Gerber Graduates Sip and Smile Sippy Cups Review

I had tried a couple of the cheaper sippy cups to discover that they all leaked. After reading several reviews on the Gerber sip and smile sippy cups, I decided to give them a try, even though they were quite a bit above the price I thought was reasonable at about $4.00/cup. They are sold in packages of two, so forking over $8.00 to try a sippy cup seemed a bit risky to me.

We picked out the package with a pink and green one and headed home to try them out. What do you know? The pink one worked like a charm. The baby was having a hard time trying to figure out what to do with sippy cups with a hard sipper on the top. She is breastfed and uses a bottle rarely, and that bottle definitely leaks. I was thrilled when she figured this one out right away and started drinking and laughing while the bigger girls cheered.

I cheered, but I also wondered about the leak test. After a while of sipping and smiling, the baby threw down the cup to explore other things. I decided to leave it there lying sideways on the floor for a while. True to the reviews, it did NOT leak! I was ready to cheer without reservation after that. Yeah!

My cheering was quenched when I tried the green one the next day. The cup has a curved edge, which means that the lid must line up exactly in order for the handles to be positioned correctly. This one did not line up correctly at all (see picture). I tried screwing it on several times with the same result.

Being the savvy saver that I am, I decided to take it back to Wal-Mart. With receipt in hand, I showed the lady at the service desk the problem and defective cup, but she informed me that I would have to return both cups to get any money back. Since the pink one was the only sippy I had ever bought that did not leak, I did not want to do that.

Since I'm persistant and hate to waste money, I called Gerber. I must say that Gerber has a great service department. You can call their number 24/7, and I've called a few times to check on gluten content on their foods and have spoken with a live person each time. They are friendly and knowledgeable, and the Gerber representative was sympathetic to my problem and sent me two coupons for $5.00 that arrived in just a couple of days. She also mentioned that they had other sippy cups that I might want to try and hinted that this problem with this particular cup is fairly common. Armed with my coupons, I returned to Wal-Mart and purchased some bowls with lids and another pack of the same sippy cups, this time a pack with a green one and a blue one.

I don't know what it is about the green ones, but I discovered that the green one in that pack had the same annoying problem, while the blue one fit on correctly. All of the packs that I saw had one green one in it. Bummer. Maybe it is because the cups and valves are made in America while the lids are made in China.

These cups are a bit high maintenance for cleaning. The package mentions that they are microwave safe and dishwasher safe on the top rack only. I haven't used either with these cups, so I cannot verify that. In order to clean the cup properly, you must remove the valve, which is fairly easy to do. It mentions using hot water, gentle detergent and a cotton swab to clean the spout. Now that I've found some cotton swabs that don't fall apart, I guess I'm set. Still high maintenance though.

The package also mentions that these cups are not intended for pulpy juice or carbonated beverages. I've only tried water, and it works fine with the ones that fit together properly.

My Viewpoint:

If the problem with the lid not fitting on properly had only been a one-time thing, I would have been all for recommending Gerber Graduates Sip and Smile Soft Spout Spill-Proof Cups. They do not leak, and Gerber's customer service is great. However, since the cups and lids frequently do not fit properly, I would only recommend this product if you plan to take it out of the packaging and try it right in the store. I would like to recommend to Gerber that perhaps they either change the shape of the cups to be straight or better yet to make the entire product in America.