Design and Features
The Kiddopotamus Tiny Diner Portable Placemat is a large clover shaped place mat with a crumb catcher that hangs over the side of the table.
It’s made of soft thick plastic and comes in blue, pink or yellow with a Hey Diddle Diddle pattern on it. (I’ve also seen a hippopotamus pattern in the US but not yet in Australia).
It features suction pads to secure it to the table.
Performance and Drawbacks
The Tiny Diner Portable Placemat is well designed for its purpose. It unfolds into quite a large placemat (45 x 33cm). When you finish using it the sides fold in and the whole placemat rolls into the crumb catcher to crate a portable bundle.
The suction pads firmly stick the Tiny Diner to any type of table top and the non-slide surface of the placemat limits slips and spills. At first I was skeptical of the crumb catcher but this is actually one of the best features of the Tiny Diner; it is really effective at keeping food off your baby’s lap and off the floor.
The Tiny Diner is great quality; the plastic is thick and durable and remains soft after many uses and washes. Talking about washes the Tiny Diner is really easy to keep clean and you can pop it in the dishwasher if you can’t stand anymore weetbix gick.
Some parents complain that the Tiny Diner does not stick to all surfaces. We haven't had this problem, ours seems to stick to everything. Others have complained that their child enjoys pulling theirs up and/or likes to play with the crumb catcher getting food all over themselves. If you think this might be your child then the Tiny Diner is not for you.
Conclusion
The Tiny Diner Portable Placemat really earns its place in your cupboard or baby bag. It’s a useful and well-designed bit of kit that you will use in day-in and day-out.
It is more expensive than your average placemat but you can get away with just the one and it should last you from the baby-mush days to older child fine dining.
About Kiddopotamus
Kiddopotamus (try saying that three times quickly) is a US brand that makes a variety of innovative children’s products including sleeping wraps and bags.
