Have you ever been advised to feed your babies using a silver utensil? Searched for a silver paladai price? Wondered why people keep gifting silver spoons, silver cups, silver glasses, or silver bowls for baby ceremonies or to pregnant moms?
Silver has been in use for ages; mainly for elegance and status of luxury. It is one of the most common metals used by many families even today. While people believe it to come with antibacterial properties, science is yet to prove it!
Typically used on the annaprashan day for babies, silver, on the other hand, is capable of withstanding great heat. Let us see in detail what, when to introduce silverware to the baby and how to use this cutlery for your baby.
Why Is It Recommended To Use Silverware For Babies?
In many cultures, the custom of using silverware for babies’ food is still prevailing. Both for elegance and as a purpose. This is seen to vary between geographies and families. As parents, all they’d want is feeding the baby in a BPA-free material and shopping for the ones that are branded.
More than culture, there are certainly many things as to why it is recommend feeding baby food in silver utensils. Sometimes old traditional methods are also worth getting back to. And yes, you can use silver utensils for babies just as and when you introduce solids to them.
1. Silver is not harmful for babies
Feeding baby food in silver utensils does not cause any harm to the baby. Silver does not have an essential nutrient all by itself. On the other hand, it is not harmful to the baby unlike other metals such as lead and mercury.
Many parents doubt if silver reacts to acidic food like tomatoes. This is less likely to happen. However, foods like eggs can be skipped as it causes an unpleasant taste if served in silver utensils.
Related Reading: When Can Babies Eat Eggs?
2. Silver aids digestion
Having food in a silver utensil is found to have good antibacterial properties. It was found that the ancient Indians purposefully used to feed food in pure silver plates for babies as it came with good healing quality.
Silver-charged water had many medicinal properties for issues such as tummy problems, antifungal problems, and digestive tract issues. This is one reason why water is still stored in silver utensils in temples even today.
3. Retains freshness of food
Every mom wants their baby to have fresh food. To keep it fresh every time is a little challenging. Storing food in other utensils like plastics or other metals has a higher chance of getting intoxicated.
It’s best to go for silver utensils for babies to store baby food for long hours. Milk in earlier days was stored in silver utensils for a long shelf period. Also, there is a belief that water drunk in silver glass tastes better.
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4. Silverware is good for babies as it’s bacteria free
One main property of silver is that it prevents the formation of bacteria or any chemical bonds. Therefore the chances of bacterial formation in the baby food are impossible and it doesn’t require sterilization, unlike other utensils.
Since silver has many medical benefits, people in the olden days also followed the method of giving medicines to children using silverware.
5. Eating in silver utensils can improve brainpower
One common belief in Ayurvedic medicine is that silver is an active source for curing many diseases. It helps in improving the overall health and also helps in improving brainpower. And as parents, we are always on the lookout for foods that can aid in brain development of our little ones.
Also, it comes with a good amount of minerals helping the baby to fight other ailments. By eating in silver utensils, there can be an increase in the metabolism rate.
5 Benefits Of Using Silver Utensils For Babies
Right from the olden days, the tradition of feeding babies using silver utensils has been in practice. This is because of its less reaction to chemicals in comparison with other metals.
Also, silver according to Ayurveda has a soothing effect on our nerves. Feeding babies in silverware is also proven to be beneficial for the babies in the long run.
Listed below are the benefits of using silverware for babies and why you should right away go for it.
1. No risk of BPA with silverware for babies
To make plastics more durable, an addictive substance named BPA is used. This at times could get into the baby’s food that could cause health issues. This could also lead to breast cancer or fertility issues.
It’s always better to introduce silverware to babies rather than going for no BPA products.
2. Easy maintenance
Unlike the usual scrubbing and cleaning process, silver utensils are easy to maintain. It doesn’t require sterilization and you can clean it with the usual soap and water.
Related Reading: 15 Common Foods That Can Be Unsafe For Babies
However, remember not to polish the pure silver plate for your baby as the chemicals could cause trouble for your baby if the vessel is washed improperly.
3. Maintains the body temperature
Silver has the property of maintaining the body temperature under control. It is also one of the reasons to dress up the newborn with silver accessories such as anklets, bangles, etc.
Considering this property, it is highly recommended to feed your baby using silverware.
4. No phthalates
Phthalates are an element used in the process of making plastic. Phthalates are dangerous as per researchers. It is seen to cause cognitive disorders.
Hence if you are looking for utensils that are free from chemicals and dangerous elements we will always recommend you to go for silver.
5. Silver utensils have long life
Considering the usage of baby food material usage and with the activities baby does, the food shelf of baby’s utensils seems to be very low.
A glass bowl or tumbler can be easily broken down if it’s within the reach of the baby. They can even cause injuries. You can eliminate these problems with silver utensils. These silver bowls and plates can also be transferred to the next generation.
There is no chance of breaking a silver utensil.
Types Of Silverware For Babies
Using the right cutlery to feed your baby is important. It helps the baby develop an interest in food. Also if the baby feels the cutlery is safe to use, while they explore eating, they will start with self-feeding too.
Related Reading: 12 Home Remedies To Ease Your Baby’s Vaccination Pain
Listed below are a few types of silverware for babies which you can consider using.
1. Silver bowl
Capable of withstanding both hot and cold temperatures, silver bowls are one of the best utensils to introduce food to babies.
Available in different sizes, silver bowls can be used for a long time without any damage. You can use it to serve solid food in it or for storage.
2. Silver plate
Rice is best when served on a plate. By introducing a pure silver plate for babies, your child will develop the habit of eating by themselves.
You can serve hot rice, chapati, curries, in short, a proper meal.
3. Silver palpadas
Paladai or Suthi spoon is a cuplike utensil that is majorly used in South India to feed babies medicines or expressed breast milk, in case the mom is unable to breastfeed the baby.
A few moms also use this utensil to feed semi-solid food such as mashed vegetables or porridge.
4. Silver spoon
Spoons are the best way to introduce self-feeding around 8 months to your child. It is the time for them to explore food rather than enjoying the taste.
While plastics are easy to feed with, the issue of BPA is always persistent!
Related Reading: 18 Baby Proofing Ideas To Ensure There Are No Accidents
Tips On Using Silverware For Babies
Silver is not only about feeding baby food in silver utensils but it also takes a lot of care and maintenance. Not maintaining this metal properly could lead to corrosion and black spots.
Maintaining and cleaning it regularly can also enable the silverware to be used for many generations. Let your child play with these utensils before they get to use them regularly.
Here are a few tips we like you to know while using silverware for babies.
Tips on cleaning silverware for babies
- Silver utensils for babies need not be sterilized, unlike plastic ones
- Wash them with normal soap and water
- Pat clean and dry these silver utensils and use them when required
- You can also use a combination of aluminum foil, baking soda, and salt to remove stains from silver utensils for babies
- If you want an extra shine for your baby’s silverware, you can squeeze in a little ketchup and do the cleaning. This works well for brass too
- You can dilute your toothpaste paste with water and use the solution to get that sparkling shine. However, do not use the paste directly on the material
Foods Not To Be Served In Silver Utensils For Baby
❖ Acidic foods
Tomatoes, vinegar, ketchup, and citrus fruits like oranges are amongst few foods that many parents doubt serving in a silver utensil. Silver does not react to acidic foods. It can damage the finishing of your silver items.
Try to rinse the plate at the earliest to reduce the chances of damage.
❖ Shaker for salt
If you use salt in a shaker, remember to quickly wash the shaker after the purpose is done. Wash it with soap (non-lemon) and water.
By doing this, the residues are removed which can cause corrosion or black spotting.
How To Buy Silver Utensils For Babies?
We request you to keep in mind the following points while you plan to buy silverware for babies.
- Make sure the silver utensils come with round edges so that the baby doesn’t get hurt while you feed
- Keep your utensils plain and with a minimal design which helps in easy cleaning
- Go for a reputable shop if you plan to buy one. Don’t compromise on the quality when buying silverware for babies
- Remember to go for the ones that are small in size. Like baby spoons, baby bowls. It must be easy for the baby to hold
- Don’t go for light-weighted plates and bowls which might cause the utensil to topple easily
Conclusion
Silver comes with a good amount of properties. It is also a style and elegance to serve food in silver utensils for babies. With its easy cleaning techniques and proven medical properties, we always recommend parents try introducing silverware for babies.
Many arguments are in favor of introducing silverware to babies. We advise parents to use clean and sterilized utensils when it comes to offering food/water/medicines for the baby.
However, in the case of silverware do not sterilize the utensil for the best and long shelf life.