Best Baby Spoons: Making Mealtime More Fun (2020 Guide)
When your little one is ready to embark on solids, they need the right utensils to help them enjoy the world of cereals and purees.
While some parents turn to “throw away” plastic utensils, others prefer to invest in a spoon that will last until they are ready to use full sized spoons.
Not sure which kind of spoon is the best to get?
Read on and I’ll share some secrets to choosing the right one.
Do You Need Baby Spoons and Utensils?
Yes, you need baby spoons and utensils!
Why?
Well, your baby’s mouth is small and can’t handle a full sized spoon.
Regular spoons are hard, cold, and unfamiliar to your child's mouth.
Baby spoons tend to be soft and flexible, less invasive and easy for you and them to handle once they’re ready.
When Does Baby Start Using a Spoon?
A baby starts to use a spoon when they are weaned off their bottle and offered solid food.
This could be as young as four months and as old as eight or nine months. But, the average age to start solids is around six months.
Look for signs of readiness that show your baby is eager to eat. These signs can include:
Tips for Feeding Baby With a Spoon
Like anything, babies need to learn how to use a spoon.
So many parents just assume they can feed themselves with ease. But, there are certain things you can do to set them up for success.
- 1First, let your baby explore their spoon without any food at all. Allow them to pick it up, hold it, and just get used to the way it feels.
- 2Once they have done that, you can position the spoon in their hand and help guide them toward their mouth, telling them to open.
- 3After doing that for a bit, put some first foods on the spoon (like applesauce, pureed banana or sweet potatoes, or their baby cereal) and continue to help them guide it toward their mouth.
This guidance may go on for awhile until your baby builds up their confidence and is strong and steady enough to start doing it on their own.
Trust me, if they are hungry, they will figure out the movement and procedure pretty quickly!
Even if they've mastered self feeding with a spoon, it’s important to remember to stay close by your child’s high chair whenever they are eating anything.
They could easily gag themselves or choke on what they are eating.
Important Features to Look For
Some baby spoons are much better than others. So, when you’re starting your perfect spoon search, consider the following features:
Best Baby Spoons
#1. Munchkin 12 Piece Soft-Tip
Brightly colored and designed with mom in mind, Munchkin's Soft Tip line (click here to check the price on Amazon) can seem more like a toothbrush from the bottom up, save its tiny little spoon head.
These are designed for easy handling and control, most easily identified by their large ergonomic grip and very soft heads.
Bright colors should help make mealtime more exciting with your baby, and the deep set soup spoon styled bowl is regarded by many moms as suitable for use well into toddlerhood. You can also rest easy knowing Munchins are BPA free.
Munchkin's biggest advantage over similar products, their almost surgically pinpointed design on "babies who still need mom's help", tends to also be its biggest weakness.
It is a common criticism that the ergonomic handle which makes feeding your baby easy makes for a spill hazard if you should leave the spoon upright in a bowl or early stage baby food jar.
If you happen to use larger bowls, though, you probably won't experience this small problem. It's also easily avoided by resting the spoon on a sanitary surface.
#2. BabieB Silicone Spoons
As its name implies, the BabieB First Stage spoon (click here to check the price on Amazon) is composed significantly of silicone.
Combined with the plastic core, this makes the silicone head of the spoon extremely flexible, and a good choice if your little one is prone to fighting back during meal time.
The BabieB First Stage is designed with a deep spoon bowl, but small enough to be comfortable for babies as young as four months without many issues. The deep bowl also makes these spoons useful for more watery foods that need to be scooped.
The silcone, which wraps down around the handle, makes for a steady grip so you can easy handle the utensil without worry of spilling. The spoons are colorful, though like the spoons texture, the colors are very soft.
Some downsides are that due to the silicone the BabieB First Stage can stain from certain foods. A lot of moms remark on how their babies enjoy chewing on the soft spoons for fun as teething toys, but that same allure can also apply to household pets.
And due to the soft nature, dogs in particular can tear them apart if they get their paws on them.
You should be mindful of this before bringing these into your home if you have a furry friend.
#3. First Essentials by NUK
The First Essentials by NUK (click here to check the price on Amazon) are small flathead spoons built for your baby's first meal time, and have changed little over the years and still make a solid showing.
Soft silicone caps cover the heads of these metal spoons which makes them compact and easy to store. The shallow head makes them ideal for thicker purees and other baby foods that cling to the head well.
The metal handles allow for a more delicate grip in your hands, though they are not ideal for the transition to your baby learning to feed themselves.
The heads in particular are angled, which makes them easier to squeeze into a picky or obstinate mouth, or if your baby just doesn't like to open up. These are the classic "force feeder" spoons for a reason!
It's important for you to remember that these spoons have a somewhat limited shelf life. Once your baby gets a little larger, getting to nine months or older, the small heads of the spoons will struggle to scoop enough food to keep hungry babies happy.
These are definitely focused on early feeding for babies around six months. The metal handles are also not ideal for self-feeding, giving another strike against them for older babies.
So if you do decide that the classics are model for your family, be ready to replace them with a second stage spoon down the road.
#4. Cuddle Baby
Another model for first time feeders, the Cuddle Baby Gun-Friendly spoons (click here to check the price on Amazon) are soft and ideal teething toys after meal time.
These spoons have a lot of bend to them making them ideal for scraping food from baby food jars and off the sides of bowls. This also applies to your little one if they happen to be a messy eater and you need to wipe some excess off their chins to get it back into their mouths.
Another silicone offering means these spoons are resistant to bacteria and has a contoured handle that adds to the grip on the spoon.
The flat spoon head makes it ideal for portion control and helps limit choking hazards from your baby swallowing too much at once, and the subdued color scheme is relaxing and natural looking.
#5. Munchkin White Hot
The Munchkin White Hot spoons (click here to check the price on Amazon) are much more delicate and traditionally designed.
The head of the Infant Safety Spoon is a more traditional flat bowl feeder, in Munchkin's trademark bright neon colors, with a thin handle, best used for thicker purees and more solid foods than runny mixes.
What really sets these apart is the safety measure; the spoons will change color if its contents are in excess of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. If you plan to use heated food, this can be a helpful indicator to make sure the temperature is just right over having to stick your finger inside.
Some moms who have "hangry" babies find the long handle design to be perfect for scooping fast enough so your baby won't complain at you for feeding too slow!
The precision is also helpful with a rambunctious little one who needs constant attention because their mouth somehow manages to re-position itself moment by moment.
#6. OlaSprout Bendable
Perhaps you don't just want a spoon, but a toy as well?
OlaSprout's Bendable Training Spoon (click here to check the price on Amazon) is just what you're looking for.
Composed entirely of food grade silicone, these spoons have a rubbery quality to them that allows them to bend so far they wrap around themselves.
This is a spoon designed with being a teething toy in mind, and the grip is tactile enough that it makes a great self-feeding tool when your baby wants to start in on that phase as well. The rounded handle is cleverly designed to fit a baby's grip as well.
Perhaps the most ingenious aspect of these is their unique shape. The entire utensil looks like a beansprout, and colored like one to boot.
If you're the kind of mom planning on the future and want the extra nudge when you transition to adult foods, having your baby associate not just mealtime, but playtime with a green bean could ease that little impending struggle!
#7. Gerber Graduates Rest Easy
As a mom, you might have dealt with, or are dreading the possibility of, your baby being a messy eater.
Gerber's Rest Easy (click here to check the price on Amazon) design is made with this exact problem child in mind.
Its most distinguishing feature is the support strut around the neck, which means you can set it aside on the table or counter top without worrying about it getting dirty or any kind of contamination. This should your hands up to wipe up the spills or attend other little crises.
Though this is far from a one trick pony. In addition, the Gerber Rest Easy has a squared head, making it great for wiping baby's face in a pinch.
It also presents a much steadier target for scooping up baby food, as there's not as dramatic a dip in the bowl for splashing problems when trying to fit the whole head inside your baby's mouth.
The extremely long handle should help make high chair feeding a breeze.
Be advised that these spoons tend to discolor, especially with carrots.
But with proper care this shouldn't impact the spoon's functionality at all.
#8. NUK Gerber Graduates 2 Piece
These NUK Graduate spoons (click here to check the price on Amazon) are so named because they are meant to be used during the transition to self-feeding.
Gerber boasts that they've pulled out all the stops, getting advice from developmental experts to design the special handle which should aid your baby's grip.
The head is designed with a unique choice; a cover that helps protect against backflow if your baby closes down too soon. There is certainly some merit to having less of a mess to clean up afterwards.
The head is quite deep, as well, making it ideal for runny or hard foods for post-teething babies, though this spoon is definitively targeted to those aged nine months and up.
Another benefit of the deep dish head is that no matter how wobbly your baby's hands can be, they will still be rewarded with at least some of their food when it finally reaches their mouth.
There is a slight drawback to all this utility, as you might have guessed; they are very needy utensils when it comes to cleaning time.
Though, perhaps at worst, you can see this as shifting the maintenance from cleaning your baby's face to cleaning your baby's spoon, definitely a step up in that regard.
#9. NumNum Pre-Spoon GOOtensils
If your baby or toddler is learning to eat with utensils, and they need something simple, the NumNum Pre-Spoon GOOtensils (click here to check the price on Amazon) make for a great choice. Keep in mind that here you get two spoons, so you don’t always have to wash dishes after each meal.
These are uniquely designed baby spoons that make it easy to scoop up food without spilling too much of it, and this is thanks to both the design of the easy grip handle and the special spoon head. Yes, these spoons are totally safe to use, as they are free of harsh chemicals.
#10. MiChef
A bright pastel pallete in five colors for these MiChef early feeding spoons (click here to check the price on Amazon) will be colorful enough to entertain your baby, but not too loud to clash with your kitchen.
Another silicone offering, these spoons can also double as teething aids. The head of the spoon is translucent, making the contrast with your baby's food quite apparent and easy to see how much food is left, particularly with other watery foods, such as applesauce.
These spoons are soft and designed for low-irritation, allowing them to be forcibly removed from your child's mouth without fear of harming them, or the utensil itself.
Like many others they are good for scraping and wiping. The handle is a wide, long grip making them suitable for a transition to self feeding down the road.
The MiChef Gum Friendlies are in all a decent all-round baby spoon that will get a lot of life through the different stages of feeding your baby.
#11. Nuby
The Nuby set (click here to check the price on Amazon) offers a mix of baby spoons and forks.
These are some of the colorful, artistic, decorated baby spoons on the list, so if your baby loves shapes and colors these with definitely hold an edge in the form department.
Even the handles roll and curve giving them an identifiable shape, though care has been taken to make them ambidextrous for baby use, ensuring there won't be any unforeseen difficulties for a left-handed baby eager to explore.
Intended for ages twelve months and up, these baby spoons definitely aim towards the self-feeding stages of your baby's life.
Made of a BPA free plastic, the texture of these baby utensils will be more transitional for when your baby moves to standard utensils. They make for an excellent follow-up if you buy a set of first stage feeding spoons which become frustrating to use as your infant gets older.
An excellent feature of the forks in particular is that unlike many baby forks, the prongs are elongated so that they can be used to stab soft foods, making these an excellent transition tool all around.
All in all, a good choice for the emerging toddler.
#12. Avanchy Organic
This unique offering from Avanchy (click here to check the price on Amazon) will also help you from compromising your desire for organic materials for the convenience of a baby spoon.
The Avanchy Bamboo spoons are, as the name implies, primarily composed of a biodegradable bamboo shaft, though the head of the spoon remains a food grade silicone for maximum flexibility.
The natural wood look of these spoon handles will likely compliment your kitchen, while the spoon bowls remain bright and engaging for your baby.
The very wide handles deter the silicone teething aid from being a choking hazard, and this carries on with quite a wide head compared to many other products in this list.
This wide design enables the handle to be shorter, making these excellent travel spoons to carry around or to take to a restaurant.
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Wrapping Up
Who knew there was so much that could go into choosing the best baby spoon?
I say that if you’re spending the money, you want to invest in high quality, safe items that you can get lots of use out of.
Consider the features outlined above, and be sure to have plenty on hand for the occasion when your little one weans off the bottle and ventures into the delicious and exciting world of solids!
