Playtex: The First Sipster Trainer Cup

Despite my best efforts, I can’t seem to convince Miss Q that it isn’t cool to throw her cup clear across the room every time she takes a sip. Every. Time. And, boy, can the girl throw.

So even though I love the principles of baby-led weaning and follow most of them, I just can’t bring myself to waste expensive organic milk or Baboo because I’m vying for her to drink from an open-topped cup. We practice, instead, with water. In the bathtub.

I haven’t had a great go with the Playtex brand of late. I tried two kinds of sippy cups with straws (this one and a tall insulated one), and both spray liquid everywhere, rendering them just about as messy as a toddler.

Playtex (via Paradigm PR) sent me The First Sipster Trainer Cup, which I was told was “designed with the help of a U.S. feeding specialist and a U.S. pediatrician.” My question is this: will said specialist and pediatrician come and teach her not to chuck it into the living room from her high chair? Please?

THE GOOD

The cup is BPA- and phthalate-free – basically the law here in Canada, but for those in countries whose government isn’t up to speed on Really Bad Things, this is an important point for you.

Between the Twist ‘n Click lid and guaranteed leak-proof seal (with a guarantee, no less), I have to say that this cup really does live up to its promise – unlike my straw sippies. I’ve seen the Playtex First Sipster hurdled at mach 3 and there are barely any drops that escape the spout. This is heavenly. Everyone, including my floor, is happy.

Speaking – er, writing – of the spout, my kids have had problems with some spouts in the past because they’ve been hard and plastic-y. We only buy soft spouts because for a baby just learning to use a sippy cup, we find it makes the transition easier. The problem, of course, is that chewers – like our Miss Q – tend to nibble away at the spouts, tearing the bejeezus out of them. We’ve been using the Sipster for about a month now and it still looks like new.

Miss Q seems to like the handles; we have a Dr. Brown’s training cup and the handles are super-flimsy. She is visibly irritated by them. (No, I’m not projecting. Honest.) What’s key for me with handles is that they screw on to be perfectly perpendicular with the spout. I have tossed my share of sippies that have failed to do so.

The price point is good – about $5 to $7 per cup depending on where you buy it. You get a lot of use out of sippy cups so the price-per-use here would be quite low.

It’s safe for the dishwasher. I believe we’ve established that I don’t hand-wash.

THE GAFFE

I know the valve (it’s like a little silicone insert that you can remove if you want the liquid to free-flow) is what keeps the Playtex Sipster from leaking but – oh. my. god. – I hate these things. First of all, I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve lost them. They’re like the socks of the dishwasher. Aside from that, if you don’t clean them scrupulously, they get mouldy and gross. At a minimum, my dream is that Playtex will provide a little cleaning tool and an extra valve in “starter packs” for all training cups.

Each time we buy a new sippy cup brand, I always try it out before I give it to my kid. I want to be sure there’s no weird blockage and I want to be sure that I can drink as much as I want to without trying too hard. While this one worked pretty well overall, it’s definitely not as free-flowing as some other spill-proof varieties on the market. But Miss Q doesn’t seem bothered.

Correct me if I’m wrong, Playtex, but there don’t seem to be any thermal options for the smaller sippy cups. I’m a huge fan of thermal but the bigger cups are still just a bit too big for Miss Q to handle well.

THE GEARS

3.5/5

So…where can you buy it?

• Well.ca
• Toys ‘R Us
• Amazon