Help in feeding a 7 month old baby whilst out on the cheap!

Felicity

Hi, I have a gorgeous 7 months old little man who is very well behaved but is much happier out and about than being stuck indoors playing. He just loves staring at strangers and making eye contact with them and then giggling at them.

The post office queue on pension day is his favourite place in the world!

We live in the middle of nowhere and so have to travel 30 mins + to get out for the day and I take him swimming, shopping, the usual things.

The problem is that feeding him out is becoming very expensive. I take home made food and he is still eating only mashed up foods and so needs to sit in a high chair to eat. This means going to a cafe and in the least me ordering a drink. I don't mind doing this when meeting up with friends for a treat, but 3 days + a week it soon becomes expensive.

I can change him and give him his milk / water in the car but I can't feed him in the car. It is just too messy and not as comfortable for him. He definitely needs a high chair to eat.

I don't know if there is a solution to this but would love to hear of any creative ideas!

pukkamum

Will he not eat in his pram if you sit him right up? that way you can feed him anywhere just take a huge bib (i use the ones with arms that come to their knees more like an apron from the pound shop) and plenty of wipes. Not sure but now he is seven months could you not start trying him on fingers foods small brown soldiers with marmite or cheese spread as these would be easier. HTH not sure about the age for finger foods my daughters just turned two and i cant remember how bad is that lol

csa40

I'd second eating in the buggy.
Will he not eat just sat on your lap on a bench?
He's coming up to an age where you could start trying him with finger foods, if you haven't already. Is he sitting well yet? You could get one of those folding lap trays with legs and have picnics! If his sitting is still a bit wobbly you could sit with him between your legs. Works very well in nice weather under a tree etc!
It may be worth investing in something like this if it realy is costing you lots: http://www.worldwideshoppingmall.co.uk/toys/hauck-travel-light-highchair.asp ?

*Is a nanny*

Edit: And Bumbo's are your friend!

jinky67

Well thats my 2 ideas taken!!

Felicity

Thanks for all your suggestions so far!

He is not that competent with finger foods yet, they are ok on the side, but he cannot satisfy all his hunger with them so needs some of 'Mummys proper food' too!

CSA40, that portable high chair looks fab, but probably not ideal for my circumstances as it wouldn't be needed in a couple of months from now so I wouldn't get the value out of it.

I think I might try him in the pram but some days the food just tends to go everywhere (sneezing, trying to help me feeding him LOL) and I wanted to keep the pram clean if possible. High chairs are much easier to clean than prams.

I suppose I could try only taking 'none staining' foods out with us, ie cauliflower cheese, fish pie etc. I find that things with darker veg in stain (before becoming a mother, I never would have believed how badly carrot could stain things!).

Yes, I will give the pushchair a try ... unless there are any more suggestions?

homeaway

I can only tell you what worked for me, i was always out and about with three children under the age of 4 ! I would feed them while they were sitting up right in the pushchair or on my lap. If they wanted to have a go at feeding themselves then i used to try and make sure that I had something that they could feed themselves with like a rice cake. Take a flannel in a sealed bag and a bottle of water or some wet wipes. A word of warning though one day when my daughter was two we stopped at a play park for a drink and as a treat they had a carton of juice ( normally they were quite happy with water) anyway she squeezed the carton as they do and whoosh it went down her pretty dress, i did not mind that, but the bees kept on coming to her. I had to go and buy a cheap t shirt and shorts for her. From then on it was water only when we were in the park ! (she has just turned 15 and still remembers it !)
Another thing is that if you leave home straight after lunch then you might be lucky and have a three hour stint where you dont need to worry about food. I hope this helps you .

csa40

If you need to keep the pushchar ultra clean, have you considered getting one of those plastic poncho's they give you on log flume rides? (I'm joking, I'm joking!)

And yes, never underestimate the staining power of mashed butternut squash! I'll keep thinking..

daveyjp

A bumbo chair or a portable booster seat (this is recommended our 2 year old uses it all the time):

http://www.mothercare.com/gp/product/B001723ERQ/sr=1-11/qid=1212502943/ref=sr_1_11/202-3318726-2696665?ie=UTF8&m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&n=42862041&mcb=core

sparklygirl1

Use your pram, take a big towel with you to cover pram...........

Felicity

daveyjp wrote: »

A bumbo chair or a portable booster seat (this is recommended our 2 year old uses it all the time):

http://www.mothercare.com/gp/product/B001723ERQ/sr=1-11/qid=1212502943/ref=sr_1_11/202-3318726-2696665?ie=UTF8&m=A2LBKNDJ2KZUGQ&n=42862041&mcb=core

Hi, we tried the bumbo (leant by a friend) a number of times but the little chap just didn't get on with it.

I do have a portable chair for him (in case restaurants, cafes, friends etc dont have one) but it needs strapping under and over a normal chair to make it secure!

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

daphne_descends

Felicity if he is 7 months then he should still be having lots of milk - if you're out all day why not just up the milk feeds a bit and give him a bit of finger food? If he is not very competent it's good practice. Try a bit of pitta bread and houmous or egg mayonnaise or some carrot sticks. My DS is 7 months also but doesn't always eat three times a day, depends on his mood, where we are etc... I wouldn't stress about it!