To think that 360 (Miracle) cups aren’t bad for baby?

[ToneDeath]

I have 3 kids and I think they’ve all used these cups but tbh my memory of which cups which child has liked is (understandably) fuzzy. Because they’re just f*ing cups.

Anyway, had my 1y check with my youngest yesterday and was asked all about weaning / cups / bottles etc.

Baby is 1yo in 3 weeks and is now taking zero bottles, only cups, although she still has formula twice a day.

(To avoid the drip-feed when the criticism comes rolling in… I am an advocate of breastfeeding and ebf my first 2. Sadly my third was born by crash and we were separated for a long time. I pumped and she was fed my milk by tiny cups and then bottles. I quit pumping at 6 weeks, because it was destroying me.)

Back to the present: HV at the appointment asked about the type of cup. I explained 360 but that she can also drink from open cup (a godsend because I forget her cup at least once a week when we go somewhere)
She can’t drink from a straw. God knows I’ve tried. My other kids nailed the straw pretty early so obvs. it is a bit frustrating but I’ve never met an adult that can’t use a straw, so I’m not worried.

HV then talked about cups for ages. Probably 4-5 minutes of a 20 minute appointment. It was pretty over the top, imo. 360s are bad for teeth and jaws and “children have been known to choke on them”

Um. What?

The gist was - always use an open cup. If you’re worried about spills, use a weighted straw. 360s are devil spawn.

I nodded along politely and promised I would try harder with the straw. (Actually thinking about quitting my job so that I can devote myself fully to it) and left but, basically, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to use a 360 cup. I think they’re fine. What do you think?

IABU: burn the cups
IANBU: 360 cups are fine

I mean presumably we all make it to adulthood capable of drinking from a standard cup regardless?

I though the problem with these cups was also that they are hard to clean and therefore often harbour mould.
Our nursery doesn't allow them for this reason.

I do feel I've reached a parenting milestone today, the first time I can say "In my day..."

Eldest is 5

I wouldn't want to be using a straw cup with milk because I wouldn't be convinced I'd get it properly clean.

Straw cups are easier to clean than the 360 though, they usually come with a little pipe cleaner thing that you just run through the straw.

Neither of mine ever took the 360, but can't it go in the dishwasher? I have zero interest in anything that can't go in the dishwasher...

This
oh my, I am older and it’s a while since my children were small, but this kind of attitude from health visitors etc is ridiculous. Pay no attention to it, it’s completely over the top. Just do your normal thing, keep whatever cups clean, move to an open cup when appropriate for you and your child, avoid too many sugary drinks and enjoy your child.

She sounds like a loon but I expect it is coming from somewhere.

360 cup is the perfect solution IMO.

I can see how children could choke on them though, my youngest seems to be part puppy and has chewed massive chunks off his. He didn't choke on them though. We threw it away. Unfortunately the replacement silicone bits are way too expensive so we just had to get a whole new cup.

They can be dishwashered, unlike bloody straw cups.

My dishwasher cannot use a pipe cleaner. Therefore, 360 cup is much easier to clean, because I don't have to do it.

Eh? How does it have "so many parts"?

There's a cup part. Which is the same as every other cup/bottle. Nice wide neck so you can fit your whole hand in too.

A screw lid with a hole in the middle. No hidden crevices to hide mould.

A round silicon piece that pops in and out.

It's the easiest thing to clean ever, much easier than anything else except for an open cup.

What’s a 360 cup? Have a 17 month old after quite a big gap with older 3 and feeling v out of my depth with current toddler paraphernalia so you’re doing better than me! He has a tommee tippee sip cup and drinks v little milk after a year of breastfeeding through his CMPA so it’s mostly water and occas weak juice.

Nuk magic 360 cup, disassembled. You can get them without the handles.

Literally easiest no spill cup to clean ever.

We have survived for thousands of years using all sorts of drinking vessels and drinking all sorts of fluids clean/unclear/alcoholic a 360 cup isn't the end of the world, what does the HV really think is going to happen.

Aren’t we only meant to give them water anyway? Mould would have a hard time growing if you only ever had water in it. Anyway in our house they go in the dishwasher.

I wonder if any of the anti 360 cup
people have tried drinking from them, seems pretty similar to an open cup to me. Much more similar than the hard spouted valued sippy cups that my generation were raised on.

I was very PFB with DD (still am probably) and so was well versed in why they were bad and why you should use open cups.

I don’t think they’re ‘optimal’ in terms of muscle development, but I think it would be a very, very rare child that actually developed an issue because of the type of cup they used for some of their drinks.

I so wanted her to only use open cups but she would not drink milk out of anything other than a particular sippy cup. I must have tried every cup on the market and can’t actually believe how much I spent on cups now I look back with a slightly more rational head! She never managed the 360, just couldn’t get the hang of it. Straws she mastered fine and still mostly uses those now at nearly 3, I probably should give her an open cup more often actually now.

My son is a similar age and drinks either milk or water. It’s a pain in the ass to clean milk things compared to water cups. However, cups only used for water can still get mould growing inside - particularly those that have many parts, for example cups with straws and stuff. I think there is more awareness about completely dismantling things now though.

I can confirm that 360 cups can and do go through dishwasher.

Mine still had dummies at that stage too as well as sippy cups and I think we had the 360 cups too. HV don’t live in the real world I actually wonder if any of them actually had any kids themselves

A wise midwife told me a mother's place is in the wrong and not to worry about it. The more life passes me by the more I realise how right she was. We get criticised for everything, if you get told off for doing A and you should do B you can guarantee there will be someone along in a minute to tell you that you are wrong to be doing B and should be doing A.

I think nodding politely and then doing whatever works for you is the best survival technique.

I think it’s their grubby little faces and hands that introduce the vital components for mould to grow! We did forget about a 360 in the bottom of the pram once – we only use water in them but it did get mouldy between the colourful bendy silicone bit and the hard bit with holes. But it’s an easy problem to avoid.

Re. mould... I didn't even realise the silicone bit came off the other 'lid' bit for washing until I'd already been using it for about a month. Thankfully it wasn't too bad but there was a bit of mould. I was horrified and convinced she was going to come down with something awful. She was fine. (I check these things a lot more.thoroughly now though!)

I remember there being quite a stir about them when my 7yo was a baby; but that was due to their being so many parts and mould growing inside

I remember switching from a straw cup to a 360 precisely because the 360 could be fully dismantled and cleaned, and the straw cup couldn’t and had inaccessible mould inside 🤢.

(I’ve since discovered Camelbak straw cups which are better for cleaning, although I’m still not convinced the inside of the straw and mouthpiece ever gets fully clean).

Mine are 10 and 8 and still use a 360 cup at night. We used sippy cups in the day when they were little. It’s amazing they survived really…

I fed my baby using a TommeeTippee Perfect Deathtrap. Sorry, I mean Perfect Prep.

So, I’m pretty sure she’s already consumed all the moulds there are to consume and then some, if the NHS are to be believed.

Also, she eats about 15g of cat food a week.

Mine gets her 5-a-day mould intake from squirty bath ducks anyway

My first DD is 4 and we still don't use open cups that much. She can use them fine but I don't like open cups sitting around as they inevitably get knocked over. So she has water bottle type things mostly around the house, and only open cups at meal times when we are at the table. Her teeth and jaw are perfectly fine. DD2 is about to turn 1 and I won't be introducing an open cup for her for a while, cos it's additional mess I can do without! With DD1 she just sort of graduated on to being able to do it without needing hand held or really shown, so I imagine DD2 will be the same.

I agree there is a disproportionate amount of worry put on parents about what cup you use. See also tummy time, putting the fear of god into you that'll you end up with a 12yo who can't lift their head up.

Although if they don't give the information they'll ve blamed for that too. It's their job to promote what's best.