Award-winner OXO started designing its new OXO Tot range in 2008 when, out of its 54 employees, 25 babies were born in just five years! Even before this though, right from when the company began in 1990 it was focused on making parents' lives easier - its founder Sam Farber couldn't stand to watch his wife struggle with kitchen gadgets.
The OXO Tot series of training cups has three main designs to help your baby develop different drinking and self-feeding skills. The first is the sippy cup, suitable from 6 months, then there’s the straw cup, at 9 months, and finally this training cup, for use from 12 months. The training cup is 200ml and has a translucent lid with small holes around the edge to control the flow. It means your toddler can learn to tilt and control the cup and its contents, but without the liquid going everywhere. You can then remove the lid once your child’s skills increase so they master a proper open cup.
What we love
The OXO Tot Training Cup comes in three bright and stylish colours. The aqua one caught Nathaniel's eye straight away.
I thought Nathaniel would take forever to drink from what is really an open cup, but by the second attempt he had mastered it. At first all he wanted to do was bite the rim (he was teething) and the coolness of the water helped sooth his gums. After slowly tipping the cup and seeing how fast the flow was, he got the idea and as a result he couldn't wait to keep drinking.
Nathaniel now drinks a lot more water, not only because the cup is a novelty, but it doesn't take a lot of effort to get the water in his mouth.
The measurements down the side of the OXO Tot Training Cup enabled me to easily keep an eye on how much Nathaniel was drinking throughout the day.
What to watch out for
Nathaniel won't hold his bottle of milk at bedtime, so he has been very reluctant to try and hold the OXO Tot Training Cup. Although there are side grips, he can't see any handles, and he is quite happy for me to hold it all the time. Perhaps some sort of removable handles might be helpful in the beginning.
The cup lid, which has holes all around the edges, meant Nathaniel could drink from the cup whatever way he wanted. The lid is supposed to reduce spillage and while obviously the top of the cup is not completely open, if dropped the liquid just flows out. If we were out I couldn't use the cup and Nathaniel had to have a sipper for the journey and then fill up the Training Cup when we got where we were going. This could be awkward if you’re out shopping or going for a picnic, but won’t be an issue if you just plan to use it at home.
Who is the OXO Tot Training Cup best for?
Babies who’ve mastered sipper and straw beakers with parents eager to move them onto an open cup.
The OXO Tot Training Cup is a brilliant idea at a good price point. It’s useful for teaching toddlers how to master open cups, but the lack of a proper fitting lid and handles at the beginning of the training detract a bit from what could have been a 100% perfect design.
