to stretch out, and don't fit properly, which can be irritating, but they are a great size and perfect for keeping a baby portion in.  Plus, food just looks pretty in them.  
- Cutting Board - Good for cutting fruit... I don't think I needed to mention this one, but I do use it a lot, for baby and otherwise.
- Sharp chef's knife - Another one that I probably didn't need to mention.   I like giving Fox small pieces of pear, berries, apple and other easy to chew food.  Mostly fruit and veggies, at the beginning, but now I feed him just about everything.  And I often cut it up with a sharp knife.  

 Fox in the Ikea chair with the Freshly Picked mocs, which are the best mocs known to man (c/o freshly picked), and I am not saying that because they sent them to me!  They really are incredible!  He wears them almost every day.  


Baby Feeding Equipment: 

- Baby spoons - We have 6 (they came in a pack), and they are great. I particularly like them at the beginning, because they are easier on the gums than a metal spoon. I also like that they fit in Fox's mouth a bit better than a normal sized spoon. Now we switch back and forth between metal and plastic, but either one would work. 

- Bibs - These are essential for most babies.  As clean as you might try to keep them, babies just make a mess while they are eating.  We have cloth ones, there are tons of plastic ones out there, or you could make your own.  

- A sippy cup - The doctor's office recommended we get one early on.  Fox actually prefers using a cup most of the time, and is getting pretty good.  We just use a regular dinner glass and we help him with it.  If he wants to drink on his own, we give him a sippy cup, and he navigates that just fine, too. They are great for preventing huge spills, which is nice.  That is the main reason why I would suggest one.  

- towels - We use these to wipe face, hands and tray after meals.  I was using wipes, but that is wasteful, and expensive, so we switched to these absorbent towels that I bought as kitchen towels a few years ago.  They are awesome. Soft enough to use on a baby's face and super absorbent.   

- high chair - We use this one from Ikea.  We love it because it is light, portable (which is good, because it's home in our house is not close to the dining table), and easy to clean.  

- bowls or jars - Containers for storing or feeding food are great.  I don't usually give him a bowl of food, because he likes to drop stuff over the edge, but I like keeping cheese or whatever in a bowl on the table.  I like using these ones from Anthropologie (these are the big ones, but I have the mini ones, and use them regularly for baby food and late night snacks), or my Weck jars.

Do you have great tips for keeping your kitchen minimal with your baby?  I would love to hear about it!  I am still learning and I am sure things will change as Fox grows!  

*The Freshly PIcked that Fox is wearing are the only affiliate link in the post.  They were sent to me c/o Freshly PIcked, but we sincerely LOVE them, and will probably buy a pair or two on our own.  

11 comments

  1. We had cloth bibs for the older two girls and then Disney sent us some of the Bumkins waterproof bibs (http://www.bumkins.com/waterproof-bib-and-burp-s/1822.htm) and I threw away every cloth bib we had. They are way thinner than a cloth bib and totally flexible (just like cloth), but you can wipe or wash them off, they don't stain, and they basically changed my life.

    They are absolutely the best bibs ever.

    Also, if I needed proof that I'm a mom, the fact that I just wrote that many lovey words about bibs is it right there.

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  2. Ha, we have plastic plates and no baby. But we have pets who delight in swiping stuff on the table and sending it to the floor. And we use then when we go camping so I feel okay about it. Good tips, Landen!

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  3. With our older child we bought one plastic plate, and we had two plastic bowls form my apartment in college that we've kept. Starting around his first birthday we started giving him food on his plastic plate, but if it was dirty, we just used our smaller glass salad plates and we still haven't broken one of them. For our daughter we were sent some products by The First Years and they sent us two plastic bowls that suction cup to the high chair tray and I absolutely love them! Because Kinsley is more delayed with things I hesitate giving her glass mainly because I'm more scared of her hurting herself than her hurting the plate... mostly because she likes to spontaneously whack herself with things. SO we've really been loving the plastic suction cup plates/bowls for her!

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  4. I have 4 boys and we do own a few plastic plates, but my boys mostly use our glass bowls and plates. In 7 years, I'm the only one who has broken a plate! So, it is possible to get by without them. Although drinking glasses is another story around our house. Haha They now use plastic cups to drink out of.

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  5. I am really enjoying this series. My last baby is 18 months old now, and I am thinking about how much "stuff" we had that was unnecessary.

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  6. We mostly use our glass plates and bowls, but I agree with Kristy on the cups. Our 5 year old uses plastic cups. I really love this series too. It is awesome to know there are other people that love avoiding getting a lot of stuff!

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  7. The only reason I would say plastic over regular plates is that we have trained our kids to put their dishes in the sink after dinner (at 2 and 3, it's a good chore for them), and when they get really exuberant and throw them in, the dishes can break in our porcelain sink. I think it's only happened a few times, but I cringe every time I hear them scurry out to the kitchen with a glass plate. Plus, usually the sink is full of dishes anyway, so no breakage occurs ;)

    Great series, BTW.

    For sippy cups and bottles, I swear they are overrunning my house. I have a 0, 2 and 3 year old, and the 3yo likes to hold a bottle when he sleeps (so weird - I know. Sometimes he'll steal bottles from the baby at bedtime and we find them in his sheets the next day.), so our cups are E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E. Baby turns 1 next Monday, so finally no more bottles (till the next one comes along at least!).

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  8. We are on baby #3 and haven't had to use plastic plates, so it's possible. I just put the food on the high chair tray until Baby becomes Toddler and can sit up to the table with us. Then she gets a dessert sized plate. We've broken quite a few, but it's mostly been my fault when washing them. Plus, I tend to find replacements at thrift stores when necessary. The kids tend to carefully carry their plates to the sink as well. We do use plastic bowls for travel and snacks away from the table. We use a mix of glass and plastic cups, as well as vintage aluminum ones. I think they learn to be careful if they know the items are breakable.

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  9. There is one issue that you simply extremely cannot go while not once you are on a road trip along with your baby - the bottle hotter. Your baby will not appreciate it a great deal if you offer him a chilly bottle throughout the trip, so creating travel bottle heaters a requirement click here.

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  10. I recently heard about the spacious ergonomic kneeling chair.From facebook,I have seen its structure and came to know some information about it. But can anyone tell my its benefits or advantages or the reason for using it!

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