I get this question ALL of the time over on Instagram (if you're not following me over there, please come join the party here!) - "what are the best non-plastic dishes for kids?" - so today I am answering that here for you (complete with links - none of these companies sponsor me in any way, these are just my honest thoughts 🙂 ).
Let's start from the baby stage! Perhaps you're bottle feeding your little one and putting bottles in a bottle warmer day after day (or hour after hour in the early days... ) and you're wondering if there is a healthier option than heating plastic up over and over again. Now I should start by saying, yes, baby bottles are BPA free - however, we are learning more and more about what companies are using in place of BPA and there is quite a bit of speculation on whether or not they actually are healthier than BPA (you can read more about it here and here).
We used Dr. Brown's glass bottles initially, but honestly, I found that they leaked and they were very heavy and I was always worried about dropping them (our twins also didn't really seem too fond of them).
Next we tried the winning ticket - Comotomo. These bottles were our FAVOURITE. They were easy to travel with because they're made of silicone and they were easy to use for feedings (especially when the girls could eventually hold the bottles on their own - this is something I would never trust them with when it comes to the glass Dr. Brown's bottles).
The only downside was that the silicone was slow to heat the milk (typically I would pump and transfer milk directly to the bottles and put them in the fridge - so we needed to heat them up prior to giving them to the girls). A little hack that worked really well for us: we used a small mason jar to heat the milk and then transferred it back into the Comotomo bottle. The milk heated up much more quickly in the glass jar (and time is very limited when you have a hungry baby [or babies] on your hands)!
We have tried a lot of cups after transitioning the girls off bottles, but these are our absolute favourites! We wanted to avoid plastics at all costs but wanted something that they could easily take on the run and drop (or throw) on the floor without worry of leaking or breaking. So here are the winners!
We started with these Stainless Steel Miracle 360 Cups and I really liked these! The biggest issue: we put smoothies in ours and found that over time the lid really soaked in the taste. I would suggest putting just water in these (they're not cheap, so repurchasing over and over is not ideal). I liked the idea of not using the sippy cup style and transitioning right to using something that mimicked an open cup (without the possibility of spilling, of course).
After we ruined these, I wanted to try out something different. We give the twins smoothies every morning for breakfast, so I wanted to make sure I could really get it cleaned so that we could also give water in the same cup. We tried these Foogo Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Sippy Cups (and still use them to this day). They're super easy to clean and I really like that the mouthpiece is silicone. This is a great choice and I highly recommend these!
At the same time that we ordered the Foogo cups I also ordered one of these cups by Green Sprouts. We still use this cup to this day and I highly recommend this one as well! It has two different mouthpieces, which I really like - a sippy style and a straw. This cup is so nice because it has a glass inside and a plastic outside. My girls throw this cup around like crazy and to this day it has not shown any signs of breaking (and we've been using it daily for over a year)! This cup also has the silicone mouthpiece, so literally nothing ever come into contact with plastic, which is amazing!
I just purchased these in March but so far am really really liking them! They're made from bamboo and super super durable (they're also made by a Canadian mom, so that's extra awesome 😉 ). The brand is Young Lux and they make cups, plates and bowls (and the prints are super cute)!
When we first started giving solids to the twins, I knew I wanted something that was easy to clean and that they couldn't easily just throw on the floor. This ezpz mat is the BEST (in my opinion) and is a must have. We still use this for almost all of their meals and they've never once thrown it on the floor. It is made of silicone and is extremely durable!
I really love these utensils for the twins. We used the spoon from the early days (and also used these silicone spoons in the very early days). They're easy to clean and easy to use - not much more to say about them 🙂
We just started using these Onyx Boxes and have been really liking them! Since the twins were little, I've had my eye on the Planet Boxes, but the price is intimidating! These are SO similar but a fraction of the price! This airtight option is great for anything that you're afraid may leak. Glass food storage containers are amazing, don't get me wrong, but when you have an aggressive little toddler carrying it around, it may be best to go with something a little less breakable 😉 .
For food items that don't need a heavy duty container, I love these reusable bags by Colibri! I even use one of these in my purse to keep all of my small items together (lip gloss, oils, etc.)
And there you have it! These are the EXACT options that we use and that I can personally recommend to you! I would LOVE to know if you're using products I haven't mentioned that you're absolutely loving - let me know in the comments!
I will continue to share what we use and what we love as the girls get older but if you have specifics you'd like to learn more about, let me know 🙂
Until next time friends,
Yours in health,
Kristin