In Depth Baby Product Reviews Led by a Pediatrician
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The Babymoov Nutribay is an all-in-one concept that sounds cool on paper but disappointed us in real life. The Nutribaby has two different containers that require the user to move the food from one to another to complete the process. This two-step process makes it just as labor-intensive or possibly more so than steaming your food on the stove and using a puree device that doesn't cook. It also failed to consistently puree the food and often left larger chunks that aren't suitable for younger babies. Add to this the more complex buttons and settings and the fact the Nutribaby is primarily plastic, and you have a baby food maker that looks good but didn't pass muster.
REASONS TO BUY
No non-food taste
Good safety mechanisms
Reduced mold and rust concerns
REASONS TO AVOID
Poor Puree quality
Harder to use and clean
Discontinued — October 2019
Babymoov has discontinued the Nutribaby food maker and replaced it with the Duo Meal Station. The concept is the same and the two products look very much alike. We are now linking to the Duo Meal Station in this review.
Our Analysis and Test Results
Since 1998, Babymoov has been creating products designed to help parents so they can spend more time with their babies. Babymoov strives to provide reliable, technologically advanced baby gear inspired by input from parents. In 2014, Babymoov opened a US subsidiary bringing their products to moms and dads in the US. Babymoov prides itself on keeping in touch with moms on a daily basis online and through social media. They provide a blog, latest news, product surveys and videos on their website. They currently offer baby food makers, baby monitor, baby swing, diaper bags and more.
Performance Comparison
Below is a chart that compares overall performance scores. The Babymoov bar is blue with the last place ranking.
The sections below shares additional details about how the Nutribaby performed. The overall score derives from the individual metric scores with emphasis placed on the puree quality and ease of use results.
The puree quality for the Babymoov was a hit or miss affair as the blades seemed to shoot the food high into the container where it couldn't be blended.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Puree Quality
The Babymoov earned a 5 of 10 for puree quality. This score means that the food we attempted to blend using the Nutribaby didn't puree evenly and smoothly for every kind of food we tried. In fact, some foods had larger chunks, and the consistency wasn't very consistent. Even steamed sweet potatoes were difficult to puree into a substance that was smooth enough for young babies with several chunks left behind. The only foods in our test list that the Nutribaby did not struggle with were bananas, apples, rice, and pasta.
In general, we think the inability of the Babymoov to puree in a predictable fashion is a bummer. This sweet potato had several larger chunks left behind despite the smooth look.
Harder veggies had trouble in the Babymoov and required more water to be added for a smoother puree.
The Babymoov blades seemed to shoot the food up and away from the blades, and we had to continually push the food back down into the blade area or add more water to get the contents smooth enough depending on the food type. Overall, testers were frustrated that it didn't work well for the price and the complexity.
The Babymoov can cook two kinds of food at the same time in separate bins. This is convenient for cooking, but you'll still need to blend them separately and clean the blender between items if you want to avoid mixing.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Ease of Use
The Babymoov earned a 6 of 10 for ease of use, compared to the more simplistic Baby Bullet and Sage Spoonfuls Puree and Blend with 8s. The Babymoove's score suffered somewhat due to the complexity of the product with more buttons and settings than some of the competition. It is difficult to use right out of the box, and some parents may rely on the manual for a longer time. It is least intuitive option in the review.
The Nutribaby only has a few buttons but the setup and combination of settings are more complicated and has a fairly steep learning curve. There isn't much that is intuitive about the Babymoov.
The Babymoov has a single blade puree that seemed to keep shooting food up and out of the way of blades which meant we had to stop and push the food back down and some chunks never did get smooth enough.
The Nutribaby only has three pieces to put together which is a plus, but it takes far longer to make the food than any of the other options. When you get to the blending part you can only blend the preparation for 5 seconds with 5 seconds off then 5 more on and then a 30-second break. This on/off/wait process is the only way to avoid overheating the motor. We found this not only annoying and time-consuming but disappointing given that a standard blender or mixer can run far longer without the same concerns. This comparison left us disappointed in the overall level of the technology it uses.
The Babymoov has one of the larger cooking capacities in the group making it a good option for big batches which might translate to less time prepping food.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
The Nutribaby can steam 6 1/4 cups and blends 2 1/2 Cups at a time. Once you get used to all the buttons and settings the parts are not too hard to use, and you can steam two different foods at the same time. The steam basket works well, but because you cook on one side and then transfer the food to the blender part, it isn't as useful as it sounds like an all-in-one should be. Parents could just steam on the stove and use fewer parts without the plastic concerns. With the Babymoov you actually have more parts to wash. However, you can use the product as a sterilizer and bottle warmer as well as baby food prep, but these are also tasks you can do almost as easily on your stove.
The Babymoov Nutribaby has a lot going on with more parts and pieces than most of the competition and most of them are plastic.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Health and Safety
The Babymoov performed well on health and safety. This score reflects nice features for safety that include a bowl that locks onto the base when in use, an alarm for no water in the tank during cooking and an alarm if the blender and cooker aren't correctly connected while cooking. These features are designed to protect users from hurting themselves.
The hole in the top of the blender portion is for steam and could potentially cause burns on misplaced hands with just cooked food.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Unfortunately, users do need to be careful when moving the contents from the steamer to the blender portion of the unit. The location of steam release on the lid of the blending bowl is directly on top of where a hand might be placed. If someone does put their hand there, they could suffer burns, so extra care should be taken when food is hot.
This product is primarily plastic. This plastic construction is disappointing to us given the studies on some BPA-free plastic that show they can still leach chemicals especially when heated. We think it would be better if the containers were the food sits and cooks were glass. All of the parts are BPA-free, the mixing bowl is SAN, and the cooking baskets are Tritan. Even if a switch meant a higher price, we think most parents would prefer the eco-healthy glass over plastic. On the upside, this food maker is generally easy to clean, and we were able to access most of the parts without trouble which means the chances of mold or rust developing are slim.
The Nutribaby has some nooks and crannies that require more attention for proper cleaning.
Credit: BabyGearLab Staff
Ease of Cleaning
The Nutribaby earned a 5 of 10 for ease of cleaning. This is the second to the lowest score with only the Baby Brezza Complete scoring lower.
The Babymoov has a lot of parts to clean, and only some of them are dishwasher safe, though we encourage parents to handwash all the items to prevent degradation of the plastic which could cause more potential leaching of chemicals into baby's food. The cooking basket, removable trays, cooking juice receptacles, lids, spatula, and mixing bowl are all dishwasher safe. The cooking dome can wipe clean with a sponge or cloth. The inside of the heating tank will also need descaling every week or every five heat cycles. Descaling is easy and done with vinegar and water, but it is necessary and an extra step over the makers that do not steam.
