Dinnerware for kids?

[Walking-Iris]

Do any of you use Duralex  tempered glass dinnerware? I'm getting tired of the cutesy designs on malamine dinnerware sold for kids. My oldest boys seem too old for sectioned plates, and I'm trying to rid my home of all plastic (even if it's BPA free). 

 

I'm also a tad frustrated whenever one of my Fiesta plates gets cracked or chipped. Or a pint glass dropped. The last straw was a blue salad plate getting knocked out of my dh's hands the other day. I've decided to invest in getting a set of dinnerware especially for the kids that they can take ownership of and take care of themselves. They need to learn to be careful without the kinds of accidents that cause me panic attacks and running to ebay. 

 

I like the looks of Duralex. I'm thinking a set of dinner plates, bowls, and juice tumblers. I want them to use real dishes, but broken things do raise my blood pressure a bit. I have some Corelle dishes as well, but I'm not a big fan. 

 

Anyone have experience with these glass plates? 

[Alessandra]

Ikea has kid dinnerware. I used when dc were little. It was sturdy, cheap, bright -- we liked it.

[Walking-Iris]

Ikea has kid dinnerware. I used when dc were little. It was sturdy, cheap, bright -- we liked it.

 

Plastic? Because I'm getting rid of plastic and/or melamine stuff. 

[VeganCupcake]

I haven't tried the Duralex myself, but they are very tempting! I have heard that they can shatter--I think they're a bit like Corelle in that aspect. You know, they won't break unless they're hit juuuuuust right and then they're in a quadrillion pieces all over the place.

 

Ikea has some little juice glasses that look a lot like the Duralex glasses, and we have some, but have broken 5/6 of them. I do like them--they're a very good size for small hands and they look nice.

[sbgrace]

Duralex sounds good to me. We've used glassware (Anchor Hocking, not Duralex) since my boys were babies. Very little has broken over the years, more by us than them actually, and no one has ever been hurt. I picked clear glassware because I wanted to avoid plastic or heavy metal toxins. I'm happy with our choice. I assume the Duralex would be even more durable.

[Vida Winter]

I wouldn't consider Corelle even though they are so easy to wash and stack. Sometimes they don't break when dropped but other times they *explode* into millions of glass shards -- it's alarming if you ever see it happen. We got rid of all our Corelle after a few incidents. Maybe stoneware? You could think about getting a used set. We ended up getting Fiestaware a few years ago and so far no breaks or chips.

[LucyStoner]

We just use Fiestaware for everyone and everyone is responsible for their own place setting.

[Wilma]

We use FiestaWare for everybody, aged 2, 4, 6, 8 and the adults.  The littlest two girls use the salad plates for everything, because they can't reach to 12 o'clock to put their milk glasses in the proper place with the dinner plates.  But everyone eats on real plates and everyone uses real glasses and everyone is responsible for carrying their own dishes to the dirty spot in the kitchen.

 

A few of our pieces have gotten broken over the years, most notably the salad plates and a couple of teacups.  But y'know, it's not as many as one would think.  We model (and insist on) carrying one thing at a go, using both hands and their opposeable thumbs, climbing down from the chairs before picking up dishes, just common carefulness.  Also "big arms" at the table are prohibited -- no grand sweeping gestures or wildly flailing limbs -- to preserve our dishes.  Truly, these things are just regular expectations and only have to be taught for a little while - the upkeep on it isn't much.  And our littler girls have absorbed it more than been especially taught.

 

The girls *know* I care about my dishes.  And the times things have been broken I've been sad (not mad, just sad) and they feel that, too. 

 

Honestly, though, it *does* make me nervous when my littlest girl (she was 2 in Sept.) helps me unload the dishwasher.  Eek.  But so far that's not ended in disaster.

 

My advice would be to invest in teaching/training and not in special kid dishes.  If I were 10 y/o, I'd be horribly embarrassed to be using kiddie plates.

[Mrs Mungo]

I have IKEA plates and glasses for everyday that everyone in my house uses. Yes, they get broken because kids are handling them, but they don't *shatter* like Corelle. That is why I have inexpensive stuff for now.

 

On the other hand? They know how to treat a glass. And glasses don't tip as easily as plastic cups.

[ScoutTN]

We just use regular dishes. Nothing fancy. Not Corelle. When too many are broken, I'll replace the set. I've has them for 10 years now and we are doing fine. My kids handle them 3x every day. I am more likely to drop one than they are!

 

I like real glasses too. I use rocks type glasses that are weighted toward the bottom and not too tall. They don't tip over as easily as tall glasses.

 

I use my good china, crystal and silver with my kids too - not every week, but often enough. 

 

We did use sippy cups and plastic dishes when my kids were toddlers, but once we were past the danger of them throwing the plate on the floor for fun, we moved on. I don't like plastic!

 

 

 

[rebbyribs]

We have Duralex drinking glasses and I love them.  We've had a dozen of them that have been used daily for about 1.5 years by children who are now ages 7, 4 and 4.  They haven't broken any, but my husband did break one.  He reported that it broke like safety glass - not the sharp shards you get with Corelle.  (I'm a big fan of Corelle anyhow because it stacks so well and it so rarely breaks.)  We haven't tried Duralex bowls or plates.

[KungFuPanda]

We have a set of plastic dishes I use for camping or picnics, but other than that my kids have always used regular dishes. Originally I used stoneware, then replaced it with corelle. The kids have never broken either. They spilled a glass once or twice, but they've never dropped a dish. Even my physically disabled child with slow reflexes hasn't broken a dish. I don't know what other kids are doing to break dishes, but I suspect it has very little to do with the actual dish and those kids would break anything that's breakable.

[zoobie]

I bought a set of Duralex glasses in 3 sizes 2 years ago and just recycled the less than half that remained unbroken. The suckers would just shatter when we picked them up out of the dishwasher! Not a hot dishwasher into cold air either--the dishes were turned on at bedtime and unloaded the next day. I don't know if we got a bad batch or what. It's a shame because they looked nice and were the perfect sizes. Anyway, I wouldn't buy plates based on my experience with the glasses.

[Mrs Mungo]

We have a set of plastic dishes I use for camping or picnics, but other than that my kids have always used regular dishes. Originally I used stoneware, then replaced it with corelle. The kids have never broken either. They spilled a glass once or twice, but they've never dropped a dish. Even my physically disabled child with slow reflexes hasn't broken a dish. I don't know what other kids are doing to break dishes, but I suspect it has very little to do with the actual dish and those kids would break anything that's breakable.

 

Just to clarify, my kids have always used real dishes since they were beyond toddlerhood. They do occasionally break dishes (I have ceramic floors throughout the downstairs of my house), but they are 18, 15 and 12. It hasn't been so frequent as to imply that they are simply careless. Accidents happen to everyone. The only person to break a piece of crystal in my house was an adult washing up dishes after a Thanksgiving dinner. ;)

[Eagle]

My kids' dishes are stainless steel. No worry of ever breaking! They keep food hot a surprisingly long time, too.

[Kalmia]

We've used the Duralex glasses for 16 years now and are only on our second set. I am incredibly clumsy and drop things daily. The Duralex usually stay intact unless they hit something at just the wrong angle. Currently we are living abroad and have broken 10 regular glasses in 3 months! Gosh, those things even break when they tip over!

 

I would be interested in trying the Duralex plates with the good experience I've had with the glasses. Currently we have the white everyday restaurant porcelain plates from Williams Sonoma and we have only broken a couple bowls in the past four years, so I recommend those too. Porcelain is much tougher than stoneware. These are just the plates. They have all types of dinnerware.

 

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/everyday-restaurant-dinner-plates/?pkey=e%7Ceveryday%2Brestaurant%2Bdinner%2Bplates%252C%2Bset%2Bof%2B6%7C2%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C2&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-search%20term%20-%20plates-_-

 

A cheaper option than Duralex (if you can stand the ridges around the opening) is to use jam sized canning jars as glasses. That doesn't help with plates and bowls, but does fit in the almost-unbreakable category.

[TechWife]

I'm in the "accidents happen" camp. We've never had kid dishes. I remember helping my son set the table when he was four - I'd hand him one plate at a time, one bowl at a time, etc. and he would go back and forth between me and the table. One day he dropped a plate & it broke. We cleaned it up together and then I immediately handed him another plate to put on the table. The look on his face was priceless - he was so thrilled that I trusted him with that plate! 

 

We do have formal china that is put up, but that's because we hardly ever use it. I would let him handle it without thinking twice - and it's a pattern that's been retired, so it's irreplaceable.  Dishes are just things. 

 

Anyway, I haven't thought about the broken plate in quite a while, so thanks for the trip down memory lane! 

 

 

[Walking-Iris]

Thanks for the replies.  I am familiar with the Montessori use of real dishes, and my kids do use real ones. My dishes were a wedding gift and I have replaced items as need be throughout the year, but I only ever have enough for our family. Inviting people over is ridiculous because I don't have enough settings any longer.To clarify my kids aren't breaking things willy nilly all day long like it may seem from my post. Pint glasses are the main things that get broken here. We're all responsible for breaking them. It was mainly my husband's idea that he wanted the kids using some other glasses.

 

Mainly the kids reach for the plates and bowls for snacks and my 6 year old makes his own sandwiches, and that's where I start to cringe a bit. I don't keep paper plates in the house as a rule, and like I said, I want to rid my home of all plastic dishes, but I don't want the Fiesta used other than at meal times. I was thinking Duralex for lunch and snacks, and that would keep the  others out of the way except for dinner. 

 

I hope I don't sound hopelessly shallow here. I just feel that my current kitchen set up is not working for us. And I'm ready for a change. 

 

I've looked up Duralex at Amazon and felt they had reasonable prices.

[fdrinca]

We have hard stone floors, so almost anything that drops breaks. My mobile kids (3, 5, 6) always make snacks and some meals for themselves with our collection of IKEA/thrift store bowls and plates. Not so pretty, but easy on the heartrate when the inevitable accident happens. When everyone's a little bigger we'll finally invest in something "real" or more permanent.

[Walking-Iris]

We have hard stone floors, so almost anything that drops breaks. My mobile kids (3, 5, 6) always make snacks and some meals for themselves with our collection of IKEA/thrift store bowls and plates. Not so pretty, but easy on the heartrate when the inevitable accident happens. When everyone's a little bigger we'll finally invest in something "real" or more permanent.

 

Good idea. It's not just the broken thing but the injury risk. I am just the biggest wuss when it comes to blood or cuts. I've been known to yell "FREEZE" if there's the slightest chance of a cut anywhere.