Solid food feeding

Utensils: it takes a while for babies to get the hang of eating solid foods. At first it's helpful to start off with a soft spoon, to make the transition from bottle to food a little easier (the silicone feels really similar) and to prevent the baby from causing harm when banging around. I love the Beaba First Stage Silicone Spoons. Once the baby has the hang of it, we transitioned to metal utensils, and we really liked the Oneida Paul Revere 3-Piece Set because it's a miniaturized version of actual adult utensils. This worked well when we were entering a phase where our tiny dictator wanted to have and do all the things he saw grown-ups having and doing.

Plates and bowls: we have liked the Green Eats bowls and plates as well as simple metal bowls, like these ones from Caveman Cups. This cute stainless steel multi-portion tray is a great option as you start to move from single puree meals to multiple foods in a sitting.

Puree storage: babies only eat a tiny bit at first, so if you make your own purees, you want to save them in small quantities. We got a Beaba silicone tray that we would use to freeze purees, and once they were frozen, we'd pop them out and transfer them to Ziploc bags with date labels and descriptions. Whenever we wanted to give a puree, we'd either put in the fridge to defrost or put in a little glass container and drop it in the bottle warmer to heat it up.

Making purees: we used our existing kitchen devices to steam and puree. We'd steam with the steamer insert on a regular pots and pans, puree in a blender or with the back of a fork, and then we'd reheat purees in our bottle warmer. That said, there are dedicated baby puree systems, most notably the Beaba Babycook. Most people I know who got it felt like it was an unnecessary gadget, but there are people out there who swear by it.

Mesh feeders: if you want to safely expose your baby to large chunks of food without risk of choking, mesh feeders can be great. They are also wonderful if you want to give a piece of ice or frozen fruit to soothe achy gums from teething.