These flat utensils help babies learn to feed themselves - my daughter loves learning how to eat solid foods with them

• My daughter Ellie is only 12 months old, but I started exposing her to spoons when she was around six months - specifically the NumNum Pre-Spoon GOOtensils.
• These spoons come in a pack of two, starting at $19.45.
• They're technically considered a pre-spoon, and are designed to help babies and toddlers learn how to use utensils. They're flat, short, and textured, so they make it really easy for her to get food to her mouth on her own.
• Meal time can be stressful and time consuming with a baby, but these give my daughter more independence and in turn, give me more time to eat my own food.

Before I had a baby, I never realized how much work went into helping them learn how to eat.

When my daughter Ellie started eating solids at six months old, things became a lot more complicated than just giving her a bottle of milk. I suddenly felt like my entire day was spent making food, helping her eat food, and cleaning up food.

Ellie is one now, so she still hasn't mastered using spoons and forks. About half of her food still ends up on the floor, on her face, or in our dog's mouth. But the other half that makes it into her mouth is partially due to the NumNum Pre-Spoon GOOtensils.

Anybody who's ever spent much time around a toddler knows that they like to do things for themselves, and these spoons are already helping Ellie do that. Toddlers can also get easily frustrated when they want to do something on their own but can't, so helping them transition to feeding themselves with these spoons makes meal time so much easier and more enjoyable.

Most babies are ready to start solids around six months of age, but check with your pediatrician to make sure your child is developmentally ready to begin eating solid foods.

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Design and use

The NumNum GOOtensils come in a pack of two, and in a gray and green combo or a blue and orange combo.

Each set has "Stage 1" spoon with a bumpy texture and a "Stage 2" spoon with a hole in the middle. Both spoons are designed to help toddlers and babies just dip the spoon into food without having to rotate their wrist, and lift up. With this design, the spoon picks up the perfect amount to help your child be successful while not giving them too much food at once.

Even though Ellie couldn't use the spoons herself when she first started eating at six months, I started exposing her to the NumNum GOOtensils right away by putting a preloaded spoon of food on her tray. She would occasionally pick it up and start figuring out how to use it.

Ellie still hasn't grasped the concept of actually scooping food out of a bowl yet, but she can get food on the GOOtensils because they don't require a scooping motion. Since they're flat, all she has to do is dip her GOOtensil into her food and then bring it to her mouth.

The texture of the Stage 1 spoon is also great for teething babies. With other baby spoons, I get worried that pieces will break off when Ellie uses them as a teether, but with these, I don't have to worry about that at all. I like that the texture actually encourages Ellie to chew on the spoons because that teaches her to bring them back to where her molars will eventually be - which is where she should be putting food to chew.

It seems strange to have a spoon with a hole in the middle, but the Stage 2 spoon with the hole uses surface tension to "pick up" purees and other foods of similar consistency, which one of the NumNum founders explain in a video here. It's basically like dipping a stick into food.

The other great thing about the design of these spoons is that they're only four inches long. A lot of baby spoons are way longer than that, and most are the length of Ellie's arm. Imagine trying to eat with a spoon as long as your arm - it doesn't sound very easy, especially when you're brand new to eating.

The stand out feature

My favorite thing about these is that they make meal time easier for both Ellie and me.

Sometimes I feel like I'm feeding her nonstop, so anything that makes it easier is worth it to me. The earlier she can become independent using utensils, the more we'll both enjoy meal time even more.

Even when she was just starting solids, Ellie always reached for the spoon when I tried to feed her, and she still wants to be able to feed herself. The very design of these spoons is to help toddlers become independent eaters.

Cons to consider

The biggest con of these spoons is that they don't work for everything. They work really well for liquid-y types of food like yogurt, purees, and thick soups, but your toddler isn't going to be able to scoop up things like peas with these spoons.

Another con is that they don't have a choking guard and are labeled as choking hazards for children under three, so you need to be careful not to let your kids play with them when it's not meal time. Your child should always be supervised any time he or she is eating anyway, but make sure you're extra aware with these spoons.

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The bottom line

Rather than just being miniature versions of regular spoons, these pre-spoons were created with the development of babies and toddlers in mind. If your baby is just starting solids, or if your toddler is learning how to use utensils, I highly recommend trying out these pre-spoons - they were a great help for Ellie and I.

Another great baby spoon option is the Grabease self-feeding utensil set, which costs on Amazon. The spoon and fork both have short handles like the NumNum GOOtensils, and also has a choking guard.

Pros: Short handle, easy for kids to get food on the spoon, designed to help babies learn to eat independently

Cons: Potential choking hazard, only work for certain foods/textures

Buy the NumNum GOOtensils (set of 2) from Amazon for $21.94

Buy the NumNum GOOtensils (set of 2) from BuyBuyBaby for $9.99

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