Sippy Cup Review - Beginner Cups

In the process of Paige making the transition from sippy cup to bottle, we've tried out a variety of sippy cups. Here are our opinions on the cups we've tried to date, from worst to first:

Complete Disaster:

Nuby No-Spill Gripper Cup

We tried this one tonight for the first time. Paige was ready for some milk when we got home from work, so we filled up one of these new cups and gave it to her. She drank at it vigorously, and seemed happy at first. But eventually she started to get inconsolable. We thought she was teething (which she is) and was in a lot of pain, so we tried to distract her with a stroller ride, toys, etc. We gave her a teething ring, Tylonol, and her favorite Sugar Potato Puffs.

Finally, Mom noticed that, despite a lot of sucking, the milk level was almost as high as it was when we poured the cup. It turns out that Paige couldn't get any milk from the cup! We tried it ourselves and had similar difficulties. I couldn't get anything, and Mom only could get it if she bit on the nipple in a very specific way. We transferred the milk to our favorite cup (see below), and Paige drank about five oz in under two minutes. Problem solved, she was happy for the rest of the night.

We have since tried both cups that came in our 2-pack, and neither is effective. We checked the holes to make sure they were punched all the way through, but that wasn't the issue. It just seems like a terrible design. We've seen other posts of people who like these cups, but they don't work for us.

An Ok cup:

Gerber Sip & Smile Spill-Proof Cup 10 oz

This cup is nice because it has a large capacity, and the easy-to-remove Gerber valve. We haven't had problems with the valves falling out, unlike some other reviews we've read. We do note, however, that the valve seem harder to clean than some of the others, as you really have to use a bottle brush to get down into the valve mechanism.

This cup does not have handles. While this does make them more similar to bottles, Paige sometimes has a hard time holding onto this cups when her hands are slippery with food.

It does have a hard "nipple," which results in lots of teeth marks. Paige also had a hard time learning to use this cups when she was transitioning from bottles, as the hard tip didn't seem like a good thing to suck on. Once she learned what to do with a sippy cup, however, she's done great with this cup.

Good cups:

Gerber Fun Grips Soft Starter

This was a good cup for Paige early on, because she seemed to work better with the handles (especially with slippery hands during meal time) and respond better to the softer nipple on this cup compared to some others (still not as good as our favorite, below). It has the easy-to-remove Gerber valve, and again, we haven't had problems with the valve falling out accidentally. We like that it has clear sides, as it's easy to see how much milk/water/whatever she has left. Capacity isn't huge, but perfectly adequate.

As with the Gerber Sip and Smile above, we find that the valve mechanism is a bit difficult to clean adequately without a nipple brush. But that's the only real complaint.

Munchkin Insulated My First Cup

(ours isn't Dora the Explorer, but otherwise is the same)

The coolest (pardon the pun) feature about this cup is that it has a layer of air between the inner and outer plastic layers of the cup, which helps keep liquids cooler for longer. That's very handy here in hot Phoenix. Otherwise, it's a fairly normal cup, with a hard nipple (Paige wouldn't touch it until she was introduced to other cups), and opaque sides.

The handles are nice, as Paige is much more likely to hold onto the cup rather than dropping it on the floor when her hands are covered in food. The valve is much easier to clean than the Gerber valves, though it seems a bit less substantial too. It's also a bit noisy when she drinks, compared to other cups. At this point, however, it's among our favorite cups.

Our Favorite:

Gerber Graduates Sip & Smile Soft Spout Spill-Proof Cups 7 oz

This is our hands-down favorite, especially as a starter cup. It was essential when we were trying to get Paige to learn about how to use a sippy cup a few months ago. She didn't know what to do with the hard nipples of other cups, but when she bit on the soft nipple of this cup, it collapsed and put a small amount of water into her mouth. After a biting for a while to drink, she learned that she could suck on it to get much more water. Since then, she's been able to use any sippy cup, but this is what made that transition possible.

It has other nice features. The handles are great when her hands are slippery with food, as she can still get a good grip and can hold onto the cup even when she gets excited. The slanted base seemed to help her get more out of the cup when she was still learning to tilt back the cup to get all the water or milk out, a skill she just mastered within the past week. And they have the Gerber valves, which are easy to remove, even if a bit difficult to wash. Capacity is fairly small at 7 oz., but Paige rarely drinks more than these cups offer in a single sitting.

There are, of course, many other cups available on the market, but these are the ones we've tried thus far. We'll update this post if/when we try others.