baby food

Best Foods to Give Your Teething Toddler

- Stacey Leave a comment
Best foods to give your teething toddler

Taking care of your child is one of the toughest, but most rewarding jobs in the world. Part of raising children means teaching them right from wrong. Being a parent can also mean countless sleepless nights and a lot of nappies. But most of all, parenting involves raising a happy and healthy child.

Children begin getting their first teeth around 7 to 11 months of age. It is a painful process where your little one might cry uncontrollably at night and may even stop eating. While some parents turn to metaphysical elements, such as the healing properties of amber gemstones, others may opt for over-the-counter medications for assistance with pain management.

Whatever way you choose to handle the situation, it is important for you to know the right foods to feed your kids during this ordeal, as to avoid causing them further distress while maintaining their health and well-being. Listed below are some food items that have been reported to be both nutritious and comforting for your baby during the teething process. Read more

Weaning faces and an Organix giveaway #realfoodface (CLOSED)

- Stacey Leave a comment
Weaning faces Organix giveaway

With my boys being two and four years old now, we are way past the weaning stage but I still remember those first weaning faces like they were yesterday! When we first started weaning Jacob, we started on purees but gradually moved to baby led weaning and we used many Organix products. I will admit, if I gave J a new food and he pulled a face and/or spat it out, I probably wouldn’t try him with it again and I think it turned him into a fussy eater!

A weaning survey carried out by Organix showed that over half of mums were put off encouraging their baby to try a new food after the first time because of faces they pulled. As a new mum I did feel quite discouraged when J wouldn’t try new foods introduced to him and it did become quite stressful as I thought he was never going to eat anything I gave him! The one food that was quite popular with J to begin with though was banana; I think possibly because it was soft, and he could mush it about in his hands which is always fun for a baby! Read more

Review – Organix Goodies Christmas selection box

- Stacey 1 Comment

Regular readers will know that we have reviewed Organix products a few times before and that we always think highly of them. Organix are dedicated to the “no junk” initiative and Christmas is no different. This year they have this Goodies Selection Box available to purchase as an alternative to one full of chocolate.

Included in the selection box are:
  • blackcurrant & apple fruit stars
  • raspberry & apple fruit moos
  • raspberry & apple soft oaty bar
  • mini gingerbread men
  • alphabet bicuits

So there is a good variety in there with a similar amount to what you would find in a chocolate one, but a lot healthier for them! It is more aimed towards toddlers but I think it would be okay for older babies too, with supervision of course (I will be buying another one for N).
They are full size products of each of the items and they are just inside the box with no excess packaging (which is also a bonus).
There is also a little activity for children, with Christmas pictures to pop out and then stick on a Christmas scene on the box – so really you have 2-in-1 with this selection box. For the price I think it’s a worthwhile purchase if you don’t want them to have chocolate but still want to keep with this tradition as it is a pretty similar price to a chocolate one.

The Organix Goodies Christmas Selection Box has an RRP of £2.99 and can be purchased from Asda, Boots or online at Ocado.


My rating – 5/5


Disclosure
I received this product free of charge to review. All thoughts & opinions are honest & my own.

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Review – Organix baby & toddler products

- Stacey Leave a comment

With a greedy toddler & baby in this house, who never stop eating (well obviously they do at some point, but it doesn’t feel like it!), I have to make sure that I’ve got plenty of snacks and the like for them as one of them will be wanting food at practically every point in the day. The lovelies at Organix recently sent us a box of goodies for J & N to try out.

In the goody box, we received:

  • multigrain mini cereal puffs (RRP £2.49)
  • apple rice cakes (RRP £1.19)
  • vanilla multigrain hearts (RRP £1.99)
  • banana, peach & apple muesli (RRP £2.69)
  • banana soft oaty bars (RRP £2.49)
  • red pepper hearts (RRP £0.75)
  • baby biscuits (RRP £1.19)
  • apple & raspberry puree pots (RRP £.199)

As you can see, there was a good selection for both boys and they were both hankering over all of it, a bit like vultures!

The actual food looked like the photo on the packets so there is no misleading and you know exactly what to expect. All of them were high quality and organic too, as you would expect from Organix.

N loved the cereals – his favourite though was the muesli (it did smell yummy!). If you are baby led weaning, I found a great little tip with the mini cereal puffs – if you leave them to soak in milk for a few minutes then you can roll them up into balls making them easier for baby to eat with fingers.

Both boys loved the rice cakes, but then they are always munching on them for snacks anyway. They also both loved the oaty bars, though they are very messy as they are so soft & crumbly! The biscuits went down a treat too with both boys, also good for snacking on.

N loved the red pepper hearts (J spat them out, but he is very fussy at the minute!), they are very messy though and leave a red coating all over the place so I recommend not wearing white whilst eating, or use a brilliant stain remover! N wasn’t too keen on the fruit pots at first – up until trying these he had only had fruit as it comes (as we started off BLW) so he wasn’t used to the puree texture. After he pulled a face at it I tried it myself, and I must admit it was a bit tangy.

All in all, this is a great selection of products and the majority went down rather well with both boys. I have bought Organix ever since J started eating and will continue to do so as they are always consistent (though I do usually only buy them when they are on offer).

Our rating – 4/5


Disclosure
We were sent these products free of charge to review. All thoughts & opinions are honest & our own.

We are (baby led) weaning!

- Stacey Leave a comment

It’s come that time again, one of the most fun parts of being a baby – weaning! I mentioned in N’s 6 month update that we had started. I tried him with some food a month or so ago but he wasn’t really interested, so I left a while. When he actually started grabbing for our food, I knew he was completely ready.

I was adamant this time that I was going to be baby led weaning, as with J we went the traditional weaning route before letting him feed himself (maybe that’s why he’s a bit lot fussy nowadays, or maybe it’s just a toddler stage! Nonetheless, this is one of the reasons for BLW this time). N hasn’t had anything fed to him by us yet, other than a yogurt and ice cream on holiday as I didn’t want him getting it all over the boat! But other than that, everything he has had, he has fed to himself.

His grip wasn’t too good to start with, but even in the last week it has really come on and he is even managing to hold slippery pear really well. He’s still working on his pincer grip though. Anything he picks up will go straight to his mouth, no hesitating! He had a lot of gag reflex-ing at first but we seem to have mainly passed that now, and he does a proper chewing motion rather than just sucking.

He hasn’t really disliked anything we have given him so far, nothing gets spat out, but he doesn’t try everything that’s in front of him. Obviously I’m not too worried as he is still having plenty of milk and it’s all about exploration at this stage. With J I hated the mess and would put a bib on and a muslin around him, but with N I don’t bother with either sometimes and just let him get on with it – it’s all part of the fun of BLW after all!

So what has he tried so far?

  • porridge fingers
  • cream cheese on toast/toasted sandwich thins
  • mini shredded wheats soaked in a little milk
  • pear
  • rusk
  • mini bread sticks (he just sucks on this and doesn’t really get much from it!)
  • yoghurt
  • cheese triangles
  • broccoli
  • carrot
  • sweetcorn
  • mini carrot & potato waffles
  • cake (a tiny piece as he was trying to grab it from me!)
  • ice cream!
We’re both really enjoying his journey so far and I’m excited for all of the different flavours he has yet to try – and the messy photos of course!
When did you start weaning? Did you go the traditional route or BLW route? What is your baby’s favourite food?

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