Friends, Meet Milton! |

In our home, Milton has become a household name within a matter of hours. It was that easy. The box arrived, I called out “Milton is here!” and the kids’ attention had been caught. We opened our box to find our new friend, Milton, along with a Meet Milton book. Before using Milton, I ran him through the dishwasher that night, and sat with the kids before bed to read the story about him and his adventures. The book is pretty fun to read, as it features images and text that describe Milton’s story and how he got to this point. It’s a cute story, and after reading it, I felt that the kids were set up to use him the following day.

Our Uses for Milton:
The creation of Milton is one of those situations where a simple concept does far more than the obvious. Of course the boys were excited to offer Milton some food, but that is not the limit to his capabilities. Here are a few other ways we use Milton

•Milton keeps his mouth open nice and wide to help me show the boys how to care for their teeth. I am able to show them that with brushing after meals and flossing each day, he is able to avoid cavities!
•Milton is a great bath time companion. He loves feeling the water from the shower head on his bald little head, and has a blast in the bathtub as well. No tears over here!
•He’s a great chew toy. Milton is a sweetheart. He doesn’t complain when our seven month old girl eases her sore gums by nibbling on him throughout the day.
•He is our snack sitter. When the boys have not finished a snack, they have Milton guard their plates or bowls while they run off to play until they are ready to finish eating.

Favourite Features:
•Milton is easy to clean. Simply squeeze the sides to pop his mouth open, and use a baby bottle cleaner or sponge to clean him. This is a great way to get toddlers to practice helping in the kitchen as well. What greater way to teach responsibility than to have them clean their own mealtime companion after meal time? He’s also dishwasher safe in case you’re not in the mood for hand washing.
•He’s safe for children to play with. Most of our tableware and utensils for the kids are made of silicone, so you can imagine my joy when I discovered that Milton is made of 100% food grade silicone, making it BPA free, phthalate free, and PVC free. He’s a squishy little guy, making him a great companion for our youngest, who will chew on anything in sight.

Cons:
•This isn’t really a con, because it’s not about the product itself, but I will leave this header to attract attention. On their FAQ page, the website mentions that the Meet Milton book is not just to introduce children to their new mealtime companion, but also serves as a user manual for parents. This is true in my experience. What I would like is to see their website place a bit more emphasis on the book, because its role is a bit underplayed. I found it informative, the kids had a blast reading it at night, and it motivated them to try new things even before they had Milton join them at the table. It’s too awesome to not brag about! I would love to see more focus on the book within their website, so that visitors can get as excited as I did after reading it.

Milton Gives Back:
Here’s a great fact about Milton that I learned from the website. For every Milton made, $1 is donated to Feed My Starving Children to support their “mission of feeding children hungry in body and spirit”. It’s one thing when a brand comes out with a fun hip product that works well with the kids, but the fact that the makers have made it a point to give back (on a quarterly basis) shows that they also have heart, and it doesn’t get better than that! Click here for details on how the folks over at Sixty LLC give back.