Now we're satisfied customers of the low-key, no-frills functionality of First Years' Take & Toss lids and cups. We prefer to think of them as "losable," not "disposable," and until the Great Toxic Plastic Scare of '07, we used the same set of cups and lids for most of the kid's solid food-eating life.
We just replaced the cups a couple of months ago, only to find that the kid gnaws on her sippy nozzle like a bookie on a five cent cigar. Made us wonder if moving, the impending baby, and being three was kind of stressful for her. Anyway, they were mutilated into uselessness in no time.
So as I tear open another new pack of Take & Toss cups, I can't help thinking what a horrible, horrible name that is for a plastic product in Earth's-End-is-Nigh 2008. First Years apparently thought so, too, which is why someone slapped a little "reuse and recycle" on the package and pulled the recycling symbol from around back. [Oh, what's that? You can't recycle #5 polypropylene?]
It must've been great having kids back in the 80's or 90's when First Years launched the Take & Toss; there was no environment that needed protecting, no landfills that needed emptying. The world was your $20-a-barrel, petroleum-derived oyster.
Except that the trademark application for Take & Toss was only dated 2002. First Years' parent company is a baby gear licensing octopus called Learning Curve, and it seems to be rather flat.
Take & Toss series at Learning Curve [learningcurve.com]
On the bright side, you can buy replacement lids separately [learningcurve.com]
My daughter gnaws on these things, too, then cries when she pinched her tongue on the part she snapped open.
We have been able to buy replacement tops (tops only, no bottoms) on-line.
Wait a sec, #5 is not recyclable? My community allows it in our blue recycling bins...
On a somewhat related note, we've been using the sippy cups with silicone straws and recently my son has chomped through all the straws. I don't want to buy all new cups just because we need straws...but in order to get replacement straws, I'll have to buy online and pay shipping costs roughly equal to the cost of the straws. I wish regular ol' stores would carry some of these replacement parts, like the straws or the Take-n-toss lids (yes, we use those as keepers, too, and the boy chomps them too).
We used those too, and when the whole stash of lids became too chewed, we cut off the chewed tips at perhaps 1/4" from the former end, making a spout. By that time, the twins could manage a spout fine, and it did still limit the mess if tipped.
My recycling will take any plastic with a recycle number on it.
A big favorite here too - on the upside, our son never got attached to any particular "special cup" which is great for traveling and when you do "lose" one at grandma's house, for example.
What we don't get though is the huge sizes on these - our kid can never drink that much in one sitting!
FWIW, hard spouted sippy cups are not recommended because of the damage they cause to developing teeth and palates. We learned all of this the hard way after a visit to the pediatrician with a Take and Toss sippy cup in tow (also chomped to bits). Soft silicone spouts, or even better, Take and Toss straw cups are much easier on the little chompers (and the straws can withstand more gnawing than the spouts and silicone straws). Really though, to avoid all of the chomping and the "deforming" and the plastic, etc., the best bet is a Sigg kid-sized canteen for the little ones. We have one for each kid and they're awesome. And, after you pay $15 for one, I promise you, you will never lose it (you'll pat yourself down for that before your keys and wallet whenever you leave).
And, my recycling dude throws #5 plastic back on our lawn in disgust . . . he only has eyes for #1 and #2.
Oh, yeah, and my daughter is in this phase where the lid and the cup have to be the same color... thank goodness the replacment lids give you more color variety than you get with the cup-lid combo packs.
[ugh, we had that phase. it requires two packs, since the matching lids are never in the set. -ed.]
I've read that these cups are considered BPA free. #5 is not on the hit list... yet?
Have you seen the Bfree cups? They're available in four colours, and the training cup versus the older kid one has a soft rubber spout, and they have removable handles. We use both the bottles and cups, but if you don't want to buy new cups, you can use a spout on the bottles. Luckily we were aware of the bisphenol issue a long time ago when my first baby was born (now 4.5years), I mentioned it to people then but they looked at me like I was crazy...
Well, thanks for doing what Google couldn't, and provide me with a link for ordering just replacement tops. These "emergency cups", as our fam likes to call them, are great to toss into the fanny "it's not a purse" pack, but boy do they go through some tops.
Of course, like Jennifer points out, with shipping they're not really worth buying unless you're packaging with $70 of other orders [getting free shipping]. Unlike Jennifer, we're not using straws, so it's harder to find a good replacement.
Maybe we could start an online replacement parts co-op?
And, my recycling dude throws #5 plastic back on our lawn in disgust
Just FYI, you can buy just replacement lids through Take n Toss's parent company, TOMY. This link will take you right there:
http://shop.tomy.com/product/detail/Y4502A1?locale=en_US