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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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Tommee Tippee 1st Beaker
by MollyWH
My daughter Molly is nearly 15 months and has been drinking from a beaker since she was about six months old. She still has her bedtime milk in a bottle but her juice and water that she drinks during the day is given to her in a Tommee Tippee beaker.
To be honest, the only reason we picked this beaker was because they were on ... a special offer in Tesco's at the time that we decided to get Molly a beaker. We bought two of the beakers for £1.50 which I thought was a more than reasonable price for a brand name.
The beakers come in a variety of colours including blue, pink, green and yellow. We decided to pick a pink one for Molly as she doesn't actually have too many pink items as I try to make a point of not getting everything in pink just because she is a girl!
The beaker itself has a handle either side which means that it is very easy for baby to grip. Molly often just holds it with one hand now that she has mastered drinking with a beaker. The nozzle to the beaker is obviously somewhat different to the teat of a bottle and Molly did take a while to get used to using the beaker. The flow of liquid does come out much quicker and your child does not need to suck as it is a free flowing beaker but like I said, Molly soon adapted her drinking method to the beaker. The nozzle of the beaker has three small holes that your child sucks on to release the liquid inside. The nozzle can be lifted up and down which is great for when you are popping the beaker in a bag as you can just snap the nozzle down and the liquid is contained within the beaker. The only downside to this is that it allows food to get caught up in the mechanism of the nozzle and it can be quite difficult to clean. Molly is an incredibly messy eater and quite often her beaker gets covered in lunch / dinner and can be a pain to clean up!
Overall I would certainly recommend the Tommee Tippee 1st beaker. I think they offer excellent value for money, especially if you manage to buy them when they are on a special offer like we did. I like the fact that they come in different colours too. They are easy for your child to hold due to them having two handles and I also really like the lift up / push down action of the nozzle. One downside to the nozzle is that because it is free flowing, if you have a child that likes to fling their beaker around their heads during mealtimes (like Molly does!) then their juice / water can end up going everywhere. Lastly, another great feature of these beakers is that they are microwave safe dishwasher safe and sterilizer safe.
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Tommee Tippee 1st Beaker
by Whizz11
I don't know why but we always seem to misplace our baby cups. We either go to a friends house and leave it there or leave it in a restaurant and so my poor little baby boy has had to drink out of his sisters pink cup for the last few days now, that was until we bought him his own blue Tommee Tippee beaker!! I have been using Tommee ... Tippee cups and products ever since my children were born as I think they are very well made, well thought out and good quality products.
When my children first starting drinking water and juice I had them drinking from the Tommee Tippee cups that had the handles on the side as these were really easy for them to grip hold of and drink out of but now they have got a little bit older I have moved them onto the beaker. I could always get them a bigger cup and a more grown up cup but they really seem to like them and I like them too so I can't see the point in changing for now. With this beaker it is just round the whole way around so my little boy can grab onto it easily with his hands and holds it perfectly. It's easy for him to carry about too as its not too large. The cup holds 200ml which is a nice amount of drink for a little one. I do have to refill them quite a bit but it keeps the juice or water inside nice and fresh and not stale as it can be in some bigger cups which have sat all day.
Now, my little boy is 18 months old now and he is perfectly capable of drinking from a lid free baby cup but there are certain times when I still need him to drink out of a cup with a lid. For example when we are in the car this Tommee Tippee beaker is perfect as it has a fold down spout that does not leak when it is put down so its perfect if he drops it in the car. I also like to use these cups when they are having a night time drink in the lounge as they are all sleepy but the juice does not go all over my couch!
The fold down spout really is quite leakproof when folded down although my son is definitely old enough to pull it up and down himself. He probably was doing this from about the age of 1 so its a great cup for them to be able to figure out on their own. The spout is free flowing which I much prefer than a cup with a valve as I think these are so difficult to drink from as you really have to suck to get any juice out and it seems like a lot of effort for a little mouth!
The cup is easy to fill although the lid is rather tight and you need to make sure that the spout is up before you open or close this cup as the lid will never come off with the suction of the spout being down. YOu do need to make sure you close it properly too as you think you have the lid on all the way and then you realise its not fully on so you do need to give it a hard snap.
The cup is microwave safe, dishwasher safe and steriliser safe. I was mine in the dishwasher every night and they haven't bent out of shape or shrunk or anything like that. They are made from BPA-free material so they are safe for your little ones and only cost a pound or two which is great value.
I like them and will continue to use them and my little boy just likes the fact that he now has his own blue cup!
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