Skip Hop Mate - Stay-put mat & plate

Despite all the amazing and innovative highchairs on the market today, you might be surprised to learn that I have two old ones in my house. One belonged to me and my siblings when we were little, and it's a beautiful, worn-in wooden Roxton one. The other is a metal and vinyl '70s-style model that I got for $5 at a thrift store. I enjoy that the vinyl seat upholstery matches the formica tray pattern. I admit I've been tempted to splurge on new highchairs, with wheels, numerous removable and dishwasher-safe trays, height adjustments, padding, and so on. But I don't think I can justify it, and I do love the vintage quality of both mine.

Neither of these chairs have a lip on the edge of the tray, which can be a bit of a problem for early eaters. Food cannot just be placed directly onto the tray, or it goes everywhere fast. It has to be on some type of plate. With my older child (almost 3), we now pull her right up to the table without the tray (it just swings to the back on little arms). That works fine because she's older. My son uses the vinyl chair, and it has a metal bar around the tray, but a large food-hungry gap to go along with it. He just turned 1, and if I give him his meal on a small round plate, it generally ends up capsized or on the floor.

I wasn't looking for a solution to this problem, but I happened to see the Skip Hop Mate in a store while looking for birthday presents for my son. I had very few ideas for what to get a second-born 1-year-old, so I thought this could be great. I was right! It's a fabulous design. It fits really well on the little tray of his chair, and the 3 little plate sections let me keep things organized (until his chubby little fingers mix it all up anyways). A tiny fork and spoon fit onto the side nubs, and the inner white plate lifts out for easy cleaning. The coloured bottom mat is coated with a rubbery non-slip surface, although I wouldn't say it always stays put. The bottom of the mat does hang a little over the edge of our tray, so now he's able to grab it and move it if he wants to. Still, not as easy to fling or flip as a little round plate would be.

You have to be careful with tomato-based or very red/orange foods, because they can stain the rubber mat easily. Wash immediately to combat this.

I know that I'm really liking this product because I wash it between meals... that generally never happens with any of the plates I own!

Purchased at Cheeky Monkey for $24.99 (I think). Available in orange, blue and pink. BPA-free, Phthalate-free, PVC-free.

Gerber Graduates Tossables plates

I know, I know. Plastic isn't good. But honestly... I find it really hard to completely avoid it all the time. Frozen foods come in plastic bags... the inside of my fridge and freezer are plastic for crying out loud! But I am becoming vigilant about not putting plastic in the microwave or dishwasher. The good thing about these plates is you aren't supposed to do either of those things with them anyways.

These come in a package of three: monkey, tiger and hippo faces. They are thin, translucent, almost bendable plastic, but sturdy enough to handle daily wear and tear. Each plate has two sections (nice for toddlers who like their food organized, and keeps runny foods from getting other dry foods wet). My daughter enjoyed moving the food around (or eating it) the first few times she used them, to try to find the eyes and mouth of each animal.

I am a little confused by the name: does "tossable" mean that they are disposable? Or just that you can throw them around and they can take a beating? I'm not sure. But they are definitely reusable.

The same cannot be said for the matching sippy cup, which has been declared the worst sippy cup in the world.

Purchased at my local Walmart.

Dex Dura-bib

Terry-cloth bibs are fine and dandy for spit-up or rice cereal. But when your child starts on those finger foods and messy meals, you need a bib that works hard for you. I tried some cheapy ones with the "catch" trough, but they never stayed open well enough to catch anything. I finally realized i needed an expert's opinion.. who better than a mother of 8? Kate Gosselin uses Dex Dura-bibs exclusively.

The front of the bib is a thick, washable polyurethane surface, and the back is some kind of canvas-type cloth. There are two sets of snaps (with different colours that match up to help you construct the "trough"), and when they are undone the bib folds out 100% flat for washing or wiping. When done up, the bib trough edge sits well away from the child's chest and remains open because of how thick and stiff the material is. You could dump half a cup of juice in that sucker, it's not gonna leak.

The "designs" are hideous. I think there are 5 or 6 to choose from but they are all from the same artist and they all suck. Totally late-80's/early-90's (and not in a good way). But I digress. The quality of the bib trumps the ugliness.

Purchased at the Safety Superstore. Let's just hope the bibs have better longevity than Jon and Kate's marriage...

Munchkin bottle drying rack and bottle brush

Bottles and sippy cups can have WAY too many finicky, easily-lost pieces for normal dish drying racks. This fold-down-flat contraption helps dry your bottles, nipples, rings, and even straws. I actually leave all the pieces on it even after they've dried; it's a nice, accessible storage system! The angled design helps water drippings to collect at the bottom (over time it can get kind of yucky, moreso if you have hard water like me, so it needs periodic cleaning).

The rack has a special slot to hold the Munchkin bottle brush (sold separately). The brush has a handy mini-brush hidden in the handle for cleaning nipples, and the angled sponge tip gets into the bottle bottom really well. My only complaint is that the nipple brush can be really hard to pull out of the handle, especially with wet hands.

Purchased at my local Walmart. Has anyone tried the SkipHop one or another brand?

Snack Trap

Eight bucks for a snackholder? You're kidding, right? Well, I wondered if I was being a big sucker when I purchased this little item. A plastic cup with handles and a lid (a la tupperware) didn't seem to be a wise investment. But, as usual, I was intrigued by its claims. My daughter was just under a year old at the time and was into little finger foods like cheerios and gerber graduates puffs (things that took about .5 seconds to be dumped by her, with glee, onto my floor). Little did I know that I would be using said container almost every single day for over a year! At first my daughter would just shake it to try to get the snacks out from inside the little rubber flaps, and I thought that kind of defeated the purpose of the whole "trap" business. It didn't take long for her to understand the mechanism though, and she's been using it almost daily since. Now, at just over two years old, she knows how to have a snack in a bowl without spilling it all over my living room. But I still find it very useful for the car! Favourite fillings: dry froot loops, alpha bits or goldfish crackers.

The plastic cup is sturdy and can handle being dropped and banged around like crazy. The specially-designed, spill-reducing lid does get a bit of wear over time, especially if you use a dishwasher, but you can buy replacements separately at a lower cost. Also available: sippy lid attachment or a stay-fresh lid that fits over the original lid. You can also purchase the Snack Trap in a two-pack or buy a special tether to attach it to your stroller, purse, or ...belt-loop ('cause that's attractive! what could possibly scream "i'm a mom!" more than that?), but you could also just use any other clip or carabiner I'm sure.

Purchased from a store that no longer exists... but available from many places, including Rolz&Sassy (Kincardine), Safety Superstore, and Cheeky Monkey (London).