Award-winner Nuby is the largest baby feeding product company in the world and the idea behind the Grip 'n' Sip was to promote proper oral development in babies by offering a soft silicone spout before moving your baby onto harder, plastic sippers when they have grown in confidence. It features a variable flow, leak-free/no-spill design, built-in valve and it’s BPA free. It’s also meant to be easy for little hands to grab.
I liked that the Grip n' Sip Cup is available in various vibrant and fun colours, plus its £2.99 price point means it’s easily affordable, and you could even have one for home and another for on the road or Grandma's house.
One minor point to be aware of if you’re searching for this cup online - in the USA, the Nuby Grip n' Sip Cup is known as the Nuby Two Handle No-Spill Cup (the Grip n’ Sip in America is a different item altogether).
What we love
When I first gave Nathaniel the Nuby Grip n' Sip Cup, he didn't take to it at all, so I don't recommend giving it when you first start to wean your baby. Having said that, when I tried about 10 days later, when he was confident taking food from a spoon, he managed to drink nearly 200ml of milk from it, so I was very impressed.
I think this has quite a lot to do with the design of the silicone sipper, and having been given silicone teats for five months it wasn't a totally new experience to Nathaniel.
The wide base and easy-grip finish meant that I was quite comfortable feeding Nathaniel with this Nuby Grip n' Sip Cup, as he hadn't started holding cups himself yet.
Getting to grips with spoon-feeding Nathaniel, I did get flustered quite a few times and knocked over Nuby Grip n' Sip Cup more than once and it didn't leak thanks to the no-spill, built-in valve.
What to watch out for
One of the first things I noticed was that there were no measurements running up the side of the Nuby Grip n' Sip Cup. This wasn't too much of a problem to start with, as I was making up Nathaniel's bottles of water and milk as normal, so I knew how much I was putting into the cup when I gave it to him. However, knowing how much he had taken after each drink was more difficult and I would have to pour the excess contents back into a bottle. This was time-consuming and no good if I was out and about.
I was quite worried that I wasn't cleaning the cup properly, as it didn't come with a wash brush and you couldn't buy one separately. As the sipper slats were quite close together, bubbles of soap easily got caught in between.
The useful hygiene cap is quite fiddly to get on straight, especially if you haven't lined up the silicone sipper into the top correctly.
I also found the Nuby Grip n' Sip Cup quite wide when compared with Nathaniel's usual bottle and it therefore didn't fit into the insulator carrier I take in the changing bag. The cup doesn't come with its own insulator, although it is microwave safe, so if you’re out restaurants could just ask they warm up its contents for you (though beware that not all places are willing to oblige).
Who is the Nuby Grip n' Sip Cup best for?
Parents ready to wean after a spill-free soft-spouted option.
A great affordable first choice for parents who want to move their baby on from a bottle to a first cup. However, as there are no measurements on the side you’ll probably find you need to measure how much fluid goes into the Nuby Grip n' Sip Cup and what’s left once your baby’s finished.
