Pros: Comes with a handy lid for portability, has a suction bottom for sticking to tabletops, dishwasher/microwave safe.
Cons: Color starts to rub off after a while.
SB and I would have given this Meal Mates Smart Serve bowl a thumbs up until just recently. SB had been using this bowl since he was about 7 months old, and I really liked it because of its size (not too big and not too small) and the fact that it comes with a lid, making it easy to stick SB's lunch/dinner in a bag for eating out. It also has a suction base, which allows you to stick it on a table surface and prevent spillage. I actually never used this feature myself (the suction piece is removable), so I can't comment on how useful or effective it actually is.
The reason why the bowl gets a thumbs down is because the color actually started to rub off. Even though the bowl is dishwasher safe, I always hand-washed it, because I don't like to put plastic items in the dishwasher. One day, after about 7 months of use, I happened to towel-dry the bowl and noticed that there were orange streaks on the towel (our bowl was an orange color). I thought maybe it was just leftover baby food, so I kept rubbing the bowl to get it clean but the orange streaks kept appearing on the towel. After several rubs on the same spot and still getting orange spots, I realized that it was the bowl's color that was rubbing off. I was not happy at the thought that SB could have been ingesting the bowl's dye with his food, and I actually don't know how long this issue existed, since that was the first time I had towel dried the bowl.
Needless to say, I promptly threw the bowl out. As a side note, the only wear and tear the bowl experienced was through hand-washing and scooping food out out of it. I never put it in the dishwasher and never even put it in the microwave, though the manufacturer says it is safe for both. Not happy with this product.
Retail Price: $5-$7
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