The Pickle and I have had lots of fun testing the new BabyBjörn Cup this week!
The BabyBjörn Cup is designed to stand firmly and be hard to knock over, making it the ideal first ‘real’ cup for baby. It has a wide base and low centre of gravity, so when it gets knocked it should simply slide rather than tip over. It is also designed to be easy to grip and is dishwasher and microwave safe. It can hold up to 100ml of liquid and is made from recyclable plastic which is BPA free.
We have removed the lid from The Pickle’s beakers before to allow him to drink from a ‘normal’ cup, but we have never allowed him to hold it by himself as he has a habit of shaking his beakers up and down when bored! So, I’ll be honest, I was a little worried about the inevitable mess I’d be left to clean up whilst trying the BabyBjörn Cup.
That said, I am not a fan of most non-spill beakers either as I lose the valves in the sink, they are fiddly to put back together and I usually forget to put the valve back in the cup and the juice goes everywhere anyway! I hadn’t really got anything to lose, so we gave the BabyBjörn Cup a go.
First of all, I made sure anything valuable was well away from the testing area! I decided to pour a little bit of water into the cup, rather than juice or milk, for the first try.
As soon as I put the cup down on The Pickle’s highchair tray he picked it up and tipped the water out and ended up with a really fun tray of water to play with! This was repeated a few times before I held the cup up to his mouth so he knew it was to drink from. This was more successful and much less messy!
We persevered and despite the changes of clothes we got through, he eventually learnt to pick the cup up and drink from it by himself … for a second, before shaking it, chewing it, banging it on the highchair, waving it through the air and blowing raspberries into it!
The cup can also be used to hold snacks, such as cucumber sticks, which we tried but, of course, The Pickle just wanted to tip out the contents!
Here is what The Pickle thought…
"First things first, does this new cup break when I throw it.....?"
"Nope! It didn't break, but that was fun!"
"Right, let's have a look at this wide base then... very good, yep, tastes nice"
"Not sure why Mummy put water in my new toy... better just check I've got it all out..."
"Look Mummy! Is this what I'm supposed to do with it?! Well why didn't you just say so!"
Although it states this cup can be used from 8 months, at 10 months The Pickle is definitely not ready for a cup without a lid! However, all babies develop at their own pace and some will be ready sooner than others. I can definitely see the appeal of this cup for a toddler. The Pickle has found it easy to hold and lift, he just needs a bit (a lot!) of practise until he is able to drink from it by himself. Another good thing about the cup is that it only holds 100ml of liquid, which isn’t that much to clear up if it spills - and of course it will from time to time. You have to expect a few spillages when transferring from a beaker to a cup. I will continue to use the BabyBjörn Cup with him, to encourage him to drink from a real cup, but I don’t think he’ll be using it properly for a little while yet.
The cup is designed to slide, rather than tip over, if knocked. I have tested this and it works. The only problem is that it’s not likely to get knocked over by The Pickle, it’s more likely to be thrown! However, it is made of very strong and durable material that looks like it could withstand a fair few games and tantrums!
The BabyBjörn Cup is available in 4 colours, to match the rest of the BabyBjörn Kitchen range. See www.babybjorn.co.uk for more details.
