Monday 13 July 2015

PRODUCT REVIEW - Ezpz Happy Mat & Happy Bowl


Ezpz have a pretty straighforward mission statement: To take the mess and stress out of mealtimes. Founder Lindsey Lourain is a Mama of two boys and, being the proud owner of a very grubby little man myself, someone I am now eternally grateful to!

First, the technical bits - Ezpz placemats are:
  • Dishwasher safe
  • Microwave safe 
  • BPA, PVC, phthalate and lead free (I had to look up phthalate but didn't like the sound of it when I did)
  • Made from FDA approved silicone
  • Suction to the table
  • Can be stacked and carried together
  • Can be drawn on with dry wipe marker  
 
I was pleasantly surprised when I opened my parcel from Ezpz; the mats are much more substantial than I'd expected with a thick, chunky base. The bowls have stiff sides that don't yield to little fingers (ours was excitedly prodded and poked by both myself and Little Dude!). The divided plate on the Happy Mat has three good sized sections which are more than enough to satisfy a hungry toddler. I have a tendency to over-cater so I like this gentle nudge towards portion control.

We have an Ikea Antilop high chair and the Happy Bowl fits quite neatly onto the tray, while the Happy Mat hangs over the sides a little. This doesn't bother me though - the more coverage the better in my opinion. Having said that, Ezpz have noted the seemingly universal popularity of the Antilop and I believe are working on a mat specifically to fit this particular highchair. Personally, I think the 'suction' element would be better described as 'sliproof' but semantics aside, it definitely works. Obviously it can still be peeled off the table by a determined toddler but there is definitely less chance of the meal being upended than with a traditional bowl or plate.

We used our mat and bowl for some very messy meals - overnight oats, pasta bolognese and yoghurt to name a few. So far, it's done a grand job. Often, I find that tomatoes and berries can permanently stain my tableware but so far it hasn't happened with the Ezpz mats. The absolute best feature is that the built-in placemat allows me to let Little Dude do his own thing with a spoon (he's all about spoon practice at the moment) then just lift up the mess and tip it into the bin or rinse it under the tap. This really saves me a lot of time in chasing squished bits of food round the highchair tray while L tries to catch them first and throw them over the side!

In terms of downsides, there is very little to call out. The Ezpz logo has indented lettering which can be a bit fiddly to clean if food gets stuck in there, but that's about it. I have a titchy microwave so I haven't tried heating food up directly in them yet (I guess other people might have the same problem), but again, that doesn't cause me any real issues.

So - overall, I think these are a fab product and they've already become a staple part of mealtimes in our house. Ezpz ship internationally from their website currently but are also working on setting up distributor in the UK - keep an eye on their website for details. Happy eating!


Note - technical details are taken from ezpz's own website/literature.

5 comments:

  1. What a good blog you have here. Please update it more often. This topics is my interest. Thank you. . . product reviews

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have the same question as Geegee. Out of stock in Amazon.... Thanks!

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  3. Even if the mat slip out a little, does it still stick well onto the highchair tray?

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  4. I recently found Miniware and they are AMAZING. It's made by 100% natural bamboo material, beautiful shape with a removable suction foot, I have been using for almost a year and they works well!

    ReplyDelete