Written by Tilty's Dad | 04 August 2009
Posted in Tilty Quest

Unfortunately the madness of mom and dad's needs superseding baby's needs continues.

Slate.com recently published an article by Chip Brantley about the best sippy cups, "Sippin' on Milk and Juice". (Which is really funny, growing up in the Snoop era).  Like always the most important aspect Chip and his panel of experts decided was the leakproofness.  Here is how it was labeled in his scoring chart.

Leakproofness (20 points): It has to keep the milk in the cup.

Let's take a quick moment to digest this. Slowly.  "It has to keep the milk in the cup."  

And we wonder why so many kids struggle with sippy cups and parents buy 5 different ones to find the best one.  Sippy cups, or transitioning cups, are for helping little ones transistion to regular cups.  It is the first step in independent feeding.  Yet, we search for products that keep the fluids in, and wonder why they are stuggling to grasp the simple concept of drinking.  

One of the problems with most sippy cup designs, designers, and companies, is that they continue to meet the mom's needs first.  Even Chip admits that he didn't use any kids to help come to the conclusion of which sippy cups are best.  Parent's main excuse for  having to have the most leakproof cup on the planet is because, "My kid likes to throw his cup."  At some point your child will need to learn that throwing a cup isn't a good idea.  Unfortunately, there a lots of parents waiting until they're out at a restaurant, cleaning up the table and their lap, to start explaining that throwing cups is not acceptable.  The excuse that, "It just isn't that easy." doesn't fly either.  We stop children from sticking their fingers in sockets, touching the hot stove, crossing the street, banging the glass, etc. with destractions, explainations, and a few tears, but we do it.  I have a 18 month old, and have just lived through this stage.  For the second time.

The good thing is, most, actually all kids finally get the concept and stop throwing cups, and start drinking out of regular cups.  Which is the reason we made a simple solution, to help the transition, that doesn't cost alot, and is easy to use.  Sippy cups should be easy to use, help your child succeed in the first step of independent feeding, and be safe of chemicals and toxins.

Written by Tilty's Dad | 16 July 2009
Posted in Tilty Quest

One of the things I read everyday is about people who are trying to transition their baby to a sippy cup.  Whether you are transitioning from a bottle or transitioning from the breast, here are some things to keep in mind.  While every baby is different, there are some things you should keep in mind.

Babies use gross motor skills (large muscles) to do everything.  That means any small movements are difficult if not impossible.

Don't use any fluid that is precious to you and your time, i.e. breast milk on the first try.  Most cups require lots of fluid to reach the mouth piece, and babies tend to try and give up quickly on their first times.  Start with water, or watered down juice.

You may need to remove the valve.  Valves require lots of sucking and if the top of the pallete isn't stimulated, the baby may not suck hard enough.

You may need to try a straw cup.  While this won't help with the mechanics of handling a full cup of fluid, it will help with a baby that is not drinking enough during the learning process.

Of course we think TILTY is your best option for learning how to use a sippy cup.  That's why we designed it.  Requiring less head tilt means that when your baby is transitioning to a sippy cup, they can hold the TILTY cup to their mouth and sip without tilting.  As adults, we don't tip the cup back that far when drinking.  Only on the final last sips do we need to tilt it back.

TILTY was designed to help your child transition from a bottle or breast to a regular cup easier and more effectively.

Written by Tilty's Dad | 19 September 2008
Posted in Tilty Quest

I had a chance to see first hand why Tilty is a better sippy cup, yesterday. I designed Tilty Cup after observing my daughter drinking from a sippy cup. I wasn't able to test the cups with her because the development process is lengthy and she kept growing. Some of you don't realize that I have a son that is 8 months old now. I am going through exactly what you are going through with transitioning to a sippy cup.

As you know, Tilty Cups are not 100% leak proof BY DESIGN. This isn't a flaw, this is to make your baby's transition easier. Here is my proof. (I got to see my better design in action, it was so cool).

I am helping Bradyn to learn how to use a cup. So when I hand him the Tilty Cup, I put it to his mouth and slightly tilt. What happens is a little drop hits his lips or tongue and he then realizes it is for eating. He grabs it with his hands and holds it to his mouth.

I gave him a valved cup with handles, one of those can't shake a drop of liquid out of me cups. I held it to his mouth but since nothing came out, he just chewed on the end of it. Then he chewed on the arms and then the bottom and then the side.

It wasn't a cup to him at all. It was a chew toy. He enjoyed chewing on it since he has two bottom teeth and is getting a couple more. Just ask my wife about his teeth. He almost had to go cold turkey from breast milk yesterday after almost making her pass out. (Wait till she reads this!)

My point is if the cup is so good at keeping the fluid in, then just think of how hard they have to work to get it out. They end up sucking on a funky shaped nipple type thing super hard to drink. This is why I suppose the ADA said to buy no valve snap on lid sippy cups. Which brings us back to design. We designed it to be better in so many ways.

Yeah I don't like it when Bradyn turns the thing upside down and gets a couple of drops on himself or the table, but at that point he is looking for something to play with, not drink with. That's when I get out one of those chew toys.

Written by Tilty's Dad | 21 July 2008
Posted in Tilty Quest