A legacy of exclusive
breastfeeding for the first six months of Doof’s life meant he never had a
regular bottle and so when it came time to give him water with meals and wean
him onto formula pending return to work, we decided to avoid bottles altogether
and go straight to a cup (rather than introducing a bottle only to have to wean
him off it a few months later).
But trying to convince a baby
to go from boob (warm, comforting, smells of mummy, intrinsically linked with
cuddles etc etc) to a plastic cup is not the easiest of tasks. As a result we
have tried (I think – it definitely feels like it!!) every single cup available
from Sainsburys, Tesco, Asda, Boots and John Lewis.
Here’s what we thought:
Tommee Tippee “First Cup”
This seems to be the pretty
standard choice of most people.
Advantages:
§
Free-flow spout
means baby learns more quickly what a cup is all about
§
Easy to clean,
only 2 components
§
Handles easy to
hold – Doof could do it easily aged 5 months
Disadvantages:
§
Free-flow spout
means milk/water goes everywhere when Doof over-enthusiastically waves the cup
around…
§
The lids are
nearly impossible to get off (tip – make sure spout is open before you try)
§
Only holds 190ml
which is less than most babies take in a single bottle aged 6-12 months
§
Very difficult to
get the last 30-40ml out of the cup (due to ridging around spout hole)
Verdict:
Doof didn’t find this the
easiest cup initially – probably because he was young when I first introduced
it (4 months) and it was so different to the boob. So we stopped using it but
have recently gone back to it and now he loves it. He will happily drink 150ml
of milk from it, holding it himself and with only minimal
tipping-it-upside-down!
Tommee Tippee “First Sips Cup”
We tried this one second. I
thought Doof liked it initially but he quickly started to get frustrated with
it.
Advantages:
§
“No spill” system
due to valves inside lid so even if held upside down nothing comes out
Disadvantages
§
Due to valve
system baby has to suck really hard to get any drink out
§
Assembly is
fiddly with the cup, spout and 2 different valve pieces – so lots of little
bits to clean/lose etc
§
Sometimes even
when the valves were correctly assembled still no drink came out but there was
no way of me knowing until Doof got more and more cross…
Verdict:
We didn’t get on with this
one at all. It was really fiddly to clean and put together and half the time
there was hardly any flow, however hard Doof sucked. So not much incentive for
him to keep sucking.
Tommee Tippee “Tip It Up Cup”
Advantages:
§
Combines elements
of free-flow with system to reduce most spills
§
Larger cup so
holds more drink
§
Handles easy to
hold – Doof could do it easily aged 5 months
§
Soft spout which
some say is much better for oral development than a hard one
Disadvantages:
§
Because it’s
designed to be free-flow-ish, if baby pulls spout out of mouth too quickly or
when half sucking, a lot of drink spills everywhere as the spout is really wide
when open
§
No markings on
cup so difficult to work out volumes for milk or to know how much your baby has
drunk
Verdict:
This seems to be an
intermediate between ‘First Cup’ and ‘First Sips Cup’. It has complete free-flow
when sucked but if tipped upside down (briefly!) it doesn’t leak. This can dupe
you into a false sense of security that it won’t be messy though and then
suddenly your baby ends up with milk all over themselves! This was our
preferred cup until we discovered the Nuby one below.
Doidy cup
Advantages:
§
Most similar to
the standard cup that children/adults use
§
Helps babies
learn how to sip and swallow in a co-ordinated way
§
Very easy to
clean
Disadvantages:
§
Mess, spills,
more mess, puddles of drink everywhere!
Verdict:
This is obviously the model
we are all aiming towards but I am definitely not the sort of saint that can
cope with using this cup at every meal! Doof seems to really enjoy drinking
from it though and he is starting to get the hang of taking a sip and then
putting the cup back down rather than just pouring more and more around his face.
At the moment I try and use it once a day and just put a small amount of water
in the bottom – the keep topping it up as he drinks it – leads to a lot less
spillage!
Nuby “Grip’n’Sip”
Advantages:
§
Soft spout
§
Easy for Doof to
handle
Disadvantages:
§
When you screw
the spout on it can twist out of the handles groves if you are not careful –
its easy to fix but you need to be aware of it
§
Not truly
free-flow
§
No volume
markings on cup (I ended up marking some on with a permanent marker)
§
Need to clean
spout carefully if using it for milk as there are a few little crevices where
milk can pool
§
After several
sucks the spout becomes deformed and indents at an angle. It is easy to fix by
just pinching the spout between your fingers to release the vacuum and then the
spout returns to normal. This may just
be the way Doof sucks but it happens a couple of times every time he uses it –
it’s not a major problem and he can still drink when the spout is deformed but
I think the drinking angle is slightly more awkward.
Verdict:
This was our preferred cup
from 5.5 months (when we discovered it) until now. We had a red one for water
and blue one for milk. Doof still uses it for water at mealtimes (mainly so it
doesn’t matter if it gets shaken around/thrown off highchair etc – a regular
occurrence!) but for milk we have switched back to the TT First Cup as the flow
is quicker and I want him to start getting used to free-flow. Would definitely
recommend this as a first “starter cup”.
Tommee Tippee “Easy Drink Beaker”
Advantages:
§
“No spill” system
due to valves inside lid so even if held upside down nothing comes out
§
Much larger
beaker so holds a lot more drink
Disadvantages
§
There are no
handles
§
Due to valve
system baby has to suck really hard to get any drink out
§
Assembly is
fiddly with the beaker, spout and 2 different valve pieces – so lots of little
bits to clean/lose etc
§
Sometimes even
when the valves were correctly assembled still no drink came out but there was
no way of me knowing until Doof got more and more cross…
Verdict:
We only used this one twice
as Doof just didn’t understand what to do/how to hold it as there are no
handles. I suspect this one will be better when he is older (more than 12
months) although the cup info did say it was suitable for his current age.
--------------------------------
So there it is - Doof and my top picks are the Nuby to start with, followed by the Tommee Tippee First Cup.
Have you tried any other cups with your baby?
Did you find them good or bad?
I'd love to hear what has and hasn't worked for you all :)
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