A Basic First Cup (Tommee Tippee 1st Beaker)

Member Name: Ann-Marie_B

Product:	Tommee Tippee 1st Beaker
Date:	07/05/09 (44 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lightweight and easy to grip

Disadvantages: Leaks easily and lid causes liquid to spurt out when despressed

The 1st Beaker by Tommee Tippee was one of the very first cups that my son was introduced to at around six months of age.

I purchased this from Tesco and it is currently available at just £1.61. It is available in a variety of colours, my son's cup was green.

This is a rather basic beaker/cup which consists of a cup with easy grip handles at either side and a press down lid with a flip up spout.

It is lightweight and easy for small hands to grip. There are also guide lines on the side of the cup to aid dilution of juice drinks.

Tommee Tippee boast that this cup is currently the most popular in Britain. I have personally seen a lot of mums at baby and toddler groups using this cup for their child. In fact one particular playgroup that my son attends will give the children drinks of juice or water from a large selection of these cups that they keep themselves.

The Tommee Tippee 1st Beaker however is not my favourite choice. To begin with it was the only cup that we used however I soon became aware of its flaws and began looking at other more suitable products.

The cup leaks very easily and it is in a child's nature to shake it around, causing the free flowing spout to spill. On occasions where I have taken this cup out of the house, I have found that it has leaked, despite the spout being in the downward position. The lid also begins to come away if thrown onto the floor by the child. I have often found it lying in a puddle on the floor.

Because this cup has a basic free flowing spout, the child needs to tip the cup up in order for the liquid to come out. I found that at the beginning my son did not fully understand this concept and would be rather bemused as to why he could not obtain his juice. The cup also needs to be in the correct position when tipped up. The spout is at one edge and if the child accidentally picks the cup up the opposite way, the liquid will pool away from the spout despite best efforts to tip it up.

The final drawback of this product is the somewhat basic push down lid. When the cup is filled with liquid and the lid is pressed on, the liquid will promptly spurt out of the spout. If the spout is in the downward position when the lid is pressed on, the air pressure will prevent it from fitting correctly and as soon as the spout is then lifted the liquid will rather predictably spurt out of the spout again. I often used a tea towel strategically placed over the top of the lid when placing it on. My tea towel however was wet through time and time again and some of the liquid would collect in the cavity around the spout which would need to be removed if carrying it in a bag.

In summary this is indeed a very popular product. However in my opinion it is more likely to be commonly purchased by those buying their child a cup for the very first time. I personally moved on from this product once I discovered the non-spill cow cup and the Tommee Tippee Easiflow Insulated cup with the straw which have both been a big hit with my toddler!

Summary: A very basic first cup