For cooking and feeding of young children, it is necessary to use only high-quality dishes that do not cause allergies, will not allow harmful impurities to enter the food. The best option for the material for children's dishes is a special medical alloy. Such an alloy consists of high-quality steel with the addition of a significant amount of nickel and chromium. Nickel should be about ten percent, chrome - about eighteen. The utensils of such an alloy are completely inert, not subject to alkaline and acidic media, and does not corrode.
However, the cost of such children's dishes is very high and, unfortunately, not every family can afford it. But it is quite possible to do with cheaper children's tableware, provided a choice of quality goods. The properties of various materials from which manufacturers make baby dishes are described below.Quality dishes for feeding for children under the age of three are made from several types of plastics. These are special food polymers of high quality. Most often for children's dishes for feeding use polystyrene, polycarbonate or polypropylene. In polypropylene dishes, you can easily heat up the finished products in a microwave oven, which can not be said for other plastics. The main drawback of plastic utensils is that the food in it very quickly cools. The service life of utensils for feeding from plastic does not exceed three years, and in the ideal case it is worth changing annually.
A good alternative to plastic is porcelain. Porcelain cookware has a high heat resistance, while it is very beautiful and weighs a little. The service life of porcelain dishes is practically unlimited, it can be used in a microwave and an oven. The only limitation for porcelain is its fragility. If there is even a small crack on the dishes, you can not use it later.
Utensils made of medical and stainless steel, metal covered with high-quality enamel in terms of their ecological characteristics are most optimal for the child. But its use can be unsafe, because the metal heats up very quickly and the protective liners are not always able to protect the child from a burn.
Tableware from table silver has a bactericidal and disinfectant effect. But this kind of utensils requires constant care. If the metal is darkened or covered with a matte film, the dishes must be removed from circulation and cleaned well. Sometimes silver can cause and allergic reactions.
In no case can not be used as children's dishes pots and plates of aluminum, especially not new ones. Over time, aluminum dishes begin to allocate a sufficiently large amount of harmful substances that can lead to poisoning and other deplorable consequences.
In addition to the material when buying children's dishes should pay attention to its shape. Best of all, if the plate has high edges, in this case, the child can lean on them with a fork or spoon to easily hook the food. The size of the plate is determined based on the appetite and age of the child. The dish should contain as much food as the baby can eat at a time. Forks and spoons for children are usually made with slightly curled handles to make it easier to bring food to the mouth. Fork tines should not be sharp. There are spoons with soft buckets. They are used for the youngest. Such a spoon will not hurt the tender gums of the baby.
When buying children's dishes, you must ask the seller for a certificate of compliance and a sanitary and epidemiological certificate for each product. Only if they are available, you can buy baby dishes.