Anyone tried one of these?

[wherethewildthingsare]

I tried ds3 with some ripe banana in one and he sucked and gummed it right out (no mess! but fun to clean) his first real swallowed food at 23 weeks. They look great for slippery fruit/veg and frozen stuff for teething. My boy just wants to bite!

babyfeeder here

(I got mine from ebay for £5, a bit more colourful and the handle is a good teether too - someone imports them from Munchkins in the US)

Yes I did have to hold on to it with him.

I think Jimjams makes a fair point. I can see how this could be useful with a child who needed a bit of extra help with weaning, for whatever reason. And it's true that no-one is being forced to buy it.

When I first saw it I did only think about my experience of weaning my two - and my reaction was "how bizarre" - I do think a lot of unnecessary crap is marketed at parents, I think our insecurities about doing everything "right" are exploited quite cynically by companies peddling endless gadgets and suchlike.

I wouldn't castigate anyone for buying this if they want it, though.

I suppose one baby's unecessary gadget is another's essential life changing piece of equipment. I bought ds3 an amby hammock, it was absolutely wonderful, the best thing I bought ever- he slept through form 6 weeks ish in it, and before we had it wouldn't settle at all, and ds2 would have really benefitted from it as well. DS1 would probably have quite liked it, but it wouldn't have been any sort of necessity for him.
A dimpler is a kind of plastic tray thing (small) that you can kind of grate/puree apples etc on. I suppose like a pocket grater.

Oh I see. I used the fine side of a grater for that (not the really nasty side) as it peels the apple at the same time.

yep that's the thing. I didn't really go out with ds3 so had no need of it. I was out all the time with ds1 and I suppose it would have been useful as it would go in the bag easily and being plastic wouldn't be all spiky and nasty.

Neither would i GS. Just find it totally unnecessary. Didnt say people were being forced to buy it

Totally unecessary to you!

I'm looking at setting up a business developing/sourcing products for a particular SN market, would be freely available for others to buy as well. Would assume that the products will be unecessary for 90% of children, but for the 10% that do need them they may make a huge difference to their families lives (might give them sleep for example). I certainly have no intention of exploiting people's insecurities. And would find it bizarre if people thought I was. 3 kids later I find I don't have that many insecurities when it comes to things like weaning, but this particular tool/gadget was very useful for ds3 at a time. I didn't buy it to be trendy, nor do I feel remotely exploited. It was useful for a time. If it hadn't existed I would have saved myself a tenner but would presumably be either still pureeing everything for a 17 month old, or have spent months holding him upside down whacking his back (actually he was quite good at getting rid of stuck food he just puked everywhere- more washing).

Yes, to me. Live and let live JimJams.

I think your business idea for a one stop SN shop is a really good one.

No-one is accusing you preemptively of exploiting people's insecurities, FGS. If you have found certain things helpful with your particular child, and you want to make those things available to help others with similar needs, all well and good.

However it is my opinion that some companies market unnecessary and expensive gadgets and products at parents, because parents' insecurities about doing parenthood right make them a vulnerable market. I think there are some products around which are nothing but a waste of money, and people buy them because they are given the impression (through advertising etc) that if they don't buy everything they see they are depriving their child.

There's no need to take everything so personally!

I'm not taking it personally, just found this thread bizarre, someone came on, mentioned something she found useful and loads of people piled in saying how unecessary they were, and how people must be just after cash designing them, and how anyone using them must need a security blanket or something. Was simply trying to point out that for some people this gadget is actually - useful- even if only because it saves on having to wash up loads of sick every mealtime.

No, loads of people didn't "pile in" saying those things at all. People expressed their opinions, which differed from yours obviously, and several people made a point of saying if you found it useful, good for you. I don't understand what you're being so hostile about.

Oh well, never mind.

I thought the OP got a bit of a rough time that's all. She was only passing on something that she found useful. I wasn't the OP, but I thought she was jumped on. No idea whether she felt that way or not, but if she did then she knows one other person found it useful. Perhaps we could start an unecessary gadgets section where we could bond and swap ideas?

Oh, I see what you mean now (have reread first 5 or so posts). Yes, from that point of view we probably did come across as a bit snotty.

Sorry, wherethewildthingsare.

Oh thank god, I thought I was going insane. Seriously I was trying to be nice! Particularly because I thought wherethewild might be new (she may not be I have no chance of keeping up these days).

I do think a gadgets section is a great idea though as I am a sucker for catalogues etc.

And - wherethewild- you're still welcome to the bags!

I'm off to bed, and just know I am going to dream about lumps of banana in bags tonight.

Oddly enough, I have spent the greater part of this evening chopping banana and other fruit into freezer bags...

I did buy one for ds. He loved bananas and at about 8 months liked eating them whole - (i.e sucking and mushing them). I used this when out and about to give him something to suck on as didn't make as much mess as a whole banana.

Was very useful a couple of times when we were in big taxis (used them a few times in the U.S)and he was a bit hungry - breastfeeding was not an option as it meant taking him out of the seat. Once we were about 20 mins from our accomodation and there were at least 6 other people in the large taxi van who we would have had to inconvenience for about an hour if I'd asked them to stop. I didn't want to mess the taxi up so gave him this with banana in it. One happy but not too messy baby later things were fine.

On the whole though I could just as easily have done without it - was quite useful/fun but certainly not essential by any means - but then I am one of life's consumers by nature.

Thanks for Jimjams for the support! I'm not new, been on MN about 18 months - I used to be Rach69 - but I just feel sometimes people get mobbed! I really hadn't thought I suggested anything outrageous. Keep up with your opinions though, it's what makes MN different! I have to say that newer mums might not realise that weaning at 6 months is quite a revolutionary idea to anyone with older kids like me. My ds1 is nearly 13 now and I was advised by a paediatrician (I worked with him on an allergy research project!!!) to give him rice and juice at 10 weeks. However, I wholeheartedly agree that 6 months is clearly the way forward, we are better informed now. Ds1 couldn't tolerate much of the food I gave him and he had 'toddler diarrheoa' that persisted for years, quite possibly as a result of his early weaning.

This gadget isn't necessary at all, but I just thought others might have found/find it useful. It certainly saves a lot of mess/wasted food when you're out and about. I'm certainly not insecure or unsure of weaning, I have 4 kids and the older 3 are all keen healthy eaters - evangelical about their 5 a day!

diarrhoea even!

oh and I wanted to say I thought they might be useful for when I return to work and leave ds3 with nursery/grandparents who are VERY nervous about finger foods.