Your recommendations for a cutlery and plate set for DS please

[joymaker]

Hi All

My DS is 14 months and can use his own baby spoon, though is increasingly interested in trying to hold and use mine and DP's knife and fork so think it's probably time to get him something of his own.

Can anyone recommend a brand they have seen which functions well for baby use or used with their DC and worked well for them? Think I would prefer something that wasn't plastic, though all suggestions welcome.

Thanks in advance

Oh, just to add it doesn't have to be a matching set, the plate could be a different brand IYSWIM

There is loads of cheap melamine picnic ware in the shops at the mo which is what we use. It doesn't break, doesn't scratch and washes easily. Try Wilkos.

We were given a lovely china weaning set as a first b-day present. DD uses the bowl from it for her cereal in the morning, but is still much too little for china cups and plates.

Ikea do a good set of toddler cutlery, it is plastic, but the knives will cut cheese! I don't know the ikea name but it's rainbow coloured and there are matching bowls, plates and cups. All wash well in dishwasher.

The tommee tippee ones they sell in Boots are good. Plastic handles but metal fork, knife and spoon ends. These ones - only thing is the spoon is a bit flat, but works okay for things like yoghurt which are a bit "sticky" - I just gave DS a normal teaspoon for cereal etc (or the ikea spoons are nicely curved for things like cereal, soup)

I also found some other nice ones in Boots, again metal with plastic handles, they were boots' own but had a nice picture on, just a fork and spoon set. These ones although they were green with farm pictures when I got his. The fork is actually pointy in these ones which is different from the tommee tippee ones.

I found the ikea ones were a bit big for DS' hands, especially at 15 months, although the fact they are plastic does mean they are lighter than a metal set. The ikea plates and bowls are great though. In fact we ended up with Asda's equivalent.

But basically what I found to look for was metal cutlery with plastic handles, around the same length as a normal teaspoon, was the best size for DS to cope with. He still uses them now at 2.9 though he can use proper cutlery now as well.

Hi all ,

Thank you all so much for your great suggestions. I like the idea of a melamine set and I've also seen the bright Ikea sets in passing but will take a closer look at them when I'm next there (though not sure if DS will settle for using these as they might look too different from what DP and I are using). However the metal cutlery with plastic handles to grip, I think would do the trick