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Recently, a second-time mom friend told me starting solids was her “least favorite part” of having a baby. In my mind, having my first baby, I couldn’t imagine what she meant. We had recently started giving my 5 month old purées and I was loving every messy minute of it. But, as things progressed, I began to understand what she meant. I was overwhelmed. What should I feed him next? What shouldn’t I feed him? There was all too much information to digest – until I heard about baby brand ezpz, who claims to make mealtime fun and help babies meet mealtime milestones. Could a simple product or two cure our mealtime blues?
We like
- Every product is designed by experts to meet mealtime milestones
- Very reasonable prices
- Brand offers a great rewards program
- Products are free of BPA, BPS, latex, lead, and phthalates
- Everything is dishwasher safe (!!)
- Products clearly seek to help make mealtime easier and for you to build connection with your little one
We don't like
- You do have to “keep up” with purchasing new age-appropriate products
- Tiny Bowl does not stick well to our high chair’s tray
- Some of the mats only fit certain high chairs, so be sure to measure!
How ezpz Came to Be
Like any good product, ezpz was born out of a problem. When founder Lindsey Laurain’s 3 boys under 3 had meals in 2014, they’d “tip and toss” every single plate they had – and nothing seemed to work. This gave way to the idea of the Happy Mat, the brand’s original all-in-one placement meant to actually stick to a table. After the Happy Mat was born, Lindsey turned her attention to creating developmental feeding products for all ages and stages.
It was then that she hired Dawn Winkelmann, M.S, CCC-SLP to help the goal of developing all of the gear needed for each stage, which was accomplished in 2022. We got to spend some time with Ms. Dawn in a 1:1 feeding session. Without giving too much away (more to come on our time together!), speaking to her was a joy – and more than that, it was incredibly informative.
The Perfect Popsicles
One day, I felt my 5-month-old’s gums out of the blue. He was getting teeth! While they hadn’t quite popped yet, I imagined cold stuff might feel good on it. Enter: the Tiny Pops ($18.99), a popsicle intended for infants to begin to learn self-feeding. How good could this thing be, I thought? Assembly was very simple. You load your breastmilk, formula, smoothie, or purée into a mold, stick the reusable “stick” in, twist slightly, and freeze. I typically can do this in under 30 seconds! Pulling the popsicle out is a piece of cake, too.
My baby’s first few tries with this were messy, to say the least. He required our help to get it to his mouth and dropped it approximately 50 times through the course of meal time off of the high chair. Just two weeks later, he can polish both popsicles in the mold off in a single meal and typically only requires our help from dropping it once or twice. He LOVES them and it has been a great tool to allow mom and dad to enjoy our own meals because the baby-led handle is designed to fit well in his hand. Beyond this, we’ve gotten to easily introduce some super cool foods by putting pouches in the molds, namely Serenity Kids’ World Explorer pouches. These puppies make a great pair with the Tiny Pops.
Oral Development Tools: An Early Must
I received the Oral Development Tools ($14.99) right around the time my son was born. When he started to put everything in his mouth around 3 months, we broke the set out and he took to them pretty quickly. I felt ridiculous showing him how to pretend to “chomp” with these, but he soon caught on and was able to raise them into his own mouth.
Before we used the pops, we dipped these tools into purees and allowed him to taste them. This was a really easy way he began to self-feed, since he already knew how to get these to his mouth. They are dishwasher safe, so we regularly toss them in to be washed and I have seen 0 wear and tear through 20+ washes. I think these would be an awesome off-registry gift for someone, too, and I will probably stock up on them. At just $15 for the set, it has paid dividends in watching our baby self-feed already at almost 6 months and power through the beginning of solids.
When I met with Dawn, I learned there was so much more than meets the eye with these tools. The loop-shaped tool, for example, is meant to specifically engage a baby's tongue. To properly swallow, the tongue has to come to the top of the roof. The loop helps baby learn this even before they can start solids, so you as a parent can feel more at ease knowing your baby can swallow before even starting solids. Dawn hit on a frustration a lot of families have: “A lot of families start solids and they say ‘my baby’s not swallowing, I don’t know why’. And it’s because that tongue has not learned the strength to elevate.” This is just one example of ezpz’s tools being designed with baby’s long-term development in mind (and parents’ sanity!).
The Science Behind the Stuff
As I mentioned, I got the privilege of chatting with Ms. Dawn in a 1:1 feeding session with my baby. Perhaps my biggest takeaway from the entire conversation was that mealtime milestones are far more important than simply ensuring your kid gets calories. Mealtime, rather, is a hugely formative time for kids in their speech development, too, hence why a speech-language pathologist is so perfect to design these items. Besides occupational therapists, SLPs are actually the only professionals licensed to help with starting solids, which was news to me! The wrong tools, Dawn told me, can result in speech delays and other (typically correctible) struggles. Alternatively, the right tools, such as the loop-shaped Oral Development Tool, can encourage early sounds, such as “t”, “d”, and “n” sounds. And yes, I asked which tool would potentially help him say “mama” fastest – it was the Tiny Cup!
I wasn’t sure what was next for my baby’s feeding journey and Dawn was able to cut through the internet’s B.S. for me with a simple answer: have my baby utilize the stick-shaped Oral Development Tool to practice chewing, then when he’s 6 months, cut strips of soft foods like avocado in that shape. If I do that, “he’ll know exactly what to do!” Dawn encouraged me. On a similar note, the smiley-shaped Oral Development Tool works on jaw strength, which I admittedly dismissed as not-so-important at first… until she informed me that “research is showing that a lot of kids who are picky eaters don’t have good jaw stability.” Time to work on that strength, buddy!
Is It Really That ezpz?
Frankly, I went from just thinking these tools were cute and well-functioning to being a full-blown brand addict after my time with Dawn. It is incredibly rare to see a brand put this kind of experience and thought into each and every product and hearing her “why” with each product was genuinely so exciting. Though we only spoke for an hour, I think I could’ve listened to her for many, many more!
All in all, ezpz is truly the thought-leader in my opinion in the feeding space. I’m so encouraged by the way my baby is getting stuff to his mouth, so hopefully we’ll continue to see decreased frustration and increased pre-speech as he continues to use them. I also just love the way the brand puts the caregiver-child relationship top-of-mind. The way the brand sees it, by giving babies and even older children tools that make sense to them, the relationship is able to grow even deeper and stronger – and that is absolutely priceless.
Make mealtime ezpz today with the brand’s unique feeding tools for kids of all ages.
