Sip Smart
Coming to Kickstarter Patent pending

About a third of every pouch never makes it out on its own.

Sip Smart is a reusable straw for baby food pouches that gets the last of it, and stops the pouch folding shut.

  • Empties the whole pouch
  • Stops the mid-pouch fold
  • Fits the standard pouch spout
  • Works with silicone pouch toppers
  • Dishwasher safe
  • Fits a pocket
Get early-bird pricing No spam. A welcome email now, then one on launch day.
The 40-second version 0:40
Two Sip Smart prototype straws, one green and one gray, resting in an open black carry case
Prototype on the workbench
Launching soon

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Cut open — without
a third left behind
Cut open — with Sip Smart
empty
The part nobody mentions

A third of the pouch stays put, until you make it move.

Left alone, about a third of a pouch never comes out. It folds in the middle and your child gives up on it.

So you do what every parent does. You take it back, work the food up with your fingers, and hand it over again. Two or three times a pouch, every pouch. That is the job Sip Smart takes off you.

Not only is this straw designed to get kids every last drop out of the pouch, it also helps children who don’t yet have the motor skills to move the food up the pouch on their own.

The bend

Pouches fold in the middle. Everything gets trapped below the fold.

Once the pouch creases, the food above the fold has nowhere to go. Sip Smart sits inside the pouch and holds the channel open, so the last of it still comes up the straw.

Photo slot: pouch folded, food trapped above the fold

How it works

Three steps. No learning curve.

Photo slot: straw twisting onto the pouch neck
1

Twist it on

The straw screws onto the pouch spout, the same way the cap does.

Photo slot: child holding the pouch on their own
2

Hand it over

No squeezing from you. They drink it like any other straw.

Photo slot: the emptied pouch, cut open
3

Empty pouch

Side holes clear the corners, so what is left is not worth keeping.

Ages
6m+
Fits
All major brand pouches except certain Gerber pouches
Cleaning
Dishwasher
Materials
Polypropylene

Patent pending. Photos and video on this page show a pre-production prototype, not a finished product. Nothing ships until production parts pass third-party safety testing to US children’s product rules.

Get an early-bird discount

A welcome email now, then one when the Kickstarter opens. That’s it.

Photo slot: our daughter after turning the pouch over, wearing most of it
A Minneapolis familyand our very messy daughter
Why we made this

Wasted food, wasted money, and so many messy outings.

Once our daughter started on solid foods, she loved food pouches. They let her experiment with all kinds of different foods without us throwing away whatever she didn’t or wouldn’t eat. Like a lot of parents, we had our successes and our failures.

What we slowly found out was that most of those failures weren’t failures at all. She just couldn’t get all the food out. The pouch would fold in the middle, and she would give up.

Pretty soon after that, the rest of it clicked. She wasn’t dumping food all over herself in the car seat or the stroller because she didn’t like it. She was doing it because she couldn’t get it out. So she worked out her own way to reach it: turn the pouch over and squeeze. And seeing all that bright colored food come out quickly became a game.

Read the whole story
Daycares & preschools

Feeding a whole room? There’s a 40-pack.

One straw per child, dishwasher safe between snacks, and a one-page sheet with the safety paperwork for your files.

Get the bulk sheet
40 straws per pack
Where the money goes

What your backing pays for

Sip Smart is real and it works. What it does not have yet is a production run.

1

Engineering, then the first full run

The shape has to be redesigned so it can actually be molded, and then made properly in one full run instead of printed one at a time.

2

Design changes before it ships

Room to change the design based on what backers tell us, while changing it is still cheap.

3

Stretch goals, in order

First the full patent application, so this stays ours to make. Then your choice of color. Then a carrying case you can add on.

If we go past the goal

What your backing unlocks next.

None of this has happened yet. This is the order we would spend it in, and the patent comes first, because that is the part that keeps this ours to make.

Stretch goals. 18,000 dollars base goal, made in the USA and safety tested. 28,000 dollars, the full patent gets filed. 31,300 dollars, color choice. 33,800 dollars, a carrying case as an add-on.

Figures are what we need to raise, not what we have raised. Nothing ships until production parts pass third-party safety testing.

Questions

Everything parents ask us, answered.

How do I clean it?

Rinse it under the faucet right after use so nothing dries inside, then wash it properly with the rest of the bottles. It comes apart so you can get at the inside of the tube.

Is it dishwasher safe?

Yes. Top rack. Take the pieces apart first so water reaches the inside of the straw.

What’s it made of?

Polypropylene. No BPA.

Is it safe for my child’s mouth and gums?

Sip Smart is made from polypropylene. It also works with the silicone pouch toppers many parents already use, if you want a softer tip. Full third-party safety testing to the US children’s product rules is being completed before we ship.

Does it work with silicone pouch toppers?

Yes. If your child already uses a silicone topper on their pouches, Sip Smart is made to work alongside it, so you can keep the softer tip they are used to.

Which pouch brands does it fit?

It fits the standard screw spout used by all the major pouch brands. Certain Gerber pouches use a different spout and are the known exception.

What age is it for?

From about 6 months, once your child is on pouches and can drink through a straw. Use it with an adult nearby, as with any feeding item.

Why Kickstarter and not just Amazon?

Safety testing and a first production run have to be paid for up front. Kickstarter lets the people who actually want this fund that run, and get it at the lowest price it will ever be.

Be first in line when it goes live.

Early-bird pricing goes to the list first. Launching soon.