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Tommee Tippee Explora Active Straw Beaker
by karlsm93
My daughter loves her Tommee Tippee beaker and that is the main cup I use for her drinks. However she is mad about straws but still struggles to hold the cup herself and sip with the straw without something spilling so when I saw this Tommee Tippee straw cup, I thought this might be the answer - a robust cup with a straw that was all ... enclosed so no worries about spillages, plus it would hold more juice than the little beaker that my daughter currently takes.
This Tommee Tippee Active Straw cup is suitable for children from 12 months plus, probably because of the straw element, but I'm sure it could be used by younger children who had mastered the sucking mechanism required with a straw. This cup can be picked up in the supermarkets or online and prices vary. I picked my one for my daughter in Tesco and it cost me around £4. It comes in a variety of colours but I chose a purple coloured one so it would be slightly girly for my daughter.
When I first bought this cup I was pleased to see that firstly it claimed to be non spill and secondly it was BPA free. The cup is also insulated to keep the drink inside cool for longer than a plain cup, which again I thought was good coming into the better weather. This cup has been designed to help young children learn how to use a straw with a soft silicone spout to make it comfortable to drink from, which is always good when you have a teething toddler. You can also put this cup in the dishwasher, which now that we have moved house and own a dishwasher, this was an added bonus to me!
When I presented this cup to my daughter, who had already mastered a straw in a cup, she was quite excited and couldn't wait for me to fill it so she could try it out. This was when some issues arose. Firstly the flip lid. I had no problem flipping to open the straw, but it was very stiff and so my daughter after countless tries still could not manage it, and actually was getting really cross. She likes being independent and she likes to be able to flip the lid on her little beaker, so she was no pleased about this lid, and to be honest, I think it is far too stiff for a young child to manage on their own and surely the point of these kind of cups are to make children more independent.
The second problem arose when my daughter starting drinking. She struggled to suck much out of the straw at any reasonable pace, quite unlike the way she does with a normal straw. SHe started to lose interest as she simply wasn't getting a lot of liquid out. She came back to it at different points to try to drink more and when she eventually got about two thirds of the way down the juice was very difficult to get sucked up, meaning she couldn't drink her last bit of juice.
I tried this cup again on several occasions and found the same difficulties each time - the stiffness as well as the difficulty with the straw. So, I left it and decided to revert back to her beaker cup.
On a positive note to finish, the claim to be non spill was true and my daughter tested this claim every time she used the cup, tipping it upside down and getting nothing out!
All in all, this cup was disappointing, especially since it was from a respected brand. I cannot recommend this cup.
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Baby Weavers Snack Highchair
by xmum2threex
**The high chair**
While browsing Kiddicare for my bump I found this high chair reduced from £60 to £15. As ours has been used by two of my children it is a little worse for wear, and so at that price I decided to snatch it up. It is available in different designs but I chose the green apple version as it can be used for my ... little girl, and then for my little boy when he is ready to begin weaning.
When it arrived it took all of a few minutes to build up as the main body of the frame was already built. It was just a few pieces that need clicked into place and then it was all ready to go. If I had paid £60 I would have been a little unhappy as it looks very basic, but at £15 it was not bad. The feel of the materials and chair when it is put together is very stable, and the build over all is really good. The frame is sturdy and the seat has enough padding to allow my daughter to sit comfortably.
I think because of the PVC finish on the seat itself it of course has a shine to it which just makes the material look a little basic. That with the simple white and green apple design makes it attractive enough but not overly amazing. It is still bright enough to appeal to babies and the lime green colour seems to attract my daughter s attention. The seat has plenty of padding to be comfortable for little one and the metal frame makes it very sturdy. It sits well on the floor as the base is wide enough to make it stable even with wriggling from little one. There is plenty of room to get little one in and out maybe even a little too much room between the tray and the seat itself. There is no room for movement on the floor as the rubber bands on the base of the legs stop it from moving even on wooden flooring.
What I really like is that it can be folded down very quickly and stored away. With us being such a big family space is always an issue, so it was essential that it could be folded and put away taking up as little room as possible. Also I can open it up and click it into place even with my little girl in my arms. It only takes seconds and again this was a feature that was really important to me. It is the perfect height to join the family at the table. With my previous high chair I found it was a little high meaning it would hurt my back leaning over to help my children eat. With this chair it is the perfect size to be pulled up for a family meal, and no more stretching and straining to try and feed my daughter.
**In use **
The seat is recommended from six months which seems a fair age range. I personally think it would be better for spoon feeding rather than finger food up to around nine months. The reason for this is the space between the tray and the seat. While it is not big enough for little one to slip through there is a fair gap which could easily result in the child dropping their food on the floor. The back has enough padding to keep little one comfy and sits at a good angle to keep them sitting correctly while eating. It has a five point harness so I know that my little girl has no way at all of getting out while she is eating. It is also adjustable so it can be loosed as your child gets older. Of course you should never leave you child unattended, but it helps put my mind at rest that she cannot slip out because of the roomy gap between the tray and the seat.
The tray itself is a fair size so you can fit a small toddler plate or bowl on to it, or of course finger foods. It is not overly large but perfect for a small child's plate. Cleaning is extremely easy. As it has a plastic cover over the seating, and the main tray itself is plastic I find it can be wiped down very easily. A few sprays of an anti bacterial spray and a cloth bring this high chair up to new condition. The only part I find difficult to clean is the drinks holder located in the tray itself. It is handy for placing my daughters juice in but can be a nightmare as it attracts every single piece of food and crumb. As the gap is rather small it can be difficult to get the cloth in and ensure it is completely clean and so this takes a little more time but is still achievable.
It fits a small beaker in the cup holder easily but a larger cup would have difficulty fitting in. I would have preferred if the seat cover was removable like our previous high chair, but it comes up clean enough with a wipe down anyway. While the main seat has not stained the harness has got a few marks on from her food, but it nothing over the top just from general use. There is a foot rest which at 11 months my little girls feet only just touch. This is not adjustable, but the chair is still comfy enough without being able to use the foot rest.
**Summary**
My only downside is that the tray is not adjustable, but to be honest for £15 you cannot expect the world. It sits in a good position so my little girl can eat in comfort but there is still ample room to get her in and out. She is 11 months now and will still be able to use this for a good few months yet. For the £15 I paid I think this is a really good high chair. Although the covers are not removable they can be wiped down easily. My daughter is more than happy to go into the seat, and the padding makes sure she is sitting comfortably. It is a fair size but does not take up huge amounts of space which means it can be pulled right up to the table. It is not overly pretty to look at but again is not an eyesore either. The chair is exclusive to Kiddicare, but if you spend over £30 they offer free next day delivery. I was given a time slot within an hour which I thought was impressive for a free service. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a basic but reliable high chair.
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Nuby Grip N Sip Cup
by scooch12
When I started to wean my daughter onto solids, I read that it was advisable to offer a drink of water to sip with her food too. Obviously at six months, she needed a cup that was suitable for her age range with a teat for her to take the water properly. In our local Tesco, I came across this Nuby grip and sip cup and popped it in the ... trolley for the simple reason that it was the only one that they had in stock that was suitable for babies over 6 months. It cost £3.99 which I thought was fairly reasonable compared to other similar cups.
The cup comes in several colours - I chose pink as it's a nice bright pink and not the normal salmon pink colour everything aimed at girls seems to be in. I remember also seeing a dark blue and a green cup too although there may be other colours available as well (in fact the picture shows a yellow and a red one). The cup comes just with a large piece of plastic wrapped around the top to hang it on the shop's shelf, apart from that it's pretty much loose.
It has some great features. Firstly, there are two tiny bumps on the teat section that need to line up with the bumps on the handle section and as long as these are aligned correctly, the cup doesn't leak whatsoever. Ours has been thrown countless times off the highchair and around the room and not once have I noticed any pools of water on the floor or over my daughter's clothing which is great as she tends to play with the cup more than drink from it!
My daughter seems to love handling it - the handles are so easy for her to hold on to and she has no problem bringing it to her mouth and putting it back down. She also waves it around in her hand and gets a bit grouchy when I finally take it away. I think she sees it as a toy! She tends to only grasp it with one hand but there are two handles for babies to grip on if they wish. The handles are curved to help with holding but are not full handles, they end around 3/4 of the way down the cup. There are also little grips on the cup itself to aid with holding.
The cup is very easy to take apart too making it very easy to clean. Now at 10 months, I'm still in the habit of sterilising everything and it's so simple to take it apart to pop in the steriliser, the handle part screws off the cup and then the teat pops out of the handle part so the whole thing separates into three (in addition to the lid).
Now the issues. The worst thing about this cup is the lid. It's a waste of time; I don't see the point of it being there! The lid is clear plastic and I thought originally it would either screw on the top or click on the top of the cup to provide a sturdy cover but mine doesn't do either, it just sits on the top over the teat. I get the impression that it's supposed to click on somehow but ours doesn't. It can be taken off by even knocking it slightly and therefore I can't place the cup in the bag just incase it decides to start leaking. Luckily the teat design means that we've not experienced any leaks but I never know if this might change one day! Plus, the lid should also be there to protect the teat when not in use but it comes off so easily that it doesn't. I'm talking about when the cup is normally stood up in the kitchen too, it's not like I'm even basing my experience on turning it upside down and being thrown about the place.
The teat is made of quite thick silicone which must aid with helping stop leakages (so in that respect is effective) but it also means it's quite tough to get any liquid out to drink. My daughter still hasn't managed to get much water from it yet even though it's offered at every meal. When I take it away, the water always seems to be at a similar level than it was when I handed it to her. I think this is partly due to her not being able to suck enough out through the teat - instead she thinks the teat is there to chew on as a teether! We've owned this cup for around 4 months and still I don't think she's realised what it's essentially for. I've offered her the cup in the same way as her bottle to try and encourage her to drink from it but also with no joy.
I think this is a good cup for older babies and toddlers, but don't think it really fits the age range that it specifies at six months. I rate it 3 stars overall, taking two off for it's rubbish lid and the fact it's hard for smaller babies to get liquid from it.
Thanks for reading :o)
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