What to look out for in baby feeding gear

I've had a number of hits and misses when it comes to buying feeding gear for my babies. I guess these are the lessons I've learnt about baby feeding gear only by looking in the rearview mirror

1. Plates and bowls - Should be microwaveable if making and freezing own baby food. It's amazing how many are not
2. Bowls - To suction or not? Yes babies have a tendency to grab bowl, wave in the air and create a food shower. The thing with suction bowls is the ones with permanently attached suctions (Munchkin is the most popular) are not microwaveable.
3. Sippy cups - Valves or no valves. There is a place for both. No valves for when the babies are just learning to drink and valves for when they become rainmakers
4. Sippy cups - What type valve? The Playtex sippies I just got has a valve system that consists of 2 joined pieces of rubber that fit into the spout and air hole. Guess what? My babies have really strong arms and enjoy banging their cups against the high chair tray. A few hard knocks and the cup that used to be spill-proof is spill-proof no more. The Avent type spouts have a different more baby proof mechanism for spill-proofness but they are hard to suck out of
5. Sippy cups - Handles or no? To eliminate problem highlighted in #4, I now use the Take and Toss Spill Proof Cups that do not come with handles. The girls still try to bang and create rain but it's so much harder *insert smug mummy face*
6. High chairs - Full versus booster! If floor space is an issue, then go for the ones that attach to normal chairs
7. High chairs -Cloth versus plastic? No matter how easy to clean the cloth material is, the high chair is still going to be a grimy mess after just one meal. Plastic can be wiped clean, cloth has to be laundered
8. High chairs - Tray washability. A lot of high chairs now boast of trays that are dishwasher safe. The problem is that they are not however dishwasher sized. Can't fit into the dishwasher or the sink. If you really want to be washing the tray in the dishwasher, shop with a tape measure
9. Spoons - Bowl size. When the babies started solids around 5 months, some of those cute spoons had bowls that were too wide to fit into their mouths. Really?!
10. Washcloth and bowl - Easily accessible and washable because ovens come with a self-cleaning button, babies do not

Yes, these are suctioned bowls!

Transitioning babies from bottle feeding requires a bit more thought than I expected.

This post is part of my 31 day blogging challenge thanks to the lovely hosts.
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