Loulou Lollipop Born to be Wild Tableware Collection

Your toddlers have mastered the skills of using the learning utensils? They graduate to the big kids’ version designed for their growing hands. Then you must try Loulou Lollipop new collection, Born to be Wild is a line of fun and practical tableware designed for kids from ages 4 months to 5 years old.

The range of Born to be Wild collections are very wide. From Infant Feeding Spoon to Learning Fork and Spoon Set which allow toddlers to confidently grasp the spoon and fork to encourage self-feeding.. With thoughtful details, smart and ergonomic designs, the collection makes mealtime fun and easy with plates, bowls, cutlery, and more.

▼ From left to right: Divided Plate with Lid, Learning Fork & Spoon set, Snack Plate

▲ From left to right: Chopstick, Infant Feeding Spoon, Kid’s Fork and Spoon set

Born to be Wild collections will make snack time fun!

Born to be Wild collection are mainly made of 100% premium buttery smooth food-safe silicone, they are lightweight and easy to clean. Less mess, more snacking fun!

Available in seven adorable animal friends to entertain your little one! Those seven adorable animal are Alligator, Bunny, Elephant, Giraffe, Lion, Llama, and Rhino.

The collection is made with premium buttery soft and safe silicone and quality materials that meet the ASTM, CPSC, EN, AUS, and GB international safety standards. Free of BPA, Phthalates, and harmful substances.

Silicone feeding spoon are made of soft, smooth silicone that can easily be thrown into the dishwasher and are safe for kids to chew on as they learn to eat.

Learning Spoon and Fork are designed with chunky easy-grab handles to let kids learning self-feeding easily, it is recommended for kids that are older enough that no longer love chewing everything, because it is made from premium food-safe silicone and SS304 stainless steel.

The bowl and plate coming with steady suction, simply press the plate and bowl down and it will stick to most smooth surfaces to prevent slips and spills. They have an upcoming new products which is Divided Plate with Lid!

Divided Plate with Lid features a strong suction base, the tight-fitting lid with an adorable alligator handle makes it easy to store and heat meals. The plate includes three separate sections to encourage food group variety and appropriate portion sizes.

Why Born to be Wild?

• 100% premium food-grade silicone

• Free of BPA, PVC, phthalates, lead, and cadmium

• Size (cm): varies

• Recommended Age: 6 months +

• Dishwasher safe

• Microwave oven safe

By combining a timeless, feel-good aesthetic, memorable pops of color, and an uncompromising commitment to the safest, highest quality materials, LouLou LOLLIPOP is redefining baby goods.

And reminder from us do not leave a child unattended with the fork or spoon and discard if damaged.

History of Grabease - What make Grabease so special?

It's exhausting for every brands to battle the knock offs, however, this is our obligation to our customers, to inform you because it involves the safety of your babies. Knock offs usually are made from factories that only want to make a quick buck. They have no respect for creativity, integrity and safety. 

BabyLux carried brands spent lots of money in safety testings and insurance, and these are all for your child's safety. Yes, you can probably get them cheaper elsewhere, but would you risk your child's life for it? As a parent, the most fulfilling thing is watching your child master a new skill on his or her own. There is no greater joy than watching each milestone take place. Teaching our children new skills is our pleasure but constantly having to practice them can get frustrating.

The history of Grabease

And please respect every brand’s effort and creativity.

From lawyer to product developer, Maya Shalev - founder of Grabease - loved problem-solving but didn't love the aggressiveness of litigation. She did mediation training at the Los Angeles Attorney's office before getting pregnant with her daughter, Alma.

As a stay at home mom for a few years, Maya was able to apply her problem-solving skills when she developed, with her dad, products that were missing in the market.  

In 2014, Maya found herself at a crossroads when her father passed away while she was three months pregnant. Finding herself in this new situation, Maya decided to take a break to cope with the loss of her father and focus her energy on the new life she was bringing into the world.

In 2015, Maya found herself with a new challenge when her six-month-old son, Amit, was learning how to self-feed. This obstacle reignited her passion for developing a product that would not only solve the need for her son but other moms going through similar scenarios.

Off the bat, she noticed that baby utensils aren't designed with babies in mind. The handles were too long and her son couldn't hold the utensil naturally. She decided to meltdown cheap forks to create a shorter, thicker handle. The first mold was created out of Playdough, a common medium in a house with kids.

The next phase was to create a set of utensils, the most expensive pair of fork and spoon she's ever invested in, a whopping $400 for a 3D printed set! Using her son as a guinea pig to test out the new utensils Maya noticed that the handle was on the thin side so she went back to the drawing board and designed a teardrop-shaped handle.

She took this prototype to a Pediatric Occupational Therapist for some feedback to make sure she was developing the right product. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. The Occupational Therapist told Maya that the Grabease utensils "makes a great developmental product for children ages 4 months and up. Grabease supports fine motor skill development and independent feeding skills."

The inspiration to go back in business to not only create but give back was through the social initiative she saw the Toms brand spearhead. When Grabease was being packed and shipped Maya partnered with The Harvest Home, a non-profit organization that helps homeless pregnant women get back on their feet.

The Grabease design was immediately patented in 2016 and sent to production. A soft launch was introduced via Amazon to see if there was a need for the product. Maya designed the product with the intention that nine-month-old children and older would be using the product but to her surprise moms were excited to share photos and videos of their six-month-old babies self-feeding with the Grabease.

Grabease was tagged by tons of moms on social media, gushing with excitement that their kids were independently eating with the utensils.

The pivotal change for the brand was at the JPMA trade show. The last day of the show is open to consumers, the excitement and the crowd around the Grabease booth was proof that the brand was going to be high in demand. Shortly after, all products were sold out on Amazon as well. Before long, the Grabease website launched!

Read more: Grabease, best baby self feeding spoon and fork set

Not only was Grabease helping babies learn how to independently feed themselves, it was helpful for differently-abled children as well. Parents were sharing how Grabease utensils were helping their children with cerebral palsy or down syndrome. This was heartwarming and impactful for Maya.

Different organizations that helped children with different abilities were now reaching out to the brand for support. Without hesitation, Grabease donated products to help and promote the development of independent eaters. With the word spreading, Maya found herself getting emails and calls from Occupational Therapists that were interested in trying out the product in their clinics and then endorsing the product. Another win for Grabease!

In quarter 1 of 2017 Maya graduated from the kitchen to the garage. Soon after, Nordstroms and other independent retailed picked up the brand and Grabease moved into an office space in 2018.  

Grabease is now available in 300 stores and internationally, accessible in over 15 countries and expanding rapidly!

Maya didn't stop there. The Grabease toothbrush was the next product created. Thought of and designed by Maya's then 8-year-old daughter, Alma. The idea came to her when she saw the struggles her parents were having when trying to brush her little brothers' teeth, Amit. 

Alma sketched the design and 2 years later the design came to life. The toothbrush was a hit. So much so that most kids don’t want to put it down!

Read more: 2019 Grabease new product double sided toothbrush

Maya and the team of moms take pride in developing products that provide solutions for families around the world while helping children in need. Grabease is excited to continue launching innovative and helpful products for other parents because being a parent is a lot of work and we want to alleviate unnecessary stress so you can enjoy the best moments with your growing tot!

Article quoted from Grabease blog post.

Self-feeding utensils, Grabease or Bumkins silicone chewtensils?

Entering the age of 6 months, is the right time for your little one to be introduced to some solid foods. That's when baby spoon and fork are began to be used. Unlike the usual utensils that we use, the baby's spoon and fork must be adjusted to the little one's mouth, safe and comfortable when used.

Baby spoon and fork has its own uniqueness according to the development of your child and is made of various materials that will provide a different eating experience. In this article, we will compare Grabease baby first self-feeding utensils and Bumkins silicone chewtensils.

Both Grabease and Bumkins are perfect to help guide little ones to self-feeding. But, yes, they have some differences that might let parents feel confuse. Let us tell you pros and cons between each product.

Content:

| Bumkins silicone chewtensils pros and cons

| Grabease pros and cons

| Summary

Bumkins silicone chewtensils pros and cons

Bumkins silicone chewtensils pros:

• Bumkins Chewtensils help you to introduce babies to self-feeding by giving them utensils that can be chewed on before transitioning to silverware.

• Bumkins chewtensils made from BPA-free, BPS-free, PVC-free, phthalate-free, cadmium-free and lead-free silicone.

• Back of the spoon head has sensory bumps to stimulate gums

• It can be sterilized by putting it into a boil water.

• Price lower than Grabease

Read more: The best baby spoon fork in 2019

Bumkins silicone chewtensils cons:

• The silicon fork doesn’t work. Not even on the softest foods. Made from silicone bring both pros and cons to it. Since baby can chew it, feel free to imagine how soft is Bumkins silicone chewtensils are.

• The sizes are a little bit too small, smaller than usual baby spoon and fork, it makes baby harder to use.

• Friend of mine have an issue with Bumkins fork, since it is called chewtensils, means baby can chew it, but my friend’s daughter bit it off and almost swallow the bitten part.

Read more: 3 Rules you must follow when giving first food to your children

Bumkis Silicone Chewtensils packaging

Grabease first self-feeding utensils packaging

Grabease pros and cons

Grabease pros:

• Grabease is made from plastic, free from harmful materials like BPA, lead, and phthalates.

• Protect your tot with the baby and toddler fork and spoon set that poses no choking hazards! The cloud acts as a choke protection barrier, preventing the utensils from gagging or harming your little one.

• Grabease short utensil handle makes they are super easy to hold and maneuver, let baby can easily guiding this utensils into their mouth without dropping the food. Grabease short round handles are perfect for baby’s little hand.

• Grabease is not too long, not too deep, not too pointy. Just perfect.

• Dishwasher machine safe.

• A lot of color selection.

• Grabease are the first ergonomic safe self feeding utensils recommended by Occupational Therapists.

Grabease cons:

• Do NOT sterilized it using boiling water!

• Quite pricey comparing with other baby utensils.

Read more: Grabease all-over bib review

Grabease First self-feeding utensils: Green

Bumkins Silicone Chewtensils: Jade

Summary

I like Grabease more than I like Bumkins, why? Because i can see how frustrate my kid when she is using Bumkins fork, she was trying so hard to pitch the toast. Also, the Bumkins more like a teether than a spoon, it is good for transition. When they use Bumkins spoon, my daughter will suck it (the spoon together with the food) while eating. I think Bumkins should sell the spoon separately, I barely use Bumkins’ fork.

After all, it is still depends on your kid’s preference. If your kids just like mine, she or he may prefer Grabease.

“Mealtime should be fun not frustrating.”

The importance to let your baby self-feeding, it's worth the mess

As a new parents, you might being really protective of you kids. You are afraid of choking issue, so you may always feed your children. Of course I know every parents might have different perception about self-feeding for children, let we discuss the importance of allowing children to be in charge of their own feeding and learn how to listen to their bodies, it is also called BLW (baby-led weaning).

This article will let you know why you should stop feeding them and let your little one self-feeding, and yes, letting them self-feeding definitely worth the mess.

Why baby self-feeding is worth the mess?

Learning to eat alone (self-feeding) must be trained early so that the child is active in various things later. When a child is able to grasp something it's good to let them eat by themselves so that his fingers are stimulated.

Children who learn to grab food and put it in their mouths are expected to be more skilled in using their hands for other positive activities such as coloring or drawing.

The more they learns to hold, after a long time their fine motor muscles or small muscles become stronger. When they gets bigger, we stimulate him to self-feeding using a utensils according to his size, and then he gets more skilled, which means he gets stronger again.

What is a good age to start self-feeding and why?

Once you introduce solid food, your child might show signs of wanting to feed himself. Just wait until your child is able to pick up food and get it into their mouths successfully, whether using their hands or utensils, then it is the right time to begin the transition to self-feeding. It is an important stage of children to self-feeding. Self-feeding involves lots of feeling, squeezing and dropping food. It might seem messy, but it’s one of the ways your child develops fine motor skills like learning to hold a spoon.

Read also: 3 Rules you must follow when giving first food to your children

Start baby self-feeding with..

Finger foods

In BLW method there is mentioned about letting your children observe food by their own. Soft, bite-sized pieces of food that are easy for baby to pick up and mash between his gums or teeth. Like a small piece of soft fruit or soft and cooked vegetables like potato or pumpkin. You can add more if they’re finish their meal or if they’re drop it.

Start introduce solid food to them while they are 6 months old, the important thing is finger foods are not their main nutrition resource, by that time we encourage you to keep breastfeeding your baby, but, let them observe foods. You will find out that when they have interested in foods, then it would be easier to let them self-feeding.

Read more: Baby's first solid food

Using utensils

Technically there is no right or wrong about giving children use utensils to self-feeding, as long as utensils was made for children, like Grabease. The self-feeding journey with hands is very important as it helps a baby to experience texture and it is all important for the gag reflex. Utensils then bring to the table the next developmental step in learning about mealtime etiquette and motor development.

Why Grabease is the best fork and spoon to start with?

Let’s talk about traditional children’s cutlery. They look very much like adult cutlery, just scaled down to a small size. However, if you put a traditional child’s spoon next to a baby’s arm, you will see that a “child size” spoon is actually the same length as a 12-month old’s forearm! If adults used the same proportions in utensils when we ate we’d be eating with a serving spoon.  So, traditional children’s utensils are too big.

Read more: Self-feeding utensils, Grabease or Bumkins silicone chewtensils?

Then there is improper hand-hold in “child size” spoon. Due to the long handle, a child can’t use a proper vertical hand grasp to use them, so they hold these handles with a fist. This doesn’t encourage fine motor development.

There really is only one solution and that’s Grabease. They encourage vertical and horizontal hold because of the short ergonomic handle and have been endorsed by Occupational Therapists due to this revolutionary feature.

-The Real Nutritionist-

If you're interested in learning more about the transition to utensils for self-feeding baby, check out this.

Last but not least, messy eating and playing with food are normal parts of your baby’s development when they’re learning to eat independently. It’s normal for your baby to drop or throw food on the floor. If you react when they do this, he might think it’s the start of an exciting new game. One way to handle this is ignore it. Pick up the food calmly, without a fuss. Or you can leave the food on the floor until they finish their meal so you just have the one clean-up.

“Needless to say, teaching children self-feeding is often a long and messy journey. Just let the food fly!!”

— The Real Nutritionist