The Babycup Story
Doing my best for my kids includes questioning the why and how of baby gear, so when my first born was a few months old I hunted for the perfect healthy cup for her to drink from.
The cup I was searching for was nowhere to be found and we ended up with a cupboard full of cups that weren't right for the job. I would pull valves out of no-spill beakers, remove lids from sippy cups, (have you ever tried drinking from some of those children’s cups? For some, you need to suck like a vacuum cleaner!). The sipping side of things was sometimes improved, but the cups were still mostly so big it would be like you or me drinking from a bucket. Delving deeper into the subject, I found concern amongst health professionals, including dentists and orthodontists, backing up my thoughts that spouts and no-spill valves are not just without any health benefits, but are potentially damaging for a baby or child’s developing teeth, jaws and palate.
To cut a long story short, Babycup First Cups were born!
I am a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood. Children’s health is at the heart of what I do and I am so proud that Babycup Sippeco First Cups are now accredited by the Oral Health Foundation. They are also multi award-winning, biodegradable, 100% recyclable and designed to be so cute your littles will want to get sipping with them. I hope you and your little one enjoy them. Sara xx
The Longer Story!
I am very lucky to have three wonderful children who delight me, exhaust me, make me proud, make me weep with joy, get me cross, bowl me over and run me ragged!
Parenting is the hardest and the most important thing I have ever done. Like most of us, I am learning as I go along. Trying my hardest to make a good job of it has meant I’ve questioned the norm on various issues and when my first was ready to wean I hunted high and low for the perfect cup for her to drink from. Unfortunately I didn’t find it and instead I would pull the valves out of no-spill beakers and remove the lids from sippy cups. This solved one part of the puzzle, (have you ever tried drinking from some of those children’s cups? For many of them you need a suck to rival a vacuum cleaner…). So the sipping side of things was improved, but my baby girl was still drinking out of a cup the equivalent size of me drinking from a bucket.
When beautiful daughter number two came along I was still frustrated by the fact that most drinking cups for infants are relatively gigantic for little heads and mouths (and hands) and I also disliked the idea of my children constantly drinking from a spout or teat. I delved deeper into the subject and found an alarming body of growing concern amongst health professionals, backing up my fear that spouts and no-spill valves are not just without any health benefits, but are actually potentially damaging for a baby or child’s developing teeth, jaws and palate (see FAQs page for more details).
I delved deeper into the subject and found an alarming body of growing concern amongst health professionals, backing up my fear that spouts and no-spill valves are not just without any health benefits, but are actually potentially damaging for a baby or child’s developing teeth, jaws and palate (see Info page for more details).
So, whilst lovely baby number one had been weaned on puree but I’d questioned the drinking side of things, with baby number two we tried a different approach weaning-wise.
Firstly, my second daughter was opened up to the wonderful world of baby-led weaning, (I have to admit to being rather scared at first but it was really and truly amazing and I thoroughly recommend it. If you have any qualms then read the extremely helpful and very calming baby-led weaning book by Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett or BLW book for guidance and info – it’s an easy read and well worth it), and secondly, drum roll please, she started drinking from an open cup at the age of six months. The cup wasn’t the ideal one, but I was getting closer and I really saw the benefits of open cup drinking. Completing our girl band, beautiful daughter number three was born and, as the six months milestone approached, and armed with the knowledge and experience of weaning my two eldest girls, further research into open cups began. My husband was in agreement with what I was aiming for and was hugely supportive of my quest to find a suitable open drinking cup: a little cup for little people. And here they are, babycup Sippeco First Cups. I hope your little people enjoy them.
Sara - Mum, Chief Sipper and Babycup Founder x