between this:

http://www.safetots.co.uk/Feeding/Baby-Food-Preparation/c44_57/p226/-bibs-stuff-baby-safe-feeder/product_info.html

which says suitable from 5 months
and this:

http://www.toysrus.co.uk/Babies-R-Us/Feeding/Weaning/Plates-and-Bowls/Bruin-Blue-Safety-First-Feeder%280077985%29

the one we have, which says 12 months....i wanted to give elijah some banana in it today but cant see why there would be a difference in age????

Not that I can see

Why do you want to use it for banana? I never really saw the point in these - surely better to help their fine motor skills by allowing them to hold food themselves?

oh, i did an answer but it's dissappeared, weird! really just because i am really nervous of him choking, my husband thinks i am being ridiculous, but you are probably right that it is better for his development to practice doing it by himself....hm

Nope no difference hun. I have the munchkin feeder which I bought for Thomas, he used it once, great idea in theory but in practice - complete cack! They are fine when they are stuffed full so they can suck through but as soon as they have had a bit it goes all floppy, the food dissapears to the bottom of the bag so they end up with a mouth full of net and no food which just pees them off tbh. I forgot all this and let Hannah have a go at it the other day, I quickly remembered why it was in the back of a drawer and it is now back in there . I do what Lisa said hun, just give him a big chunch of banana to slobber on, it's great practice for them feeding themselves and good fun squishing it into their hair as long as you supervise closely there shouldnt be too much of a choking risk and also don't confuse gagging with chocking. Gagging is a perfectly natural response to 'lumps' and something they have to learn to deal with. Soe babies have a stronger gag reflex than others and can look like they are choking, so long as you are there to fish awkward lump out if needed little man will love all the new textures. I find toasted crusts cut into fingers a good starter finger food too coz the crust is quite tough and can be squeezed and sucked half to death without huge chunks coming awawy in their mouths. xx

Hmm I would like to comment on how good/suitable they are but we only got to use it once - daddy though the net out with the soggy fruit which left it useless. Twit!

Anyway Caitlin was prob about 10 mths when we had it, before them I think her fruit intake was from puree's fruit pots. Just before she was 1 I started letting her eat fruit sliced up in bite size chunks - id worry too about elijah at his age but maybe im too cautious!

im like that snoopy but i keep getting told im being overprotective....well...i dont have anyone else to protect! my friend was round and wanted me to let him chew on a bit of apple but im really so nervous - im really nervous when he is drinking water too cos he coughs and splutters so much

have a read on the baby led weaning website it will reassure you that it's ok.

he WILL gag on food but it doesn't mean he is going to choke you just need to be calm and practicle about it. babies gag reflec is much further forward than ours is and that's to sto pthem choking.

if he is capable of picking food up and putting it to his mouth then he is capable of eating it without using a net.

just go for it and don't panic when he gags .... a second or two later you'll see a lump of food come out. Tyler still does it now

being calm and practical is all well and good...until you need to be calm and practical i am normally very good in a crisis and can deal with loads of difficult situations...but when it comes to elijah its so different he fell over yesterday and bopped his head and i just wanted to throw up! (i didn't i picked him up and made sure he was ok) i suppose i will just have to get used to it and 'man up' a bit hahaha