Parents are always looking for innovative products to make feeding their young children safer, and neater. The fresh food feeder, manufactured by Munchkin, Inc, is just such a product.
Munchkin is a company that creates many products for infants and toddlers ranging from safety gadgets to teethers and feeding utensils. The mission of the Munchkin company, which was founded in 1991 by Laura and Steve Dunn, states that their goal is to ‘rid the world of tired and mundane products that excite and delight parents, children, and pets making parenting and life safer, easier, and more enjoyable.’
One of the Munchkin products I have come upon, the fresh food feeder, does just that. This product is a mesh bag that is attached to a textured ring, for easy grasping by little fists. Fresh foods can be placed in the mesh bag, which toddlers chew on. When the mesh bag is sucked and chewed on, food comes out through the holes, all but eliminating any choking hazard.
Obviously, foods have to be soft in order for them to come through the small holes. Fruit is most successful, but cooked vegetables will work too. While using the fresh food feeder makes eating much neater, the juice will still run everywhere so bibs are still a necessity.
One of the main drawbacks to the fresh food feeder is that it is exceedingly difficult to clean. Scrubbing out bits of banana or watermelon from the little holes seemed to take longer than it would have to chop the fruits up into tiny pieces. And, as I mentioned previously, the juice from these fruits can still create quite a mess.
For that reason, I found myself using it mostly for ice cubes. Putting ice in the fresh food feeder created an instant soothing remedy for teething babies. This use is the primary reason I recommend the Munchkin fresh food feeder to all my new-mom friends, and recommend it to readers here.
Another drawback to the Munchkin fresh food feeder has been reported by some parents: their toddler’s hands can manipulate the bag open. I have found just the opposite. Sometimes the mesh bag is difficult to get open, particularly when they are new.
The Munchkin fresh food feeders are sold in packs of two for about $7.99, making them a pretty good bargain. They are durable and are one of my favorite gifts to give to new parents. The fresh food feeders can be found online or at Target, Walmart, and Babies R Us stores.
