Y'all, This 8-Minute Popsicle Maker Will *Save* You When Your Baby Starts Teething

Popsicles are basically a food group in our house, especially during the summer months, but I have to be one of those parents who buys boxes of them instead of making my own frozen treats. Why? It's simple — I'm lazy. So unless I plan ahead, what I'm really telling my child — who really wants a popsicle — is that she's going to have to watch me mix up a bunch of fruit, pour it into molds, and then wait like 12 hours to eat one. Basically, I'm a monster, which is why this Pampered Chef Quicksicle Maker is going to save me (and all of us, really). Because it only takes eight minutes to make a frozen treat.

Yes. Eight actual minutes is all it takes to make popsicles. I know to a 4-year-old that still seems like seven minutes and 48 seconds too long, but there you have it. The fine people at Pampered Chef have created the Quicksicle Maker, which can create three popsicles at a time in eight minutes or less. At $57, it's a little pricier than other appliances you might have, but trust me — this thing is worth it. With dishwasher-safe sticks, you can reuse them over and over to make popsicles and never have to deal with the sticky mess of plastic or a bunch of stuff to throw away. They're easy for kids to hold, there's a "crosshatch pattern" that helps the popsicles actually stay on the stick rather than sliding off the minute you pull it out, and major bonus: there's a "key" that helps you remove the popsicles from the Quicksicle Maker. No more running the entire thing under hot water, hoping at least one popsicle will come out without being ruined. The Quicksickle Maker gives you three perfect popsicles in less than eight minutes every time.

If you're thinking this is an appliance that will only get used in the summer months, think again. Pampered Chef recognized that not only can the Quicksicle Maker create great fruit popsicles during the summer months for your kids and boozy frozen treats for you, but it can also make perfect teething popsicles for the littlest members of your family. And let's be real — teething can strike literally whenever, and you have to act fast to give your kiddo some relief. While you can't drop their favorite teething toy in the Quicksicle Maker for an eight-minute freeze, you can make some homemade teething popsicles with breast milk or even formula. Just pour whatever your baby's drink of choice is right into the molds, wait a few minutes, and you have the perfect treat for their sweet little gums. Medela noted that if your baby is already into solid foods, you can also purée some fruits or veggies to mix in so they have an even heartier treat.

The trick with the Quicksicle Maker is keeping it in your freezer at pretty much all times. The directions for using the appliance suggest letting the base of the Quicksicle Maker sit in the freezer for 24 hours before making popsicles, so we've just decided to always keep ours in the freezer. That way whenever we're ready for a sweet treat, we know the maker is all ready to go. Once you've poured your mixture in, you can pop the whole thing back in the freezer if you want to speed up the process even more, but we've found that having it on the counter for a few minutes works, too. One more tip? Use cold mixture ingredients so the Quicksicle Maker doesn't thaw as it's freezing your treats.

So whether you want some boozy popsicles or need a teething treat for your babe, the Quicksicle Maker can make it happen super fast. I really love the reusable sticks that aren't plastic and are dishwasher-safe. I mean, I was planning on hosing my kid off after every popsicle she ate anyway, but it's nice to just drop those sticks straight in the utensil bin of the dishwasher.