GB2468902A

GB2468902A - Feeding utensil for a baby

Info

Publication number: GB2468902A
Application number: GB0905199A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Craig
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2009-03-26
Filing date: 2009-03-26
Publication date: 2010-09-29
Also published as: WO2010109246A1; GB0905199D0

Abstract

A feeding utensil (1) for a baby comprising a teat (6), the teat (6) being at least partially collapsable and comprising a food retaining portion (7) being profiled for retaining food thereon. The teat (6) further includes an interior cavity (8) into which the teat (6) is collapsable.

Description

FEEDING UTENSIL FOR A BABY

[001] The present invention concerns a feeding utensil for a baby and, in particular, a feeding spoon/soother for use when feeding a baby.

[002] In this connection, the transition from feeding a baby a liquid diet to soft baby foods can be difficult.

During the very early period of a baby's life they are typically fed using a bottle or with breast milk. As such, the baby learns a suckling action to draw liquid from the bottle or breast nipple. However, when the baby is old enough to shift to eating soft, semi-solid, foods it can be difficult to them to adapt this learnt suckling action to feeding from a spoon.

[003] In this connection, from bottle or breast feeding, the baby learns to "latch on" to the feeding nipple when it is placed in their mouths and then to suckle to draw food therefrom. This contrasts greatly with the action of eating with a spoon. Firstly, the baby cannot "latch on" to the spoon, but instead must loosely close their mouth over the spoon and allow it to be drawn out whilst they retain the food carried thereon in their mouth. Secondly, it can often be difficult or uncomfortable for a baby to receive the spoon head in their mouth due to its large, rigid head. As such it is common to only place food on the tip of the spoon and tilt the spoon to tip it into the baby's mouth. This can not only be messy, but can also promote an unnatural feeding action. Thirdly, when feeding from a bottle or nipple the baby is used to drawing food continually whenever the nipple is in their mouth. This is very different from spoon feeding where the baby must learn to eat food intermittently each time the spoon is placed in their mouth and then removed.

[0041 The present invention therefore seeks to provide a device for addressing the above problem.

[005] According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a feeding utensil for a baby comprising a teat, said teat being at least partially collapsable and comprising a food retaining portion being profiled for retaining food thereon.

[006] In this way, once the teat of the present invention is inserted into the baby's mouth, it can be at least partially collapsed by the baby biting it. As the baby suckles the teat, food held on the food retaining portion can be sucked off to feed the baby. This suckling action is assisted by the collapsing of the teat. As such, the present invention can help in a baby's transition from bottle/nipple feeding to spoon feeding. That is, the baby is able to feed in a similar way to bottle/nipple feeding by biting into the teat and then suckling, whist at the same time the baby learns to feed intermittently, as they would by spoon feeding.

[007] Preferably, said food retaining portion is recessed for permitting food to be retained thereon. In this way, a quantity of food can be partially received into the recess formed by the food retaining portion, thereby helping to avoid food falling off the sides of the teat.

[008] Conveniently, said teat comprises an interior cavity into which said teat is coliLapsable. In this way, the body of the teat can collapsed into the interior cavity to thereby flatten the teat so as to allow the baby to suck food off the teat easily. This flattened configuration also permits the easy removal of the teat from the baby's mouth once the food has been removed. In addition, the interior cavity allows the teat to be chewed in a similar way to a dummy.

[009] Conveniently, said teat is configured to collapse in such a way that said food retaining portion is deformed for facilitating the removal of food therefrom. In this way, the collapsing action of the teat acts to promote the removal of food from the food retaining portion, making it easier for the baby to draw food therefrom.

[0010] Conveniently, said teat is formed of an elastically deformable material. In this way, the collapsed teat is able to quickly revert back to its un-collapsed configuration after it is removed from a baby's mouth, ready for loading with another quantity of food.

[0011] Conveniently, said teat is formed of a polymer material.

[0012] Conveniently, said teat is formed of silicone. This material is sterilisable, as well as being taste and odour free, which makes it more likely to be accepted by a baby.

[0013] Conveniently, said utensil further comprises a shield for preventing the teat from being swallowed or partially swallowed.

[0014] Conveniently, said utensil further comprises a handle.

[0015] Conveniently, said handle is provided with teething formations for soothing a baby's gums. In this way, the utensil's handle can be placed in a baby's mouth after feeding to ease teething.

[0016] Conveniently, said utensil is a spoon.

[0017] An illustrative embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a top perspective view of a feeding utensil according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 shows a top view of the feeding utensil; Figure 3 shows a side perspective view of the feeding utensil; Figure 4 shows a side view of the feeding utensil.

[0018] A baby feeding utensil 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in Figures 1 to 4. The feeding utensil comprises a handle 2 which is connected to a teat formation 6 via connector 3. The connector 3 is provided with a shield 4.

[0019] The teat 6 forms a spoon head and is made of a resilient silicone material. On the upper surface of the teat 6, a food retaining area 7 is provided, with the bottom surface of the teat 6 forming a smooth bowl-like support for supporting the food retaining area 7 above. The food retaining area 7 comprises a recess on the upper surface of the teat 6 and into which food can be partially received. In this connection, the food retaining area is sized for retaining a quantity of food suitable for one baby's mouthful. This avoids a user from placing too much food in the baby's mouth at one time.

[0020] As shown in Figure 2, from above, the teat 6 forms a fattened drop-like shape such that the width of the food retaining area 7 is substantially similar to its length. From Figure 4, it can also be seen that the teat has a elongated drop shape in profile. This wide, low profile shape allows the teat to be easily inserted into a baby's mouth.

[0021] As shown in figures 1 and 4, the interior of the teat 6 is provided with an air filled cavity 8. Due to the resilience of the silicone material, the teat 6 can be reversibly collapsed by deforming the teat body into this cavity 8. This deformation occurs when the baby bites into the teat. In particular, the teat 6 is configured such that, when a baby closes their mouth over it, the sides of food retaining area 7 are forced relatively downwardly, whilst the baby's tongue forces the bottom surface of the teat relatively upwardly. This collapsing action reduces the relative recess between the sides and middle of the food retaining area 7, causing a flattening or even a raising of the teat's upper surface, and thereby assists in the removal of food therefrom.

[0022] Connector 3 connects the teat 6 to the handle 2. The handle 2 provides a teething surface for soothing the baby's gums. As such, it is formed of a solid silicone plastic material and comprises a number of teething formations on its surface. The handle 2 is sized to be wide enough that a baby cannot put it in their mouth in its entirely. With the teething handle, after feeding using the teat 6, the feeding utensil can be turned around and a baby can bite into the handle to ease teething of their gums.

[0023] Adjacent to teat 6, the feeding utensil 1 is provided with shield 4. The shield 4 is formed of a rigid plastic material and acts to prevent the teat 6 from being positioned too far into a baby's mouth, and is large enough for preventing the feeding utensil 1 from being swallowed. The shield 4 is provided with ventilation holes 5 for preventing saliva building up on the surface of the shield which could otherwise cause skin irritation to the baby.

[0024] In use, a user feeding a baby will place a portion of food on the food retaining area 7 of the teat 6. The resilience of the silicone material forming the teat 6, and the support to the food retaining area 7 provided by the bottom surface of the teat 6 is sufficient to support the weight of the portion of food.

[0025] As the utensil closely resembles the baby's dummy, the baby will be familiar with it and accept the teat 6 and the food carried thereon into their mouth. In this connection, the wide shape of the teat 6 encourages the baby to open their mouth wide. Furthermore, the relatively short length of the teat 6 allows t to be fully received into the baby's mouth.

[0026] Once the teat 6 is placed in the baby's mouth, the baby is able to close their mouth around it. As discussed above, this acts to at least partially collapse or flatten the teat and deform its spoon-like configuratioi. The baby is then able to suck the food off the food retaining area 7, with this being assisted by the collapsed shape of the teat.

After doing this, the teat 6 can be withdrawn from the baby's mouth, at which point the resilience in the teat returns it to its un-collapsed configuration to permit another quantity of food to be loaded and the process repeated.

[0027] As will be understood, the above action provides a helpful transition between bottle/nipple feeding and spoon feeding. In this respect, with the present invention, the baby is able to feed in a similar way to bottle/nipple feeding as they can bite into the teat and then suckle the food therefrom. At the same time, the baby learns to feed intermittently, in the same way as they would by spoon feeding. The baby is also able to learn the feeding action of opening their mouths wide to accommodate the teat, similar to using a spoon.

[00281 In addition to the above benefits, it will also be understood that the collapsable nature of the teat allows the utensil to also be used as a soother or dummy for the baby.

This provides the additional benefit of allowing the baby to become familiar with the device, so they are used to inserting it into their mouths.

[0029] It will be understood that the embodiment illustrated above shows applications of the invention only for the purposes of illustration. Ir practice the invention may be applied to many different configurations, the detailed embodiments being straightforward for those skilled in the art to implement.

[0030] In this respect, although in the above embodiment, the teat has been provided with an air cavity, it will be understood that alternative configurations may be used. For example, the teat may be formed as solid formation of soft, resilient, plastic material or it may be provided with a gel filled cavity. Nevertheless, the teat is configured so that it can at least partially collapse or flatten in the sense that it deforms when a baby bites it. In this way, the baby is able to "lach on" to the teat, before sucking food from it, in a similar manner to how they would feed from a nipple.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A feeding utensil for a baby comprising a teat, said teat being at least partially collapsable and comprising a food retaining portion being profiled for retaining food thereon.
2. A utensil according to claim 1, wherein said food retaining portion is recessed for permitting food to be retained thereon.
3. A utensil according to any preceding claim wherein said teat comprises an interior cavity into which said teat is collapsable.
5. A utensil according to any preceding claim, wherein said teat is configured to collapse in such a way that said food retaining portion is deformed for facilitating the removal of food therefrom.
5. A utensil according to any preceding claim, wherein said teat is formed of an elastically deformable material.
6. A utensil according to claim 5 wherein said teat is formed of a polymer material.
7. A utensil according to claim 6 wherein said teat is formed of silicone.
8. A utensil according to any preceding claim, further comprising a shield for preventing said teat from being swallowed or partially swallowed.
9. A utensil according to any preceding claim, further comprising a handle.
10. A utensil according to claim 8, wherein said handle is provided with teething formations for soothing a baby's gums.
11. A utensil according to any preceding claim, where said utensil is a spoon.
12. A feeding utensil for a baby substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.