Name: Babypote
Price: $15
Rating: Strong Recommend
When I first wrote about the Babypote (which I dubbed the "fruit flask") I noted that my husband and I had already invented this product in our heads. Our son had discovered the disposable squeezable fruit blends for babies and kids that seemed to pop up overnight in every market, grocery store and bodega in our neighborhood. He calls them "squeezy applesauce" no matter what flavor they are and I was glad to buy them for him as a snack instead of a cookie. But not only were they expensive (anywhere from $1.50 - 2.50 in my hood), I really didn't like adding this waste to a landfill. "I wish someone would make a reusable one of these," we mused aloud on our walks. And lo and behold, Beaba did.
I thought the Babypote looked super clever for two reasons: it reduced disposable waste and could save me a lot of money. If it performed well, that is. To find out I put my little sidekick to work as a tester. Although my son just turned three, the Babypote is also (perhaps even primarily) geared toward infants and young toddlers and designed to hold what Beaba calls "fruit compotes", aka purées, that you, presumably, make homemade. My son preferred to use it for applesauce (not homemade in my case) and thin yogurts. I think pudding and smoothies would also work well. You could even use it to store dry snacks like Goldfish crackers if you were on the go.
There are four parts to the Babypote: the body, the spout, the cap and the thingy that connects the body to the spout* (*not the official name). The body of the Babypote is silicone and is very soft and pliable while the other parts are hard plastic. All parts are BPA-free and can be put in the dishwasher. I don't have a dishwasher so I couldn't test this, however cleaning the Babypote was very easy with a bottle brush.
For infants and young toddlers the big benefit of the Babypote is the potential to reduce the mess of eating purees and soft foods. Using a spoon is a necessary skill to learn and the mess along the way is par for the course. But, if your child is not in their high chair (or even if they are), the Babypote would cut down on the mess considerably. That said, if squeezed too vigorously or if squeezed when it's not in the child's mouth, you will have some spillage.
The best virtue of the Babypote, in my view, is its portability. We took ours to many parks and playgrounds, used it in the car and in the stroller. I frequently packed it with my son's lunch to bring to daycare and it never leaked. It really expands the type of snack (or meal, for an infant) that you can give your child outside the home.
When the Babypote was first released, the list price was $20 but it is now only $15 from U.S. distributor Scandinavian Child and in the few months we've had it, it has saved us much more than it cost as compared to purchasing disposables.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
This is a useful product if: you already find yourself buying disposable fruit purées and want to be more eco-friendly and/or save money; your kids are often on the go and want to bring this type of snack with them; you primarily feed your baby homemade purées and want more portability and/or less mess.
PROS:
• eco-friendly alternative to disposables
• money saving as compared to disposables
• easy to clean
• holds a lot
• ultra-portable
CONS:
• potentially messy if squeezed vigorously
• may take time for an infant to learn how to use
• the cap is detachable which means if you lose it, you also lose the portability factor
• I'm not a fan of this green/purple/orange color combo. There is a better hot pink/purple combo available in Europe and I hope they diversify the color range in the U.S
• it is difficult, even for an older child, to get the last half ounce or so out so there may be some food waste
Our Ratings:
Strong Recommend*
Recommend
Weak Recommend
Don't Recommend
(Images: Carrie McBride)
Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf. However, the manufacturer did give us the product for testing and review purposes.
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I totally made this up in my head as well! What a great product!
This is excellent. We've been buying a ton of those puree pouches lately, as they really are great for on the road. Might need to give these a shot.
Best tip I've had in a while. We've been buying these pouches for years. Our nearly-3-year old still eats them for snacks. And even while my 8 mo old is still learning to use these, I like being able to squirt pouches on a spoon when traveling. This will save money and be greener. Those foil lined pouches have got to be horrible for landfills.
What a timely post! Ive been looking for a contraption as this!
Can you really clean it completely? I've seen this too because we buy a lot of the pouches but I wasn't convinced it would stay clean or get clean enough without coming apart completely.
@monkeymama2 Yes, I think so. The mouth is wide enough to fit a bottle brush which is how I clean it.
Awesome. I was googling last week for camping tubes and collapsible water jugs but this must be better if it is purpose made.
What an awesome idea! I would love a few of these, my kids (even my 4 year old) are always eating those squeezable fruit blends on the go and on long car rides.
Oh, that's genius. I have to have one; my daughter's in grade school, so older than the target audience, but they have in-classroom snacks daily and she loves applesauce but they can't have something that needs a spoon so all last year I bought those pouches like they were going out of style. This will be perfect!
We have had 2 of these for our infant and preschooler for the past few months. It cleans up perfectly in the dishwasher. It is a little difficult to open, so my preschooler can't really do it by herself yet. There is a reasonable amount of waste because the last 10-20% just can't be squeezed/sucked out by a young child, but with a teaspoon every last drop can be scraped out. It is easy to fill with a small spoon. The volume is a little more than the disposable squeeze packs.
I'm an older 1st time grandma. I'm 63 and can't believe all the accessories and stuff needed to raise a child these days. A thing to squeeze applesauce while riding in a stroller.....are you kidding? Where does all this stuff go when you are done with it.?
There is another company trying to get into this market: http://thesilico.com/
Awesome!!
The thing I love about the disposable pouches though is the little spoon attachment that screws on to the top for smaller kids who can't quite squeeze it themselves without making a mess (I don't mind messes at home, but when we're out I'd rather not be frantically wiping pureed fruit off of everything)
In terms of portable snacking, this would be great for yogurt and would save us buying single-serving yogurt drinks for the kid. If used somewhat carefully, this contraption could last through several children. That would add up to a lot of yogurt drink containers. I'm sold!
I, too, had invented this product in my head, and fell in love with it after this review. The sticker shock got me, though - and then I ordered the SilliSqueeze (www.sillisqueeze.com) someone else mentioned above. We got ours a few days ago, and already I've been able to have my younger son (1) FEED HIMSELF yogurt without making a giant mess. He has never allowed anyone to feed him by spoon, and when he feeds himself ... well, Jackson Pollock would be proud. We even took it for a test run to Trader Joe's today and laughed at the disposable fruit squeezies in the checkout aisle. This is a hit. I only wish it came in colors other than red, but at two for the price of one Babypote, I'm sold. Both of my boys, (1 and 3) rocked theirs while shopping during lunch hour, and it was fantastic.
And by that I meant www.thesilisqueeze.com ;)
@ peeeenny mom, is that you? ;)
I hear you and my mom makes similar comments to me sometimes. No one NEEDS things like this but it can make your life easier and your kid happier so why not? I think, for a product like this at least, it depends on your lifestyle. I live in an urban area and my son is in the stroller A LOT so he is going to have snacks in the stroller a lot too. Others who may spend time a lot of time in car seats probably feel the same way.
my friend tried to think of this too! Timely indeed!