Philips AVENT Classic Bottle to First Cup Trainer Review

The AVENT Classic Bottle to First Cup Trainer is a lightweight, 0% BPA plastic cup made by Philips. The cup offers removable handles, the ability to change spouts/nipples, and includes a soft spout that is easy on gums. This cup is widely available online and in stores. It does not come in other colors or styles.

Performance Comparison

Likes

The dual handle construction, and interchangeable mouthpieces, are the primary things to like about this cup. Many parents use AVENT as their baby's first bottle, and it makes for an easier transition when baby starts trying to use cups. The familiarity with the cup size and shape can aid in the learning process.

The clear body is also a nice feature that allows parents to see how much fluid has been consumed. The liquid is easy to see, and the volume amounts are clearly marked on the side of the cup.

For babies using this cup for feeding, with formula or breast milk, it might be a nice bonus to be able to see at a glance how much has been consumed.

The cup is also lightweight, and easy for baby to hold on to for long periods of time. It is clear that nothing superfluous has been added to this cup to avoid any added weight, and baby's little hands were considered when making the squat body, and side grip handles.

Dislikes

Our primary dislike of this cup is the body material being made of plastic; because of this, it scored poorly in our eco-health metric. In the case of cups and bottles, we feel stainless steel and glass are the better options, given their basic inert qualities, and guaranteed non-leaching properties.

In addition to eco-health problems, this cup suffered from ease of use issues with a drinking spout that was more difficult to drink out of than many of the other cups we tested. If a baby can't make a cup work easily, they will lose interest quickly. This also meant the up did not align to the American Dental Association's desire for a valve free cup. Given the extra sucking action required to make it work, we felt this could potentially have a negative impact on oral hygiene. It wasn't the worst cup we tested, but it was pretty close.

Conclusions

The AVENT product line is a popular brand with parents. It is easy to use, has interchangeable mouthpieces, was economical, and is widely available. However, our tests indicated that the cup was difficult to drink from, harder than average to clean, and made of plastic. The eco-health issue gives us pause, but even if you take that out of the equation, this was not a cup we could recommend. If the cup had been easier to drink from it might have fared better overall. As it stood, the cup scored below average, which put it in the bottom third of all the cups we tested.

If you are looking for an economical sippy cup, you might consider our Best Value winner, Gerber Graduates Sip and Smile. This cup was easy to use and easy to clean, plus it didn't leak at all. This sippy scored the highest of any plastic cup we tested. Given the plastic materials used in this cup we suggest avoiding exposing the cup to unnecessary heat. This includes microwaves, dishwashers, and leaving in hot cars. Because some plastics degrade when heated.