Oxo Tot Toddler Feeding Equipment

This time last year, I reviewed a selection of kitchen utensils from the Oxo Good Grip range and was blown away by how user-friendly and efficient they all were. (I highly recommend you check out that review (here), if nothing else just to see Juliette's face when she discovered the apple slicer !) I was therefore really excited when I heard they were developing a new range of baby and child equipment called Oxo Tot - and I was even more excited when they sent me some to test !

Pierre jumped straight in, grabbing hold of the fork and spoon and pretending to feed himself ! They were just the right size for him and obviously felt really nice in his mouth because he ended up using them as a teething ring !

The handles initially looked a bit strange to me because they are curved, unlike all the other baby cutlery I have for Pierre which is perfectly straight. However, as usual, there is no faulting Oxo's ergonomic designs and they are perfectly adapted for baby hands, seeming to make it easier for Pierre to get them into his mouth. I also noticed that he managed to get them up the right way far more often than with his usual cutlery, but this was a dry run with no food so I'll have to try out that theory another day ! They are also handy for resting on the side of the plate (see below) because the curve helps prevent them slipping into the bowl (and the gooey mess within !).

Next up was the Training Cup which, as you can see, appealed to both 6-month-old Pierre and 5-year-old Juliette. It's ingenious and quite unlike any of the other ubiquitous evolutive drinking cups with spouts, straws and sippy lids that I've seen (and indeed have, cluttering up the kitchen cupboard !). It's a clear plastic drinking glass with a non-slip, easy-grip band that makes it easy for little hands to keep hold of.

But the clever bit is a round plastic insert with little semi-circular holes all around the edge which stops too much from coming out or being sloshed all over the place by clumsy little drinkers. It won't stop spillages but it will limit the damage and is a great transitional cup for more independent drinking. Once your child is old enough, you just take it out and you have a normal grown-up kids glass.

And last up was the clever plate with a removable ring. It helps minimise food being pushed off the plate in the early days (although if you look on my Madhouse family blog here, you'll see that it's not foolproof if your little one is determined to make a mess !) and it can be removed as they get older and less messy at foodtime. It also has a non-stick bottom and is weighted to help keep it in place and up the right way.

I didn't think you could do much to improve the bog-standard feeding utensils' design that babies and toddlers have been using for years but Oxo always seem to come up with nifty gadgets and tweaks that make you wonder why nobody has ever thought of them before.

star rating : 5/5

RRP : plate £6, training glass £6, fork and spoon set £6

available nationwide, including John Lewis and Amazon.

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