I already had the silverware and plates, so i put them to use.  I found using a saucer was benificial,  while i was and still only eat 3/4 cups of food per meal it looks like a lot more on a small plate and a major part of feeling full and like you have eaten enough is mental.  I found that when the plate looked full i felt more full.  i also found that smaller silverware made it easy for me to not put so much in my mouth and sit there waiting to swallow  Good Luck one your surgery it truly is the best thing i have ever done I am proud of my self as well as any one who has taken this commitment

I never even considered getting or using baby silverware or special dishes. However, this is one of those personal preference things. If you think it would help you, go for it.

i did go to world market and got some of the ****atail forks and spoons and just a couple of knives....i used them when i first got home, my daughter had bought some of the 4 ox ramikins so had them so i used them also...was easy to moosh up my egg, or eat egg salad or tuna salad out of the ramikin...the small forks was helpful when i first got home...but after about 2 months or so, i did not NEED them, i have them for the grandkids when they come over they use them..i do eat off small salad plates when i dish out my plate...my little bit of food on a regular plate just looks funny to me...but when i put it on the small salad plate, it looks like much more food..so i do use that..easier for me to judge what i have also...i have always drank out of reugalr cups, but since surgery, i can not drink using a straw, so little bummed about that...i always drank alot of water out of a jug from 7-11, and now a straw causes me disconfort so am adjusting to that...i have a double walled cup that looks like a coffee cup lid, it screws on and off, i got it at publix, it was during breast cancer awarmenss time so it has the ribbon on it..i wish i would have gotten an extra one then..
use what works for you,
have a great day
debby

I bought long handled baby spoons, and I was glad to have them.  My flatware is more contemporary and the bowls of the spoons are pretty big.  I used the baby spoons for the first 4 weeks.  I don't use them anymore, mainly because I am eating solid food that you would normally eat with a fork, and I can cut up the steak or whatever into little bites and eat them one at a time.  
It really made my life easier to have the small spoons.  I already had 4 ounce ramekins, but I bought some 2 ounce and 4 ounce plastic containers with lids.  When I made soup I could portion out the leftovers into the containers and just reheat the perfect amount. 
I have been able to drink large sips of water from just a few days post op, so the baby spoons have really helped me slow down the eating process.  I haven't thrown up, or even felt as though I wanted to and I think it's because I have really worked to retrain myself to eat small bites very slowly.  
Everyone is different, I think the baby spoons were $3 at Walmart....not a big investment.  
Good Luck!
Sara in Maui

I had picked up baby silverwear prior to my surgery, and my mom sent me her spoon the hospital gave her when she had hers. When i used them, I just found them too small to handle. I was careful with how much food I scooped with regular silverwear. I no longer use dinner plates, and rarely use full sized bowls. Typically I'll use the salad plates since my portions are so small. I also have a few over-sized coffee mugs that work out perfect for "bowls". I know how much they hold.

 After 33 years in the ER and ICU,  I whoof my food down. I am use to slamming a full meal down in 15 minutes between patient needs so it is still hot. Or worse if you don't you won't get to eat at all.  I bought the baby spoons to force me to slow down.   I have been trying to eat slower, chew more, all during the preop phase, but i still take too big of bites and eat too fast.  To control portions I have been using small plastic plates, but they are beginning to crack and break( they are very old).  So I bought 2 "girlie" child size plates.  I bought sippy cups so I don't have to smell the shakes.  Helps get the less pleasant ones down.  But I also have 100 ounce mug to fill daily to be sure i get a full 100 ounces of fluid a day.  And my coffee cup is a generous very grown up  sized one. 

Personally, I see no need for spending money on them.  Salad plates and regular small cups work just as well as baby plates/bowls, and there is no need to take a bite as small as the ones you can fit on a baby spoon even immediately after surgery.  (Some people are apparently told to take eraser-sized bites after surgery, which is ridiculous... you cannot even CHEW a bite so tiny!)  Most people are perfectly able to put just a small amount on a regular spoon or fork.  This surgery requires enough changes, and creates enough ways that we are "different" (and then have to work our way bakc to something more close to normal for the long-term) that it seems unneccesary to me to put yourself through an additional change to odd silverware and then having to change back to regular silverware in a month. Also, keeping the same silverware will give you a better idea of bite sizes going forward.

Lora

 I used them on and off mostly the spoons.  The toddler ones not the baby ones.  The toddler ones are a bit bigger and they were about right size when i needed them.  I ate off of a small plate, and still do.  I usually eat off a coffee cup size plate or a lettuce plate.  I have these spoons around since i did daycare and have grandkids so i didn't buy them.  I also have small bowls i used at first and really still use them.  Idon't eat more than 1/2 cup of oatmeal in the mornings so i don't need big bowls and like someone else said, its mostly a mental issue.  good luck on the surgery..

 It's not silly..some people need help training themselves to eat smaller amounts.. I personally didn't think it was necessary to get baby spoons and bowls/plates, However I do use the smaller salad plate when I eat..visually it just looks better to me to have a smaller plate since I eat so little.. then having this huge plate with hardly anything on it LOL plus it helps me not to waste so much food... if my plate is big I start piling food on it like I used to eat pre op.