The First Years Sippy Cups, a Review
Sippy Cups, they come in so many different characters, designs and styles. For the longest time I thought my kids would only drink from Playtex cups. Then Playtex changed the lids for their cups. I began to find that this new design leaked alot! They still required the removal and cleaning of valves. These valves over time could need to be replaced which equaled more money. And they were easily lost, tossed or chewed up by the garbage disposal.
A few weeks ago I read a Facebook post from a grandmother that was mad as a hornet over her grandchilds sipper cups. Since I still have a child that uses cups I was compelled to read about it. She claimed that her GD's cups had been making the child sick. She showed photos of them where she had cut them open. There was indeed debris and water trapped in between the two sealed areas. And it looked like black mold.
I had just replaced all of our Playtex cups with The First Years valveless cups a few months ago. My son is almost done with sealable cups. So I bought just enough to get us through the last year. About 12 of them. They come in such cute designs, with all his favorite charcters. Unlike the new Playtex cups that are not as cute. The oldest ones we own are Monsters Inc, the design is printed inside and outside on the cup. This style has been discontinued.
After reading that Facebook post I was frightened. What had I done? Had I just bought my kid plastic jars of death? I didn't know! I wouldn't do something to hurt him intentionally. And as parents we try to keep our kids safe by not doing dangerous, stupid things. So what did I know? My cups so far were fine. I inspected them and came to the conclusion her cups must have been defective. She might have tampered with them, boiled them (it says not to do that on the cups), ran over them. And why? Just to cause hysteria in a person. See some folks get a thrill out of putting alarming news, provocative pictures, and down right shocking, horrible accounts of harming children! It's truly disgusting, but the news does this everyday.
So I chalked up this "report" to an angry grandmother that didn't get a satisfactory report from Tomy or her money back. She had to go out and discredit a good product, get a reaction etc. . .
That is what I thought until, this morning, I was unloading the dishwasher. A few our cute cups were in the drying rack. I pulled one out, it had Mickey Mouse (cup 1) on it, and I noticed condensation inside the sealed area. I was brought back to that angry grandma. I wasn't angry at this point, I was alarmed and baffled. The other cup, Nemo (cup 2), looked cloudy on the inside. I decided to rewash the load of dishes. Maybe if they went through another drying cycle this would help them.
After the second dry cycle Cup 1 showed more signs of a leak, the image on the inside was peeling away. Cup 2 looked cloudy, but after it sat on the counter for a few hours it cleared up. Not completely, but as I called Tomy Customer Service it looked much better.
So I did call them. I didn't wait long to get a Rep on the phone. She was so nice and helpful. I explained about the Facebook Post and how I was a fan of the cups. And how I was experiencing this issue; almost the same issue as the FB Post. The Rep told me she would email me a link to a shipping label. Send back the defective cups and in the meantime, she will mail me some cups of my choosing. I was pleased with the result pending the replacement items. Considering my cups were easily about 5 months old, I had no receipt or proof of purchase. I was never even asked any questions about the purchase, care, age etc. . .
The cups arrived about 2 weeks after my initial contact. The only issue I have with them is I specified I wanted my cups replaced with the same type of cup I purchased. I was mailed the non insulated type. Well at this point I am not going to complain. It was a rather easy process. I will say I am
disappointed. I paid more for the defective cups than the non-insulated. On the flip side, I could have just tossed them in the trash and had 0 replacement cups.
Despite the 2 cups that are defective, I have 10 more that are still in good condition. I would say if you choose to go valve-less, they are more convenient since they have less parts. You will run the risk of this happening to your cups. I only wash mine on the top rack of the Dishwasher (an acceptible method of care). I think I would still buy these cups if I needed more. My youngest is just about to graduate to real cups; so for me, I don't mind using them.
My advice to you is to follow the care instructions (which I did), watch closely for any deterioration. Contact Tomy if you have anything suspect. I still love these cups and the insulated ones are fine unless you plan on keeping milk in them for longer than an hour.
Until next time thanks for reading,
StMS
The cups arrived about 2 weeks after my initial contact. The only issue I have with them is I specified I wanted my cups replaced with the same type of cup I purchased. I was mailed the non insulated type. Well at this point I am not going to complain. It was a rather easy process. I will say I am disappointed. I paid more for the defective cups than the non-insulated. On the flip side, I could have just tossed them in the trash and had 0 replacement cups.
Despite the 2 cups that are defective, I have 10 more that are still in good condition. I would say if you choose to go valve-less, they are more convenient since they have less parts. You will run the risk of this happening to your cups. I only wash mine on the top rack of the Dishwasher (an acceptible method of care). I think I would still buy these cups if I needed more. My youngest is just about to graduate to real cups; so for me, I don't mind using them.
My advice to you is to follow the care instructions (which I did), watch closely for any deterioration. Contact Tomy if you have anything suspect. I still love these cups and the insulated ones are fine unless you plan on keeping milk in them for longer than an hour.
Until next time thanks for reading,
StMS
