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Get Z Recommends via First Look: Thinkbaby’s new feeding set
By Jeremiah | November 25, 2008 | 72 comments / Join the conversation!
We teased this feeding set a few weeks ago and revealed in our Holiday Gift Guide that the manufacturer is Thinkbaby, the startup we named one of the leading companies to watch in the third and final edition of our Z Report on BPA before we shifted to our directory-style ZRecs Guide format. We gathered from our intensive interviews across the industry that Thinkbaby would be up to interesting things in the months and years to come, although we didn't know quite what. I'm pleased to announce they're about to prove us right.
I'd like to give you a walk-through of this feeding set, which is the best new collection of tableware we've seen and tested in a long time. It's not only not available yet, but hasn't even been seen anywhere else online yet. It'll be available for sale in mid-December, but we're going to wow you with our industry pull at the end of this post. First, the reveal, in reverse order of interest.
Every feeding set needs utensils. These are nice ones, but nothing to blog home about. Contoured to help kids scoop, made of polypropylene with TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) handles for grip.
OK, getting intriguing. This cup has a polypropylene shell and a stainless steel interior, and the two parts separate for cleaning. This means that your child's drink never comes into contact with plastic, but the plastic insulates the drink. Stainless steel, like glass, is pretty much the gold standard for food contact items, and Thinkbaby's advanced thinking on this - pairing metal and plastic to draw out the strengths of each material - is clever and functional. The handle has a break in it, so it doubles as a carry clip for attaching it to a diaper bag or stroller handle. (The rough edges you might notice on the logo on our cup are due to the fact that we were using a prototype, which typically do not use the final logo application method but a cheaper and less durable ink.)
The feeding set's two bowls offer the same polypropylene cladding and stainless steel interior and also come apart for cleaning. You can use the stainless steel bowls on their own, if you like. Both bowls also come with well-fitting polypropylene lids, in orange so they're easy to find. One bowl is deeper than the other, but their diameter is the same, which means each lid fits both bowls. Perfect for storing leftovers or carrying a meal on the go.
Our favorite piece in the set, Thinkbaby's "bento box" closes with a tight seal on all four sides but releases easily. With a polypropylene exterior and a stainless steel interior, this container is the only one in the set that doesn't come apart.
The entire set is BPA-free (and phthalate-free, although that pretty much goes without saying for tableware these days). It's expected to be priced at around $40 for the set, and available in the next couple of weeks from Thinkbaby's website, after their first batch arrives at their warehouse.
In addition to having this exclusive first look at the set, however, Z Recommends has also been offered the chance to give away a set now - that's pre-release, baby! Company reps have set aside a full set from the small stash of finished samples they've had air freighted over in advance of the full shipment. For us, it's a small way of thanking you for your impassioned participation in discussions about the best, the safest, and the coolest in kids' tableware, sippy cups, and baby bottles in the year-plus we've been reporting on BPA and safer products for the care and feeding of your kids.
To enter, comment on this post and tell us who in your life would actually appreciate just how cool it would be for you to have this sweet set of kids' tableware before it was actually available for sale.
If you do know someone with whom you could fawn over your exclusive score like a couple of Harley dudes over the latest chopper, ask yourself, Do they know about Z Recommends? Because they totally should, don't you think?
If you don't, just give yourself a moment to reflect on how odd niche web communities can be.
Official rules: One entry per person. Entrants must be 18 or older and have a U.S. mailing address to ship the prize to. We'll accept entries until 10:59 p.m. CT on Dec. 1, 2008, and contact the winner via email shortly thereafter. If the winner fails to respond within five business days, we'll award the prize to an alternate. No purchase necessary.
I'd like to give you a walk-through of this feeding set, which is the best new collection of tableware we've seen and tested in a long time. It's not only not available yet, but hasn't even been seen anywhere else online yet. It'll be available for sale in mid-December, but we're going to wow you with our industry pull at the end of this post. First, the reveal, in reverse order of interest.
Every feeding set needs utensils. These are nice ones, but nothing to blog home about. Contoured to help kids scoop, made of polypropylene with TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) handles for grip.
OK, getting intriguing. This cup has a polypropylene shell and a stainless steel interior, and the two parts separate for cleaning. This means that your child's drink never comes into contact with plastic, but the plastic insulates the drink. Stainless steel, like glass, is pretty much the gold standard for food contact items, and Thinkbaby's advanced thinking on this - pairing metal and plastic to draw out the strengths of each material - is clever and functional. The handle has a break in it, so it doubles as a carry clip for attaching it to a diaper bag or stroller handle. (The rough edges you might notice on the logo on our cup are due to the fact that we were using a prototype, which typically do not use the final logo application method but a cheaper and less durable ink.)
The feeding set's two bowls offer the same polypropylene cladding and stainless steel interior and also come apart for cleaning. You can use the stainless steel bowls on their own, if you like. Both bowls also come with well-fitting polypropylene lids, in orange so they're easy to find. One bowl is deeper than the other, but their diameter is the same, which means each lid fits both bowls. Perfect for storing leftovers or carrying a meal on the go.
Our favorite piece in the set, Thinkbaby's "bento box" closes with a tight seal on all four sides but releases easily. With a polypropylene exterior and a stainless steel interior, this container is the only one in the set that doesn't come apart.
The entire set is BPA-free (and phthalate-free, although that pretty much goes without saying for tableware these days). It's expected to be priced at around $40 for the set, and available in the next couple of weeks from Thinkbaby's website, after their first batch arrives at their warehouse.
In addition to having this exclusive first look at the set, however, Z Recommends has also been offered the chance to give away a set now - that's pre-release, baby! Company reps have set aside a full set from the small stash of finished samples they've had air freighted over in advance of the full shipment. For us, it's a small way of thanking you for your impassioned participation in discussions about the best, the safest, and the coolest in kids' tableware, sippy cups, and baby bottles in the year-plus we've been reporting on BPA and safer products for the care and feeding of your kids.
To enter, comment on this post and tell us who in your life would actually appreciate just how cool it would be for you to have this sweet set of kids' tableware before it was actually available for sale.
If you do know someone with whom you could fawn over your exclusive score like a couple of Harley dudes over the latest chopper, ask yourself, Do they know about Z Recommends? Because they totally should, don't you think?
If you don't, just give yourself a moment to reflect on how odd niche web communities can be.
Official rules: One entry per person. Entrants must be 18 or older and have a U.S. mailing address to ship the prize to. We'll accept entries until 10:59 p.m. CT on Dec. 1, 2008, and contact the winner via email shortly thereafter. If the winner fails to respond within five business days, we'll award the prize to an alternate. No purchase necessary.
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Totally awesome! I know some mommy friends that would be jealous if I had this set. Can I still win even though I write for Tranquil Parent? Hope so! Are these dishwasher safe???
My husband! He could only wish his work lunches would be packed in these awesome containers.
The other moms in my natural mama group would be so excited (or maybe a little jealous). I feed my 11 month old out of pyrex prep bowls. They don’t travel well… or at all. I think they’d all find it funny if I finally upgraded to a feeding set actually intended for children.
Uh… all the other Montessori mommies at Roo’s preschool!
Every Mom I know! This set is the coolest thing I have seen and would be so useful for feeding my daughter and especially her new brother or sister.
My new mommy friend who is actually a natural mommy too...she would be so jealous! And of course my kids, 3 yrs. and 1 yr. would love them. And I love that they are not only safe, but because of their storage capacity, their usefulness will extend beyond just tableware.
My sister, who lived for a few years in Japan, might actually find these cooler than what they have in Japan (usually, nothing in the US is cooler then what they have in Japan). My two little ones would get a ton of use out of these. We adore bento boxes especially!
My mommy friends would totally be jealous...and my toddler would love her own very special feeding set!
I have some mom friends online (who I am constantly referring to ZRec’s, especially for BPA stuff) who would be jealous. But, I’m completely in need of a good set of dishes for my mom’s house...she keeps buying stuff and I have no idea if it’s BPA-free or not!
FINALLY what we’ve been looking for! keep up the AWESOME work for creating safe families!
We will be traveling to China soon to meet our son and this looks like a great set to travel with.
-Violet
I know some of the mommies in my moms group who would recognize how cool this set is.
How neat! Fashion and function...and safe. What a great set
My fellow blog-reading mommies would be SOOO jealous.....and I might actually be jealous of my kids getting to use this super cool set!
These are so cool! And some old friends of ours who adopted a baby boy would love to use them (since our son is actually moving into real plates and silverware… finally)- they’re still figuring out all the baby stuff, and since our friends each have multiple siblings with kids- it would be something they actually found first!
Well, there are a lot of people who would be wowed, my sister, my husband, me, grandparents, nana (great-grandma), many of my Mommy friends, but the most important person would be my beautiful 8-month old daughter. And I would be so happy to have an entire dish set for her that I don’t have to worry about. As you know at 8-months she wants to put everything in her mouth. I feel it is such a balancing act and I would love to feel confident in her dish set. Thank you so much for this great great website.
AWESOME! My cool cousin in Paris who is about to have a baby would love this...maybe, however, I will keep it for myself!!!!!
Well in addition to me my sister would love these. They are great. Thanks for the giveaway.
Wow..
my daughter is starting to eat more adult food, this would be great!
Great looking set! Am I the only one wondering if the stainless would be inconvenient for reheating (microwaving) food?
As the president of our MOMS Club, I know I’d get ooh’s and aah’s when I walked into playgroup with these =)
Have a great holiday.
My little guy will be starting solids right around Christmas time...seems like ti would be the perfect gift!!
My husband - He’ll be jealous of the awesome orange color. (And that he can’t use it because it’s the kids’ set).
My grandfather - Probably one of the oldest people out looking for cutting edge green products.
And definitely my friends… we’re always looking for safer products for our kids.
My best friend (a new mom) who lives in Tokyo - she’d be impressed with the bento-style on THIS side of the world!
my mommy friends would be totally jealous of this! we have all been concerned with the prevalence of BPA in food containers and this feeding set is just too cute!
I would be the coolest Mum on the block with this set! I have a 3 year old and an almost 6 month old about to start solids, so the release of these items couldn’t come at a better time!
*i* would probably be the person in my life who’d think it would be uber-cool to have this before it was for sale - and that’s enough!
My mom will be totally jealous of me. We come from a country where stainless steel is very popular among tiffin boxes and she misses it here. Waiting to get one of these.
What a great set! I have a couple friends that would be wowed by this set.
I’m excited! I love the orange color and that it’s functional (clip-handle cup is super cool!) and appears to store easily.
None of my mommy-friends seem too worked up about BPA so I would keep it all for myself. Maybe they will convert when they see that there are other options out there.
All the moms in my mom’s group would be SUPER impressed! I’d LOVE the set!
the moms in my babysitting coop!
Well, I would probably think it was the coolest to have it. :P But then I would have to take it to playgroup and show it off to all the other mommies there. :)
My daughter would definitely get a lot of use out of this - she’ll be two in just 2 1/2 weeks!
I know my sister would think it would be cool for me to have this ASAP, because my daughter is just starting to eat “real” food! She’s very savvy about safety.
I need 2 - one for each of my kids for school. If only the cup had a lid....
But my kids would love this set.
Having this would totally impress all the moms who come into the pediatric office where I’m the practice manager. It would also prove once again that we’re on the cutting edge of child product safety (we discouraged BPA use long before it became a hot topic). After everyone had seen (and drooled over) the set, I’d give it to my mom in CT to use for my niece when she comes over! (We’ve raved and continue to rave about zrecommends.com to all the parents in our practice.)
Who would be jealous? Uh....everyone that saw them! Especially all of the mommies at my daughter’s daycare. These are awesome! I have to pack her food for school every day and I am struggling to find something that works better than those Take N Toss plastic bowls. Cheap? Yes. Does it show? Yes. I’ve thrown out about 80% of them already. So having something that will actually work and last would be great! Hooray for the freebie and pre-release! Happy Turkey Day everyone!
i would love these. i am in the process of converting all our plastic to bpa free and these would be great. everyone i know would be jealous!
My husband would also be jealous--what a great travel set. we were stuck during this thanksgiving trip b/c we couldn’t take any of our glass bowls on the flight.
My sister-in-law would think this set is great… and I already told her about ZRecommends when she was phasing out plastic and looking for new bottles for her next baby!
I would love this set for my daughter Sophia! She’s almost six months old and I haven’t started feeding her solids yet because I am still trying to find something safe to feed her out of. This set would be perfect!! Thanks for finding this great product!
I would love this set! My brother is a designer for one of the largest food packaging companies in the world. This is like something he would design and it would be cool to show it to him. Plus it would be a great set to feed my daughter with when she starts solids.
Not only would I love this set for my son and daughter, but my husband would appreciate it, for all the obsessing and purchasing I’ve done to rid our kids’ tableware collection of BPA! Thanks for the opportunity!
My child when he grows up knowing I looked out for him.
This would be perfect for transporting A’s food too and from Nana’s and Aunt Karen’s! I love their sippy cups, so I am sure this is a great product.
My 2 kids would probably both love the set (and may fight over it), but especially my son, whose favorite colour is orange!
I’ve been waiting for a set like this for a long time! I have two kids who each need one...and a husband who will be relieved to hear that I can finally stop looking for the perfect (leakproof) stainless steel bento box.
This would be perfect for my 14 month old son. We’re still transitioning to safe dishes and cups for him. What a great set!! Happy Turkey Day!
After spending much time researching to find a stainless steel cup suitable for my young kids and finding little to choose from, I’d love a set like this for my youngest daughter who’s six months old and will need some safe kid-ware soon!
this set looks perfect for my nephew for christmas. He will be turning 6 months right around that time and needs some sturdy and portable BPA free kid-ware. I would love to be able to take the worry out of this transition for my sister...she really deserves it. Thank you so much for the give-away. I’m sure the lucky winner will be thrilled.
You had me at bento. Seriously. I can think of a lot of people who would be jealous of my three kiddos having this cool set, but I’m more excited about the prospect of it encouraging others to actually buy them. I am an assistant principal at a K-12 school and am often able to bring my kids along on the elementary field trips and things. The (Montessori) elementary kids LOVE to know what I am eating and check out what cool things I have for my kids (a two year old and seven month old twins). I try my best to encourage my students to do the whole trash-free lunch thing and there is not a doubt in my mind that they would think I was the COOLEST if I had these snazzy, safe containers. My husband would love the safety, my kids would love the funky orange color, and my colleagues, students and their parents would definitely hail me as the cool-safety mom that I so desperately try to be in this economy! So please PICK ME!!! West Michigan will thank you for it!
I know one mom who is always intrigued when I take out A’s lunch: his klean Kanteen sippy cup, the big round clunky korean metal lunch pail. But most of all me! I love this set and if it’s diswasher safe, I just have to have it! I bought some metal cups from the camping store but they got banged up in the dishwasher. This set is just what I’ve been dreaming of!
This would be such a sweet gift for my 5-month-old niece. Her Mommy, my sister-in-law, is very green & organic. She would totally love this! Thanks :)
Firstly, I would love it but I know several moms at LLL meetings who would be intrigued and my sister in law who has a 6 month old will definitely be turned on to Z recs - don’t know why I didn’t think of that before. What an awesome set. If I don’t win one, I’m definitely buying one. Thanks for all you do.
This is great! I have been looking for stainless steel bowls to store my 1 year old son’s food in, and these are perfect. I can’t wait to get a set!
Man, those are cool! I would be thrilled for my daughter and myself if we had those. And I’m sure my husband would be happy to lessen the frequency of my “plastic tirades”, as he calls them.
Great to find something so cool looking and SAFE for my little ones. I have a 4 yr old and a 3 month old. I’d get great use out of this. My hubby will love the orange color, his alma mater colors are orange. Thanks for all your research!
Finally, something safe and too cute for words. Love it!
We love orange in our house, everyone’s favorite colour. These are the best.
I live in Canada and would love to show these off to everyone here.
Great idea for my son who is heading off to school next year and my daughter who will be starting solid foods soon.
Thanks for sharing, as always, your reviews are so helpful!
We already have the Thinkbaby bottles, then the sippy cup attachments, so now we are ready to move on up to the big girl set! Thanks for giving us a sneaky peak!
My brother has a 2 month old baby. He is being as safe as possible with her. This new product would be a great way to introduce him to BPA products besides bottles for when he starts to feed her in a couple of months! I would love to be able to wrap it and put it under the tree for him-and be able to tell him he has it before anyone else!
wow, i would love to have this set for my son, and i’m sure my best friend would appreciate this just as much as she has two little ones.
Of course, I will appreciate a product of integrity. My teenage daughter will love seeing her toddler sister w/ a safe item harnessed by her “hippy-uber-health nut” mom. And my sweet hubby respects, supports, and appreciates every little thing........No one would be jealous, just happy for us and anticipating getting their own......
For sure, all the mommies in my MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group would love this! I’ve quit using plastic bags for travel lunches, and these would be awesome to use!
Oh, I would totally flaunt this to all my mom friends. lol Count me in!
I would love a set for my 1 year old. After seeing it I’m sure my 3 year old would be “needing” a set as well!
The ladies on my favorite message board would be so excited for me if I got this early for my daughter! They are like having hundreds of sisters all over the US and Canada and are all really into supporting one another especially when it comes to efforts to keep our children safe. I can already see the “Congrats! OMG these are SO cool! Where/when can we buy these!?” posts!
Have been looking for a good eco-friendly transitional cup for my 2-year-old. The cup AND the dishes are terrific! Ingenious!
This is exactly what I have been looking for. With 3 little ones I know it would get a ton of use in my house. I have been searching high and low for something like this set. I have been using silicone bowls with the kids lately- but the squish them and you can imagine the mess that makes!!
If any of you haven’t yet bought one of these great sets, don’t miss our first ever ZRecs 50/50 sale - we’re charging the standard $40 price, offering free shipping, and donating 50% of proceeds to the Breast Cancer Fund.