Living a plastic free, low waste lifestyle is certainly possible with a baby, toddler or kids in tow. Research, preparation, and a few of the right products by your side help considerably. Oh and a support system helps too. You have a friend in me! I’ll always tell you that no matter what, YOU’RE DOING GREAT. Even if you’re not perfect. Progress not perfection… (Are you sick of me saying that yet? Actually, I don’t care – it’s the truth!)

When my daughter started to eat solid foods at 6 months old, I searched around for plastic-free baby and toddler utensils. We were excited by the concept of baby-led weaning (aka baby-led solids or BLW) and knew we wanted to introduce silverware sooner than later.

I came across Kiddobloom and immediately placed an order. I was seriously impressed by their flatware’s shape, weight and quality. My priority list included material (no plastic whatsoever, please!), perceived durability, look/style and functionality. Kiddobloom flatware checked all the boxes.

It’s weird to be excited and impressed by children’s flatware and I didn’t have high expectations, but when my order arrived, I kept saying how beautiful and … hefty … the set was.

I especially like the fact that Kiddobloom utensils are actually functional. As in, the fork can spear things and the spoon holds a lot. The knife is not sharp but it can still cut things well enough. My daughter isn’t really old enough yet to learn to cut but she likes to poke at her food with the knife on occasion. Fun times.

The utensils come in two different sizes – Baby/Early Toddler and Kids. Here’s a size comparison. We went right for the Kid size but I can’t remember why. They worked well but I think if I did it over again I’d get the baby size first and then introduce the larger kid size later.

Some people don’t like their baby forks to actually spear things, because their baby might spear their face or something? And spoons shouldn’t hold more than a tiny speck because its probably a choking hazard. Since we did baby led weaning, we were confident that our daughter would be fine. Yes I’ve very much slurped down allllll the BLW “kool-aid.” (psst…Want to know more about BLW? Check the book (by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett) out from the library, borrow it from a local parent, or buy it used on ebay.)

I can’t say what your baby will do, but I can say that mine didn’t even come close to harming herself – or anything around her – with these utensils. What she can do is easily grasp the handles and shovel food into her mouth with wild abandon. Okay, that might just be because my daughter (blissfully!) loves food**. Like her mama. And her dad. And her dog. We’re a foodie family, what can I say? Even though, ew, the word foodie isn’t my favorite. Oh, whatever… It’s what we are so we should just let our foodie flag fly, I suppose!

**Okay, okay, not everyyyyyy day – she has her very picky days, trust me. But mostly she’s a monster eater and likes a lot of cool stuff, which I adore. 

When I got my first set of Kiddobloom utensils last year, I was also pleasantly surprised at how nice the packaging was. It seems high end and makes these utensils a great gift, even for someone who isn’t as excited by plastic-free utensils as I am. Which is probably most people. But WHY wouldn’t they be psyched, when they are so freakin’ nice?

In terms of waste, there is a little bit of plastic packaging – a film around the outside of the box and some small plastic straws/sticks inside to keep the utensils in place in their (cardboard) box. Given the durability and quality of the utensils, I’m willing to put up with it, but I wanted to share all the details so you can make your most informed decision. Maybe someday plastic film around a box won’t be necessary but my guess is that most people prioritize a pristine box over a 100% plastic-free box that might also end up with some scuffs on it from shipping and handling.

(GIVEAWAY CLOSED – Thanks to everyone who entered!) Now for the fun part… Kiddobloom is going to send one of YOU a free utensil set! Yes sir/ma’am/to whom it may concern… you too can be a utensil nerd like me and a kid in your life can eat in style.

All you have to do to enter this giveaway is sign up for the (infrequent, hopefully interesting/helpful) MeredithTested.com newsletter! Sign up here >>> http://eepurl.com/b4JVUT

If you are already a subscriber, please still sign up through the link above and I promise you won’t get duplicate newsletter. If you have any questions, though, email me meredithtested@gmail.com with the subject line “Enter me in the Kiddobloom Giveaway!” and I’ll sort it out.

Some rules and details:

• This giveaway is open only to individuals in the continental USA, 18+.
• The giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on Sunday, June 12, 2016.
• The winner will be notified via the email address they used to sign up for my newsletter. The winner will have 48 hours to claim prize. After 48 hours, if there is no response, another winner will be chosen.

Sign up for my newsletter to enter to win a stainless steel baby/toddler OR kids utensil set from Kiddobloom >>> http://eepurl.com/b4JVUT

That’s it! Good luck!

*Disclosure – ta da! This is not a sponsored post. I was sent utensils from Kiddobloom to try and they are covering the cost of the product and shipping to whoever – whomever? – wins the giveaway. I had already purchased their products before and love them so I reached out to the brand myself. All opinions are my own, because, yeah, this blog hasn’t been hijacked or anything. It’s all me up in here.