Like with most things when it comes to a baby, when you enter into the world of weaning there’s a whole lot of stuff out there that you’re constantly told you will need. However, when we started weaning Florence, I was completely unprepared and ended up running out to our local shop and picking up one of everything in the weaning aisle. I’ve used hardly any of it more than once and what I really wish I’d come accross at the time was a bundle of basic essentials. Just like this Start Weaning Set from Vital Baby. 

The bundle contains all of the bits you need to get started, especially if like us you are starting with purees and spoon feeding, including an on the go weaning set, 2 mini freezer pots, 2 prep and go pots and a tumbler.

The on the go weaning set is essentially a feeding bowl with a lid and a spoon attached to it. It can be used both at home and while out and about and is perfect for holding pre prepared food safely in your baby bag. I especially like that the spoon attaches to the lid rather than having to go inside the pot and getting all mucky, or if you’re anything like me, getting lost in the bottom of the bag! Now that Florence is more into finger foods, I tend to pack sandwiches or fut up fruit in it, or even sometimes we just use it as a snack box. At home Florence likes to feed herself so we have found ourselves using the Unbelievabowl a lot more than this one as it sticks to the high chair and can’t be thrown around, but for the early weaning days, this worked brilliantly.

Likewise, the prep and go pots are definitely are ideal for use at home and on the go. They have lovely secure lids so are perfect for holding purees or messy foods as well as being the perfect size for snacks.

As I mentioned above, we started weaning with purees, and quite often I made my own and froze them ready for when we needed them. The little freezer pots included in this set are genius and make the whole process so much easier when it comes to actually preparing the purees after they’ve been frozen. You can just take the lids off, press on the little green base and out pops the contents! No more trying to warm up one section of an ice cube tray! I imagine these are also great for Mama’s who are breast feeding and want to freeze some of their expressed milk.

The only thing in this set that we haven’t really had much use out of is the tumbler. For a first alternative to a bottle or breast, it seems quite difficult to get the hang of, and having tried it myself after Florence couldn’t get on with it, you have to suck really quite hard to get anything out of it at all. I think this will be great for Florence in a few months maybe, as it has some great features (no spill for the win, perfect size) but for now we are sticking with another trainer cup.

For £12.49 I think this set is great value for money and perfect for the early days of weaning. You can buy it here, or alternatively each of the items separately on the Vital Baby website.

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We were so lucky that Florence settled into a routine pretty much from day one. I’ve had so many comments and questions about how we got into a routine so early on and while we took her lead for the most part there were a few things we implemented

I thought I’d share with you a quick post on what a typical day in our house looks like now that Florence is here.

Our day starts around 5am when Florence wakes for a bottle. She’s dropped that 2am feed and tends to make it until now before she needs any more milk. She takes around 8oz and then comes into our bed for morning cuddles and sleeps until 7am by which time Sean has left for work.

Between 7-8.30am we tend to have a chat, read a book or two & play – this is when Florence is at her smiliest!

At 8.30am she’ll normally drift off for another short nap so I take advantage of this time and get up and get dressed / sort the dog out / reply to emails. Sometimes she even sleeps soundly enough for me to have a quick shower.

By 9.30 she’s up and getting a bit hungry so I quickly get her dressed and ready for the day and we come down stairs for another bottle before a kick about on her play mat or a spot of tummy time on the Poddle Pod. She normally has her mid morning feed around 10am.  

By 11am she’s ready for another sleep so we have cuddles and I put her down in her Shnuggle Moses Basket while I get some work done – usually with last nights EastEnders playing in the background.

Once she’s woken up we either have a little play or head out for a walk around our village with the dog. I really do try to make sure we get out of the house at least once a day – even if it is just to pop to the shop.

She has another bottle at about 2pm followed by a very quick cat nap before Sean gets home from work at around 3.30pm. They play and chat while I wash & sterilise the bottles and do some housework. She tends to doze off again after an hour and this is when I tend to get everything ready for our evening routine.

At 5.45pm Florence has a bath (the girl loves a bath!) and then we come downstairs for some baby massage on her playmat with In the Night Garden or 64 Zoo Lane on in the background and then put her pyjamas on before one of us feeds her & gets her off to sleep while the other makes dinner.

She tends to sleep for the evening from 7pm until 10pm when we all go up to bed & she has her last feed of the day before going to sleep for the night.

So there you have it, a glimpse into a day at home with Florence & I.

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