10 Chill'n'Chew tips every parent should know

Teething has a wonderful habit of arriving just when you thought you'd figured out the whole feeding thing.

Suddenly bub wants to chew everything, food gets refused, and anything cold becomes very interesting.

That's why I loved having a fresh food feeder around. But after using one, I realised there are a few little tricks that make the whole thing much easier, especially when you pair the feeder with a freezer tray.

Some of these are ridiculously simple. Some are things you probably wouldn't think to do when you first open the box.

So if you've got a Chill'n'Chew Duo sitting in your kitchen, here are ten things worth knowing.

A few tiny tricks can make those very chewy days a whole lot easier.

1. You can use it before starting solids

This is probably the one I wish more parents knew.

You don't necessarily have to wait until you're filling the feeder with fruit and purée to get some use out of it.

If bub is teething before you've started solids, you can freeze expressed breast milk into small portions in your Chill'n'Chew Tray, then place a breast milk pop into the feeder.

Bub gets something familiar to suck and chew on, while the cold can feel lovely on those sore little gums.

It also means they can start getting familiar with holding and using the feeder before you're suddenly introducing food into the equation.

2. Match the pouch AND the portion to bub

Your Chill'n'Chew comes with different pouch sizes so you can choose the one that suits bub as they grow.

But here's the bit that's easy to miss:

You can adjust the frozen portion too.

If you're using the smallest pouch, you don't need to completely fill a section of your freezer tray. Add a smaller amount so the frozen portion fits neatly inside.

As bub grows, you can increase how much you put into each section and move onto the larger pouch.

You're not locked into one portion size just because that's the size of the tray.

The pouch grows with bub. The portion does too.

3. Steal a medicine syringe from the bathroom drawer

Trying to spoon breast milk or a runny purée into a tiny freezer portion is exactly as annoying as it sounds.

A medicine syringe makes it much easier.

Draw up your breast milk, yoghurt mixture or runnier purée, then squeeze exactly the amount you want into each section of the tray.

Less dripping across the bench. Much easier to control the portion.

And finally another use for the approximately 47 medicine syringes that somehow accumulate when you have children.

4. If the ring feels snug, grab a spoon

This is such a tiny trick, but it's one you'll be very glad you know.

The ring that holds the silicone pouch onto your Chill'n'Chew feeder is designed to fit snugly. That's what keeps everything securely in place.

The downside is that it can sometimes be tricky to remove, particularly when your hands are wet or covered in banana.

Instead of wrestling with it, gently slide the edge of a spoon underneath the ring and use it to help lift the ring up.

That's it.

5. Freeze, pop, bag, repeat

You don't need to leave your frozen portions sitting in the Chill'n'Chew Tray until they're eaten.

Once they're completely frozen, pop them out and transfer them into a labelled freezer bag or suitable freezer container.

Now your tray is empty and ready for another batch.

Do one round of apple. Pop them out.

One round of mango and yoghurt. Pop them out.

One round of sweet potato. Pop them out.

Before long you've got a little freezer stash ready for those days when teething strikes and bub suddenly wants absolutely nothing you had planned.

Just make sure you label and date everything as you go.

Mystery freezer cubes are considerably less useful.

6. Build a little flavour library

You don't have to fill the whole tray with the same thing.

In fact, one of my favourite ways to prep is to think in ingredients and flavours rather than complete meals.

Apple in a few portions. Pear in another. Mango and yoghurt. Sweet potato. Whatever foods your little one already enjoys.

Then you've got different flavours sitting in the freezer ready to rotate through.

It also means you can make small amounts while you're already cooking something else rather than setting aside an afternoon for a giant baby-food production line.

If I'm already steaming apple, I'll make a little extra.

Future me is always grateful.

7. Think tiny ingredients, not just feeder pops

Those little portions can be handy for much more than something to put directly into the feeder.

Think about ingredients you only use a tiny amount of in bub's meals.

Liver is a great example.

You might cook and blend a small amount of liver, portion it into the tray and freeze it. Later, you can take out just a small portion to add to another suitable meal or purée rather than cooking liver from scratch every time.

The same idea works for other little meal building blocks you like to prepare ahead.

8. You don't always need to freeze anything

The freezer tray is handy, but don't forget that your feeder works perfectly well without it.

If you've got an appropriate soft food ready to go, you can put it straight into the feeder.

Soft fruit, cooked vegetables or another suitable food your baby is already eating can go straight in.

No batch prep. No waiting for anything to freeze.

Sometimes the best parent hack is simply not adding another step.

The frozen portions are brilliant when you want something cold for teething or you've prepped ahead. The feeder itself is there for all the other days too.

9. Make your own little frozen combinations

Once you've got the basics sorted, this is where it gets fun.

Instead of freezing single ingredients, make little combinations using foods bub already enjoys.

• Yoghurt + mango
• Yoghurt + berries
• Apple + pear
• Banana + yoghurt
• Your favourite homemade fruit purée

If you're making your own purées, your KiddoKook Pro can do the steaming and blending first. Then simply spoon or syringe the mixture into the Chill'n'Chew Tray and freeze.

One little batch and you've got a freezer stash ready for the next teething day.

And because you're making them yourself, you know exactly what went into each one.

10. Save yourself from washing it off the floor

There comes a point in starting solids where babies discover gravity.

And they conduct the experiment repeatedly.

Spoon. Floor.

Cup. Floor.

Feeder. Definitely floor.

If you have a Lil' Keepers Strap, attach one end to the Chill'n'Chew feeder and secure the other to the high chair or another suitable attachment point.

Then when bub inevitably launches the feeder over the side, it stays within reach instead of landing underneath the high chair.

It sounds like such a small thing.

Then you've picked a sticky feeder off the floor for the sixth time before 8am and suddenly it feels extremely important.

A little prep goes a long way

That's probably what I like most about the Chill'n'Chew Duo.

It isn't complicated.

The feeder gives bub a way to explore suitable foods and can be particularly handy through those teething days. The tray means you can have little portions ready in the freezer instead of starting from scratch every time.

And once you know the little tricks, it gets even easier.

Use the syringe. Adjust the portions. Pop the frozen pieces out so you can refill the tray. Keep a few different flavours ready. And please, use the spoon trick rather than standing at the kitchen bench getting increasingly annoyed at a silicone ring.

Because teething is hard enough.

The things around it don't need to be.