Product Spotlight: Teething and Feeding

cato99 · June 2019

Hello! Today is the second installment of our Older Baby Product Series. Last week we touched on seasonal considerations as our babies grow over the next year; next week we'll talk babyproofing, and today I wanted to open suggestions for all things related to babies' teething and eating once they're through that first milk-only stage, which will often involve products that we can put on our registries now!

Teething: what should FTMs expect to stock up on for teething babies? Did STMs put their babies in bibs all day long for the drool? What teething toys or accessories do you recommend (ahem, the ubiquitous Sophie)? Did your babies like things stored in the fridge or freezer? Are you a proponent of those amber necklace accessories? Other than things to give to baby, is there anything YOU wore to assist with teething, like particular jewelry they can chew on? What did you do if the pain was really ramping up (please don't say a solid shot of whiskey)? Is there anything to AVOID during the teething stage, like putting up teething guards to avoid damage to the crib from overenthusiastic gnawing?

Baby food and feeding! I love this topic: First of all, where did they eat? Do you have strong opinions on high chairs, baby booster seats, etc? And WHAT did they eat? Are there baby food products you loved and want to recommend? What brand of their very first cereal did you use? What brand of baby purees and snacks? Did you exclusively make your own baby food, and if so what products did you use for that: baby food storage containers? Special baby-food-making contraptions? Handy sources with good recipes? And finally what do you recommend for babies to use while eating--can you recommend your favorite sippy cup, baby bowl, baby spoon, snack container, bib? Any special products or techniques for cleaning up baby food messes? Please share!

Prior and Upcoming Product Spotlights

wanderlustsoul · June 2019

I just read a ton about how Sophie can cause a baby to choke and now I’m feeling iffy about it. It’s already been purchased but idk.

olivemomma · June 2019

So I got really lucky in that both of my kids teethed pretty easily. We had a few teethers (the ring type) that could be popped in the freezer. I also had a beeded teething necklace that they liked to play with more than use for teething but it was nice. A word on Sophie the Goraffe - I know she’s super popular but beware of mold buildup inside of her. Google it, this happened to my gf who had one and it’s disguating.

With food - I think I am a typical mom in that my two kids had totally different experiences. With my first I bought everything completely organic fresh from the market and then would steam or bake it accordingly. I introduced 1 thing at a time and slowly introduced combos and spices (I.e. cinammon on squash) once I knew she could tolerate the base food. It was a lot of time and energy but I liked doing it. With my son I introduced the pouches much earlier. Still all organic and I like the brand with the clear packaging so you can ensure the purée inside looks good (sorry I can’t remember the brand name!). It was much easier (although pricier) to go the pouch route and it also normally led to introducing more than 1 food at a time but he always did fine. This kid will probably eat scraps off of the floor at 5 months! Ha. Oh, and their first actual food was Earths Best Oatmeal for both of them and then we went to something simple like smashed avocado. I don’t have a huge chair preference other than I don’t like fabric because it’s hard to keep clean and the mess is real. Something that you can whipe the entire thing clean after each meal without needing a washing machine is ideal. And the rubber bibs with the catch at the bottom are great!

Twinkiedoll · June 2019

We got lucky with DD in that she was an easy teether. She'd get a little fussier than usual, but most of the time, we didn't even realize she was teething. Our DCP recommending wetting small rolled up washcloths and putting them in the freezer and giving that to DD to chew on for teething pain.

I also never got a Sophie because of the mold thing. I live in a wet tropical climate so mold and mildew are a big concern with everything.

I had lofty ambitions of making my own baby food. I did make steam some vegetables initially when I was introducing solids for the first time, one food at a time. But eventually, I just got organic food pouches because the combinations were so much diverse than what I would put together, and it ended up being cheaper since groceries are so expensive here.

purplg8r · June 2019

About the Sophie— I haven’t opened mine yet but is it that there’s a while at the bottom? If so, could we fill it with a hot glue gun like the trick you see for bath toys?

Allycat11 · June 2019

Neither of my kids were terrible teethers. DD was permanently fussy and DS was typically easy going and teething rarely hit their personalities. DD wore an Amber teething necklace but I never really thought it worked and due to choking hazards I don't plan to use it again. Both of mine loved Sophie the giraffe but I am on the fence now that I realize the mold risk. There were no particular items they were drawn to for teething. DD never really drooled but DS it was a constant stream for months. I loveeee bandana bibs, especially cute ones from etsy.

Feeding: I have strong opinions about how I feed my kids but am very much a "you do you" person when it comes to how other people feed their kids. Here are my personal what works for us views:
-I HATE high chairs. It takes up space, so many covers to clean, ugh drives me crazy. We have a $25-30 hard plastic booster seat that fits on one of our dining chairs. There is a detachable tray thst sometimes we use sometimes dont. It saves money and space, it is super easy to clean and it is portable for whnen we are going places.
-With DD I made all of my own purees, with DS I made some. Freeze in silicone ice cube trays. Certain things like mashing up a banana could not be easier to do. Also, you can use breast milk to thin out purees. I never bought fancy equipment, just fork, bowl, mini food processor, blender, etc...
-We avoid baby cereal as we do not find it to be necessary for the most part. For awhile we had to give it to DD to try and fatten her up but DS never had it.
-I like to start with vegetables to hopefully get them used to the taste before introducing sweet fruits.
-For first sippy cups I am obssessed with these! They have handles so they are easy to hold, the soft spout makes it easy for them while still being spill resistant and they are easy to clean NUK Learner Sippy Cup, 5oz 1pk, Packaging May Vary https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BEVSSDA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_wvY.Cb3D8A1SY
-I also love these mesh feeder that work for teething too
Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder, 2 Pack, Blue/Green https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GK5XY2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_2xY.CbZ0T6CQ6
-As soon as they are interested in table food I give them little bits of whatever we are eating. When we have a baby in the house I find myself saving the most random assortment of tiny leftovers.
-As they get older I continue putting things on their plate because they may decide they like them one day. If I know for sure they truly hate what I am making for dinner, I will make something different. Or I will make something that can easily modify into something they like, for example taking chicken from chicken fajitas and putting it in quesadillas. By age 3.5-4 we enforce the "no thank you bite" or "x amount of bites" rule depending on the food.
-Advice: get a dog and don't put white carpet in your dining room. When we bought our house DD was 11 months old and the dining room had white carpet. We have replaced it with hardwood and between that and our dog, meal clean up is much easier.

I am also just throwing this out there but do not put too much pressure on yourself to make sure your kid is a good eater. Both of mine were EBF then fed practically the same way, DD is not really a picky eater at all (she may be a moody eater but will eat a wide variety of foods) and DS is horribly picky. Parents give themselves far too much credit.

Beauxbaton · June 2019

Teething - children's Tylenol. I say children's and not infant because they are the exact same dosage but the infant is about twice as expensive.

Feeding - we use a chicco travel high chair. It straps to the chair and has a detachable tray. I bought baby food, mostly beechnut. And used Gerber cereal. Idk, we were very lackadaisical about feeding. We did some purees some table foods some homemade mashed stuff like bananas, avocado, sweet potatoes.

suzycupcake · June 2019

Oops edit baby brain ...FTM should share the products we've found with each other too. I put these things on our registry for an older baby:

Bunny teether - The cloth is 100% organic cotton and the company they buy the wooden rings from use solid maple wood and seal it with 100% organic coconut oil and beeswax. Etsy. He may end up not liking it, but it's a start.

Antilop High Chair - With tray and this Langur padded seat cover all from IKEA.

These baby bandana drool bibs - 100% organic cotton. I have their GOTs license # if anyone wants it.

foodlovehappiness · June 2019

Thank you @olivemomma @Twinkiedoll @Allycat11 @Beauxbaton for the information! As a ftm I literally have nothing to add of value. I snuck on my registry and saw someone bought the Sophie I had on there so fingers crossed we don't have any mold issues. I'm very interested in baby led weaning. Has anyone tried it?

Beauxbaton · June 2019

@foodlovehappiness we've done bits and pieces of BLW. Like a mash up of traditional purees and blw. It worked well for us.

Beauxbaton · June 2019

@foodlovehappiness we've done bits and pieces of BLW. Like a mash up of traditional purees and blw. It worked well for us.

Beauxbaton · June 2019

@foodlovehappiness we've done bits and pieces of BLW. Like a mash up of traditional purees and blw. It worked well for us.

Beauxbaton · June 2019

Ugh, sorry for the three posts. My phone did some something weird

cato99 · June 2019

For teething we used Sophies and teething rings that could be put in the freezer, and I occasionally gave her Tylenol if it was really bad. Teething wasn't a huge deal for us, luckily. For tooth care we use Tom's fluoride kid's toothpaste (I think opinions can vary; I'm pro-fluoride).

I have two high chairs, the basic IKEA one (dining room) that's great because it's so simple and doesn't get gross, and the Graco Blossom 6-in-1 (kitchen) which I secretly prefer. We also fed DD on a basic Bumbo seat if we were feeding her elsewhere, like the living room. For high chair/kitchen/sticky hands cleanup I use 7th generation wipes, which I found were too big for diaper use (we use Water Wipes for that) but are perfect for this.

Our baby eating gear is primarily Munchkin: spoons (which are mainly good for a grownup feeding baby--the long handle makes it hard for baby to use once they start wanting to feed themselves), sippy cups, snack catchers, suction bowls; I also use these Nuk bowls all the time. My favorite bibs were the more solid silicone ones with a catcher at the bottom, but full-body bibs were also a life-(and outfit-)saver! Now that DD is older we're transitioning to more toddler appropriate gear: for her 2nd birthday I got her several dining sets (divided plate, bowl, mug, fork, spoon) made out of bamboo and melamine.

I made all my own baby food and will do so for this one, but I don't use any special baby gear (just regular pots and pans and immersion blender) or make anything extra complicated beyond veggie/spice purees, yogurt blends, and bone broths. I use these little storage containers, and really liked these pouches but DD was meh about using them.

suzycupcake · June 2019

Oooh @cato99 Will you share some of your recipes? Can little mason jars be used for storage too?

aecm · June 2019

Teething:
-I like ibuprofen over acetaminophen for teething pain b/c it reduces inflammation and lasts a couple hours longer, which is nice for overnight.
Otherwise...I have no teething advice. DD didn’t want any kind of teething device we offered her and was generally ok once medicated.

Feeding:
-I’ll also recommend the Graco Blossom high chair that @cato99 mentioned. I love that we can wheel it around everywhere, I love the multiple trays, I love that it’s super easy to clean / throw the covers in the washing machine, and I love the separate booster seat (DD will continue to use the booster seat attached to a kitchen chair while one of the twins is using the high chair).
-Now we use the Munchkin spoons all the time, but at first DD didn’t like them (I think they were too deep, b/c they’re kind of “bowl” shaped) and we initially had a lot more success with Playtex infant spoons that were more “shovel” shaped (they came in a 4-pack).
-We started with oatmeal cereal and graduated to purées, then mixed in some baby-led weaning. Hardest part for me was remembering that “food before one is fun.” I had to repeat that to myself a lot b/c otherwise I would get frustrated that DD wouldn’t eat a lot or would get half the food on the floor or herself (and @Allycat11 is right - I think a dog should be standard-issue gear for kids age 6mo-18mo to assist w/ floor clean-up).
-Yogurt melts, puffs, and those Happy Baby brand organic teething crackers were a staple on my counter and in the diaper bag for a really long time. Also, I wished I had introduced purée pouches earlier....they’re so easy and great for on-the-go.
-We use Oxo brand sippy-cups. It’s been a love-hate relationship. They hold up really well to been thrown on the floor multiple times a day for over a year. They don’t leak...except when DD chews a hole through the silicone straw (insert the hate part of this relationship). So we replace the silicone parts frequently...but I think we would have the same issue with most soft-spout sippy cups.

olivemomma · June 2019

@purplg8r I’m honestly not sure about filling Sophie in with a hot glue gun. She is a teether after all so I don’t know if you want your baby putting that in her mouth either. There are a lot of great teething products that don’t have the same issue

Twinkiedoll · June 2019

I have heard great things about the Ikea highchair. Unfortunately, there's no Ikea where I love or I would have totally got one. We have the Graco Blossom 6-in-1 high chair, which has served us well. I don't clean underneath the padding as often as I should because it's a pain in the butt to take apart.

suzycupcake · June 2019

@Twinkiedoll There are 2 or 3 IKEAs in our city within about 12 miles from me. Where I live, that can take an hour or more with traffic. Going to IKEA overwhelms the shit out of me sensorily. I order from their online store in case you ever want to. There are times when I'm searching and searching and searching for a specific thing and after a week or more of no dice, suddenly IKEA has what I was looking for.

suzycupcake · June 2019

Has anyone else heard anything about long term use of sippy cups causing more tooth decay and possible speech issues? My dentist told me they should only be used for transitioning to a regular cup.

Twinkiedoll · June 2019

@suzycupcake I looked into the Ikea online store once. They don't ship to Hawaii. Even if they did, it would cost me a fortune.

There is actually a company here with a mini-Ikea show room of the most common items. You place the order through them. Once they have a sufficient amount of orders, they have someone in California go to Ikea to buy everything and then cargo freight it over. The surcharge makes it not worthwhile since the whole reason I buy Ikea in the first place is that it's really cheap.

Twinkiedoll · June 2019

@suzycupcake Our pediatric dentist asked about the sippy cup too. He said it was better for her teeth that she was already drinking from straws and the Miracle 360 cup.

suzycupcake · June 2019

@Twinkiedoll Ohhhhh that sucks. Never mind then. I'm surprised they don't have a store in HI yet. Are you?

Allycat11 · June 2019

@suzycupcake while I have not heard that, it does not surprise me. Both of my kids switched to straw cups fairly early. DD was in feeding therapy as a baby due to some issues with her cheeks and gums (which now we realize may have been an early warning sign for a connective tissue disease). They took the honey bottles shaped like bears, cut a small hole in the top and put a straw through. DD would not take bottles, sippy cups or anything and that really helped her.

mrosek91 · June 2019

@suzycupcake I have not heard that, but I second use of the miracle 360 cups. A friend told us that they make the transition to regular cups much easier. We started using them basically right after the bottle, and they're great. DS#2 (19mo) can almost drink from a real cup (although as I say it I'm not sure that's a good thing or a bad thing.)

I also realized that I never responded to this post, although I'm not sure that I have much to add. For teething we used the key ring thing that you stick in the fridge, 90% of the time we forgot to put it in the fridge, but both boys liked chewing on it even at room temperature. We gave them Tylenol only if they were having difficulty sleeping.

For eating we used the Gerber cereals, then the beechnut single veggie purees, then the fruit ones, then the combos. Although I think we introduced bread pretty early (IIRC) we waited on making it through that progression for a few months before we added much else real food. I think with each kid we get more laid back about how quickly we introduced new foods, but we still try to do the one thing at a time (just with less time between) we'll see how long that lasts.

We also never got a "real" high chair we use the Fisher Price one that attaches to a chair. We used to keep the cloth cover on it and wash it regularly, but we gave up on that, so now it's just the plastic.

agpandme · June 2019

@AKuzReve My sister (3 kids) wouldn't let me put one (sophie) on the registry because she said they get moldy on the inside.

Edit to add OOPS! I should have read the other posts stating the same thing

@Allycat11 Get a dog

Our dogs are going to love this kid for all the food dropping LOL

I am a FTM but I was going to suggest things that worked for my sisters

Frozen damp cloths and The munchkin fresh food feeders with frozen fruit in them

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