The SteadyCup and the Table Booster range were reviewed for us by Fiona and the delicious 2 year old Amy;
When LittleStuff asked me to review the ‘Let’s EAT’ range of pre-school tableware form Steadyco I jumped at the chance – my almost 3 year old daughter desperately wants to be like her big brother (now 5 1/4 – and yes the ‘1/4’ is important so I’ve been told!), and at meal times this can often be a problem as she wants to be independent and do everything herself, including using an open beaker (hooray for laminate floors, eh?) and cutting things up, but often has to begrudgingly admit defeat and let Mummy intervene.
The complete set arrived from Steadyco (a Steady plate, a Steady bowl, a Steady cup, a Steady snack plate, a Steady snack-pot (with a lid) and a Steady three piece metal cutlery set), and my first impressions were positive. The colour was bright, modern and certainly girly without being too babyish and the items were sturdy and well made – we had the pink, much to Amy’s delight, but the range also comes in red, blue, and yellow so there’s bound to be a colour to suit all tastes. I also noticed that the handles on the cutlery were slightly rounded and relatively long, which would hopefully make it easier to hold than the flatter, stubby design that other toddler cutlery often has. The ‘steady’ design of the tableware meant that it had little legs under the rims of the plates, bowl and snack-pot and the cup had a ‘fanned out’ wider bottom giving it extra stability which looked quite funky. I was sceptical about the need for this on the plates and bowls – surely the flat bottom of a plate or bowl is stable enough? – so it would be interesting to see how different it was compared to ‘normal’ toddler tableware.
In any case, Amy certainly showed her instant approval by asking ‘Can we have tea now?’ despite having only just had lunch, so an impromptu snack of grapes and strawberries was made and placed in the snack-pot, which was wolfed down in seconds. No spillage or tipping over at all and tall enough sides so the contents didn’t roll all over the floor.
So far so good, but teatime would be the first real test – could the metal cutlery stand up to the pie that had spent slightly too long in the oven so the pastry was just on the edible side of singed and would the contents of the open cup end up christening the recently cleaned kitchen floor?
Happily, both the cutlery and the floor survived unscathed! Despite my reservations, I think the steady design of the plate did help, as she had to press quite hard to get through the pastry and the plate did not tip up, even when she did this close to the edge. I must confess I did have to help her a bit (this pastry was very crispy!) but the length of the handles and the fact the blade was metal rather than plastic made this much easier. Next came pudding (naturally!) and Amy had a yoghurt and used the spoon. Again she managed to control this well with minimal mess. The only thing I would say is that the spoon is quite large, and while this is probably OK for cereal, it seemed a bit too big to get right into the corners of a child size yoghurt pot. As it is all dishwasher safe it went in with the rest of the family’s things, so no need to do separate washing up. Another big positive is that cleverly incorporated into the design of the bases are drain holes, so when it comes out clean at the end of the cycle there is no trapped water to tip over yourself when you unload it YAY!
One point I feel I should make is that Steadyco state that they are correctly sized to help parents’ measure the right portions for their pre-school child. While they are clearly smaller than adult flatware they are still aimed at quite a wide age range and not graduated or marked in any way so the parent will still need to make a judgment on how much to give their child – but as all children are different anyway this is only a minor thing and they are still a good guide to portion size nonetheless.
So we’ve had this set for nearly a month now and it’s still as popular as the first time we used it. All the products are good but in my opinion the item that stands out for me is the cup. So far we have had very few spillages as she manages to control it very well and the transition has been fully and successfully made to an open cup. Unlike using a normal beaker but without the lid, this cup is designed to be used as an open cup so the handle is in the right place for balance and control. With the wide bottom it is also less likely to get knocked during a busy mealtime! It does also come with a lid, so drinks can be transported, but to be honest I haven’t been brave enough to give that a go yet. I must also admit were not really a snacking household so the snack plate has only been used at breakfast time for toast, and the snack-pot only a handful of times, but this will depend on your needs I guess. I should also point out though that the snack-pot is relatively large and although it comes with a lid so is designed for travel, I felt it was a little too big to fit in to that already bulging changing bag.
So to summarise, as a Mum I definitely think the Steadyco tableware set is a good way of allowing your toddler to feel more grown-up and give them the confidence to be more independent at the meal table. More importantly it also gets a big thumbs up from Amy too.
Available direct from Steadyco, the table set starts at £15, and comes in a huge array of colours.
These award-winning, cleanly removable stickers instantly transform a room and create magical spaces for babies and young children to grow, play and learn.
