Whether your baby is starting solids or your toddler is fully onto broccoli trees, there's something in here for them.
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For the beginning of your baby's first year, you're feeding them via nursing and/or with a baby bottle. But after the 6-month mark and with the guidance of your pediatrician, you'll be introducing solids and perhaps baby-led weaning. This is when you might invest in a high chair as well as baby bowls, plates and spoons to make the process easier. Maybe some baby bibs as well!
Our list includes baby dishware recommended by our Good Housekeeping Institute Lab pros, consumer testers, other current parents of babies we interviewed, plus sets that are highly rated in online user reviews.
Many parents search for baby bowls that suction right onto a high-chair tray or tabletop. Those can be helpful so less food ends up on the floor, though user experience varies — some people have trouble getting them to stick, and some babies think it's a fun game to try and peel suction bowls off. Parents also search for divided plates, so that foods each sit in their own compartment — we have many of those, and list their pros and cons below the story. Ultimately, we think it's smart to have several different kinds of bowls and plates available while your child learns to feed themself.
Find out details below on what makes these baby plates and bowls great. And if you're deep in this life stage, you might also be interested in the list of best organic baby food brands and the best baby food makers.
If you're looking for baby bowls that suction and stick to a high-chair tray or tabletop, these are the most popular, recommended to us by parents and earning more than 19,000 five-star reviews on Amazon. "I find each of the three sizes useful and they stack well together," a mom to a 6-month-old told us. Just place your finger under the tab on the suction bottom to peel a bowl back up when mealtime is done.
If your baby is in a Tripp Trapp high chair or a similar chair without a tray, we have found that these will stick to most dining tables. Online reviewers post conflicting findings of their own; some say they can't get these to stick to textured surfaces or have trouble securing them if the high-chair tray is filled with crumbs, but other reviewers say these stick almost too well and can be hard to peel off. At this price point, we feel they are worth a try. They can also go in the microwave and the dishwasher (on the top rack).
Affordable with a 4.6 rating on the retailer's website, Target's playful kid dish is a dishwasher- and microwave-safe divided plate in the shape of a panda. There's a pink bunny version, too! You could use this plate for baby-led weaning all the way through the elementary-school years because although it's baby- and toddler-appropriate, it's definitely kid-friendly.
While the ears provide mini divided sections for sauces or snacks, there's no suction on this one, though some parents tell us that's OK. "When my toddler was a baby, he would just rip the suction-cup ones off like it was a challenge," says one mom who found her son would leave non-suction baby plates alone. Kids! They're all different.
New from Lalo, makers of a popular high chair, this seven-piece silicone set is designed with baby-led weaning in mind. Both the bowl and the divided plate have suction bottoms. The 4-ounce cup has training handles and can be used three ways: With the straw, with just the spout, or open like an adult cup. The two bibs each feature a crumb catcher and there are also two beginner's spoons. If you're letting your baby feed themself, this set is built for their little hands but also meant to minimize as much mess as possible.
You can also buy this set in blue, pink, yellow or an oatmeal color. All the pieces are dishwasher- and microwave-safe. (Though for cleaning the inside of that sippy straw you will need the kind of bottle brush set that includes a sippy brush.) Some online reviewers balk at the price of this set; it is the priciest item on our list, but also the largest set.
This nice starter set could make a practical baby-shower gift, if you have friends having kids. The plate and bowl each have suction bottoms to attach to a high-chair tray or tabletop and the soft spoon is perfect for a young baby just starting solids. The baby-led weaning cup is a "real" one with no handles or sippy top but it's tiny, so if milk does spill there's no need to cry.
This set comes in six different aesthetic colorways and all the pieces are dishwasher- and microwave-safe. A small percentage of online reviewers have trouble making the suction work but there are few other complaints.
This 7-inch round plate is divided into three compartments with an extra section in the middle that is fun to use for dips or a small portion of anything. Many online reviewers as well as parents we spoke to feel the suction on this OXO plate holds better than most.
Parents who use this plate also say it cleans really well. You can separate the bottom silicone suction piece from the top plastic plate and wash both. But note: Some little genius toddlers watch their parents do that and then they make a game of twisting the bowl off the base. So maybe don't ever let your kid see you separate the two!
First of all, this baby plate looks like a smiling face, which we just love. But many parents also like the EZPZ silicone suction plate with a built-in placemat because, unlike many baby bowls which tend to run small, it's a good size (roughly 8" x 11", like a standard piece of paper) for both babies and toddlers to help contain messes. Safe for the dishwasher and microwave, it also conveniently comes with its own reusable travel bag, terrific for road trips or going to restaurants.
"We used this for baby-led weaning and also for the occasional purées or yogurts, and loved it for both purposes," a parent told us. "With the purées, I’d load the EZPZ spoon, hand it to them, and have them bring it to their mouth." A few online users complain of the silicone retaining the taste of dish soap; see our box at the bottom of this story for how to clean silicone baby bowls, but the main advice is to use fragrance-free cleaning products.
This set is just so handy for transporting food, storing leftovers and feeding your kid — and it's at an almost unbeatable price for all you get. There are four small bowls with lids, plus two baby spoons that are excellent for self-feeding. These bowls are very snack-size — fill one with Cheerios and throw it in your diaper bag. If you also have an older kid, they're great for holding fruit in a preschooler's lunch box.
Even though they're safe for the freezer, microwave and dishwasher, they're not going to be as long-lasting as glass or harder plastic food-storage containers but they're lightweight and will work for the early years. They've earned more than 14,000 five-star reviews on Amazon.
In striving to find alternatives to plastic and silicone, many parents are turning to affordable, beautiful bamboo bowls for babies — and this one has a suction base as well as baby's first spoon. But a note from our Lab pros: Reusable bamboo kitchenware (like this set) likely has a coating or lacquer on it which can negate some of the "natural" claims. If the plate has a shiny look, it’s safe to assume there is a resin coating it. The bamboo bowl and the spoon should only be hand-washed in your sink, but you could run the suction base through the dishwasher. Even with hand-washing we notice some online reviewers saying that their bowl eventually comes apart and must be replaced.
This bowl is small, only 5 inches in diameter, but it's a nice 2.5 inches deep. The set comes in nine color options and gets solid Amazon reviews even with the notes about the bowl eventually needing to be replaced. When your babe gets older, this brand also makes a stainless steel sectioned toddler plate with a suction base which won't come with any of the worries of bamboo.
The pediatrician and mom of three who is behind the Ahimsa brand, Dr. Manasa Mantravadi, is passionate about parents using stainless steel for their kids' plates, bowls and cups. The nonporous metal doesn't stain and limits bacteria growth. The material can be costly, but our Lab pros feel it can be worth it. In fact, it won one of our Parenting Awards for durable dinnerware.
Lexie Sachs, our Good Housekeeping Institute Executive Director of Strategy & Operations and a mom of two who are past the toddler stage, likes this brand and is still using it. "First, Ahimsa is super pretty," Sachs says. "Though it's expensive, I have two sets and they've held up exceptionally well, especially compared to plastic ones." We recommend starting with this handy set of four bowls to see if you like them — they're classy enough for an adult party even if they are meant for your baby's meals. If you're loving how the stainless steel wears and washes, check out the $99 full set with cutlery, a cup and more that Sachs uses.
Here's another winner of one of our Parenting Awards. There are three ways to configure this: The divider can come off and be used on its own, the sandwich plate can be used on its own as well, or you can layer them together as shown. Our consumer testers found the system to work well both with babies learning to self-feed and with picky-eating toddlers. Some kids have a really hard time when food is touching other food.
There's a suction base on the bottom to help this hold to surfaces. It comes in nine different colorways and is dishwasher- and microwave-safe.
Nutrition Lab Director and Registered Dietitian Stefani Sassos has tried a lot of baby and toddler plates with her daughter, and has come to really love this simple one from Bumkins. "Wow, the suction is great," Sassos says. "It also has a flat end you can line up with the edge of the table so it sits close to your child." It's not divided, but that helps make it easy to clean. Sassos also likes the inch-deep walls that hold food in.
This plate is safe for the freezer, microwave and the top rack of the dishwasher; it's even oven-safe up to 400°F. If you plan to store this in the fridge or freezer with food inside, consider buying the separate dish cover.
Once your toddler is old enough to have favorite characters, having them featured on the dinner plates can make mealtime much more appealing. Sachs recommends Zak Designs when you just want some simple cuteness. This set is Bluey but there are three other designs too: Mickey Mouse, Frozen, and Grogu from The Mandalorian.
These three pieces are for toddlers who can use a real cup and are past the flipping-the-bowl stage, however they are made of durable melamine. The pieces are dishwasher-safe but melamine should never be put in the microwave.
This list was based on consumer testing as part of our annual Parenting Awards, the personal experience of our Lab directors who are also parents, our author's deep knowledge of juvenile product brands and her interviews with current parents who have started a baby on solids within the last year. More than 30 possible bowls and plates were considered to get down to our dozen favorites.
As part of every review, we also comb through user comments online to get a better sense of all possible pros and cons, and we read current Reddit threads to best understand both trends and top concerns.
Here are some of the choices you'll be making as you shop for your child's dishware:
✔️ Material: Many parents are good with BPA-free plastic which is cheap, fairly durable and straightforward to clean. A growing number prefer silicone, which is soft and flexible — see our box below on how to properly clean silicone dishware. Melamine is an inexpensive, extra-strong plastic most often used for toddler plates and bowls; it can be printed with cute designs. It's not unbreakable though, and will chip and crack over time.
There is also stainless-steel baby dishware, which is heavier but the most durable and very easy to clean. Finally, we've noticed a lot of bamboo baby bowls, which look nice and are inexpensive, but they have to be hand-washed. Also, don't believe claims about bamboo being all natural; for bamboo kitchenware to be reusable, it must have both a binding and a coating (usually plastic, though many brands will not reveal that). We don't recommend glass for baby bowls and plates, since a baby tossing a bowl over the side of a high-chair tray is pretty much a right of passage.
For how each material holds up in household appliances such as the microwave, dishwasher and oven, see the box below.
✔️ Suction: Speaking of babies upending bowls and plates — many now come with silicone suction-cup bases that can help hold the baby's dishware securely to the high chair tray or table. When it works, it's fantastic. But sometimes parents complain that they can't get a bowl or plate to hold; other times clever babies figure out the secret to removing the dishware anyway.
✔️ Sets: We concentrated mostly on the bowls and plates but it's nice when a set also comes with a baby spoon, cup or even bibs. If you do find a bowl you love that's not part of a set, chances are the brand sells the other pieces separately.
✔️ Cleaning: Most of the choices on our list are dishwasher-safe but hand-washing in a sink is always an option, and is necessary if the dishware is made of bamboo. For hand-wash-only items, we recommend having a drying rack.
✔️ Reheating: If you want to pop baby dishware into the microwave to reheat food, be sure you're choosing bowls and plates designed for that. Most silicone baby bowls and some plastic ones can go in the microwave. However stainless steel, bamboo and melamine can not be microwaved.
After reading Reddit and online-review chatter about many silicone baby bowls and toddler plates taking on the taste of dish soap and dishwasher detergent, we turned for advice to our in-house cleaning guru, Carolyn Forté, Home Care & Cleaning Lab Executive Director of the Good Housekeeping Institute.
"Silicone items are known to smell and sometimes even taste like detergent, especially when washed repeatedly in the dishwasher," Forté says. "To prevent this, wash these items by hand in a dye- and fragrance-free dishwashing liquid and rinse them thoroughly before drying."
Two to try that are marketed specifically for baby products are Dapple Bottle & Dish Soap and Babyganics Foaming Dish & Bottle Soap. But if you'd rather throw your kids' silicone dishes in the dishwasher for ease and convenience, there is also fragrance-free Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent.
The golden rule is "follow all manufacturer instructions" but here are some basics:
BPA-free plastic baby bowls and plates can always be hand-washed and most do fine in the top rack of the dishwasher. Many can also go in the microwave, but check manufacturer directions, per USDA guidelines. Only put plastic in the microwave if the brand says it is microwave-safe. Of course don't put plastic in the oven, and though it is fine in the refrigerator, it might crack if you put it in the freezer and the contents expand.
Silicone baby dishware does best when hand-washed with fragrance-free dish soap, as noted in the box above. Many home cooks love silicone because it can be safely microwaved. Since it has some give, it holds up in both the fridge and the freezer. It's often oven-safe too, though only the Bumkins dish on our list specifically calls out being oven-safe.
Melamine is a hard plastic that does fine in the dishwasher. It should never be microwaved, though, and is not for the oven. (Read what the FDA has to say about melamine and the importance of not putting it through high heat.) You can use melamine in the refrigerator but it can get brittle if kept below freezing in your freezer.
Stainless steel can be hand-washed or put in the dishwasher but it's best to not run it through a hot drying cycle. We'd recommend following the Ahimsa instructions for caring for stainless-steel dishware. Do not put stainless steel or any metal in the microwave. And while you probably could put it in the oven, a stainless-steel baby bowl would grow so hot that it would take a long time to cool — we dob't recommend it. It can go in the fridge or freezer if necessary.
Bamboo baby bowls must be hand-washed and will degrade if they're left soaking in a sink or are run through the dishwasher. Bamboo can not go in the microwave or in an oven. Bamboo is not really recommended for the fridge or freezer either, sorry to say! Bamboo dishware is made for serving food but is not so compatible with kitchen appliances.
"As I’ve learned both as a mother and dietitian, there are benefits of divided plates — and good things about using regular ones," says Stefani Sassos, M.S., R.D.N, Good Housekeeping Institute Nutrition Lab Director and mom of Stella, shown here feeding herself from a divided plate. "Eating off of regular, undivided plates gets your child used to foods touching. Undivided plates are used in restaurants and other people’s houses, so that familiarity is important."
But divided plates do give toddlers some autonomy. "Divided plates have multiple raised edges that give a baby or toddler assistance as they scoop with a spoon or pick up food with a fork," Sassos says. "The visual cues of having sections can also remind a caregiver to serve different food groups. I think the best thing is to alternate between divided and undivided so your child benefits from both."
Our Parenting Lab pros are just some of the experts we have doing year-round product reviews to help consumers make smart decisions about what to buy. If you've got a growing family, you might also want to see our annual list of the Best Family Cars as well as our Family Travel Awards.
This list of baby bowls and plates was compiled by Contributing Writer Jessica Hartshorn. A mom of two, she spent 19 years as an editor at American Baby magazine and another 10 as an editor at Parents magazine (with five of those years working for both at the same time). She used her own market expertise, data from Good Housekeeping Institute directors and consumer testers, and interviews with current parents for this article.
Jessica (she/her) is a freelance writer with several decades of experience writing lifestyle content and evaluating home and parenting products. A mom of two teens and two cats, her previous work can be seen in American Baby and Parents.
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