15 Must-Have Silicone Products for Parents

Silicone rubber has been widely used as an industrial material for decades, so why is it being used to make baby products and toys?

Silicone is incredibly nifty for baby and toddler products. It's soft, flexible, easy to clean, durable, doesn't leech chemicals, and functions excellently in heating or freezing temperatures. That's why it's everywhere in the baby product world!

After years of raising my own babies, working with foster babies, and helping out in a nursery, here is my list of silicone product must-haves for cleanliness, reducing plastic, and safety.

1. Silicone Bibs

 Silicone bibs are soft and flexible for your baby's neck. They usually have a catch-all pocket in the bottom. Since they are silicone, you can wash them in the dishwasher when your baby is done!

To be honest, it took me a while to get into using silicone bibs. I felt that they would irritate a baby's neck or be too clunky for a baby to eat around. But then I had a messy eater who ate with his face (open-handed eating) rather than methodically picking up bites of food. Silicone bibs were my new favorite thing!

2. Silicone Placemats

As your baby grows and transitions from a high chair to a booster seat at the dinner table, you may want to protect your table a bit. Silicone placemats are perfect for this because they don't slide on the table and grip dishes slightly to help your child eat with utensils.

Silicone mats will also protect your table from dings and pockmarks caused by your child getting too excited with a fork or spoon. To clean them, wipe them off with soapy water, use a baby-friendly cleaner, or put them through the dishwasher.

3. Silicone Teething Rings

The more you think about it, the more silicone teething rings make sense. First, silicone is much more hygienic than wood or plastic because you can boil them for sterilization. Forget Lysol and bleach! Second, silicone teething rings have a slight give to them, so they don't hurt your baby's gums or established teeth.

Third, silicone teething rings don't splinter like wood, nor do they crack or get punctured as easily. Finally, silicone teething rings last forever. Short of Fido having hours to work on one, a lawn mower incident, or being tossed into flames, a set of high-quality silicone teething rings will last through all your babies and pass on to another family.

4. Silicone Sippy Cup

Speaking of being gentle on teeth, silicone sippy cups are ingenious for 6 to 12-month-old babies and toddlers because they are soft and durable. Teething kiddos feel like they must gnaw on everything for relief, meaning their sippy cup straws must stay in one piece.

Making the whole cup silicone helps ensure tiny tots don't hurt themselves when they fall on it. Moonkie's silicone cups have a soft silicone straw and lid as well as a stiffer silicone cup that still flexes with an adult's grip.

5. Silicone Baby Spoons

Plastic baby spoons are a bit scary because your baby can fall on them and get hurt. Ideally, littles will never walk with spoons in their mouths, but if you have a booster seat escape artist or a toddler who has figured out the safety latches and reaches into drawers, you know that accidents can happen quickly.

Silicone baby spoons flex a bit to minimize damage in an accident. For example, Moonkie's spoons are fully made from food-grade silicone so that the whole spoon flexes with pressure.

6. Silicone Baby Plate

The benefits of silicone plates for babies and toddlers are obvious: they are easy to clean, soft, and cute. But they have definite cons, like requiring two hands to carry with food (they are too floppy) or having a small suction cup in the center that you have to press down on through the food.

As parents, we know the struggle, so we went above and beyond to make nifty silicone plates that are a must-have for convenient living.

Our silicone plates are more rigid than others to prevent flopping--even with food in them. That rigidity means you can push the plate's ridgeline down instead of the bottom for suction to the table. We even included airtight silicone lids for storing leftovers or prepared meals in the fridge or freezer!

7. Silicone Food Storage Containers

Preparing food ahead of time is a must for tight schedules, especially if you're committed to staying healthy or eating affordably. However, plastic containers can leach chemicals over time, stain easily, and shouldn't be microwaved. Using the alternative glass containers solves those problems until you drop one.

That's where our silicone food storage containers come in. They are easy to clean and sterilize, stack beautifully in the fridge or a lunch box, hold their seal when dropped, and store food safely in the refrigerator or freezer. Even better, you can pop the whole thing into the microwave!

8. Silicone Breast Pump

Pumping is one of those things you've got to do if you are determined to breastfeed your baby but work away from home. Yet, for all of their usefulness, electric breast pumps make you sore, and hand pumps require at least one hand and some concentration.

We designed a silicone breast pump that you can place, squeeze, and let slow suction work, freeing up your hands for something else. It's gentle, it's quiet, and it's efficient!

9. Silicone Finger Toothbrush

Getting a baby to hold still while you brush her teeth is nerve-wracking! Your baby may fuss, wiggle, cry, or move toward the toothbrush and gag herself--not cool. That's where silicone finger toothbrushes save the day!

A silicone finger toothbrush is a bristled cap that sits on your finger so you can rub your baby's gums with gentle bristles without fear of your baby chomping hard enough to hurt your finger. This is particularly useful for removing food particles after your baby starts snacking on solids.

10. Silicone Bottle Sleeve

Glass baby bottles are excellent for heating, cleaning, and sterilizing but can break easily or slide off a bumped table. A silicone bottle sleeve that covers the bottom will provide some padding and make sliding less likely.

Should a sleeved glass bottle hit the floor, a tall sleeve will hold some pieces together to make cleanup faster. Silicone bottle sleeves are also excellent for padding toddler water bottles. They will prevent scuffing on your table and make an easy grip for tiny hands.

11. Silicone Food Storage Bags

Silicone food storage bags are fantastic replacements for plastic bags. They are durable, seal tightly, and can tolerate freezing, refrigeration, and repeated use.

When dirty, just turn the bags inside out and run them through the dishwasher. The only thing about silicone food storage bags is ensuring they are totally dry before storing or putting more food in them. If they are not dry, bacteria can grow. Nonetheless, they are super helpful!

12. Silicone Straws for Your Cups

If you like stainless steel cups, beware: your toddler will be magnetized to them! By two or three years old, your child will know you've got the good stuff in your cup and will sneak drinks whenever he can. Other than keeping your cup guarded or out of reach at all times, using silicone straws will minimize accidents.

Silicone straws are soft and flexible, so if your toddler makes a run for it and falls, he won't get poked by a rigid straw (like stainless steel). Also, if you have a straw, your toddler will not likely turn the cup up for a drink and spill everything.

13. Silicone Pacifiers

If you use pacifiers for your baby, you should be particular about the material and design. Silicone pacifiers are a thing because they are hypoallergenic, can be boiled for sterilization, are durable when teeth come in, and don't misshape with hours of sucking.

You must watch natural rubber pacifiers and replace them every few weeks because the natural rubber lengthens with sucking. It also doesn't tolerate high temperature cleanings as well as silicone. Plastic pacifiers can leach harmful chemicals over time, especially after being heated in cleaning.

14. Silicone Travel Toys

I've done a lot of traveling with my young children, and let me tell you: travel toys get gross quickly. Whether your little one drops a toy on a public bathroom floor or shares it with a random person in the airport, you need something you can clean quickly with whatever is available to you.

Silicone travel toys are stellar for durability and easy cleaning on the go. Even further, you won't have to worry about your little one teething on a well-built silicone toy while driving.

15. Silicone Stacking Toys

Stacking toys are phenomenal for building your child's fine motor, problem-solving, and hand-eye coordination skills. Having a set or two of silicone stacking toys is a solid idea for teething babies and toddlers with a powerful urge to chew on anything.

With silicone, you'll know that your little one won't hurt herself or break off pieces of the toy while teething. For a list of the best stacking toys, check out 10 Montessori Stacking Toys for Toddlers.

Why is Silicone Everywhere in the Baby Product World?

Silicone has become ubiquitous in the baby product world, from bibs and bottle sleeves to teething toys and sippy cups. But why has silicone become so popular, and how can parents know whether the silicone baby products they are purchasing are of high quality?

Silicone is a synthetic material with several key advantages over other materials often used in baby products, like plastic, wood, and rubber. Check out this chart to compare the general characteristics of baby product materials:

Safe: How safe a toy is by common safety standards

Easy to Clean: Ease of cleaning thoroughly

Durable: A toy's unbreakability

Versatile: The range of designs, colors, and textures available

Cost: Cheap upfront or cheap cost-per-use (i.e., greater durability is cheaper with more uses)

Eco-friendly: Biodegradability or recyclability

Here's a chart of high-quality food-grade silicone's characteristics to break it down further. This is why it's used so much in the baby product world!

How Do I Know that a Product is Made with High-Quality Silicone?

Not all silicone baby and toddler toys are created equal. Some manufacturers cut corners in design, use fillers in their silicone, or use less-quality silicone altogether in their products. 

Here are a few things you can do to ensure a product uses high-quality food-grade silicone:

What If a Baby Product Doesn't Appear to Be Made With 100% Food-Grade Silicone?

That's up to you. Some folks don't care one way or the other. However, a cheap silicone toy or product could cause issues. For example, the filler could be hazardous to a little one's health, or maybe the product is not as durable and can be bitten through.

Ultimately, whether you opt for the more expensive but higher quality silicone products or not comes down to you and your family's lifestyle.

In a Nutshell

Silicone is such a valuable and versatile material for baby and toddler toys and products. It's incredibly convenient, safe, and durable! What are your favorite silicone products?