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September 21, 2008
Just try a few & see which one you like
From everything from diapers to bottles, mothers encouraged me to try a few different kinds to see which I liked before buying large quantities of anything. They say this very casually, as if "trying" a diaper that doesn't work doesn't involve leaky poo running down your arm. We did have some leaky diapers, and some leaky bottles, but nothing compares to the hassle of finding a sippy cup that would work.
Someone gave me the Avent, so we tried it first.
Mandy was the one to reject this one. She would put it in her mouth & try sucking on it & then just scream in anger. I tried sucking on it one day to see what the problem was and, indeed, it takes an awful lot of effort to get any liquid out.
She had a similar reaction to the Vol's sippy cup that my husband just had to have.
This is a standard, hard plastic cup with a little valve and I've seen lots of mother's using just this style, but upon trying it myself, I had to agree with Mandy - a girl shouldn't have to work that hard for something to drink. The rest of the cups were rejected by mommy rather than Mandy.
Since she was on formula long after learning the sippy cup, I really needed one with ounce measurements. Avent (previously rejected) and Gerber are the only two I could find. Both consider their sippy cups "training cups," probably due to the soft spout.
Unfortunately, the soft spout is just what causes the problem in this cup. For one, she has damaged the spout so that it no longer has three little holes, but one larger one. The bigger problem; however, is the soft spout doesn't hold the valve in very well. One drop on the floor and there's no point in having a lid at all.
We also tried the classic Nuby. Extremely popular among mothers - I'm betting all of them have at least one. Nice soft spout - great shape for holding.
Unfortunately, Mandy learned right away exactly how to smoosh that spout against the floor to make all the liquid pour out so she'd have a puddle to play in. She also liked to bite the spout & let the juice run down her chin. If you like this cup, I have 3 that have rarely been used & you're welcome to them.
Next we tried the disposable. At least the price was right, because frankly, I'm getting tired of shelling out $2 - $3.50 per cup only to discover some reason I can't use it.
There is no valve, and they do leak just a little bit, but not really enough to be a problem. The real problem is that Mandy can get her tiny little bottom teeth under the lid & pop it off. Yeah, that's a problem.
At about this point, we find ourselves in a restaurant with no sippy cup even at hand. So we get a to-go water with a straw & discover that Mandy can drink out of a straw just fine. And they make a child's sippy cup like that.
The straw has a valve inside that prevents leaks, which leaves me wondering why part of the lid can even flip over it, but it's a really cute little cup and maybe this one will work. Except the valve / straw combination is a 3-part deal and requires hand washing. I'm currently petitioning congress to require the warning label "requires hand washing" on the packaging of any children's items. In the meantime, I don't even know HOW to wash a straw by hand - other than just rinsing it off & that just doesn't seem very clean to me. We haven't totally given up on this cup yet, but we're not using it right now either.
So, if you happen to be pregnant & you're wondering why all the mother's keep telling you to try a few items before you invest any real money into something, they know what they're talking about.
If you care, we did finally find a sippy cup that both Mommy & Mandy could agree on. It's by Gerber, and while it doesn't have the ounce markings, it seems to be great in every other aspect.
The lid screws on, it has a good shape for little hands holding, it doesn't leak at all, the valve does not come out - no matter what - and she even drinks more neatly out of it. I guess the shape of the spout is just right for her. Whew.
| By Wifeepoo | 2:18 PM
Comments
For us, Tommy had a similar rejection of any cups different from the ones he had been trained on. So cups that we had gotten as gifts seemed like they were going to waste. Fortunately, after a few months he was willing to drink out of anything, so we were finally able to break out those gifts and actually put them to use. Maybe you can give that a try with Mandy in a few months as well. She might be more receptive once she's gotten more comfortable with it.
And I have no sympathy for you having to wash some dishes by hand. :-(
I happen to agree with your final choice of cup. It's a good cup, but be warned that for us they eventually started leaking out of the bottom plastic section. Gerber makes another set of cups that change color when cold, and we haven't had any leaking problem with those-- the only time we've had to replace them was when they started getting black gunk built up in the spout. (Curse this humidity!) But the spout is somewhat different in those, so Mandy may not like them. Once the ones you're using start wearing out, and if there is eventually a leaking problem like we had, the color-changing ones might be worth a try.
Posted by: Meighan at September 22, 2008 12:10 AM
Hey, just another option, I use a different Avent sippy cup (the same one Jennifer uses, I am at work and can't think of the model type), that has ounce markings and my 8 month old seems to get water out of it just fine (but I haven't tried it myself), and you can take the leak stopper out and they get way more-he only gets to drink this way in his highchair! This is the only sippy cup we have tried though, so I have no idea how it compares to the other ones you have tried! Hope this helps.
Posted by: Joy Lynne at September 22, 2008 12:50 PM
