| Product: |
Tommee Tippee 1st Beaker |
| Date: |
22/05/02 (411 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Wide-necked so it can be used with other standard teats and spouts, Bright designs in lots of different colours, Spill-proof
Disadvantages: Its a little on the expensive side but is of superior quality
Rachel is terrible with drinking cups. She always manages to bite through the spout of whichever variety I buy for her. At 16 months of age her teeth are fairly well developed and we have struggled to find a beaker durable enough to cope with her new-found biting skills. Still, rather she was biting them than me I suppose.
So today we braved the wind and the rain to go to our local town centre, in search of a new 'teething ring' for my little munchkin. There are so many cups on the market at the moment, and each one claiming to be leak-proof, shatterproof; you name it, it will do it. Even cook your dinner for you if you ask nicely; if only! I remembered reading in a magazine recently that Tommee Tippee had updated their range of beakers and so I went straight over to have a look:
CHOOSING THE RIGHT ONE:
Tommee Tippee has a 4-step program:
Step 1 Spill-proof bottle to cup trainer, easy grip bottle
Step 2 Spill-proof bottle to cup trainer system, 3mth +
Step 3 Spill-proof Easiflow cups, 6mth +. These have a natural action soft spout, allowing baby to control the flow of liquid naturally.
Step 4 Open Cup Drinking Trainer Lid, 12mths +. Baby will have the feel of the rim and be able to see the liquid, but is able to drink without spilling because the liquid is directed through the hole.
We actually purchased the Step 2 beaker as that was the only one in stock at the time. You can choose which is most suitable, depending on what stage of development your baby is at.
DESIGN
They come in a variety of colour-coordinated designs suitable for both boys and girls. Holding 9 floz of liquid, they stand quite tall but are well balanced for when little hands are holding them. This one is very well proportioned.
The problem I have had with 9oz beakers in the past is that the handles have been too high up the beaker therefore making them bottom-heavy and for small toddler
s with even smaller muscles struggle to hold them up to drink from.
To me, the beaker takes on the appearance of an Angel, or maybe I have just had a very stressful day! It has a rubber mid-section to which I can only describe as a pair of wings attached for baby to hold onto. It doesnt have handles as such, but large rubber pads that I at first thought would be quite tricky but actually seem easier to hold.
It comes with a well fitting lid to keep those nasty bugs at bay, and the beaker is spill proof, which is great for little ones who are not yet able to use a normal cup. The bottle is made of tough plastic, great for when they throw them over the side of the highchair onto the hard floor below! And on the side of the bottle is a fill-level indicator.
SPOUT:
The soft-spout itself is as wide as a normal teat, but is so shaped that it flattens to form a peak at the top. As I say the spout is quite wide and small mouths could possibly find this quite strange at first. It is a wide neck bottle so you can actually use any other teat or spout you may have.
At first I wondered how on earth it could be spill-proof as there is no gadget inside which you usually find controls the flow of most spill-proof beakers. It has a crosshair hole at the top of the spout, which controls the flow and opens and closes as baby sucks.
CLEANING:
This Tip-It-Up beaker is suitable for all forms of sterilisation. It is also dishwasher safe. You must also wash it prior to first use, get rid of all those nasty chemicals.
PRICE:
The price for this beaker was £3.99, but it was actually on offer today at £2.99, which made me feel a little better. It is quite expensive but the full retail price is actually in-line with other leading manufacturers. There are cheaper brands on the market, particularly shops own brands but they are certainly of a lesser quality compared to this range.
SUMMARY:
A very bright, easy to use beaker which hopefully will last more than two weeks this time. Remember to choose the appropriate stage as the flow could end up being too fast for smaller babies. A big thumbs-up. From Rachel too.
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UPDATE - 19/6/02
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Grrr, she's put a hole in this one too! I won't change my rating of the product as its designed for younger babies anyway, but grrrr!! I've now bought a cheapie from Morrisons :o)
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